Family

I attended the 5th reunion of our clan last weekend. It was the usual family gathering except that the secretariat gave us an activity program with a diagram of the family tree attached and a list of officers of the family cooperative --- unusual for someone like me who hadn't attended a family reunion in years.

I noticed that it was organized the way anyone would handle a national conference. And indeed this is a conference of relatives from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The documentation staff also took photos of the event using a cellphone and digital camera for easy uploading on the family website. They distributed compact disk recordings of past reunions (our family reunion is every two years) which I haven't yet seen until now since my computer broke down. They also took the opportunity to update the list of contact information of relatives (cellphone numbers and email addresses) .... how's that for family efficiency and organization?

Change as a way of life

”You are where your actions and choices have taken you.”

This means that every minor or major decision you make will somehow affect your future ---- whether this be your choice of school, friends, husband/wife, job or public official Or whether you binge on junk food, sex or drugs.

I have the feeling that everyone knows this universal law of cause and effect; some just do not want to be responsible for their own lives. They blame just about everyone for their pathetic situation - God, family, society, government etc. except themselves. You meet these people all the time..they are what you call emotional and financial suckers.

I’m bringing up this topic because I’ve just met one emotional sucker today, Yep the one who rants on and on about how life can be so unfair, as if life has the power to control people's actions.

You can say they are their own worst enemy… those who seem to be enslaved by their vices, those who can’t seem to break a destructive habit. But what is habit anyway but action that is repeated or rather mindlessly done.

Why can’t many people make a habit of continuous improvement ? Doing minor aspects of their life differently and try to see if it works better for them. I haven’t yet met anyone who has embraced change … positive change as a way of life. I’m not talking here of earth moving, revolutionary change but just minor modifications in behavior or appearance.

Who knows, these tiny everyday alterations or modifications could in the end change us for the better, in turn affect the attitude of our family or society towards us and, if luck would have it, contribute to world peace.

Just a thought.

Curbing Philippine Population Growth

The 2008 Philippine population report of the National Statistics Office came out recently. It indicated that population growth in the country, considered one of the highest in the world with a baby born every three minutes, has slowed down for the first time since the 1960s.

Finally, after years of desperate effort from government to slow down baby-production in this country, there is a positive sign that Filipinos have decided to turn their attention instead to activities that are financially rewarding.

It’s about time since there is currently a global food crisis and a looming environment problem.

The Asian Development Bank put the Philippines' population growth rate as of 2006 at 2.1 percent, similar to Laos and Malaysia but higher than Thailand's 0.8 percent rate, Vietnam's 1.4 percent, and Indonesia's 1.3 percent. The Philippines ranks as the second most populous country in Southeast Asia next to Indonesia, which has 222 million people.

More liberal and like minded individuals are hoping that the growth rate will ease further to 1.95 percent or better yet 0.8 percent (similar to Thailand) by 2010 in what economists say would tremendously help the economic development of our country.

An average Filipino family has about 5 members. This is actually more than what a single breadwinner can handle. The good news is that the growing middle class and more opportunities for education has increasingly led Filipinos to delay marriage and families.

A friend who chose to remain single was wondering what the benefits are for having children… considering the enormous amount of money required to raise them. “Are we having children because our society or family expects it?” I said it’s probably because they want companionship or someone to take care of them during old age. She suggested getting a puppy or hiring a caregiver or better yet have more "real" friends who you can treat as family… it’s cheaper. “Besides having children, doesn’t guarantee you’ll get what you want.”

I'm wondering whether some Filipinos are in denial about the population problem. We blame pollution, deforestation, climate change for our environment woes but fail to make the connection on population growth.

Costs of having many children are shouldered not just by the family and the community, but also the environment. Crowded places are heavily import-dependent for the basic needs of their people such as water and food. We need areas to grow rice, corn, fruits etc. We also need space to store water.

Come to think of it, is retaining a natural environment that nourishes both body and soul important to Filipinos ?

Workshop on Value Chain Approach & BDS Market

We recently participated in a workshop entitled Accessing Markets Through the Value Chain Approach and Creating A Functioning Market for Business Development Services (BDS).

The Value Chain Approach aims to open global markets for SMEs. This necessitates a systematic analysis of the various functions along the value chain of priority subsector. A value-chain is an institutional arrangement linking and coordinating producers, processors, traders and distributors of a particular product. It is an economic model which combines the selection of a product and the appropriate technology with a particular way of organizing the actors in order to access the market.

Business Development Services are non-financial services that improve the performance of enterprises, their access to markets and their ability to compete. Effective and responsive BDS are considered as means to achieve higher productivity and efficiency of SMEs.

In the traditional Philippine model for business development, government implements tasks which can be done by BDS providers in the private sector. This workshop was meant to wean government away from doing the BDS tasks such as trade fair organization and market / product development. Hoepfully, in the end, governemnt will concentrate instead on matching BDS providers with SMEs.

What did I find memorable in that workshop ? the LUNCH BUFFET at Parklane Hotel !!

Kidding aside, the workshop was an eye opener and very useful for the office staff. However, I just love so much the hotel's lunch buffet. Maybe I should go back there during my free time.

Success of the Cebu Investment Promotions Center

I recently read on the Net the opening remarks of Rex C. Drilon II, President of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation and Chief Operating Officer of Ortigas & Company on the occasion of the launching of the book “Iloilo: A Rich and Noble Land.”

Drilon mentioned that the new Iloilo Investment Promotions Center (IIPC) was modeled after the tri-sectoral Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC) of Cebu city and province.

After 18 years, the Philippines and the world has finally noticed the efforts of CIPC. I remember several years back when I assisted CIPC in making their presentations. I was still in pony tails and fresh from college. Everyone then was still trying to get acquainted with the work involved. At the same time, they had to contend with a lot of criticisms from the public. But look at them now !

Of course, CIPC's success came with the help of other factors. The economic success of Cebu is also the result of positioning, serious planning, an industrious population and local governments which understand the needs of business. I've always known that electing the right government leaders (not voting based on irrelevant traits such as popularity, physical desirability, relationship etc.... traits that poor, uneducated Filipinos usually consider) is crucial to economic success.

I constantly get exasperated when some people in the country vote for "artistas" simply because they are popular or nice to them. Why vote for an inept person simply because he/she is nice to you? You are not looking for a wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend when you vote. You don't live in the same house with your mayor, governor or president. As long as candidates to government positions are capable and can perform their jobs well, what they are in private is none of our business.

The Economic Boom and The Filipino

If you are a Filipino, here is something to really ponder on. I do agree with Mr. Joey Concepcion, CEO of RFM Corporation and one of the movers of Go Negosyo, on this statement:

“While it is true that the economic boom is happening, it is for those who want to take part of it. You just can't be a citizen of the Philippines and do nothing and expect that if we see a Philippine economic boom, you will instantly get rich…no way my friend, you have to do something! Either invest or start a business.

For those successful in business it’s time we follow the big brother approach so the small would- be entrepreneurs will have a chance to succeed and also partake in the economic boom of this country.

So we all need to develop and offer new business ideas to differentiate from current business models and not just have a “me too” type of business. This is where we hope Go Negosyo thru its vision of “teaching a nation how to fish…” will contribute by getting the big brother mentorship going and the government playing the role also of a father teaching his son how to fish.

I pray that the Go Negosyo advocacy will inspire people to get into business and those who have been successful should in return help others. Thru this process, we hope to see a more vibrant and more prosperous entrepreneurial nation.”
--- Joey Concepcion (February 2007)

So for those Filipinos who still think that wealth is something that just drops from heaven, wake up and get real !