Assignment for July 15, 2008 1:30-3:00 PM Class

Group Asssignment:

Instructions
1) Read and Understand the article assigned to your group
2) Summarize the article assigned to your group (10-15 sentences). Do not copy sentences verbatim. Express them in your own words. Use the "what, who, when, where,why,how" thought-dissecting technique.
3) Be Ready to report your summary to the class. Submit a printed copy to the Professor. Write your report in Manila paper for class presentation.


Group I - Four and a Half
1. MANILA, Philippines—Philippine exports slowed down to a year-on-year growth of 2.3 percent in May to $4.224 billion, as the global surge in oil and food prices led to tighter demand for non-basic items like electronics.
In April, growth in exports was recorded at 4.9 percent.
Electronics exports, the biggest dollar-earner among Philippine-made goods, fell 3.4 percent year-on-year to $2.473 billion in May, the National Statistics Office reported Thursday.
Total exports from January to May reached $21.085 billion, up 3.1 percent from the same period last year.
The government’s revised exports full-year growth target is 5.0 percent.
Jonathan Ravelas, market strategist for Banco de Oro Unibank, said the slowdown in exports was a reflection of the response of consumers worldwide to rising prices of basic commodities.
“The Philippines’ biggest market for electronics is the United States, and we all know that the US economy is undergoing uncertainty,” Ravelas said in a phone interview. “Due to rising inflation and uncertainty, the ability of American consumers to buy electronics is waning.”
The slowdown in export earnings has been one of the reasons stock market prices in the Philippines have been falling, Ravelas added. But he added there was no need for people to take things negatively.
“When prices are low, it is the best time to buy and invest,” he said.

Group 2 - The Researchers

2) MANILA, Philippines—The peso is expected to depreciate further to 48.00 to the dollar in the third quarter as an offshoot of sustained high inflation and weakening exports, according to projections of Banco de Oro Unibank.
The bank said the slowdown in global demand for Philippine exports would continue to widen the trade deficit, which would affect the exchange rate, a bank official said.
“There is still risk for the peso to depreciate some more in the third quarter,” Banco de Oro market strategist Jonathan Ravelas said in an interview.
“Although there is growth in the remittances from overseas Filipino workers, its positive impact on the peso is being outweighed by the increase in dollar spending for imports due to higher oil prices,” he said.
Philippine imports surged 17.9 percent to $19.462 billion in the period from January to April, largely because of the sharp rise in oil prices. The Philippines imports more than 90 percent of its oil.
The trade deficit reached $2.601 billion in the four months, with a slowdown in exports putting downward pressure on the peso, which recently depreciated to the 44-per-dollar level.

Group 3 - High Five
3) Romulo Neri may be sustained by a different self-image, but to many Filipinos he is damaged goods. He has lost the moral standing, and thus the credibility, to discharge the functions of high office. Appointing him to head the Social Security System (SSS), therefore, can only be seen as political payback: payback for him, for keeping his silence about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s role in the anomalies that marked the national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp. and in politicization of the SSS, to meet the Arroyo administration’s increasingly self-serving objectives.
When Neri testified before the Senate that Benjamin Abalos, then the chairman of the Commission on Elections, had offered him a P200-million bribe, in exchange for approving ZTE Corp.’s bid for the NBN project, he popularized a new phrase in the country’s ever-growing dictionary of corruption: “Sec, may 200 ka dito” (meaning, Secretary, you have P200 million for yourself in this deal).
More crucially, he also faced a crossroads: to stop at that damning revelation, or to tell all. He decided not to say anything further. To strengthen the grip he had placed on the hand covering his mouth, he even petitioned the Supreme Court to enjoin the Senate from asking him potentially revelatory questions about what the President knew, and when she knew it.
This decision, however, did not prevent Neri from meeting with opposition senators, ostensibly to discuss our own version of the axis of evil, so to speak, but in actuality, according to the testimony of Jun Lozada, the Neri associate who helped arrange the meeting, to explore the possibility of raising “patriotic money” to tide Neri along, in case he decided to burn his bridges with the President.
In that meeting at the Asian Institute of Management, Neri lectured, among other topics, on the evil of regulatory capture, the phenomenon where a regulatory agency is held hostage or is indirectly controlled by the very parties it is mandated to regulate. In truth, Neri’s detailed lecture missed the big picture. What is happening under the Arroyo administration is institutional capture, the phenomenon where various institutions of government and society—the House of Representatives, the police, the local governments, the military, even (if critics are to be believed) the Catholic bishops—have been co-opted or marginalized by an over-assertive executive. Neri’s appointment to the SSS means we must add it to the lengthening list.
But the SSS is a major institution, with sound financial controls and, especially under its outgoing administrator, Corazon de la Paz, a robust track record. Surely it isn’t possible for one man to put all of that at risk?

Group 4- Hep, Hep Kids
4) MANILA, Philippines—Nothing that Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. said Thursday about the food crisis is new. The observations made by the former politician, who remains active in (backroom) politics, had been noted before by every government official who spoke on the issue. The big difference, however, is that Cojuangco is putting his money where his mouth is. [See story]
“There is no more important issue today than food security,” said the chair of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), one of Asia’s biggest food and beverage conglomerates. “The defining challenge of the future is to guarantee that people have access to food.” Noting that soaring food prices have forced many millions more of the world’s poor to go hungry, Cojuangco said that “guaranteeing an adequate supply is an important strategic goal for everyone, not just government.”
Ramon Ang, SMC president, added: “We need to boost agricultural production and help insulate our countrymen from the continued volatility of the commodities market.”
How? SMC has a big idea and it is willing to spend big bucks to bring it about. Cojuangco said that the government has identified three million hectares of idle lands that can be planted to various crops, particularly rice, corn, sugarcane, coconut and vegetables. SMC, together with the Malaysian food giant Kuok Group, wants to develop one-third of that, or one million hectares. They plan to invest as much as $1,000 per hectare for their project called “Feeding our Future.” And they guarantee to buy all the produce from the farms that will be developed under the program.

Group 5- Titik-O
5)MANILA, Philippines—As the nation braces itself for another economic storm, we might do well to remember that even in the most adverse of circumstances, the rich and the privileged will continue to live in luxury, almost as if nothing has happened.
Conversely, there will be people who are more vulnerable to the adverse impact of the crisis. Collectively, we say it’s the poor who suffer the most. But even among the poor, there will be differences in vulnerability. I’m thinking of the elderly and the children, and between the two populations, it’ll probably be the children who will take the brunt. This is because the elderly can still fight for their rights within a household or a community. Just look at the feisty senior citizens working to keep their benefits such as discounts from drugstores. Within households, the elderly will also often invoke the cultural premium placed on respect for parents to get their share of the family budget.
Children, on the other hand, are often the first to be sacrificed when families begin to scrimp on budgets with children unable to complain. Food seen to be nutritious will go first to adult males, who are perceived as the breadwinners, then to women, and last to the children.
When an economic crisis strikes, it’s also the children’s education that is often sacrificed. The current crisis could worsen the already serious dropout rate because the spiraling oil prices will mean more increases in public transport fares. Even if public elementary and secondary schools do not charge tuition, an increase in “baon” [food allowance] and transportation could force parents to pull out their children from school.
So far, the national government’s response to the vulnerability of the poor has been subsidies, but the approach is only a stop-gap measure, and could lead to more problems in the future, for several reasons. First, subsidies are doles with no incentive to get people to participate in working out longer-term solutions. Second, subsidies can lead to more expectations of doles. If the subsidies stop, as they have to eventually, people will take this against the administration. Third, there is no guarantee the subsidies go to basic needs. Even if the subsidy is specified for food, it can still go to junk snacks and other products of dubious nutritional quality. Finally, and this goes back to my earlier point, subsidies often add to inequities within households, the expenditures prioritizing adults over the children.

Group 6- 69ers
6)MANILA, Philippines – Marikina’s women police officers are leaving their desks temporarily to teach the city’s young students about their rights and how they can protect themselves from abuse.
The Women and Children’s Protection Desk (WCPD) of Marikina will hold free lectures and seminars in the city’s 27 public schools on children’s rights, crime prevention, and provisions of certain laws like the Anti-Child Abuse Law (R.A. 7610), Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act (R.A. 9344), and the Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
PO4 Nenita Abanes, Marikina WCPD assistant chief, told the Inquirer Thursday that they were going directly to the students because they want to keep the youth aware of their rights and what they could do if these were violated.
“The number of crimes against children is not going down,” said Abanes. She said many cases of child molestation went unreported.
Abanes said almost 85 percent of crimes against children occurred in homes or involved people kids knew. “Offenders often take advantage of a child’s trust. That’s why we want these children to know what constitutes abuse,” said Abanes.
Abanes said in her lectures, she explained to students the importance of reporting abusive behavior like lascivious touching.She added that she stressed the importance of reporting crimes within 24 hours to enable police to apprehend suspects immediately.Abanes said she also taught children the many ways to report offensive or violent acts even if they had no immediate access to the police.

Group 7- One Voice
7)MANILA, Philippines -- A local mobile applications developer believes Smart Communications' entry into the mobile instant messaging market indicates the industry's move to providing more data and Internet Protocol (IP)-based services on faster mobile networks.
"They're moving to offering more data services because of the increasing bandwidth of [mobile] networks," said Roger Delgado, vice president for technical operations of local mobile applications developer D3 Systems.
This was Delgado's reaction to the recent unveiling of Smart's new service, dubbed Uzzap, which combines existing short messaging service (SMS) with more Internet-centric instant messaging services that have become a popular messaging platform on the web.
D3 Systems was also among the local companies that developed a mobile application, dubbed Yehba, which offers mobile instant messaging.Other mobile networks have also ventured into mobile instant messaging. Sun Cellular has been providing similar mobile instant messaging service through its Sun iMessenger, while Globe Telecom has myGlobe IM, which is powered by Chikka. Chikka is a local company that has been in the business of providing mobile instant messaging for the past eight years. It also powered a similar service for Smart, dubbed iChat Messenger.
"This is welcome news for us because this initiative will increase awareness on mobile instant messaging," Vince Corpus, director for product development in Chikka Asia.
"We would not think that they [Smart] would compete with us directly since Chikka targets web-based users," he added, when asked to react about Smart Uzzap.
Ramon Isberto, Smart public affairs head, agreed. Isberto said the company's entry in the mobile instant messaging market hints the emergence of more IP-based services in mobile networks.
"With the increasing capabilities of both the handset and the networks to handle IP-based applications, this service [Uzzap] is in line with this trend," Isberto said.
With the coming of next-generation mobile networks like High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Isberto said the mobile "IP highway" is expected to become more "robust." In turn, the local market will see more web-like services entering the mobile market.

Group 7- 4 Titans
7)MANILA, Philippines -- A local mobile applications developer believes Smart Communications' entry into the mobile instant messaging market indicates the industry's move to providing more data and Internet Protocol (IP)-based services on faster mobile networks.
"They're moving to offering more data services because of the increasing bandwidth of [mobile] networks," said Roger Delgado, vice president for technical operations of local mobile applications developer D3 Systems.
This was Delgado's reaction to the recent unveiling of Smart's new service, dubbed Uzzap, which combines existing short messaging service (SMS) with more Internet-centric instant messaging services that have become a popular messaging platform on the web.
D3 Systems was also among the local companies that developed a mobile application, dubbed Yehba, which offers mobile instant messaging.Other mobile networks have also ventured into mobile instant messaging. Sun Cellular has been providing similar mobile instant messaging service through its Sun iMessenger, while Globe Telecom has myGlobe IM, which is powered by Chikka. Chikka is a local company that has been in the business of providing mobile instant messaging for the past eight years. It also powered a similar service for Smart, dubbed iChat Messenger.
"This is welcome news for us because this initiative will increase awareness on mobile instant messaging," Vince Corpus, director for product development in Chikka Asia.
"We would not think that they [Smart] would compete with us directly since Chikka targets web-based users," he added, when asked to react about Smart Uzzap.
Ramon Isberto, Smart public affairs head, agreed. Isberto said the company's entry in the mobile instant messaging market hints the emergence of more IP-based services in mobile networks.
"With the increasing capabilities of both the handset and the networks to handle IP-based applications, this service [Uzzap] is in line with this trend," Isberto said.
With the coming of next-generation mobile networks like High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Isberto said the mobile "IP highway" is expected to become more "robust." In turn, the local market will see more web-like services entering the mobile market.


Group 8- Ignacios's Angels
8)MANILA, Philippines -- Following separate announcements of the European Union and Malaysia of stricter policies against illegal migrants, South Korea has stepped up its own campaign to chase out illegal migrant workers, an alliance of overseas Filipino workers in the north Asian country said in a statement Thursday.
Pol Bar, president of the Katipunan ng mga Samahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea (Kasammako), said South Korean immigration authorities use tasers (electroshock weapons) and electric stun guns in rounding up migrant workers.
He also cited instances where even pregnant women and men who are sick were arrested, incarcerated and consequently deported by the police.
Bar, whose Kasammako is a member organization of Migrante, called South Korea's intensified crackdown and deportation "treacherous" and "a contradiction to the well publicized notion that South Korean society is becoming a humane multi-cultural society."
"The intensive crackdown has forcibly deported thousands of migrant workers in spite of their health and family conditions," he said.
As of December 2007, there are a total of 80,715 Filipinos in South Korea, according to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. Of the number, 6,187 are permanent residents, 62,528 are temporary, and an estimated 12,000 are irregular.
Bar's report prompted Migrante International chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado to urge the Arroyo government to file a diplomatic protest against South Korea for its manner of arresting and deporting undocumented workers.
Regalado said President Lee Myung-Bak's marching orders issued last February were to flush out "unregistered aliens" in their country. She said immigration authorities there were given monthly quota of 3,000 arrests and deportations.
In Seoul and Busan, where Filipinos abound, the quotas are 600 and 250 respectively.
Regalado also criticized the quota system, which has "emboldened [South Korean authorities] to undertake Gestapo-like arrests, indiscriminately raiding work places, train stations, and churches even without a warrant."