Behind the Scenes
Janette's personal blog that tackles updates and news insights.
Janette's personal blog that tackles updates and news insights.
With my work requiring me to move around, I get the chance to talk to cab drivers a lot. Like most of us, our cab drivers are working hard to survive on a daily basis. Taxi drivers these days earn around 100 to 300 pesos a day. With the increasing fuel prices, a 24-hour cab driver spends like 1500 in fuel alone. Upon return of the taxi to its owner, he also has to pay a boundary of 1000 pesos. If you'll factor in his meal, that would be an additional 100 to 150 pesos a day.
In total, a cab driver should earn a minimum of 2600 to 2800 a day to cover his work expenses. With the traffic and low number of taxi passengers, as a result of higher taxi rates, the net income of a taxi driver if they are lucky will be from 100 to 300 pesos within a straight 24 hours time. Gone are the days when they could earn as much as 1000 a day.
Most taxi drivers in the country belong to the poverty segment of our society. They are the ones who also don't have social security and other traditional benefits that typical employees get. A lot got old with this as their main profession. One cab driver related that because of the low income in order to save on milk, he would grind rice and boil it to make an "am", mix it with milk. As a result, his one box of milk for his child would last up to two weeks.
So next time you have to take a cab and have a little spare, don't hesitate to tip higher than usual. You are helping your fellow Filipino who is working hard to live honestly and survive these hard times.
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The people’s current economic situation continues to be very serious, with hunger rising to 15.5%, and Self-Rated Poverty at 49%, according to the Social Weather Survey of August 26-September 5, 2005.
Hunger rises to 15.5%
Household heads reporting that their families experienced hunger, without having anything to eat, at least once in the past three months, rose to 15.5% in August 2005 or an estimated 2.6 million families from 12.0% in May 2005. This is the second highest national proportion since SWS began surveying it in 1998, after the record high 16.1% in March 2001.
Hunger as of August 2005 is at 18.0% in Balance Luzon, 16.7% in the National Capital Region, 13.3% in the Visayas, and 12.0% in Mindanao.
The hunger proportion has been at double-digits for six successive quarters, raising the 1998-2005 average hunger to 10.4%.
Severe Hunger, defined as families who went hungry Often or Always in the last three months, was at 2.6% in August 2005 over 400,000 families from 2.9% in May 2005.
Moderate Hunger, defined as those who experienced it Once or A Few Times in the last three months, went to 12.9% in August 2005 about 2.1 million families from 9.2% in May 2005.
Compared to May 2005, Severe Hunger rose in Metro Manila, while Moderate Hunger rose across location.
Self-Rated Poverty
The proportion of household heads reporting themselves as Mahirap went to 49% in August 2005, from 57% in May 2005.
The Self-Rated Poor is at 52% in the National Capital Region, 44% in the Balance of Luzon, and 55% in the Visayas, all of which are lower than last May.
Self-Rated Poverty stayed at 52% in Mindanao.
The median self-rated poverty threshold, or the median monthly budget in peso-terms that poor households say they need to escape poverty, went to P12,000 in Metro Manila in August 2005, from P10,000 in May.
Compared to May 2005, the median self-rated poverty threshold stayed at P7,000 in the Balance of Luzon, P6,000 in the Visayas, and P5,000 in Mindanao.
Such money-value thresholds were already reached as early as 5 years ago, even though the cost of living rose greatly every year. The failure of the thresholds to increase despite so much inflation is a sign that the poor are actually lowering their real living standards.
Survey Background
The Social Weather Survey of August 2005 used face-to-face interviews of a national sample of 1,200 statistically representative households divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages and ±6% for area percentages).
The SWS survey questions about household poverty and hunger are directed to the household head. They are standard non-commissioned items in the Social Weather Surveys. The quarterly Social Weather Surveys constitute the world’s most rapid statistical system for directly measuring poverty and hunger at the national level.
SWS confidentially provides its economic indicators on an advance basis to the proper government authorities, as a public service. SWS strongly recommends that analysts integrate these indicators with factors such as agricultural production, food distribution, social welfare operations, wages, cost of living, unemployment, etc. in order to learn how to prolong favorable trends, and how to prevent unfavorable spikes, in poverty and hunger.
It is sad to see what happened to USec Juan Miguel Luz as he got fired by the President as DepEd UnderSecretary. Most sees it in relation to his refusal to accommodate post-dated checks issued to several legislators.
How can we have honest people in government when they are penalized for simply doing their jobs, and uphold what is right and proper, according to law and procedures established by government itself? Is it because he is not a "team player"? But isn't it the interest of the Filipino people who should be protected than those in power?
I look forward to what Juan Miguel Luz has to say, about what happened to him, in the future, when the time is right.
Hello friends. I am scheduled to conduct a 3-day e-commerce training through the APEC Digital Opportunity Center on these dates:
Batch 1
September 26 to 28
Batch 2
September 29 to October 3.
This training is open to SMEs for free. It will be held at the National Computer Center, C. P. Garcia St., U.P. Diliman, Quezon City.
SMEs interested to apply for a slot can email me at [email protected] and will email the application form. You can also call Mercy Nicolas of the APEC Digital Opportunity Center (ADOC) at 920-7976.
Thank you.
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EBIZ TRAINING FOR SMEs
PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION
DESCRIPTION
The EBiz Training Program for SMEs aims to give participants the knowledge, guidelines, strategies, and skills in applying e-commerce to their business.
OBJECTIVES
- Enhance SMEs participation in the digital economy and to support e-business.
- To learn new technology and e-commerce tools for business.
- To provide online and offline collaborative opportunities among SME participants.
METHODOLOGY
- Lectures
- Hands-on exercises
- Group workshop
- Lessons-learned sharing
- With complimentary e-learning facility for uploading of seatwork
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
- Must have knowledge on how to use the Internet
ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS
- Must be an SME
- Must have plans of putting up an e-commerce website or have an existing website
TARGET AUDIENCE
- Small and medium enterprises, maximum of two (2) participants per company
- With preference to rural SMEs
- Will strive to ensure gender balanced participation
REQUIRED SKILLS
- Must know how to use the Internet
COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS
- High school graduate
GRADING SYSTEM
- E-Commerce Project Plan presentation
- Completion of four (4) exercises
COURSE CONTENT
Day 1
- Introduction to E-Commerce
- Advantages and disadvantages of E-Commerce
- Personal and Business Internet Etiquette
- E-Commerce Law
- Types of E-Commerce (Internet Banking, Online Shopping, Mobile Commerce, B2B Commerce)
Day 2
- Internet Payments (Credit/Debit card payment, Mobile payment, Inter-bank fund transfer, Money remittance)
Passive income online
- Internet Marketing (Understanding your market, Online branding, Internet advertising, E-mail marketing)
Day 3
- E-Commerce Project Planning (E-Commerce strategy, Developing the Project Plan, Work breakdown structure, Resource Allocation)
- Presentation of E-Commerce Project Plan
Rey Bautista, Brian Viloria, and Manny Pacquiao made the entire Filipino race proud today by winning their respective boxing matches. At least for this day, we can all set aside our political differences and celebrate this great victory by these galant Filipinos.
I think IT companies who are marketing their services in the U.S. should start considering setting aside great money to advertise during Manny Pacquiao's matches. Let the whole world watching the competition know that we are also a competitive outsourcing hub. Note that there are hardly any Indian or Chinese boxers that have achieved our feat in this arena. Let us capitalize on it!
Manny Pacquiao will likely have a fight again by January 2006. It may be a good opportunity to promote E-Services Philippines 2006.
The Garci factor
The key factor in the negative sentiment is the belief of most Filipinos that GMA's admitted phone calls to "a Comelec official" amounted to instructing him to cheat in the 2004 election, and were not merely meant to protect her votes as she claimed in her June 27 apology.
Among the majority 57% believing that GMA's phone calls gave instructions to cheat, 89% were pro-impeachment, 80% were pro-resignation, and 62% were pro-People-Power.
Among the minority 36% accepting that she called the Comelec official only to protect her votes, a large 68% were nevertheless pro-impeachment, but only 44% were pro-resignation, and only 35% were pro-People-Power.
Mixed opinions about the House and the Senate
The SWS survey found mixed opinions about whether the House of Representatives could decide fairly on the impeachment of President Arroyo and whether the Senate, in case GMA would be impeached, could decide fairly on whether or not to remove her from office.
Only 22% said they had much trust in the House, whereas 29% said they had little trust in it, and 48% felt unsure either way. Only 24% said they had much trust in the Senate, whereas 25% said they had little trust in it, and 50% felt unsure either way.
Similarity to the prelude to Erap's impeachment
These findings are reminiscent of public opinion in 2000, just before the impeachment of President Joseph 'Erap' Estrada. In October 2000, an SWS survey commissioned by the Manila Standard found public belief or disbelief in the charges of Gov. Luis 'Chavit' Singson against Erap as the key factor in framing opinions as to whether the latter should resign.
The said October 2000 SWS survey found 26% with much trust in the House, 19% with little trust in it, and 54% unsure of it, on the matter of making a fair decision on whether to impeach Erap; it found 26% with much trust in the Senate, 17% with little trust in it, and 57% unsure of it, on the matter of reaching a fair verdict in case Erap would be impeached.
Pro-Impeachment Dominant Everywhere
In the new Social Weather Survey, large majorities in all study areas called for GMA's impeachment: 90% in Metro Manila, 82% in Mindanao, 79% in the Balance of Luzon, and 69% in the Visayas.
The higher the socio-economic class, and the higher the schooling, the greater the support for either impeachment or resignation of President Arroyo.
Visayans Divided On Resignation
Pro-resignation sentiment had majorities in Mindanao (72%), Metro Manila (70%), and the Balance of Luzon (65%). Visayans, however, were split into 49% favoring and 50% opposing GMA's resignation.
People Power
The call for People Power to remove GMA in case of non-impeachment was a dominant 51% in favor, versus 26% against, and 23% undecided.
The percentage scores for and against such People Power were 62-25 in Metro Manila, 51-28 in the Balance of Luzon, 40-31 in the Visayas, and 53-21 in Mindanao, with the remainders from 100 percent being the undecided in each area.
The very poor E classes were highly in favor of People Power, by a score of 54-18, followed by the D class or masa, with a score of 51-26.
The middle-to-upper or ABC classes, on the other hand, were split 43-42 on the use of People Power.
Net Satisfaction of PGMA at -23
The August 2005 Social Weather Survey found 30% satisfied and 53% dissatisfied with the performance of GMA, giving her a very low Net Satisfaction Rating of -23.
This was not as bad, however, as in May 2005 when there were 26% satisfied and 59% dissatisfied or a Net Satisfaction Rating of -33, the record low for all Presidents beginning with Corazon Aquino.
The President's net satisfaction rating in the Visayas, where she customarily draws her strongest support, climbed back to merely zero, from -15 in May.
In other areas her net rating was negative, at -44 in NCR, -26 in Mindanao, and -25 in the Balance of Luzon.
GMA's rating rose by 3 points in NCR and by 22 points in the Balance of Luzon, but fell by 14 points in Mindanao.
According to socioeconomic class, her net satisfaction rating was -13 among the middle-to-upper ABCs, -23 among the masa or Ds, and -31 among the very poor Es.
Survey Background
The Social Weather Survey for the 3rd Quarter of 2005 and the Manila Standard-commissioned SWS survey of October 26-30, 2000 both used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages and ±6% for area percentages).
In the new Social Weather Survey, all interviews outside Metro Manila were completed during August 26-31. In Metro Manila, 259 interviews were done over August 26-31; the balance of 41 interviews were completed over September 1-5. Thus, although the inclusive field period for the national sample was August 26 to September 5, 97% of the interviews had been done by the evening of August 31 when the House Committee on Justice voted to reject all the impeachment complaints.
Analysis of the component of the Metro Manila sample consisting of interviews with individuals having landline telephones in their homes shows consistency with the findings of the three telephone surveys done by SWS in Metro Manila from late June to early August 2005.
The items described in this release were not commissioned, but were included on SWS's own initiative.
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As a freelancer, the current political crisis gives a lot of jitters. Will it affect possible project opportunities or training? Since June, I have felt the effects of the crisis in our training programs. I'm partly to blame as I can't market training programs where I get invited to speak to minimize conflict of interest with my regulatory-related work. However, my sister usually has an easy time to get participants but this time it is different, as companies are partly not spending as much as they originally planned for training initiatives. With the increasing number of training competitors as well in the area of software process improvement, dividing that little resource base among us is what is happening at this point.
As we work hard to build relationships with our peers, it is a good feeling when you receive a call to be considered for special projects. The challenge though is meeting deadlines especially when you get the call for fire-fighting situations. Oh well..just keep working hard.
The killing of the impeachment complaint is depressing. Instead of finding out the truth, political clout stand in the way which I believe puts PGMA in a harder spot than ever before. I hope she re-considers her plan in leaving the country next week. With the current political turmoil and a pending Supreme Court petition, anything can happen when she's not around. Worst, she might get voluntarily exiled if a military turnover or Vice President Noli De Castro decides to have a change of heart while she's not here. The Supreme Court decision in the pending appeal, for or against, may have the capacity to trigger it. I guess I'm just too paranoid. Oh well...
While surfing the Internet to monitor our articles that get published online, I stumbled upon 3 articles that brought some old memories.
The first one was from Leo Magno as he gave his perspective on the passage of the E-Commerce Law last June 2000. Getting our solons attention was a result of being tenacious and consistent with principles and values to our cause. This made us different and standout from the rest. Despite limited resources, we got the support necessary to succeed.
Another one is from Edison Ong, one of Manila Bulletin's Infotech columnist and contributor. Back in 1998, we started a one-hour Saturday radio program titled KULIT (Kaalaman, Usapan sa Lingo(ng) Information Technology) at DZAR Angel Radyo. We did it for fun, advocacy, not for money (as we don't get paid). Through it, we were able to expose schools offering computer courses without the appropriate CHED permit. It was a huge issue back then.
In his column, Edison recalled an interview we made with Microsoft employee awardee Sam Jacoba about pirated software. Afterwards, fellow IT writer Jing Garcia also had his I.T. radio program in a government station.
I also had a Sunday 2 hour radio program then titled Jimmick where I just talk about anything under the sun and played music requests. Level-Up's Albert Dela Cruz and IT consultant Franchette Soriano pitch in whenever they had time, then for fun too. As my international trips increased then, I had to make the decision of leaving the radio programs.
Jerry Liao of Infochat also had his share of disseminating I.T. tips through an FM radio station. Infochat is the first I.T. program on television and cherished still the experience of hosting one episode then.
I thought I will had another chance of hosting an I.T. TV program at Net25 but after taping 2 episodes, it didn't pushed through (neither it got aired). I guess it was not meant to be as the Y2K and e-commerce lobbying efforts was at its peak then.
Wow... memories....
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