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The $20 million difference
Michael Alan Hamlin
Selfless, compassionate thoughtfulness?
Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates announced last week during the World Economic Forum that the $37.6 billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made a $19.9 million grant to the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The grant is part of a $306 million agricultural package that almost doubled the foundation’s support for the sector.
According to a statement issued by IRRI, the grant will be released over a three-year period and will benefit 400,000 farmers in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. These beneficiary farmers will receive improved rice varieties developed at IRRI that withstand environmental stresses such as flooding, drought, and salinity. All of the grants provided in the overall package are intended to benefit small farmers, and lift them and their families out of poverty.
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Posted
1/31/2008 9:19:50 AM |
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Parallel universe
Michael Alan Hamlin
Business thrives despite a dysfunctional political system
In a speech before the Foreign Correspondents of the Philippines (FOCAP) last week, Senator Manuel “Mar” A. Roxas II noted that despite the drawbacks of a dysfunctional political system, Philippine business is in many respects thriving. It seems to exists, he said, in a parallel universe, implying that everything wrong with the political realm has been mostly corrected - or at least overcome - in the business sector.
Roxas points to the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, in part, to validate his argument. The industry, according to the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP), generated US$5 billion in revenues last year, up 34% from 2006. BPAP CEO Oscar Sañez said last week that revenues will increase at least another 30% this year, to $7 billion. By 2010, Sañez projects that the Philippines’ BPO industry will generate $12.2 billion in revenues, equivalent to 10% of the global market.
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Posted
1/23/2008 5:08:09 PM |
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Reviving a TV Network
Orly Mercado
So much to be done...
The network I presently head, RPN-9, once called “the leader” has long been marginalized. With much publicized labor problems in the past, and a revolving door for its numerous leaders, morale has been low for a long time. It is woefully over-staffed and most are just waiting to get their retirement pay. Its facilities are outdated and its broadcast footprint shrunk. How does one revive such a network?
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Posted
1/22/2008 12:03:34 PM |
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Asian cities of the future?
Michael Alan Hamlin
Is this survey for real?
Respondents in a recent Asia-wide survey named three Philippine cities among the top 10 “Asian Cities of the Future.” Not surprisingly, Cebu City (8) is one. Now for the surprise: it is outranked by one notch by Quezon City (7). Another somewhat surprising result, at least to some: Davao City rounds out the top 10. Only China had more cities in the top 10 future cities than the Philippines, and that includes Hong Kong.
The survey was conducted by Invest Asia Pacific, a division of Asia Biz Strategy, a Singapore-based consultancy that assists Asian governments and FORTUNE 500 companies alike. According to the firm’s website, Asia Biz Strategy helps Asian governments attract foreign direct investment (FDI), and it maintains two websites, www.AttractiveCities.com and of course www.InvestAsiaPacific.com to promote its clients.
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Posted
1/20/2008 12:10:24 PM |
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Whoops, it happened again
Michael Alan Hamlin
YouTube has become an incredible visibility engine for talented Filipinos
Zoo's lead singer Arnel Pineda probably thought that uploading the band's videos to YouTube would generate some interesting engagements. Did it ever. Pineda was asked to audition for lead singer by Journey lead guitarist Neal Schon after Schon saw Zoo on YouTube. This latest fairytale-like success story was picked up by CNN, and that report can be seen on YouTube here. The story has also been picked up by Reuters.
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Posted
1/15/2008 3:06:02 PM |
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Channel 9
Orly Mercado
Psyching myself up...
I am in the midst of preparing for a corporate planning session tomorrow. I am taking a respite from this task by writing this blog. Now you may ask what crazy company would conduct a planning session as late as the first week of the year. And why would someone need the psychological crutch of unburdening himself just to do the job.
Well, it is arguably the right thing to do if you have only recently accepted the job of being president and CEO of a radio-television network that has had too many changes in leadership. Twenty-one years ago, the Philippine government sequestered it after the fall of President Marcos in the first EDSA people power revolt.
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Posted
1/7/2008 10:35:37 AM |
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OneDomus
Michael Alan Hamlin
2008 could be the year for a Filipino-American entrepreneur and his partner
I’m betting that you’ve had your fill of 2007 flashbacks and 2008 future casting. So for this first column for 2008 I’m doing something completely different: introducing a new social networking website. I understand that you’ve probably grown even wearier of what seems to be endless news and commentary on social websites, which are the latest Web 2.0 e-fad. And I can almost hear your groans as I draft this column in the late morning and lunch hour of New Year’s Eve.
I'm convinced you’ll find this new site of interest though, because it is: 1) developed by a couple of Filipino entrepreneurs who have already made some significant returns on the Web; 2) off to a reasonably good start; and, 3) pushing what its creators argue is a unique value proposition. Under development for what I understand is about a year, the site originally appeared as TheOosh.com, and has recently evolved into OneDomus.com
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Posted
1/2/2008 11:00:29 AM |
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