U.S. Embassy Manila's official YouTube Channel features TV5 News Anchors Cherie Mercado and Paolo Bediones welcoming President Barack Obama to the Philippines
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Sunday, April 27, 2014
Paolo Bediones and Cherie Mercado Welcome President Obama to the Philippines
U.S. Embassy Manila's official YouTube Channel features TV5 News Anchors Cherie Mercado and Paolo Bediones welcoming President Barack Obama to the Philippines
Monday, April 21, 2014
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PAL Express is not a budget airline, executive says
By: Cherie Mercado, News 5, InterAksyon.com
Published: August 14, 2013 3:09 PM
PAL Express is not a budget airline.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) senior vice president for operations Nicky Gozon made this declaration last week, during the blessing of the company's newly-acquired a321 that arrived from the Airbus’ assembly line in Hamburg Germany.
PAL and PAL Express are one and the same in terms of safety and quality, Gozon emphasized, underscoring the branding strategy that the company will pursue in the coming days.
Currently, PAL management is in the thick of implementing its modernization program and reverse losses--worth more than P4 billion--and be profitable by next year.
PAL, which has pulled out of the domestic market, retained flights to high-density domestic routes of Cebu, Davao, and Gen San. But all other domestic flights will be served by PAL Express.
The new aircraft that just arrived is the first of the 65 Airbus ordered by PAL in their plans to add international destinations in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
The order was for 45 single-aisle A321s with a 199 seating capacity and tri-class cabins (business, premium economy, and economy) and 10 wide-body A330s with a 300 seating capacity for longer routes, and still the option of ordering 10 more A330s next month.
Additional flights for this year will include:
Doha (Qatar) November 1
Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam (Saudi Arabia), December 1;
Dubai (United Arab Emirates), November 1 (to be operated by PAL Express)
Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) October 1
London England (before end of 2013)
A composite team from the company is currently in London and will proceed to Paris to fix ground handling details for their flights.
While Manila-London might be possible for this year, Paris and Amsterdam are eyed to shortly follow by first quarter of next year.
On the domestic front, it is the perception of strict adherence to safety and competence of staff and crew that PAL would like to transfer to PAL Express as they compete in the budget carrier arena.
PAL will standardize training of staff and crew, airline operations and marketing for both PAL and PAL Express so they fall into one branding.
An insider also hinted on implementing promo fares for PAL express that may start as early as next month with fares going as low as budget fares on certain periods and destinations.
If PAL Express is not a budget airline, but is not offering business class seats then what category would it fall into?
“Somewhere in between” is how one officer describes it. Pretty much like premium economy seats--in between business and economy. Maybe they should call it a “premium low cost carrier.”
Published: August 14, 2013 3:09 PM
PAL Express is not a budget airline.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) senior vice president for operations Nicky Gozon made this declaration last week, during the blessing of the company's newly-acquired a321 that arrived from the Airbus’ assembly line in Hamburg Germany.
PAL and PAL Express are one and the same in terms of safety and quality, Gozon emphasized, underscoring the branding strategy that the company will pursue in the coming days.
Currently, PAL management is in the thick of implementing its modernization program and reverse losses--worth more than P4 billion--and be profitable by next year.
PAL, which has pulled out of the domestic market, retained flights to high-density domestic routes of Cebu, Davao, and Gen San. But all other domestic flights will be served by PAL Express.
The new aircraft that just arrived is the first of the 65 Airbus ordered by PAL in their plans to add international destinations in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
The order was for 45 single-aisle A321s with a 199 seating capacity and tri-class cabins (business, premium economy, and economy) and 10 wide-body A330s with a 300 seating capacity for longer routes, and still the option of ordering 10 more A330s next month.
Additional flights for this year will include:
Doha (Qatar) November 1
Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam (Saudi Arabia), December 1;
Dubai (United Arab Emirates), November 1 (to be operated by PAL Express)
Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) October 1
London England (before end of 2013)
A composite team from the company is currently in London and will proceed to Paris to fix ground handling details for their flights.
While Manila-London might be possible for this year, Paris and Amsterdam are eyed to shortly follow by first quarter of next year.
On the domestic front, it is the perception of strict adherence to safety and competence of staff and crew that PAL would like to transfer to PAL Express as they compete in the budget carrier arena.
PAL will standardize training of staff and crew, airline operations and marketing for both PAL and PAL Express so they fall into one branding.
An insider also hinted on implementing promo fares for PAL express that may start as early as next month with fares going as low as budget fares on certain periods and destinations.
If PAL Express is not a budget airline, but is not offering business class seats then what category would it fall into?
“Somewhere in between” is how one officer describes it. Pretty much like premium economy seats--in between business and economy. Maybe they should call it a “premium low cost carrier.”
Sen. Francis Pangilinan: 'My conscience is clear. I didn't abuse PDAF'
By: Cherie Mercado, InterAksyon.com
Published September 27, 2013 4:45 PM
He didn't want to talk about the PDAF. He didn't want to talk about the Senate or anything about politics.
After all, we were in his farm, on a foggy Wednesday morning with a soft drizzle, the cool breeze, fresh air, and the stunning view of Batangas mountains and coastal areas.
He talked passionately about his plants. His robusta and barako coffee plants that used to dominate the lands of Alfonso Cavite. He showed me peppercorns growing from the vines, he told me how banana trees have to be cut off once they bear fruit but they immediately grow another stalk in place of the mature one.
There's cacao, kaong, lettuce, basil, parsley, thyme, eggplants okra and maybe every vegetable in the song "Bahay Kubo".
He showed me how to make coco vinegar. He scooped up vermicompost with his bare hands, sifting the worms in the wet soil.
He lovingly fed his native chickens and proudly showed me his native pigs and their piglets.
He introduced me to their carabao Berky and showed me Miel's rabbit in one of the cages. He doesn't use any chemicals or pesticides in his farm. He tries to raise everything naturally and he sighs at the challenges of organic farming.
His farm is not fancy. It is two years old and basic. No fancy walkways or lounges. His chairs are mono blocks. There's a small house for the farm staff made of untreated hollow blocks and screen doors. The toilet is the type you'd find in provinces with a very low seat, without the back water tank as there is no flush. I find it very real and down to earth.
But at the same time, he's building a farmhouse which will have a stunning view of mountains and coastal areas. That might be a little more fancy as it will house his family which of course includes wife megastar Sharon Cuneta and their four kids.
When I bring back the topic of PDAF, he is forced to blink and consciously shift his mind to his not-so-distant past (he's been a senator for 12 years), politely answering all my questions regarding where his funds went and allegations on singling out the strong opposition contenders and saving administration allies like him from shame and prosecution.
“My conscience is clear. We did not abuse the PDAF. We allocated it as best we could in terms of making sure hindi aabusin up until today. We can still say categorically say that we did not abuse the PDAF.”
Although he was mentioned in a Commission on Audit report with some 11 million pesos worth of questionable transactions, he was not accused of channeling it through dubious non-government organizations.
The report questioned the acquisition of mostly barangay equipment like computers, laminating machines, DSLR cameras, DVDs, and digital monitors that were either missing or defective or lacked proper documentation and bidding.
It was supposed to have been requested by 17 barangays in Quezon City. It also includes a two million construction project also in Quezon City.
According to the ex-senator, he’s open to investigation.
They did an internal check and they found out that some barangay captains did not turn over said equipment to their successors or have not followed proper procedures upon receiving the funds.
He said that a barangay, as a government unit should be accountable for its own actions.
And since COA undertakes audits four years after, that could explain why some equipment have already been damaged or could not be found. He explains that most of his PDAF went to projects of Gawad Kalinga and some school building projects of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce whose classrooms are one-half of standard government costs.
He regrets what's happening with how much funds are being diverted away from intended beneficiaries.
He shared one thing Pnoy once said to them. "Dati ang politiko namomorsyento sa proyekto, ngayon ang proyekto na lang ang namomorsyento sa politico."
He also has much to say about the plight of our farmers.
"Society has looked down upon agriculture and farming as menial, dirty. Sa Thailand, sabi ng king, the backbone of the country is the farmers. Sa Chinam sa Confucian teaching, second in the hierarchy ang farmer. First is the teacher, the philosopher because they feed our minds, second ang farmer because yun ang nagpapakain sa atin. Dito anong turing natin sa farmer mangmang, hampas lupa, patay gutom, di dapat tularan. Sa rural areas sasabihin nila tutal anak mahina ka naman sa math, dito ka na lang sa bukid hayaan mo na mga kapatid mo mag aral. And that's why we're poor."
Having first hand experience of heavy rains wiping out his crops, he now has a more intimate knowledge of what farmers go through, with the latter having little or no support from the government. It's no wonder the huge agricultural potential of our country has gone to waste.
"Malaysia is a huge exporter of agricultural products worth $27 billion a year. Vietnam exports $7 billion worth of agricultural crops. The Philippines? We import. A net value of $1 billion a year.”
As we fed his potbellied pigs, he jokes that these are the only "pork" he deals with nowadays.
“But pigs are very intelligent animals. They're the 3rd most intelligent animal after the chimps and the dolphins. Wag natin silang babuyin."
Published September 27, 2013 4:45 PM
After all, we were in his farm, on a foggy Wednesday morning with a soft drizzle, the cool breeze, fresh air, and the stunning view of Batangas mountains and coastal areas.
He talked passionately about his plants. His robusta and barako coffee plants that used to dominate the lands of Alfonso Cavite. He showed me peppercorns growing from the vines, he told me how banana trees have to be cut off once they bear fruit but they immediately grow another stalk in place of the mature one.
There's cacao, kaong, lettuce, basil, parsley, thyme, eggplants okra and maybe every vegetable in the song "Bahay Kubo".
He showed me how to make coco vinegar. He scooped up vermicompost with his bare hands, sifting the worms in the wet soil.
He lovingly fed his native chickens and proudly showed me his native pigs and their piglets.
He introduced me to their carabao Berky and showed me Miel's rabbit in one of the cages. He doesn't use any chemicals or pesticides in his farm. He tries to raise everything naturally and he sighs at the challenges of organic farming.
His farm is not fancy. It is two years old and basic. No fancy walkways or lounges. His chairs are mono blocks. There's a small house for the farm staff made of untreated hollow blocks and screen doors. The toilet is the type you'd find in provinces with a very low seat, without the back water tank as there is no flush. I find it very real and down to earth.
But at the same time, he's building a farmhouse which will have a stunning view of mountains and coastal areas. That might be a little more fancy as it will house his family which of course includes wife megastar Sharon Cuneta and their four kids.
When I bring back the topic of PDAF, he is forced to blink and consciously shift his mind to his not-so-distant past (he's been a senator for 12 years), politely answering all my questions regarding where his funds went and allegations on singling out the strong opposition contenders and saving administration allies like him from shame and prosecution.
“My conscience is clear. We did not abuse the PDAF. We allocated it as best we could in terms of making sure hindi aabusin up until today. We can still say categorically say that we did not abuse the PDAF.”
Although he was mentioned in a Commission on Audit report with some 11 million pesos worth of questionable transactions, he was not accused of channeling it through dubious non-government organizations.
The report questioned the acquisition of mostly barangay equipment like computers, laminating machines, DSLR cameras, DVDs, and digital monitors that were either missing or defective or lacked proper documentation and bidding.
It was supposed to have been requested by 17 barangays in Quezon City. It also includes a two million construction project also in Quezon City.
According to the ex-senator, he’s open to investigation.
They did an internal check and they found out that some barangay captains did not turn over said equipment to their successors or have not followed proper procedures upon receiving the funds.
He said that a barangay, as a government unit should be accountable for its own actions.
And since COA undertakes audits four years after, that could explain why some equipment have already been damaged or could not be found. He explains that most of his PDAF went to projects of Gawad Kalinga and some school building projects of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce whose classrooms are one-half of standard government costs.
He regrets what's happening with how much funds are being diverted away from intended beneficiaries.
He shared one thing Pnoy once said to them. "Dati ang politiko namomorsyento sa proyekto, ngayon ang proyekto na lang ang namomorsyento sa politico."
He also has much to say about the plight of our farmers.
"Society has looked down upon agriculture and farming as menial, dirty. Sa Thailand, sabi ng king, the backbone of the country is the farmers. Sa Chinam sa Confucian teaching, second in the hierarchy ang farmer. First is the teacher, the philosopher because they feed our minds, second ang farmer because yun ang nagpapakain sa atin. Dito anong turing natin sa farmer mangmang, hampas lupa, patay gutom, di dapat tularan. Sa rural areas sasabihin nila tutal anak mahina ka naman sa math, dito ka na lang sa bukid hayaan mo na mga kapatid mo mag aral. And that's why we're poor."
Having first hand experience of heavy rains wiping out his crops, he now has a more intimate knowledge of what farmers go through, with the latter having little or no support from the government. It's no wonder the huge agricultural potential of our country has gone to waste.
"Malaysia is a huge exporter of agricultural products worth $27 billion a year. Vietnam exports $7 billion worth of agricultural crops. The Philippines? We import. A net value of $1 billion a year.”
As we fed his potbellied pigs, he jokes that these are the only "pork" he deals with nowadays.
“But pigs are very intelligent animals. They're the 3rd most intelligent animal after the chimps and the dolphins. Wag natin silang babuyin."
Henares wants to leave behind a reformed BIR so she can study medicine afterwards
Published: August 1, 2013 5:40 PM
Kim S. Jacinto-Henares now gets recognized wherever she goes.
People want their photos taken with her--just like a celebrity--and she gamely obliges.
However, she feels ambivalent about this new-found recognition.
After all, Henares seeks to wean Filipinos away from being personality-centered, an aspiration that fits in with the list of things she wants to accomplish as the head of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Philippine government's largest source of funds.
If there's just one legacy she wishes to leave at the BIR, it is this: she’d like to leave a system that works, no matter who’s at the helm.
She’s not out to please anyone--except maybe the President--and is focused on implementing the law. Earlier, she said that if there are complaints regarding tax regulations, then people should go to Congress to change the rules. But while the rules are there, it's her job to implement them, she said.
So what’s behind the woman behind BIR’s first trillion-peso collection, which, in turn, is partly responsible for credit ratings agencies’ upgrade of the Philippines to investment status?
For one thing, she's a straight arrow. She's a diligent worker too.
Having headed the bureau for the past three years, she believes that only 10 percent of the agency's 12,000 employees are rotten eggs. However small, that number is still enough to put the whole institution in disrepute.
Despite that, Henares wants the bureau's employees to be exempted from the Salary Standardization Law, allowing the agency to give incentives based on merits. She recognizes that its tough for an examiner to collect millions in taxes and earn just above minimum wage.
She would also rather not trumpet to the public the few BIR personnel who are and have been investigated either administratively thru an internal group or by the Department of Finances RIPS (Revenue Integrity Protection Service) or by the Ombudsman.
"We don’t announce to the world because there is no need," she said. "It only becomes noisy when the person involved complains and bring the case all the way up to the civil service or in court."
She also admits it might be close to impossible to stamp out corruption even as she has given the agency's employees the chance to be part in the reforms.
"When I came in, I told them that this is your chance for change. And as far as I’m concerned from this point onward, you do what is right you don’t have anything to fear and I won’t make any judgment but that doesn’t mean that I’m absolving you from past sins," she said.
The bad eggs were unable to prevent the bureau from surpassing a trillion-peso collection under her watch, something which she refuses to claim credit for.
"It will eventually happen," she said. "Someone will eventually hit that mark because of increasing targets, it just so happened that it did during our time."
Small, medium-sized businesses take extra effort to pay taxes
Thanks to reforms at the bureau, owners of small to medium-sized businesses have taken extra efforts to pay taxes.
New regulations have made it tougher for businesses to cheat on their taxes, said Tin Ferrera, an entrepreneur and accountant handling the books of several companies.
But at the same time, the BIR should also find ways to make it easier for businesses to remit their obligations, Ferrera said.
She said small and medium-sized enterprises which cannot afford to purchase expensive accounting systems use Microsoft Excel, which is not accredited by the BIR.
"I think the BIR should make it easier for taxpayers also," she said.
As a condo owner, Ferrera also doesn’t agree with a bureau regulation charging taxes on association dues of subdivisions and condo units. "These should not be considered income as they use the money to provide services and make the area livable for the residents. The association will pass on that tax to the residents, making it more burdensome," she said.
Paul Farol, a writer, blogger, and head of a family with a child requiring special care, shared Ferrara's concerns.
As a member of the employed middle-class, who pays 20 to 25 percent of his income in taxes, Farol expressed frustration that he's getting very little in the way of government services.
"An employee who makes P50,000 a month with say, one child automatically gets deducted Php 10,751," Farol said. "Add the Pag-ibig, SSS, and Philhealth deductions, it adds up to P11,788. In one year, he would’ve given the government P141,000 in taxes. Higher than his one child's tuition fee in a private school. But what services are the middle class getting?"
"Hindi naman sa minamata ang mga mahihirap pero lahat ng disaster aid goes to them. You look at the usual informal settler community, that’s where all the health services go, the police, the fire brigade its usually deployed in the poorer areas because that’s where incidents needing them usually happen," he said. "The middle class don’t benefit from subsidized schooling, they don’t send their kids to public schools.”
Farol added: "We're hoping for more services for the middle class. We’re nine percent answering for 20 percent of the tax basket [based on an SWS survey]. Like transportation, if you have a car, you pay for maintenance or repair of roads. If you take public transport, anong state ng MRT at LRT natin? Transportation costs for the ordinary employee is P100-120 a day. Malaki yun. Kung yun lang ang masosolusyunan malaki igagaan sa empleyado."
The Philippines' tax chief recognizes these sentiments as valid.
However, being focused on the task at hand, she said she can only do so much and does not bother herself with what is not under her powers as BIR chief.
She said she wants her reforms in the BIR in place by 2014, and intends to pass on a system that works for her successor.
Which explains why by 2016, after President Aquino's term, she’d like to enroll in medical school and pursue her dreams to be a doctor.
Who knows? Maybe we’ll see her heading the Department of Health after she earns her medical degree.
Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/67735/cherie-mercado--henares-wants-to-leave-behind-a-reformed-bir-so-she-can-study-medicine-afterwards
Friday, April 18, 2014
POORLY MADE IN CHINA by Paul Midler
Cherie's Book Recommendation: Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game by Paul Midler
Cherie's Notes: A revealing book on how China factories do business and deal with the world's rising demand for cheaper goods. Although one must keep in mind its from a Westerner's perspective.
References:
Cherie's Notes: A revealing book on how China factories do business and deal with the world's rising demand for cheaper goods. Although one must keep in mind its from a Westerner's perspective.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
BLINK by Malcolm Gladwell
Cherie's Book Recommendation: BLINK by Malcolm Gladwell
Cherie's Notes: "The power of thinking without thinking" -- the best thing about this book is proving that instinctive decision makers aren't so crazy after all! (Yes me!).
Malcolm Gladwell talks about his book, "Blink" with Canadian pollster and media pundit Allan Gregg.
References:
Cherie's Notes: "The power of thinking without thinking" -- the best thing about this book is proving that instinctive decision makers aren't so crazy after all! (Yes me!).
Malcolm Gladwell talks about his book, "Blink" with Canadian pollster and media pundit Allan Gregg.
References:
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