Cerritos City Councilmember Mark E. Pulido was recently honored with the inaugural APAICS Trailblazer Award from the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) for his achievements in public service.

Congresswoman Linda Sánchez, a member of APAICS, presented the award to Pulido at a special May 8 event held in Washington D.C. as part of the APAICS celebration of the 20^th Anniversary of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

As part of the celebration, Pulido also attended a private meeting with President Barack Obama, former Cabinet Member Norman Y. Mineta and several members of Congress. (Click here to watch President Obama’s speech at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Annual Gala.)

“I am humbled and honored to have received the APAICS Trailblazer Award. It was also a tremendous honor to meet President Obama. I was pleased to invite him to visit the City of Cerritos and experience our thriving multi-cultural community,” Pulido said. 

Pulido is an alumnus of the APAICS program and was selected to receive the first APAICS Trailblazer Award for his achievements in public service.

Pulido, a longtime Cerritos resident, was an ABC School Board member before being elected to the Cerritos City Council in March 2011, when he drew the most votes ever recorded in the city’s election history. He is also the first Filipino American on the Cerritos City Council.

Gloria Chan, Esq., President and CEO of APAICS, wrote to Councilmember Pulido and invited him to be “recognized as one of our stellar alumni.”

She added: “You serve as a role model to the next generation of our community’s leaders, and have helped mentor countless to pursue careers in public service. APAICS is truly proud to call you a member of our ever-growing family.”

The APAICS celebration of the 20^th Anniversary of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month drew the largest gathering of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) ever in the nation’s capital. An estimated 1,000 AAPI community, government, arts and business leaders attended this year’s celebration.

APAICS is a national non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Asian Pacific American participation and representation at all levels of the political process, from community service to elected office.

- City of Cerritos and MarieSam Sanchez

SOURCE: Cerritos-Artesia Patch, http://cerritos.patch.com/articles/cerritos-councilman-mark-pulido-meets-obama-honored-with-apaics-trailblazer-award

As I read euphoria on Facebook, twitter, and, funny enough, even google+, I agree that this day is historic, as historic as the day when the first Black President of the US was sworn into office, when the Affordable Care Act was passed, and when Filipino WWII veterans could finally collect some of their service-connected benefits previously denied by Public Law 70-301, known as the Rescission Act of 1946 (see http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/sfeature/bataan_filipino.html).

As the late Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice” — and this idea rings true today. When life teaches me basic truths about being human, I cannot help but hear and see better. When there are observable examples of how to be a champion for what is righteous, for what is just, I cannot help but be inspired..

In an election year when ‘big, sudden movements’ are discouraged for the political risks they may bring to a candidate, Pres. Obama courageously embraced a position that is righteous and that is just. These words–righteous, just–are often taken for granted, even misused; but today, the courage of the first Black President in the most powerful country in the world exemplifies their true meaning.

What drives me to extoll moments as wild as this is my core belief that equality is not a unicorn of social science, but a plausible fixture of humanity.

The arc of the universe bends toward justice, indeed. As an immigrant and a social worker, I am fundamentally moved by progress in widening civil rights. And it is not the ‘victim mentality’ that shapes my lens to the world for I truly do not see my self a victim. What drives me to extoll moments as wild as this is my core belief that equality is not a unicorn of social science, but a plausible fixture of humanity.

It is equality that demonstrates, illustrates, nurtures, and sustains our humanity. Oppression corrodes what makes us human, spoiling it across generations, and for reasons as artificial as socially-constructed ideas of race, class, and gender.

I don’t buy arguments that equality is existential because to accept this idea would mean that reality must and can only be oppressive. To me equality is an inherent aspect of human life and the vitality that sets our kind apart. To me, equality is akin to the idea of ‘heat’, and oppression–its opposite–like ‘cold’. Heat is what exists because the universe is made up of energy, and it is energy that we measure when we think of ‘heat’. Cold does not exist on its own; it exists only in the absence of heat, without energy, with degraded vitality.

Similarly, I believe that our humanity is the foremost character of our nature. It is what enables us to think, to empathize, and to dream. In my view, our humanity is more consistent with the idea of equality than is oppression. It is equality that demonstrates, illustrates, nurtures, and sustains our humanity. Oppression corrodes what makes both oppressor and oppressed human, spoiling it over generations, and for reasons as artificial as socially-constructed ideas of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.   .

I dedicate this post to Gem Daus, Noel Alumit, and Jury Candelario, and other brave friends actively engaged in advocating equality for the LGBTQI community. To the LGBTQI community, this day is your unveiling.

—–Originally posted on Nov 4, 2008 as “What Nov 4 means for one Filipino American”——-

Fired up???!! Ready to go???!!!

I write this on the eve of election day, and I can’t help but think of tomorrow. As each of us casts perhaps the most important vote we will ever cast tomorrow, I am buoyed by great hope that cannot be contained and an imagination that wants to run wild.

“What will tomorrow bring?” — This rhetorical expression has never been more appropriate; for if the promise of Obama materializes into a dramatic cultural, political and social change that has been long-deferred, that has been truncated by the selfishness of the 1980s and 1990s, then tomorrow brings a bright and glorious morning.

Tomorrow is the rebirth of ethnic minorities in America. Tomorrow is our unveiling.

We will finally matter. We will finally be vital.

And even us, Filipino Americans, will no longer be invisible.

I am neither a politician, nor do I aspire to be. But I am a proud Filipino American. I am fired up, and am ready to go. 37 more hours until the reveal!!!

Many Filipinos outside the US are probably wondering why this election matters so much to Filipino Americans like me. The obvious generic answers are easy: a compassionate, unifying government that advocates for the marginalized; policies that favor the people not the privileged few; political leadership that inspires hope and that is deserving of respect.

The particular answer that resonates among minorities and the youth is more below the radar. For me, this new community of idealists, progressives, open-minded cosmopolitans that was built by sheer inspiration over the course of the 2-year Obama campaign has given me new life. It has given me a sense of home.

As a Filipino American, I am neither Filipino, nor American. I am in an unknowable middle ground where there is no place called home. The otherness I feel is isolating and it can be disempowering, especially when surrounded by a mainstream culture that is prejudiced and uncaring that I feel unwelcome.

One easily becomes a fighter, an activist out of anger and the need for self-preservation. Thus, I am kin to idealists who want to see the world as it should be. And Obama is my prophet.

So, for this Filipino American, tomorrow, Nov 4, means a self reborn. And I find myself fortunate.

By: Michelle V. Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The Asian Development Bank has urged the Philippines to aim for high level of industrialization—indicated by an ability to produce and export more goods—to squarely address the long-standing problem of poverty.

In a comprehensive study on the Philippines titled “Taking the Right Road to Inclusive Growth,” ADB said poverty incidence in the country has remained high, even if the economy has been growing year after year, because of weak industrialization.

ADB said that the services sector, led by businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) firms such as call centers, has indeed helped keep the economy growing but the sector’s success has not had a significant effect toward poverty reduction. The country could lift more people out of poverty by boosting the industry sector, including manufacturing, the ADB said.

The industry sector, unlike the service sector, is capital-intensive and provides jobs even to individuals with low educational attainment, according to the ADB.

Latest official poverty statistics showed that Filipinos living below the poverty line accounted for 26.5 percent of the country’s population as of 2009, the highest among emerging Asian economies. The figure marked an increase from the 26.4 percent in 2006 and the 24.4 percent in 2003, even as the economy actually grew during the period.

“Despite high and sustained growth over the 2000s, the Philippines has failed to generate inclusive growth that is broad-based across the sectors and benefits the entire population. The country’s standing problems of unemployment, poverty and low investments remain,” the ADB said in the report.

To achieve the level of industrialization that the country needs to trim poverty incidence, the Philippines must come up with a road map that identifies measures that will increase private-sector investments in the production of more goods, besides intermediate electronics goods that account for the bulk of the country’s export revenues, according to the ADB.

One policy recommendation is for the country to identify more products that it can competitively sell offshore so that export revenues will rise and more domestic jobs will be created. ADB pointed to a wide range of products – from machinery, food and jewelry to musical instruments and fabrics – that the Philippines couldinvest in to become a more competitive exporting country.

Once the products are identified, the government should implement measures that will address problems that prevent the private sector from investing in the manufacture of these products, according to the ADB.

ADB suggested the creation of councils that would be in charge of conducting dialogues between the government and the private sector on the needs of the latter to invest and generate decent profits.

“This problem (of inviting private firms to invest in target products) could be alleviated by setting up an institution to interact with the private sector in identifying firms’ obstacles in exporting new goods, and determining the most appropriate interventions,” ADB said.

ADB said that other emerging Asian economies, unlike the Philippines, were able to significantly trim their poverty rates over the past decade because of stronger efforts toward industrialization.

“This is not to suggest that the growing services sector, in particular the BPO industry, should not be the centerpiece of the long-term development strategy… [However], without dynamic industrial development, the country will continue to suffer from the long-standing problems of high unemployment, slow poverty reduction, and low investment,” the ADB said.

SOURCE: Philippine Daily Inquirer Online, http://business.inquirer.net/54317/adb-urges-philippines-to-push-industrialization-in-cutting-poverty

The lead character’s name is Aponidaydayawen (“The grandchild of one whom we respect” in Ilocano, my native language), and his journey mirrors mine. His is a story of manhood, a probe into the inner life of men striving to find meaning as they fulfill their roles in their family and community. His is a story about war: the loud, violent flirtation with self-destruction we do with one another, and the hidden, secret struggle we fight within as we resolve the issues that break us. Bringing him to life was deeply therapeutic; and giving him a community to interact with remains the most creative thing I have ever done so far.

I will keep you posted here as far as the publication date. The editing process nears its end.

**** From Silicon Valley Mercury News ****

Windfall of cash could hit state treasury from global warming program

For the past 10 years, California has struggled with huge budget deficits and wrenching cuts. Suddenly, however, the state is poised to raise billions from an unusual new source: the proceeds from its landmark global warming law.

The windfall could come as soon as this fall, when state officials are set to begin auctioning off pollution credits to oil refineries, power plants and other major polluters as part of a new “cap-and-trade” system.

The amounts are potentially enormous: from $1 billion to $3 billion a year in 2012 and 2013, jumping to as high as $14 billion a year by 2015, according to the nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst’s Office. By comparison, the state’s current budget deficit is $9 billion.

But like thirsty castaways on an island surrounded by ocean water they can’t drink, Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators face strict constraints on how they can spend the money. More than 30 years of court rulings and ballot measures — dating to Proposition 13 in 1978 — limit its use, probably only to projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To add another hurdle, major business groups are preparing lawsuits, arguing that the state cannot collect the money at all.

Still, Brown and others in the Capitol are cautiously making plans. On Monday, the state’s High-Speed Rail Authority slipped into a news release that the money would be used as “a backstop” that could save the struggling bullet-train project.

And in a follow-up interview with this newspaper, Dan Richard, chairman of the rail authority, asserted that a large portion of the money could go to fund high-speed rail.

Everyone from environmentalists to utility companies are jostling for ways to spend the money. The wish lists include renewable energy projects, bus systems and forest restoration.

“This is a moment of significant historic importance,” said V. John White, director of the nonprofit Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology in Sacramento. “But we need to be careful about how we spend it until we know for sure that it is going to be there.”

Business and taxpayer groups contend that the state has no right to auction off the permits. They argue that AB 32, the state’s global-warming law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, does not specifically authorize auctions and that permits to pollute must be handed out free. They say if the state wants to charge money for the permits, it will need a two-thirds vote of the Legislature — a political impossibility because Republicans oppose the law and raising any new fees or taxes.

“This wasn’t intended. It wasn’t discussed,” said Dorothy Rothrock, vice president of the California

Manufacturers and Technology Association. “It’s outrageous and probably illegal.”

However, some legal experts say the state stands a good chance of winning in court. They note that AB 32 requires the California Air Resources Board to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming by using “market mechanisms” — and that auctions are a common market tool used in places such as Europe and the Northeast with cap-and-trade programs.

“I think the most fair reading of AB 32 is that it did allow the Air Resources Board to create market mechanisms that do include an auction,” said attorney Cara Horowitz with UCLA’s School of Law. “The Legislature gave the Air Resources Board very broad authority.”

Even if the state wins a lawsuit, expected to be filed this summer, it almost certainly cannot spend the new billions on schools, roads, health care or other needs.

That’s because of a 15-year-old state Supreme Court ruling involving paint. In 1991, Gov. Pete Wilson signed a law placing a fee on companies that made lead paint. The money was used to fund programs reducing lead poisoning in children.

Sinclair Paint sued, arguing that Proposition 13 required a two-thirds vote in the Legislature to approve such fees. But the state’s high court ruled that California can charge industries with fees as long as the money is used to offset the health or environmental effects of the industry’s behavior.

The Brown administration argues that spending the global-warming money on bullet trains complies with the ruling because the trains would cut pollution by reducing car and airplane trips.

“These funds are being raised for reducing greenhouse gases and cannot be spent outside of that purpose,” said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state Finance Department. “It’s like the way you can’t spend money from school bonds to build highways.”

A similar program in 10 Northeastern states raised $912 million from industry auctions from 2008 to 2011. The most common way the states used the proceeds was to fund programs to help provide insulation, new windows, efficient appliances and lighting to homes and businesses.

Brown’s budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 includes $1 billion from cap-and-trade auction revenues, but doesn’t specify exactly how they would be used.

The first phase of the bullet-train project, from Merced to Los Angeles, is estimated to cost $32 billion. But the state now has just $12 billion from state bonds and federal grants. Richard, the rail authority’s chairman, said the global-warming funds could potentially make up $10 billion or more. “If it’s an insurance policy, it needs to be able to insure the whole thing, and I think it does,” he said.

The project’s critics are fuming that it might be saved by AB 32. “It’s the perfect melding between two boondoggles,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Critics also argue that the global-warming fees will be passed on to consumers, raising gasoline prices and utility bills. But AB 32 supporters note that the law has broad public support: Voters defeated a ballot attempt in 2010 by oil companies to block it.

Environmentalists also point out that cap-and-trade was originally a Republican idea, originated by business interests and first put into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, when it was used to offer incentives to industry to reduce emissions that cause acid rain.

Since then, those emissions have been cut by 65 percent.

“Our goal for the new revenue is to speed and encourage California’s transition to cleaner sources of energy,” said Alex Jackson, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “There’s a lot of things that could fit that mold.”

SOURCE: Silicon Valley Mercury News Online, http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_20348096/windfall-cash-could-hit-state-treasury-from-global, April 8, 2012.

(1) as the 2012 U.S. Presidential election nears, let us not be manipulated to forgive the backwardness of the modern Republican party,

(2) as we can only watch from afar the unrest in the Middle East, may those readers of mine in the region be reminded that they inspire us all by their activism and selflessness, and

(3) with positive news of Philippine economic growth dominating the broad sheets at home, may Filipinos at home and abroad optimize this moment to beat tanks into tractors, indeed, both by defeating the forces of political obstructionism and righting the backward thinking of old oligarchs.

Photo: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/not_in_website/syndication/monitoring/media_reports/2341811.stm

***** Originally posted January 23, 2009 *****

“Let tanks be beaten into tractors” — paraphrased words of Rev. Joseph Lowery as he closed, with a light-hearted prayer, the inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.

These are words, which, despite their simplicity, articulate a profound message that is applicable to many places across the modern world, including the Philippines: Choose collaboration over acrimony, honest pragmatism over worn-out dogma, development over discord. In a period of deep turmoil and worsening finances, this message is not hollow; and it is neither lofty, nor naive. It is healing. It is necessary. It is transformative.

‘Do-nothing’ politics destroys. ‘Do-nothing’ politics is the useless tank in Philippine society. It is what is childish and irresponsible; it is neglectful, and it is what has driven the once ‘Pearl of the Orient’ into a country whose citizens dream to flee.  It is time to dispose of the Filipino ‘trapos’ that are responsible; and we can’t delay for these ‘trapos’ number many.

Big man politics? Out. Low expectations? Out. Lack of personal accountability? Out. Now is the season for major social and political Spring cleaning, of sorts. Out with the old, in with the new and more useful.

This period in history demands better things, higher expectations. Why shouldn’t Filipinos expect a home-grown leader from the same mold as Barack Obama? Why shouldn’t we strive to be better versions of ourselves?

As Obama said about those who are cynical of the potential of this moment in history, the ground has, indeed, shifted beneath them. Also in the words of Obama, this is the time to shed “the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long” and to ask “not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage … a retirement that is dignified.” This is the time to dispose of the foes of real community and national progress: ‘do-nothing’ politics and its dispensable ‘trapos.’

Teaching did not appeal to me originally; I saw myself much more committed to the grime and physical investment in direct community work. The perspective that “academia is for those who didn’t make it in the real world” kept me reliably averse to teaching.

Previously, I pursued writing as a means to advocate and fund raise; I wrote in a formal voice that did not allow for my true spirit to speak. As I reached higher levels of advocacy, I felt more distant, more removed, more separate from the people I valued the most: my family, my friends, my community. Yes, it was a thrill to meet new people, higher levels of sophistication, more stimuli; but, like a sugar high, one eventually feels the crash. I did not realize until recently that what made advocacy so appealing, so awesome, had less to do with either its outcome, or the process, and more to do with the human detail — my interaction and engagement with ordinary people. Slowly and steadily, I had lost this aspect of the work.

As I passed 35, 36, 37, 38…and crept toward 40, the world did not seem the same. I hit midlife. I could not satisfy my discontent. All of the passion I once had had dissipated. Advocacy did not feel the same; fundraising became a drag; macro-level work began to ring hollow.

So, I stopped everything. Full and complete stop. I broke with my previous life to focus deliberately inwardly. Away from the peering eyes of those who once knew me, I found my true self. To occupy my self, I wrote. And to my pleasant surprise, I saw for my self not only how writing makes one more interesting, but also more interested — more inspired by the world, re-kindled with the spark of a more learned and self-aware spirit.

I do not want my life to be based on how I can become unique; quite the opposite. What appeals as more worthwhile to me is transcending the ego, moving beyond my vain notions of  uniqueness, shedding my constructed identity that serves only to make me be apart from others. There is more substance in seizing the interconnectedness of life, rather than in erecting boundaries that separate. Life is a naturally-occurring phenomenon, like water. It is not engineered; it is naturally-occurring to be experienced with and for others.

“…when you gather those pieces of your life that were formerly disparate and seemingly unrelated as you write, what you end up with is a more coherent map of your life’s terrain ahead. The yield of your future choices congeal; and you begin to live with a map of your own making.”

I am steadily finding meaning in the turns I have made on every road I have chosen to walk. The false starts and falls now make sense, even the near disasters. I see with new eyes that everything and everyone has had a role to play in revealing my true nature. Everyone and everything is connected to me, like I am to them.

This is so because as you gather those pieces of your life that were formerly disparate and seemingly unrelated, what you end up with is a more coherent map of your life’s terrain ahead. The yield of your future choices congeal; and you begin to live with a map of your own making.

Like a general in full view of the battlefield, you have a global view of the rest of your life as you need to spend it. You know what talents, gifts, skills you have, and how best to deploy them. You value your true nature as being part of a much larger whole, like a general or a trooper to an army.

This knowledge is liberating. It engenders a mature passion for life. And it is also deeply therapeutic.

“I now see teaching as I see writing. While it is true that it exists for the purpose of education, I also  recognize that it provides the healing power of meaning and understanding.”

I realize now that that break I took in mid-January was as much a much-deserved respite as it was a necessary leap from the past. I needed the break to regain the passion I had lost. I now walk on a new path: teaching and writing full-time. As fate would have it, what I avoided fixed me.

I now see teaching–and the writing upon which it rests and that it inspires–as the work I will primarily do. I now see teaching as I see writing. While it is true that it exists for the purpose of education, I also recognize that it provides the healing power of meaning and understanding. Like the broken going into counseling in order to heal themselves, so do teachers go into teaching to find meaning and the healing it brings.

Once again, I look forward to every day I work.

Every minute I spend with my students as a group and especially one-on-one makes my spirit rejoice, rise to thunderous applause that I had the courage to risk financial ruin just to get my passion back. Every question in class, whether it led to a deep discussion, is human engagement I cherish and welcome. I come alive each time I lecture; and I don’t despise the time I spend preparing for class. I very much look forward to reading my students’ papers. They teach me about my self, and remind me the joy of learning.

“Like a TV with a brand new antenna, you are freed of the white noise and the crackle of static.”

As for writing, I encourage you to pursue it, to actively create meaning from a blank page and an engaged mind. It is absolutely the most creative, human, and probing act of self-care.

As you take your pen to put ink on paper, or command your fingers to send letters to the computer screen, the meaning that unfolds in front of you as your inner self speaks is magic and magical. When you let your spirit speak through your writing, you grow more courageous, more probing, more honest. You sense the world more clearly. Like a TV with a brand new antenna, you are freed of the white noise and the crackle of static. You develop a better understanding of the message in you that binds your experiences, thus far, together. You understand it enough that you are driven to share what you find to be the meaning of life with others.

The Philippines and Peru are among emerging economies that would become much more prominent in the next few decades, helped by demographics and rising education standards, with the Philippines set to leapfrog 27 places to become the 16th largest economy by 2050, according to a prediction of international bank HSBC.

The bank expected China to overtake the United States as the world’s biggest economy by 2050, and said strong growth rates in other developing countries would help drive the global economy.

“Plenty of places in the world look set to deliver very strong rates of growth. But they are not in the developed world, which faces both structural and cyclical head winds. They are in the emerging world,” the bank  said in a report “The World in 2050.”

HSBC based its forecasts on fundamentals such as current income per capita, rule of law, democracy, education levels and demographic change.

The bank said the Philippines would become a “star performer” in terms of  its economic leap in the global rankings.

HSBC said the Philippines was likely to post an average growth of 7 percent in the next 40 years.

Breaking down the average growth forecast, the bank said the country would likely grow by 8.4 percent from 2010 to 2020, by 7.3 percent from 2020 to 2030, and by 6.6 percent from 2030 to 2040, and by

5.8 percent from 2040 to 2050.

It said the advantage of the Philippines was its favorable macroeconomic fundamentals and improving governance.

Economic officials of the government often harp on what they call the country’s positive macroeconomic fundamentals that include stable inflation, sustained growth over the years (it grew even when the global economy shrank in 2009), stable banking and financial system, and improving fiscal position.

Growing population a plus

HSBC said the Philippines was also put at an advantageous position by its growing population, which, if properly educated and trained, should help the economy generate more income over the next decades.

The fact that the Philippines has relatively low income gives it much room for growth, and that its favorable fundamentals will help the country maximize that room, the bank said.

“The most potent recipe for growth is a country that scores highly on the fundamentals discussed but currently has low income per capita. These economies should deliver the highest growth in income per capita as they ‘catch up’ with those with similar fundamentals,” HSBC said.

Top 20

According to HSBC’s forecast, the Top 20 largest economies by 2050 will be China, United States, India, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, France, Canada, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, Spain, Russia, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Argentina and Egypt.

The Philippines’ 16th rank by 2050 in terms of economic size marks a 27-notch improvement from its performance in 2010, said HSBC.

The bank thus said that the Philippines was expected to post the biggest leap in terms of economic ranking over the next four decades. “The Philippines looks set for a multidecade run of strong growth.”

HSBC said Peru should average annual growth of 5.5 percent over the same period.

The sheer pace of population growth in countries such as Nigeria and Pakistan means that these economies will swell in size to be included among the 100 biggest economies even if their incomes on a per-capita basis remain low.

HSBC said lower scores for rule of law in Latin America constrained its per capita income projections for the region though it noted that Brazil was making headway in this aspect.

Losers

“The losers are the small population, aging economies of Europe,” added the bank, which said the demographics in much of Europe underscored concerns about the debt problems faced by many of the continent’s governments.

If sufficiently open to modern technology, developing countries could enjoy many years of robust GDP growth although they could struggle for growth drivers once they have adapted to technological advances,

HSBC said.

“The initial years of development could be described as ‘copy-and-paste’ growth, as countries open themselves up and adapt to the world’s existing technologies. Once the ‘copy-and-paste’ growth is complete … many economies struggle and get stuck in what is often known as the middle-income trap.”

“But many of the countries we are considering are still at such an extremely low level of development that there are years of this ‘copy-and-paste’ growth ahead,” it added.

China

It was here that many of the pessimism about China was misplaced, the bank argued.

“One of the most commonly cited reasons for concern about China is the high rate of investment as a percentage of GDP … (But) we believe the strong rate of investment is entirely justified—providing China with much needed basic infrastructure,” it said.

The bank said high levels of education in Central and Eastern Europe meant that the regions could enjoy strong income per capita growth in the coming years before weak demographics eventually sap economic growth.

“While education rates are similar (to the West), the average income per capita in the central and eastern Europe block is just one fifth that of the developed world. For this reason … economies have great scope to catch up in income per capita,” HSBC said.

“Some of the smaller Eastern European countries—Romania, the Czech Republic and Serbia—(should) all do extremely well, particularly in the coming decade, before demographics prove to be more of a drag.” With a report from Reuters

Originally posted at 09:02 pm | Thursday, January 12, 2012

Source: http://business.inquirer.net/39327/philippines-seen-among-top-20-economies-in-next-4-decades

.

Once again we reach the end of yet another year

of life pursued

of dreams caressed

that finding home is near;

Each moment spent thinking of you

joyfully reminiscing

was fuel for a soul that waits

that counts the days remaining

until the boy

now turned a man

treks back to Pilipinas

his home

his love

his life

his heart

his happiness awaiting…

to exhale

is the pay-off I’ve been eyeing

searching patiently for when

I, too,

can do what others routinely take for granted:

going home

being home

being whole among blood relatives;

Nothing against those who are fictive

I am not knocking the new bonds we create in order to survive

social support glitters like gold,

and like gold it is valuable;

But I need more

we all need more

of the soothing warmth of unconditional love;

Ultimately

true family is true love.

.

Blood is thicker than…

…water has kept our islands apart since time immemorial

but must it also keep our loved ones separated

across nations far flung?

Can we not imagine a better way to prosper together

under one roof?

.

From that bridge of hope we use to transport our love

across nations far flung

just to make ends meet back home

should always hang a banner,

“I heart an OFW!”

for an OFW is my father,

my mother,

my sister,

my brother

is my keeper

and their sacrifices keep us hewn together.

.

It is beyond belief that their humble human labor

does prop up the economy of one nation divided.

..

Once a year we remember them

we honor them with the gaudy colors of gratitude shaded with guilt

when perhaps all we need to do

is to say simply with a deep embrace

“It is OK to stay home.”

.

~ R. Bong Vergara, 12/23/2011

Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan, at Makabansa (For the Love of God, People, Nature and Country)

The National Motto of the Philippines is set in law. It is contained in the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines (R.A. 8491). The spirit of this motto is reflected in the national anthem, as well,

–
Josephine Romero
Trade Commissioner
Philippine Trade and Investment Center -  Silicon Valley
Consulate General of the Philippines

.

VISITING US solons expressed their support for the SAVE Act now pending before the US Congress during a dinner hosted by the Philippines-United States Business Council.

DTI Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio took the occasion to appeal to the visiting legislators as he cited the long historic ties between the Philippines and United States and the mutual benefits that can be derived by both the American textile industry and Philippine garment manufacturers in the form of jobs.

A landmark piece of legislation, the SAVE Act hopes to revive the Philippines’ garment industry that has been in the doldrums ever since the end of the quota regime at the same time increase exports of US textiles to the Philippines and other ASEAN countries of up to $500 million dollars. The end result will definitely redound to great benefits for both the Philippines and American people. A win-win solution to what was once a losing proposition.

Panlilio lamented that while we share a history with the United States dating back to World War II, no bilateral trade agreement has been passed to expand trade between the Philippines and the United States.

Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California committed to push for the bill once reintroduced in the US Congress and enjoined his fellow congressmen to do the same.

“Free trade should be encouraged among free people,” Rohrabacher said. The Philippines is a democracy. We should allow further trade to prosper, he added.

Rohrabacher who chairs the powerful Committee on Foreign-Relations also headed the US Congressional delegation which included Democrats Russ Carnahan of Missouri, Jim Costa of California, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina and Republicans Louie Gohmert and Ted Poe, both from Texas.

Another comment heard from one concerned congressman cited the country’s competitive advantage in English as going down and urged that something be done about it.

“You’re losing it. Your English proficiency advantage is slowly being eroded and may soon disappear if not addressed,” he added. Quite so. If only for this, I find some wisdom in the K-12 project of the DepEd. But more important, I think there is a need to improve the quality of our teachers some of whom cannot even speak straight English themselves.

Aside from the SAVE Act and english proficiency, the American legislators, accompanied by senior staff of the US House of Representatives and US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas also asked about security issues especially in Mindanao, the Spratlys, and money laundering activities by international banks.

Philippines – United States Business Council Chairman Ramon del Rosario, Jr. led representatives of the business community and former government officials which included former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo, former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, former Trade Secretary Rizalino Navarro and former Senator Richard Gordon, who is a good friend of Congressman Rohrabacher.

Guangzhou delegation
Also recent visitors in the country were officials and businessmen from Guangzhou for the Manila— Guangzhou Trade and Investment Conference organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the China Council for the Promotion of Trade (CCPIT) Guangzhou Sub – council in cooperation with the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The 146 – man delegation came to explore and forge business ventures in the areas of distributorship, export-import and investments in automobile, food, hotel supplies, garments, wines and liquor among other things.

As to garments, the SAVE Act model is one that may be explored to expand trade with China. Textiles made in China may be exported to the Philippines to be cut and sewn by our garments manufacturers and then re-exported to China duty free. With labor costs in China going up and with the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement in place, this may be a viable option to revive the garments industry in the Philippines.

SOURCE: Manila Times Online, http://www.manilatimes.net/opinion/%E2%80%9Cfree-trade-among-free-people%E2%80%9D/

SAVE ACT Campaign Relaunched in the Midwest

Fil-Am Community Commits Strong Support

Roll-out Next in Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas, Indiana and Ohio

(27 May 2011, Chicago)

The campaign for the passage of the SAVE ACT was relaunched in Chicago and the Midwest  at the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago last 26 May 2011.

In his video message, Ambassador Jose Cuisia called on the support of the Fil-Am Community in working together with the rest of the Fil-Am Communities in the US for the passage of the SAVE Act and for strengthening bilateral relations with the US.

Ambassador Cuisia highlighted the critical importance of the campaign in the Midwest  as the leaders of the Senate and House and many members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees are from the Midwest.

Filipino-American Community leaders representing a broad range of organizations as well as private individuals attended the event.

Also present was Magid Glove Safety Manufacturing, a Chicago-based company which manufactures industrial gloves and clothing in the Philippines since 1974. It currently has 300 workers in its factory in Cavite.

Consul-General  Leo Herrera-Lim and Trade Representative Glenn Penaranda expressed appreciation for the strong support of the Filipino-American Community in the SAVE ACT Campaign starting last year. They acknowledged the many organizations and private individuals who wrote or called on their respective legislators.

The re-launching event was graced by the presence of former President Fidel Ramos who also called on the Fil-Am Community to continue supporting economic development in the Philippines.

Supporters of the SAVE Act Campaign in the Midwest already include the major Fil-Am organizations and many private individuals.

The SAVE Act Campaign will roll-out in the following states and cities in the coming weeks:

• Nebraska (Omaha at the Independence Day Picnic)
• Michigan (Warren at the Kalayaan Picnic Celebration)
• Wisconsin (Milwaukee at the Independence Day Picnic)
• Kansas (Kansas City at the Fiesta Filipina)
• Indiana (Indianapolis at the Independence Day Fiesta)
• Ohio (Cincinnati at the Consular Outreach and Dayton at the Annual Family Fiesta)

For more information on the SAVE Act Campaign in the Midwest, please contact :

Philippine Trade & Investment Center – Midwest

(T: 312.345.9030    E-mail: ptic-ch@sbcglobal.net)

Associations / Organizations

National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)

-       NaFFAA National (Ed Navarra)

-       NaFFAA Region 3 (Emraida Kiram)

-       NaFFAA-Illinois (Jelly Carandang)

-       NaFFAA-Iowa (Roel Campos)

-       NaFFAA-Michigan (Willie Dechavez)

Association of Certified Home Healthcare Agencies in IL

Barangay Club of Indiana

Cagayan Valley Circle in Chicago and Midwest

Chicago Koneks

Elston Avenue United Methodist Church

FEU Medical Alumni Association of Northern Illinois

Filipino American Association of Iowa (Alma Reed)

Filipino-American Organization of Metro Omaha (Daryl Rose)

Filipino-American Association of Greater Baton Rouge (Val Suico)

Filipino-Americans of New Orleans

Filipino-American Historical Society of Chicago

Filipino-American National Historical Society (Midwest Chapter)

Filipino-American National Historical Society (Wisconsin Chapter)

Filipino-Americans of Skokie

Kayumanggi Network

Midwest Therapy Network

National Press Club of the Philippines – USA

Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Chicago

Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Michigan

Philippine Certified Public Accountants of Greater Chicago

Siliman Alumni International – Chicago Chapter

University of the Philippines Alumni Association of Greater Chicago

Word of Grace Family Christian Fellowship

Companies & Private Individuals

Dejurs Enterprises

EC Ortiz & Company LLC

Mariano Santos Group of Companies

Magid Glove & Safety Manufacturing Company

Oremor International and Robert Romero

Orient Star Shipping Incorprated – IL

Toti and Josefina Wee Sit

Fil-Am Media in Chicago

Asian-American Tribune

Filipino-American Community Builder

Fil-Am Weekly Mega Scene

One Philippines

Philippine Weekly

Pinoy Monthly

Via Times

Joseph Lariosa