Philippines most corrupt? Tell us something we don’t already know…

I’m back! Sorry for being absent for the last couple of days. My PC almost died and went to computer heaven. Can you imagine losing 10 years’ worth of data? I once thought that ol’ box was immortal, now I’m treating it like a vulnerable crystal vase.

Back to business. A couple of business articles stood out this week, particularly one that has made several rounds around business and personal finance discussion groups on Yahoo.

A survey by Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) showed in a summary made available to AFP that the Philippines was considered the most corrupt country in Asia by almost 1,500 expatriates in 13 countries in January to February.

Within 24 hours, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri and even the Makati Business Club were huffing and puffing with their own statements refuting the survey.

Come on, guys, tell me something we don’t already know. We see corruption everyday. Would it really matter if we are the most corrupt, second most corrupt, or third in the ranking? I say, ignore these kinds of stories. We have gone past the need to accept that reality. Let’s get moving to news that will actually make a difference between limping and zooming to a better world for our children.

If you have not been able to follow business news last week, at the least you should know about the following developments:

New, swanky projects in real estate were king of business news last week. Daxim Lucas started the week with “SM unveils mammoth tourism project”, then followed it up the next day with “Ayala unveils plan for Bonifacio Global City”.

The real estate industry has been swinging up from a cyclical downturn, infused with funds from investors and overseas workers. Yep, Filipinos have always been very particular with houses and furnishings, even if it meant buying one window, one door, one wall at a time.

More real estate and constructions projects are good. At least, for me, money that goes into building homes and roads and fences are plowed back into the economy, not into some Chinese or American or European company’s pocket. That happens so quickly when we buy every new gadget that hits the stores.

The financial sector reacts quickly to real estate developments. Doris Dumlao wrote about Pag-IBIG’s new bond offer worth P700M, which would be used to acquire 50,000 housing units. Overseas workers and other investors, with as little as 10,000, can invest in these bonds, so that’s interesting for personal finance. Oh, and rates on 10-year bonds rose from last week’s all time low. It’s at 6.942%, just a bit shy of 7%. I don’t know about you, but for a 10-year instrument, that’s still a bit low for me.

Banks are also expecting to get a windfall from the home mortgage market’s upswing, so if you own bank stocks, that should be interesting.

Last Friday, newspapers said more Filipinos landed jobs last January compared with a year ago. Read the story more carefully. The figures also showed that compared with the previous survey, which came out in October, the numbers weren’t so hot.

Filipinos need to earn and earn well, so they can save for a better future for them and for their children. Employment or business opportunities are an important part of personal finance. Another article (not in the Inquirer) showed that salaries are rising fast in Manila, next only to India, when Asian countries were ranked. Time to do some soul searching if your own salary is not growing.

Some other news that personal finance enthusiasts shouldn’t miss:

Sun Life says that its mutual fund sales hit P2.6B in end-Feb.

Online stock trading firm offers starter account to students. Somebody’s been doing some pretty good analysis of what this country needs! Thank you. At least, our students can start getting their feet wet in the market and learn that there’s more to life than old stuffy theoretical books and getting through another exam week.

I find it amusing that there were no takers for 50,000 flight seats in Cebu Pacific promo, because I had been trying to get some! Arggh. Read the story here. Cebu Pacific should start thinking about where its business model failed. And if you are like me, always looking for ways to save, especially on expensive travel expenses, start finding ways to get to those P1-per-ticket seats.

Check out Citibank’s answer to a reader’s question on how to provide for your children’s future. RFP Speaks’ Joseph James Lago also tackled a reader’s question on finding a stockbroker that does not have conflict of interest.

I was in a fast food place last week and saw this guy trying to read the business pages.

After a few minutes, he gave up and did this. Sigh.

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