tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2010-01-07:/notjustforprofit//22 2010-01-07T11:56:05Z Movable Type Pro 5.14-en tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7500 2009-06-15T06:17:37Z 2010-01-07T11:56:05Z

By Digoy Fernandez ONE does not have to be a genius to figure that any large city – Metro-Manila, for example – generates a huge carbon footprint by way of car and truck emissions, the generation and improper handling of...

By Digoy Fernandez ONE does not have to be a genius to figure that any large city – Metro-Manila, for example – generates a huge carbon footprint by way of car and truck emissions, the generation and improper handling of waste, buildings and homes that are not green enough, and the lack of enough green spaces that can serve as carbon sinks while generating oxygen at the same time. In the case of our own metropolis, short-sightedness on the part of many past administrators would find them making decisions on the basis of expediency rather than the consideration of the longer term suitability of the city as a habitat for man, flora, and fauna. Thus, if a road had to be widened, any tree getting in the way would be immediately cut or destroyed, instead of seeking out a win-win solution where the road could be widened but not at the expense of such trees. Instead of encouraging the practice of separating garbage at the source in each and every single household and institution, we still have unsightly garbage dumps containing all sorts of detritus. This situation is what attracts the scavengers who seek to eke out a living by trying to salvage the recyclable or usable materials from plain garbage. There are already too many environmental problems in the city begging for attention. For now, we will focus on the simple task of seeking empty spaces in the metropolis and converting these into green spaces. As a example, I just have to point out what I have done within my own property and in the alleyway adjoining it. Not to mention the adjoining streets and some of the areas in our village park. Over the years, I have taken to picking up seedlings –many of them sprouting now that the rainy season has started – and putting them in small pots or containers for future planting activities. Lately, I have tried to obtain more balete (climbing fig) varieties, knowing that these grow very quickly and also attract all kinds of birds. I am still mourning the loss of practically all or our Aratiles trees that were cut down upon instructions by a village official because she found them messy! Aside from disappointing many villagers, their children, and even househelp from the pleasure of picking and eating the nice sweet berry-like fruits of this tree, we also deprived a lot of birds and other living creatures that depended on this link in the food chain. Now that I have whole banks of trees growing in my property, I can enjoy the sight and sounds of many birds that have made our place their own. My friend, the nature habitat specialist Ed de Vera, passed by one day and pointed out that my trees had a whole family of yellow orioles. I see them at various times during the day, together with other birds, frolicking near our fishpond area. It does not take much to create a green space. Even companies get into the act. I saw this in some of the companies like Toyota that have set aside areas for mini-forests in their properties. A green space can range from a few square meters to a few hectares. The idea is to keep the space well planted, using organic methods only, and allowing nature to take its course. That is the logic I used when we set up the mini-forest in our village. We planted the trees close together to simulate a forest environment, and then left nature to weave its magic. Pretty soon we had a combination of tall trees and small saplings in a small space of a few hundred square meters, providing an attractive base for other flora and fauna to take root in. Unfortunately, good intentions can only go so far. A series of unenlightened do-gooders subsequently introduced “innovations” like concrete pathways and even a gazebo into the mini-forest, aside from the sacrilegious act of placing pebbles to act as a floor for the whole forest!!!! The whole purpose of keeping the area as pristine as possible went down the drain. Succeeding teams of do-gooders even used a portion of the mini-forest to “burn” fallen leaves and twigs, destroying fully a quarter of the area previously planted. This should serve as a lesson to all concerned. Just because one has set aside a green space for plants and trees does not guarantee that it will remain that way. One will have to literally fight the attempts of others who see nothing of value in green spaces. That is why it is also important to choose potential green spaces that will not be used for other purposes. One idea is to utilize those neglected portions of the parks or similar areas that have been set aside by law for green spaces. The area where we live has a large property owned by one of the country’s better -known families. This property was earmarked for development a few years ago, but residents of adjoining villages objected strenuously. I am hoping that the property remains as is because it has become home to countless numbers of night herons. One can see them start to take off at dusk, heading for Laguna de Bay to do their fishing and eating. They can also be seen at times making the return trip after a satisfying hunt. My friend Ed de Vera and I have been witness to this spectacle many a time, and we never tire of watching the night herons fly off to feed. Another time, I was able to catch a glimpse of some fireflies in the same area, which means that they also made use of the stream traversing the property. There is nothing that evokes memories of days gone by than the sight of fireflies. When the birds, butterflies, moths, bees and hornets, and even bats move in, one will know that he or she had done well with a given green space.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7499 2009-06-09T02:51:57Z 2010-01-07T11:56:05Z

By Digoy Fernandez A few months ago, my kids introduced me to Facebook, and I have taken to the social interaction medium like a fish to water. It took a while, of course, but starting with my neighbors – specifically,...

By Digoy Fernandez A few months ago, my kids introduced me to Facebook, and I have taken to the social interaction medium like a fish to water. It took a while, of course, but starting with my neighbors – specifically, their kids – my list of friends gradually spread out to former classmates, old friends, and even new ones who I have been pleased to discover. One of the things that struck me is the love and care many of them show their pets, most of which are dogs. Some even have their dog’s pictures adorning their profile pages. My son, who inherited my love for pets in general, just sent me two amusing threads. One was of a puppy Retriever trying to sleep using a stair step to prop his head, to no avail. The other was of the Boston Terrier Breed, one we have grown to love ever since a bouncing bundle of Boston joy entered into our household four years ago. This little dog of ours has become truly one of the family and even sleeps between my two boys. My friend Wilson Ang of BioResearch is in the business of selling pets to people. But few know that he also has some sort of animal rescue center where he takes in battered or abandoned pets, mostly dogs, and tries to nurse them back to health. I have seen these dogs while walking through their area, and have been struck by their demeanor, wagging their tails and yelping for attention. Dogs truly are man’s best friend and crave for attention and love by instinct. Contrast this with the naturally feral nature of even ordinary household cats, that have to be won over if one is to be trusted by them. There was a time when I could not resist picking up little kittens that had probably been abandoned or appeared lost, and have tried to either raise them or give them to friends. Keeping a couple of “house cats” has certainly helped in keeping the vermin population at lower levels. Last week, my gardener found a baby python and promptly killed it. I was aghast and told him to never do that again, since I could have brought the snake over to the rescue center where it would become a nice addition to the menagerie there. Some of my Facebook friends have invited me to support their causes, many of which have to do with the care of and stopping the abuse of animals. These are easy to support, given my love for animals in general. (Without demeaning the need to stop the abuse of people too!) Many abandoned pets start off as whimsical purchases by people who think that they would just love to have an unusual pet, and then surrender to reality. But abandoning pets by literally throwing them out into the streets is a crime in itself. Not only is the animal left to fend for itself in a hostile environment, but the poor animal adds to the increasing number of strays in the metropolis. It is this thought that has kept me from buying those lovely little crocodiles or boa constrictors.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7498 2009-05-31T14:09:04Z 2010-01-07T11:56:05Z

By Digoy Fernandez FIRST of all, we must make one thing clear. We support and believe in the right of the state of impose just taxes that are to be used for the maintenance and development of a country and...

By Digoy Fernandez FIRST of all, we must make one thing clear. We support and believe in the right of the state of impose just taxes that are to be used for the maintenance and development of a country and its people. Unfortunately, this principle works well in theory only in a few cases. Because of very poor tax administration(i.e., the inability or unwillingness of our revenue collectors to properly enforce tax regulations) the government finance team is often pressed to make up for deficits that crop up because of the larger amount of expenditures over receipts. So, what does the typical government bureaucrat do when tasked with thinking about ways to bridge the gap between expenses and revenues? The knee-jerk response would be to simply impose a new slew of taxes, the more the better. Perish the thought that revenue agents should soil their hands with attempts to impose a more efficient regime to tax collection or administration on existing taxes! And yet, our country’s multilateral and bilateral creditors and donors have long said that our revenue people have to tighten the ship and undertake a more efficient collection machinery. What seems to be the problem, then, in simply enforcing better tax and revenue collections? It is an open secret that the two or three main revenue generation agencies are plum posts sought by those seeking to increase their respective net worths. I recall an instance when a supporter of Ka Jaime Ferrer visited the old man when I happened to be in his residence. When Ka Jaime asked the man what he wanted, he simply requested that he be given a position in either Customs or the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Ka Jaime--a paragon for honesty in government--shouted at the hapless man: “What? I will assign you there just so you can steal or make money illegally? No!!!” This is why the onerous book tax contemplated by the brain-dead Espele Sales of the Finance department was pounced upon by book lovers and right thinking people both here and abroad. First of all, it was a clear violation of an international convention, and no amount of stretching of semantics could or would justify such a stupid tax, all to raise a few bucks for the government. Unfortunately for Ms Sales, just when the campaign against her and her tax scheme was escalating, the two Davids (Cook and Archuleta) visited the country. Their arrival, stay, and performances here resulted in the Philippines coming up in the top ten places being followed in Twitter. Well, to make a long story short, local cyberspace mavens twittered Espele Sales and her ill-contrived tax scheme resulting in a rapidly mushrooming viral anti-Sales/anti-tax campaign that was likely to drag President into the more negative aspects of the fray. Whatever her motivations, she most likely saw the light and rescinded the stupid book tax. End of problem. Once again, people in government were put on notice that they cannot assume a “business as usual” with respect to their shenanigans, because all it takes is a small band of intrepid cyberspace jockeys to put out the dirty laundry of these malefactors for all to see…and get very angry at.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7497 2009-05-17T00:49:10Z 2010-01-07T11:56:05Z

ONE of the stories related to me by my late father about his friends’ exploits while they were still students at the Ateneo (before the War), were the times they played hookey and swam across the Pasig River. Needless to...

The problems of the Pasig and Laguna de Bay are numerous, and some of the proposed solutions only serve to exacerbate rather than alleviate the problems concerned. First, and most obvious, is the amount of garbage together with human and industrial waste being dumped into the two water systems daily. So, cleaning up the river and the lake would have to go beyond carting off the garbage and waste on a one-time basis, or, even on a regular basis. More important would be to attack the core of the problem and stop the people and institutions from dumping waste into the two systems. And this is where political will comes in. For example, in countries like Korea and Taiwan that had similar problems, they tackled the problems with gusto and hacked away at the sources of pollutants until, to a large extent, their riverine and lake systems were cleansed. I saw this in various trips to Korea over decades where the Korean authorities literally created a buffer of land between the roads & human habitats and the rivers. In the case of the Han River, for example, one sees parks and playgrounds right beside the riverbanks, and no one is allowed to simply dump garbage or waste directly into the river. I would also venture a guess that they make extensive use of waste treatment plants before any of the waste water is reintroduced into the water systems. In the case of the Pasig, therefore, one would have to literally move the illegal human structures away from riverbanks and into new habitats further inland. The vacated areas must then be quickly converted into parks or playgrounds before new sets of squatters move in. This is where political will comes in because the rights of the people soon to be dispossessed must be respected, but their eviction also pursued. Industrial polluters must also be “convinced” to invest in waste treatment plants so that whatever is treated is recycled or pumped into the river in a literally drinkable state. Anyone who is familiar with the Pasig River and Laguna de Bay knows that both are heavily silted. Instead of the former depths of about 5 meters, we now have average depths of only 2 to 3 meters. A top view of the lake on Google Maps will show not only the proliferation of fishpens, but also the extent of the siltation. Most of the silt emanates from the nearby Sierra Madre range and the foothills that abound in Rizal and Laguna provinces. The wanton destruction of forest cover and nature habitats has resulted in the loss not only of precious topsoil, but any other kind of soil, leaving these areas previously rich in tropical growth now relatively barren. Talk of dredging the river must consider that the Pasig is a relatively short waterway. Its mouth in Manila Bay is not too far from the other end, Laguna de Bay. The water flows back and forth depending on the tides, making it difficult to consider bringing in large dredgers to do said work. The problem is compounded by the very low overhangs of many of the bridges that span the river, a prime example of which is Jones Bridge. Dredging the river cannot be done in isolation of the wave action at its mouth in Manila Bay and the silted area that is Laguna de Bay. Then, there is also the problem of what to do first: Clean up or Dredge or Aerate, etc. Those of us who are topical fish hobbyists laugh at the fears expressed by many on the presence of the so-called Janitor Fish, which is more properly called Plecostomus. A computer search of the species will make one realize that what they accuse the fish of being is not really correct. I have had this species of armored catfish in my aquarium tanks and in the relatively large fishpond I have at home, and have yet to see signs of the behavior they are accused of. The Pleco subsists on a diet of algae and small crustaceans, and maybe the small occasional fish that wanders into its mouth while it is feeding in its typical upside-down position. Myth busted! The task is a Herculean one, and I salute Ms Gina Lopez and her Bantay Kalikasan Foundation, together with the government agencies that have finally bit the bullet and started on this interesting exercise. This will not succeed overnight, and will probably be a 10- to 20-year project. Then, just maybe, my generation may be able to jump into the Pasig to take the proverbial swim without gagging on the refuse and detritus that plagues the river just now.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7496 2009-05-14T04:29:27Z 2010-01-07T11:56:05Z

HAVING graduated from grade school in 1962, high school in 1966, and college in 1971 (all from La Salle-Taft) plus two years in graduate school (AIM in 1973), I have come to realize that my compatriots and I are part...

The GGBB has played in many revival concerts and its leaders are part of the online group Pinoy Classic Rockers, a group that promotes the musical genre of our generation. As a result, we have had very nice class parties with wives and lady friends from our generation who share a common love for the music and light company akin to what we used to have in our erstwhile jam sessions way back when. The other evening, My AIM classmates met--once again--in the penthouse residence of Mon Abad and Lenny de Jesus. A common love for music has resulted in many talented and accomplished artists finding their way into the equivalent of a musical atelier, one that has seen classical artists, chorales and choirs, and yes, the inevitable classic rock groups gather to entertain or to jam. The evening in question found Lenny’s prize group, the Electromaniacs, playing back up to wannabe singers from my class as they waded through a collection of Beatles songs and even a credible incarnation of a Credence Clearwater Revival piece. Many in my class who idolized the Electromaniacs for their incredibly complex and accomplished music during the 60s were struck by the irony of having one of the greatest music icons providing back up for our motley bunch of, singers. How lucky could we get? Finding solace and comfort in something like the music of our generation is not limited to a few groups alone, as we find more and more Boomers letting what is left of their hair down in order to play both the instrumental and vocal hits of our time. Lenny finds pleasure in supporting musical causes and musicians through activities like the Electromaniacs concert that saw the launch of their revival CD, the proceeds of which had been earmarked for a music foundation. That same evening, we were talking about the different perspectives of the Pacquiao fight and also the man himself. We whipped out a sample computation of what we thought would be the net earnings of Manny after at least two more good fights--assuming he wins both and gets the guaranteed amounts and share of PPV for TV--and came up with a net amount of only about P2 billion. This is less local and US taxes, managers’ and promoters’ shares, trainer’s share, and so forth, leaving only about 35% of the gross as his take home. We figured that his earnings from endorsements and other activities would be needed just to maintain his lifestyle and the upkeep of the barangay of followers who hold court with him wherever he goes. But we came to one inevitable conclusion: Manny P may have enough to run for Congress but not enough for a stab at the Presidency. So, whoever is thinking of making him run and hold on to his fame, would also have to be excellent fundraisers. Furthermore, he is not guaranteed a win because he has possible determined opponents who will not give up their seats without a fight. Some of us who are in Facebook elicited interest from those who are not. I think that enough was learned by some classmates present to get them to try this social networking medium. And this is the surprising thing about networking sites like Facebook. Among the largest increases in users now being recorded by Facebook belong to the Boomer generation. At first, many moms and dads opened Facebook accounts in order to keep track of their kids. But after finding many fellow Boomers signed up, their average usage goes up dramatically from about 30 minutes per day to an hour or two, especially since many in our generation have more time for themselves now. It is indeed rewarding to be able to hook up with old friends not seen since graduation. Internet marketing mavens have taken note of this increased usage by Boomers and have began to target them through the various media available on the web. To find out how this can be done, you may have to attend the new course offered at AIM that my son Jayvee will be handling (see my last post on the new media and how it can be harnessed for marketing and business purposes). During these, our sunset years, it is pleasant to be able to get together with old friends to talk about nothing significant in particular, and just enjoy each other’s company with the music of the 60s playing in the background.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7495 2009-04-22T10:39:40Z 2010-01-07T11:56:05Z

By Digoy Fernandez There are many compelling reasons for continuing education, and this is true for executives meant for higher positions, aging dinosaurs of the corporate world, but especially for crusty entrepreneurs who have built up businesses from scratch. When...

By Digoy Fernandez There are many compelling reasons for continuing education, and this is true for executives meant for higher positions, aging dinosaurs of the corporate world, but especially for crusty entrepreneurs who have built up businesses from scratch. When we wanted to change the mind-set of the middle and top executives of a particular organization, we would start by sending junior executives to school for either short courses or full-scale MBAs. Before long, the more progressive among the middle managers demanded some form of continuing education of their own. After a few years, different levels of management and staff were undergoing complementary management education, and our organization spawned a generation of decision makers and thinkers who could self-start or handle crises on their own. When we first proposed computerization, the immediate answer was that it would cost too much. This was in the early late 70s and early 80s, mind you. An opening occurred when we were loaned some versions of the early word processors by a client. These WPs were strategically distributed by my office to a select of group of senior executive secretaries…who became enamored with their new toys and demanded that they be kept with their offices permanently. Faced with certain rebellion from the senior secretaries’ ranks, senior management caved in to this first thrust in favor of automation. Another happy accident happened when a client decided to pay us in desktop computers. Again, we distributed these to a group of up and coming executives who began to see the benefits of using computers beyond word processing. The seeds were sown, and these allies fought for full computerization in coming budget sessions. Before long, our group and others in the organization kept the software boys and girls busy by looking into more and more applications that could be applied to make our jobs better and easier. With the advent of the Internet, moreover, even more ramifications set in since I formally retired from the 8 to 8 grind. First of all, I was able to whet the interest of my boys in what computers could do when I was tasked to set up the design parameters and the RFP for what is now the successful on-line lottery of the PCSO. The boys would accompany me to office and would tinker with the computers and the new (then) Windows OS. Pretty soon, I noticed they were fooling around with software of their computer games and doing things like giving themselves more lives, essentially defeating the computer games’ ability to do them in! Now, my two boys blog effectively and the eldest is part of a group that exploits the ability of the internet to supplant the old parameters of marketing and doing business. My elder son Jayvee and a team of other professors from AIM and other sectors, just finished conducting a week-long course on the new media and how it can be harnessed as an effective marketing and promotion tool. As one who grew up with the age-old norms that also knew only of one type of tri-media (radio, print, tv), the new media made available thru the internet boggles the mind. Good thing that I have tried to peep over the shoulders of my sons and have managed to keep up with both the jargon and the applications in the internet. Thus, I email and some blogs regularly, gobble what I can from various sites in the net, Google for factoids, watch Youtube for anything from songs to basketball, enjoy a FaceBook account, and even set up a Twitter account that I still have to learn to navigate on. The executives who still think that the new media available thru the internet will just be another fad have a rude awakening in store for them. The social networking sites are now a permanent, if shifting, phenomenon. To be ignorant of their existence and their effectiveness as marketing tools is to court disaster arising from ignorance. Where else can one get almost instantaneous results and gratification? Where else can a nobody become a big somebody overnight, with millions of adoring fans (read Susan Boyle)? Where else can a product find adherents in just an instant – compared to a marketing campaign – based on a succession of favorable blogs and commentaries? You need information, go to the internet. You want to know what movie is hot, check out the appropriate sites. Ad infinitum. Thus, Jayvee was tapped along with some others knowledgeable in the industry to conduct a short course in the use of the new media. This course will also become an elective in the coming school year at AIM. To think that the interest in the school began when a student who had been following Jayvee’s tech and other blog sites invited him to give a talk in the school. I was there one time when he was giving a talk. We were a group of alumni, professors, and others interested in charting new directions for the school. During one particularly extended exchange, I told those present that they should listen in to what my son was telling the students. That what he had to say was not even being taught in the school. It helped that Jayvee also graduarted with a Masters in Eduation, which made him desirable from the Institute’s point of view. Now, we have my young son who is in his twenties, teaching people twice his age. He laughingly told me that on the first day of the course, the participants thought he was a student. At the end of the course, they all became believers.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7490 2009-03-09T07:54:24Z 2010-01-07T11:56:04Z

BECAUSE of the excitement generated by the Tomorrow Leaf, one guesses that so many people are indeed looking for relief from the many ailments that plague them or their loved ones. Of course, my doctors always stress that the best...

BECAUSE of the excitement generated by the Tomorrow Leaf, one guesses that so many people are indeed looking for relief from the many ailments that plague them or their loved ones. Of course, my doctors always stress that the best way to avoid getting sick is to simply diet (eat the right food and avoid junk food) or exercise (walk walk walk, or just move move move!). But then, weak mortals that we all are, we do indulge once in a while – sometimes more than just once in a while--in delicious ice cream, candies, pork rinds, and many other wonderful food that add to our weight and calorie levels. Thus, the rush to look for those “miracle herbs” like the Ashitaba medicinal plant that seems to tackle so many of the ailments that plague us in this modern age. One day, I requested Wilson Ang, the generous proprietor of Bio-Research, to lend us his lovely daughter Charlene to deliver a short spiel on the Ashitaba plant to the Tahanan Village Garden Club. She came with some fifty newly established plant stems and proceeded to explain the history of the plant and its healing properties. Needless to say, the Ashitaba has quietly become a hit in our village and is now sought after by many of its residents, especially since the once young contemporaries who settled the village have grown older over time. Others took our advice and have gone to Bio-Research in Sucat to obtain their own plants for both propagation and ingestion. I am now supplying some pictures taken during this turnover that took place a fortnight ago. The first picture shows a newly established cutting of the Ashitaba plant. These plants can grow into small bushes that one can use for pruning to obtain new stems and for the harvesting of leaves. The second picture shows the plants when they arrived, in a small box. The third picture shows Ms Charlene Ang together with some members of the Tahanan Garden Club and others who attended the turnover. The last picture shows the temporary planting site until the one being set up in a nearby place under the full sun would be available.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7489 2009-03-02T23:24:58Z 2010-01-07T11:56:03Z

THE response to my initial blog on the Ashitaba Medicinal herb, otherwise known as the Tomorrow Leaf, seems to have generated a great amount of interest. This is probably an indicator of the number of people who need assistance in...

Some points to remember: The plant does best when established under full sunlight, and watered the usual way, either early AM or late PM. Once established, either in a potting medium or in a garden plot, observe how the plant grows. It grows pretty fast and after a couple of weeks, can be pruned to obtain a new stem for planting. Make sure that enough leaves remain on the two stems to promote photosynthesis. You can take anywhere from two to four leaves from each plant per day as long as you see new leaves sprouting the next day, thus the name Tomorrow Leaf. Once harvested, clean the leaves like you would do to fresh vegetables. Wash them and then place in a mixture of water and salt for some time just to eliminate any germs, microbes, or other vermin. Then, wash again and store or consume. Some people make the leaves into a tea, but also consume the leaves after. Personally, I just take four of the leaves per day and chew on them like I would lettuce. My son, who is particular about taste, dips the leaves in his coffee and is satisfied with the taste! Will the Ashitaba plant solve all our health problems? Maybe yes, maybe not. But the plant has been documented as a particularly effective healing herb, which explains why its existence and availability has kept secret by many who have had access to the herb. Thus, Wilson Ang has chosen to break from the mold by not only propagating the plant, but also choosing to give it away FOR FREE to anyone willing to make the trip to the Sucat facility. (For those who don’t know how to get there, take the SLEX and exit at Sucat. Go straight until reaching the second Shell station that is at a corner, just before Jaka Plaza. Bio-Research is on the other side of the road, going toward the Sucat exit, just after the Holy Trinity chapel and mortuary(!). For those coming from Baclaran, just look out for the Holy Trinity facility. Bio-Research is located right after that place.) Hope this answers some of the questions that came in.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7488 2009-02-25T17:51:13Z 2010-01-07T11:56:03Z

WHEN times are tough....people buy lottery tickets! Even with the most recent huge jackpot of about P347 Million (a little over $7 million), long lines can still be seen in lottery outlets as the public hopes to be the next...

On the other hand, he wanted to try to introduce the concept of the online lottery here, having seen how successful lottery operations were in various jurisdictions around the world. So, armed only with this informal mandate, I gathered together a small team composed of my classmate Mon Abad, Atty. Gerry Geronimo--a former colleague of mine in a bank--and one other person whose name escapes me. We drafted a revised charter for PAGCOR that somehow got lost in the Palace, and we lost the initiative of getting a law in place before the deadline for issuing Presidential Decrees. Studying the operations of different lottery organizations around the world was a more pleasant task. Suffice it to say that I visited many countries, and, in the case of the US, some half-dozen of the larger lottery operations of different states. Sadly, the climate was not suitable yet for the implementation of the online lottery and so we shelved the study. Many years later, a friend contacted me and asked if I still remembered anything about the study I had made some five to six years earlier. When I inquired, this friend mentioned that Mamita Pardo de Tavera had just taken over the PCSO and wanted to try implanting the game. Knowing her to be an honest and wonderful person, I readily agreed to dust off the study and begin the process all over again. Turns out that PCSO did not yet have the firm mandate, but that we had to go through some sort of bureaucratic shootout wherein the President would select one appropriate government corporation or agency to start the process....but not after proving that the agency could do it. Well, to make a long story short, PCSO won the shootout because we already had the core study in place. Then began the long process of drawing up bidding requirements through an appropriate RFP, designing the parameters for the game in terms of hardware, software, and other considerations that would help make the game successful. We also had to struggle through various sessions with Congress and the Senate, a process that was not easy but which we managed to survive. Unfortunately, many people mistook the online lottery as a replacement for the jueteng and masiao informal games, and we had powerful people calling up to see if they could get franchises for entire provinces. It was not easy convincing them that the typical lottery outlet was either a Mom and Pop store, or an existing business that would have a terminal as a sideline. And when I told them of the (measly, it seems) 5% commission that each outlet would get for every ticket sold, they all realized that the game was not for them. Some of the changes we effected then were to keep the entire draw process televised, requiring winners of the grand prize(s) to be brought straight to the Chairman’s office for documentation and awarding, dispensing with the previous practice of issuing winning checks made out to “Bearer,” and so forth. But few are aware of the effort backstage during the draw to ensure that it is fair and beyond reproach. A committee of scrutineers selects a suitcase from a universe of many suitcases containing the balls used in the draw. The (pingpong) balls are taken (not by hand, to minimize human contact) from the suitcase and weighed carefully. Balls outside of a given tolerance level are discarded. Practice draws are made using the balls, and if any given ball comes out too often, it is examined again to see if it is too light, for example, since this would allow it to rise higher and more easily through the hole. After each draw, the balls are again scrutinized and examined to see if they really allowed for a random draw. This process is done every draw, and the idea is to make sure that the public gets a fair game. Yes, we did encounter some opposition from Church quarters at first, but we managed to convince them that the online lottery was just another form of entertainment and did not constitute hardcore gambling. Thus, by the time we held the bidding and the award was made by the President, most opposition to the game had quietly gone away. Did we get to savor the actual setting up of the game? No, this honor went to Mamita’s successor, Manoling Morato, who ran a pretty tight ship and managed to get the game going despite the usual carping from the sidelines. For personal reasons, Mamita quit soon after the selection was made, and since I came in during her watch, decided it would be best if the torch was passed on too. There is one thing that I would have wanted very much to do, based on the experience of lottery winners both here and abroad. Some studies have shown that winners, especially in the US, do not end up happier after spending or using their windfall earnings. This is why I thought it would be wise to have a professional (person or institution) give general advice to lottery winners to protect them from themselves and from the many investment and financial traps that they could be prey to. Not to mention a horde or old and newly minted relatives queuing up for a share of the now hapless winner’s earnings.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7487 2009-02-13T05:53:47Z 2010-01-07T11:56:01Z

WHEN certain buddies of mine decided to once again take up the hobby of setting up and maintaining tropical fish aquariums, we vectored directly to our usual complete source for this enervating undertaking, our schoolmate Wilson Ang, founder and head...

A Bugged Life. But what struck me was a little project that Wilson had started to undertake. In the herbal gardens that he has strewn all over the property, he has a specific medicinal plant that seems to be sprouting successfully. The name of this herbal plant is ASHITABA, one of the elite among plants considered for their medicinal qualities. Legend has it that an old Japanese man went off to an island basically to spend his last moments on this earth, having been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is said to have observed a tribe of old, sickly, and decrepit looking monkeys head off to a certain place where he witnessed them eating some vegetation daily. The result? The monkeys that ate these plants – that turned out to be the Ashitaba medicinal plant – soon got well and went back to where they came from, only to be replaced by a steady stream of incoming sick monkeys. So, hoping against hope, our terminally sick man partook of these plants and, before long, found himself strong enough to go home where he was diagnosed free of the dreaded disease. It seems that Ashitaba is well known and has been documented in Ming dynasty Chinese medicine records of the 16th century. It is said that Ashitaba is, strictly speaking, a weed, which accounts for its ability to propagate so quickly. Containing a considerable amount of chlorophyll, it naturally does best in areas with full sunshine. I placed the samples Wilson gave me in different parts of my garden and validated this observation. Wilson Ang is now giving back, in a way, to people by propagating this plant and giving it for free to friends. Thus, the samples he gave me are being planted and, hopefully, will multiply so that I can spread them around to the sick people in my village. But what I plan to do is turn over a reasonable number of these plants to our village garden club, many of the members belonging also to the senior group, so that they can plant them and take care of distributing the leaves to those who need them. Another name of the plant is the TOMORROW LEAF. Why so? Well, it seems that the more one plucks leaves from these plants, the more they propagate new leaves even more lushly the very next day. And after a reasonable growth, one can cut the stem and plant the cutting to generate yet another plant. I found many related sites through Google Search and will post some of them here so anyone can do further research on this plant. It seems that the plant is good in tackling the following disorders (per the handout given to me by Wilson): Lungs, Coughing, Asthma, Digestive System, Intestinal problems, Kidneys and Kidney Stones, Urinary Tract bleeding, Liver, Gall Bladder, Hepatitis, Gall Stones, Suppression of growth of cancer cells, Constipation, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Blood Poisoning, Skin Allergies, Rheumatism, High Cholesterol levels, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, and a host of others too many to list down. As proof of the effectivity of the plant, he trotted out a staffer of his who has had the unfortunate situation of living in an area with both air and ground pollution. She had developed a hacking, wheezing cough that was not amusing at all and extremely convenient for all concerned. After only three days of munching on four leaves a day, she improved dramatically. I have been taking the leaf (4 a day) for a week now, and noticed that my blood sugar level has gone down by a significant measure, since I self-test every other day. Does it work? I am betting that this medicinal herb is what it is touted to be. Wilson gives the plants to friends for free. But some others have taken advantage of his generosity, because he found that one person who had apparently gotten a couple of plants from him had developed a small patch somewhere in the north where he sells the leaves for P3 each. Oh well..... http://www.organicashitaba.com/ http://www.organicashitaba.com/articles.html http://www.helium.com/items/851529-ashitaba-chinese-herbal-medicinal-plant]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7486 2009-02-04T06:38:15Z 2010-01-07T11:56:01Z

One of the disadvantages of living in the southern part of the Metro Manila area is having to commute to the Central Business District(s), a commute that takes the better part of over an hour on neutral days, even worse...

My family decided to go to Trinoma last week by way of the MRT light rail for a couple of reasons. First, we didn’t want to get saddled with having to wade through traffic to get there from Makati. Second, my in laws and their son were in town from Chicago, and we just wanted them to savor the local mass transportation available. Getting to Trinoma before lunch was not a problem, because we beat the usual lunch crunch. But when I decided to try and get return tickets in advance, I caught the lunchtime crowd and beat a hasty retreat after seeing how long the lines – yes, plural, LINES – were just to get up to the platform and then to line up for tickets. Fortunately, we decided early on to make our return trip around 4PM, beating the crowd once again. But the sight of the long lines got my noggin working and asking why the system could not be properly addressed and steps taken to alleviate the situation facing prime time travellers. I also recalled one time that I had to make a transfer from the other light rail, the LRT, to the MRT, and gave up because of the extremely long line snaking all over the terminal. Surely, both managements – of the LRT and MRT – should be able to put their heads together to work out a solution to the problem of long waiting periods. This is true especially now that more and more people have decided to take the light rail to save time and money, avoid traffic and parking problems, and so forth. This is a challenge especially tailored for systems designers, the people who try to make things work in an efficient manner. Otherwise, people will flock to the alternatives: buses, jeepneys, tricycles, et al, alternatives that tend to leave a much larger carbon footprint. If the government is truly serious about a stimulus package (that will, hopefully, not bankrupt the nation or leave our progeny with an even larger debt burden that it hardly needs) it could consider improving mass transportation, especially light rail and regular train service. These are much needed and would certainly be appreciated even by the well-heeled denizens of business and residential enclaves.]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7485 2009-01-30T00:08:08Z 2010-01-07T11:56:01Z

One of the unintended casualties of the free fall being suffered by banks and the finance sector in general is the increasing lack of good places one can expect to park cash and hard-earned funds. Many banks, especially in the...

One of the unintended casualties of the free fall being suffered by banks and the finance sector in general is the increasing lack of good places one can expect to park cash and hard-earned funds. Many banks, especially in the US and Europe, remain in business only because of extreme measures taken by their host governments by way of direct cash infusions (in tens of billions of dollars and euros) and guarantees. As a result, many people are probably contemplating putting extra cash under the proverbial mattress in anticipation of worse days to come. The folding up of the Legacy group of banks locally calls to mind a similar spate of bank closures that arose from essentially bad management practices and the tendency of many bankers to treat deposits as a private piggy bank into which they can dip their grubby hands. Banking is a business built on trust, faith that the money deposited there will be used wisely by way of loans to productive enterprises or investments in high-grade bonds or other financial instruments. Now, depositors have to think twice before committing funds that may never get back to them. That is why it pains one when failed banks--that were closed for obvious mismanagement or the use of bank deposits to fund owners’ and management’s personal ventures, adventures, or peccadillios--are allowed by government or the legal system to get away with their crime and even file cases against regulators. In a legal system that is fraught with illicit transactions that favor those who are willing to pay the price, it is highly possible for a failed bank to reopen for business, to the future distress of new and unsuspecting depositors. I sincerely hope that our local banking system remains fairly solid, and able to withstand the buffeting that they will get because of the malaise that is affecting their counterparts abroad. On the other hand, depositors should be prepared to ask tough questions of their bankers: Their policies on investments and lending, their exposure to bad debts, whether any garbage is hidden away in the contingent accounts, actual exposure in potential land mines like (the bad kind of) derivatives, and so forth. This should set bank managements to thinking too, and keep them on their toes, as both the depositing public and the regulators act to keep the banks and bankers honest. tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2009:/notjustforprofit//22.7484 2009-01-16T02:43:42Z 2010-01-07T11:56:00Z

SOMEONE sent me an article written obviously from the point of view of a member of the Jewish community, lamenting the rip-off pulled by Bernard Madoff against many of the rich and famous denizens of both Wall Street and residents...

One has to ask how otherwise astute and hard-nosed individuals could be suckered into placing their hard earned monies into a fund with very little transparency about it. It was a closed shop that made use of its own brokerage agency, got itself audited by a no-name firm of three members, and had family members manning sensitive positions in the firm. When I was once tasked with running a European based fund intended for investing in the Philippine market, we had to undergo all kinds of scrutiny and were subject to the usual checks and balances before we undertook any investments or placements. This guy managed to fool the richest of the rich, and even made it seem like a cachet to have had done business with him. But Madoff is just another sign of the growing malaise that seems to have taken over much of the world’s financial systems. All of a sudden, companies that were once looked up to as paragons of financial propriety have been exposed for having fallen prey to one shenanigan or the other. All in the name of expanded sales and increasing the bottom line--to the detriment of shareholders, depositors, investors, and the general public. Imagine the spectre of one of the world’s largest financial institutions being propped up by tens of billions of dollars in direct investments plus several HUNDREDS of Billions of dollars in guarantees! And here we see ourselves back in our lonely investment backwater – generally below the radar of investors – plodding along, but without committing the great blunders of the big companies in the world’s great economies. Our country knows what it is like to undergo the scrutiny of a World Bank--IMF program wherein all sorts of strictures in the name of better fiscal and monetary management. Having exited from the most recent program -- and benefiting from the (still) huge dollar inflows coming from our overseas workers -- our country seems to be really plodding along despite the lack of significant growth in industry and productive resources. On the other hand, I have seen figures indicating a possible deficit for the USA of about $1.2 Trillion in 2009. But the bills are still coming in as more and more sectors demand bailouts or financial guarantees. Even the crazy porn industry is looking for a bailout of about $5 Billion...to help them weather the decline in purchases or usage of their products. Hmmmmm!! It is not far-fetched to imagine that more and more scam artists will try their luck in beguiling suckers out of their hard-earned money. In fact, in an actual case involving a person known to me, our friend fell victim to a plea from a person met over the internet for financial assistance for various ailments in their family. Our good hearted Samaritan obliged, and only woke up after realizing that he was funding someone with cash for the stupidest of reasons. The Internet can be a dangerous place for the unwary, and identity theft occurs so often that one should be immediately suspicious of pleas for help even supposedly coming from good friends. A common ploy is for an innocent query supposedly from one’s freemail Internet provider asking for the restatement of one’s email address and password. That allows the thief to send emails to everyone in the address book, most of the time claiming to be stranded in some faraway capital after having lost one’s passport and funds. Aha! Then, the unwary people in the mailing list are instructed to send the funds to a Western Union or similar account, etc. An acquaintance who has had to do work with institutions in various parts of Africa actually met some of those famous Nigerian scammers pretending to be relatives of fallen royalty, etc., and who then ask for anything between a few thousand to hundred thousand dollars for help in freeing the frozen accounts of their relatives. Aha!! According to my friend, these scammers were almost all teenagers working out of Internet cafes in the Nigerian capital, all happily sending out hundreds of letters each day to, hopefully, snare at least one or two unwary victims. There must be some truth to that saying that “A sucker is born every day!”]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2008:/notjustforprofit//22.7482 2008-12-29T07:47:40Z 2010-01-07T11:56:00Z

By Digoy Fernandez If only the process of sweeping out the baggage and detritus of the old year could be so simple. Just get a broom and sweep away! Unfortunately, life in real time suggests that the only way to...

By Digoy Fernandez If only the process of sweeping out the baggage and detritus of the old year could be so simple. Just get a broom and sweep away! Unfortunately, life in real time suggests that the only way to get rid of old baggage is to sweep clean one’s own psyche, more like an emotional cleansing. At the very least, even if the problems of the old year manage to carry on into the New Year, one would be better conditioned, mentally that is, to tilt with the windmills that 2009 promises to bring to bear on one’s already tired shoulders. A comment was made to the blog on global warming, insinuating that it is a problem of the elite or those who would raise the specter of rising ocean levels just to obtain paltry grants. Well, speaking for myself, I don’t get paid a single cent to blog, nor do I rely on anyone’s largesse to support this private initiative in favor of the environment (among other concerns, of course!). It is true that the planet has had to deal with catastrophic events in millennia past. But if we just think of the rough time span that homo sapiens has been on this earth, this would be the equivalent of a hiccup in the face of millions – perhaps billions – of evolutionary years. The great difference is that the recent crisis has been largely man-made, mainly through the rapid use of non-renewable resources, the constant emission of effluents into the air and the world’s water systems, and the creation of incredibly large carbon footprints per capita that the world’s dwindling forests can barely cope up with. (FYI, trees generally are able to process carbon dioxide from the air and convert them into oxygen, etc.) Who will be affected by rising ocean levels? Will this be merely a subtraction in the number of islands in a given archipelago? Well, try filling up a pan with water – with simulated island masses on it – and find out the harsh truth: rising seas will not discriminate on who or what they drown. Rich or poor, same same! Even if only 1,000 islands will be left of the supposedly 7,000+ islands we have in our archipelago, this will not mean that the islands left behind will be intact as before. They will also suffer severe diminution in size, leaving only areas maybe more than a couple of meters above water able to survive. Almost all existing shorelines of the big islands will be obliterated and will see a literal “sea change”, i.e., the encroaching seas will take over much of existing dry land. In which case, man had better learn to live in the hills and high mountain areas of of the world. Unfortunately, many of the world’s poorer people live along the periphery of the normal habitats available to man, such is their inability to obtain more advantageous locations for their makeshift housing. Therefore, the poor would be most affected by rising ocean levels, whereas the rich will be able to secure better upland-inland areas for themselves. So, except for those coveted beachfront properties that the rich seem to gravitate to, the great masses huddle tightly in areas vulnerable to inundation, close to rivers and seas. Because this problem is one that affects everyone regardless of social or economic status, it is important to find out how one contributes to or helps minimize global warming. Again, this is not a problem generated by the elite for its benefit, because all mankind will have equal opportunity to drown in the encroaching waters as the Greenland ice, glaciers, and polar caps melt. There are already evident signs of this as we witness the sad plight of mighty polar bears drowning or starving as their normal hunting grounds melt into the oceans. I have a tongue in cheek name for the so-called Environmental Concerns committee of my village: The Tree-Cutting and Environmental Destruction Committee. This is a well-deserved sobriquet given their total lack of consideration for true environmental preservation and appreciation of the impact of their actions. If the strict implementation of PD 953 were to be observed, I figure they owe millions of pesos in fines and penalties for their wanton destruction of the existing tree cover and even half of the mini-forest we planted two decades ago. How can we talk about the economy and keeping afloat when we can’t even take the first step towards keeping the country afloat, period! And just in case anyone out there is interested, look up the many opportunities that now exist in the areas where environmental concerns are pre-eminent. Biofuels, hybrid motors, hydroponic and organic farming, tree farms with selective cutting, safe waste disposal methods, etc. These are areas that will not go down with the sinking economy, simply because more and more people know that these are vital to the planet’s survival. We must, therefore, consider what baggage to leave behind in this year, and begin to think about new and better initiatives that would help both the earth and the people who live in it. Initiatives need not be big: A tree planting every month for each individual, stopping the use of non-biodegradable products, renewing & recycling, helping poor families get ahead with proper tutoring and assistance with microfinance and other such successful models, and so forth. We just have to take that first all important step!]]> tag:blogs.inquirer.net,2008:/notjustforprofit//22.7481 2008-12-27T09:41:14Z 2010-01-07T11:56:00Z

By Digoy Fernandez WITHOUT doubt, we now live in interesting times. In fact, the venerable Chinese -- who have seen many civilizations come and go over their long and storied history -- sometimes use the term in a euphemistic manner,...

By Digoy Fernandez WITHOUT doubt, we now live in interesting times. In fact, the venerable Chinese -- who have seen many civilizations come and go over their long and storied history -- sometimes use the term in a euphemistic manner, akin to wishing that someone, perhaps an adversary, live in interesting times. A relative tells of her own well-to-do siblings taking off for a vacation in the US and then Europe. It seems that, in the case of the former, most stores still open are on Sale Mode, offering up to a solid 70 percent off on all goods. Problem is, there are no takers, leading one to realize that genuine belt-tightening is going on. This is not surprising given the problem of lay-offs and company closures that have been taking place in an accelerated fashion. To make things worse, even companies able to weather the economic storm find themselves with dwindling sales as less and less people commit to purchasing anything unless absolutely necessary. The consumer-led US economy is fast sputtering to a halt, and the new president will have his hands full trying to jumpstart the engine by building up buyer confidence by creating new jobs and opportunities for others who have already been laid off. Despite naysayers who claim that the US is no longer the world’s economic locomotive, it is pretty clear that this malaise has began to seep into the other main economies of the world, from Europe, to the Middle East and its oil riches, to the East with “ChIndia” (China and India) and Japan slowly sliding into the morass. An interesting footnote to that trip taken by our intrepid band is that they found themselves buying a lot of the bargains being offered, proving once again that Cash is King these days. It is a well known fact to many local country and corporate planners that the saving grace of the Philippine economy has always been the Value Added Tax and the foreign exchange inflows generated by our army of overseas workers. Unfortunately, the spread of economic gloom and a general decrease in economic activity worldwide will probably result in some diminution of the foreign exchange remittances currently propping up the economy. The government, probably prompted by the need to show some backbone in the current crisis, has mapped out a program for public sector spending meant to inject funds into the economy before it throttles downward. Unfortunately, there is little or no surplus to spend, and any program aimed at propping up the economy may be just a short-lived and expensive exercise as we poach into the largesse generated by VAT. I know of families that have recently gone through a series of sales of family properties, some through the Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS) program under land reform (deformed?). Many of these people believe in paying the right taxes and fees. It is interesting to note that they have always had to pay much more just to get proceeds into their hands. What galls one is that the VOS is supposed to generate tax-free revenues for the selling party, and yet, functionaries find ways and means to make the transactions interesting. It is precisely this type of practice so prevalent today that screams for structural reform. A philosophical observer of the scene once said that, to get rid of corruption in this country, one would have to eliminate almost everyone above the age of 30 and start all over again -- hopefully in the right direction. The coming year promises even more of what will really be interesting times. The country will have to come up with creative ways to beat back the economic malaise that threatens to seep into our own fabric. It does not help that the political process is being thwarted yet again by people who hold on to their public offices like leeches. Like the true parasites that they are, they only know how to suck blood and do the country a disservice by coming up with new-fangled ways to cling to power beyond the mandated election year 2010. During these interesting times, we are tempted to take a page from our Chinese friends and wish the very best of these interesting times on those who seek to thwart the will of the people and the constitution. Perhaps, in the next process of reviewing the constitution -- for it does need some tweaking -- it may be wise to put in a provision that NO ONE who has ever held the highest position of the land can ever take on a similar top position, e.g., prime minister or chief janitor, even if the constitution were to be changed a thousand times.