Sunday, March 12, 2006
Nowhere To Go But Up
Just like penny stocks, when things are scraping bottom, they say, there’s no place to go but up!
The Philippine peso looks like an energetic pet dog rearing to go places. Despite many factors trying to beat it back down with things like … the latest ‘qou qou roo qou qou’ in Manila, it has not given up ground and has indeed moved up to higher ground. This can only mean that it no longer wants to be held back or down. I can feel something different and good coming!
Now let us see what is propelling this good old , tired but recently rejuvenated currency. Well, we have heard of a lot of things. One of them is the additional money in the government coffers from the EVAT, the most hated and dreaded tax reform. Well, you and I know that if you run a store and does not have enough capital to absorb operational costs and some losses, you can go broke. EVAT is our much needed capital extension so our economy does not just break even or worse and go bankrupt but instead make profit and more profit. We have also heard of the major peso friend , the millions of dollars from our great OFW’s from all over the world that pour in year in and year out to our beloved families and eventually to our economy. How? When you spend that almighty dollar in the Philippines it has this effect of pushing up the economy. That is one reason why the U. S. President has given back tons of tax dollars to its citizens. The citizens spend that money, then the economy goes up!
We have also heard of some success in efforts to kill that loathsome, despicable and lowlife vermin…called corruption. It is a tough nut to crack but it is getting better! I have not heard much about our fearless Congressmen and Senators asking for more money for their pork barrels. Do not be deceived by this silence. Tell them … NO MAS! No more Mr. Congressman, No more Mr. Senator! Leave the money where they belong and allow them to be used to truly advance this nation’s economy!
You have been doing the same things over and over for years . It has not made the desired change. Now , only fools keep repeating activities that bring the same results over and over. To bring about a new and better change, one has to improve his activities. Your temporary individual and selfish gain, does not bring any gain to our economy at all. Your gain keeps our country and its citizens in an economic rut! And how’s that for leadership!! And yes, I may be just making mention of congressmen and senators, but you know who you are. Governors, mayors , department heads, directors, generals on down to the lowest pawns… who are guilty of corruption. Please allow this nation to thrive! Allow its citizens to see and live a life in a progressive economy! Allow your brothers and sisters to live a decent life that they so deserve!
The recent bullish performance of the Philippine stock market is a very clear sign of confidence from folks in many areas including many who are outside the country. I salute all the responsible leaders of our nation who persevere in their selfless effort to shore up, revive, coax up, mend, push and power up our economy!
And anyone, I repeat, anyone who contributes to or causes this uptrend of our economy to slow down , stagnate or reverse its direction is a complete moron. But if you are one of those who dream of seeing the Philippines finally making it among the ranks of highly successful and competitive economies of the world, you will then be sticking your chest out each time the PESO moves up! So, if we are a smart nation, we would be taking advantage of this economic uptrend, take all the necessary steps , nurse it to higher ground and allow it to soar. And that is, persistenly and consistently!
Other signs that the economy is moving up are recent rating upgrades given to us by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Rating from negative to stable. Goldman Sachs gave us a positive from stable. Now, we have seen these upgrades before only to melt down later.
The economies that are constantly moving up like China, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and now even Cambodia and Vietnam learned that these numbers and opinions given out by these groups are closely watched by a huge number of investors from all over the world. Above nations paid very close attention and made damn sure that they did everything necessary to keep those investors coming with their investment money. The higher the opinions around the world of who or what we are as an investment nation, the better our chances of getting those investment money! The more businesslike and professional we look and act the more they are interested. China’s exponential growth for the last two decades came from these foreign investors and not from their savings. They worked hard to bring about all those changes or reforms that foreign investors were looking for. So get this straight!
The positive reforms need to be in place before the investors come in. And what are these reforms? One, kill corruption at all levels! Two, knock off all these stupid and ignorant power grabs that show absolutely NO direction, NO financial meaning, NO sense. Three, instill more institutional maturity and discipline at all levels of government. Four, bring in more professionalism in business and politics. Other governments and foreign business communities look at our politicians and their pawns and shake their heads in disbelief. Former Presidents jumping in at every commotion created by the eternal oppositionists. Military officers joining civilian demonstrations and taking over buildings. Politicians convening in hotels to oust opponents. These and many others create a sense of complete chaos , absence of order and protocol. Who would want to pour millions of dollars in investment to a nation run by people like those mentioned above? These wealthy investors and nations are professionals. And they surely know who is unprofessional when they see one. Professionals deal with fellow professionals only. You act like a moron and you are kept outside the circle of professionals. Period! And get this one too. This happened right at the time when everyone should be looking at these economic signs and planning, tweaking and laying down blueprints to nurture the positive changes! Five, redirect everyone’s focus from all the insanity above to one that is centered upon a different kind of competition. Instead of competing against each other, trying to show who is the greatest (pasikatan where everyone talks and does a trick or two and no one really listens) and all that garbage, we should fix our sights on China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And do what? Compete economically! When the time comes where our Congressmen, Senators, Justices, Generals, Directors, Department Heads, Governors , Mayors and all the rest of the citizens finally put their hearts and minds together and direct this newfound energy towards this GOAL of proudly winning with the great economies of the world, then the Philippines will never be the same ever again. When we start to take pride in the first fruits of our teamwork and see the benefits of an improved economy, when we start to experience a better quality of life, when the cost of food is so low because of higher wages and we can eat just about anything we wish to eat, when our homes are better built and bigger, when roads are decent, when we can go around the world as tourists and businesspeople… , these are just a few of the rewards of an improved economy. This situation is long overdue in our nation. We are seeing signs that we can have it. The choice is ours! And this goal is within our reach in a shorter period of time than we may think. The sooner we face this great challenge the faster we will see our first results. I dare everyone to look at this as an exciting challenge indeed! The Philippines attracting millions of dollars of investment because we have cleaned house and have brought things in order. We no longer act foolish and instead present ourselves as truly responsible and professional. This change or reform should happen across the board and soon. From our leaders on down to the smallest guy.
The President and her administration has been working very hard and encouraging this change. Let us not compete against her and her administration. Let us instead compete against the bigger economies all around us! I see more and more Senators, Congressmen, Governors, Mayors , business groups and other leaders falling in behind her. Let us not choose to stay poor and bicker about things. Let us instead decide to become rich as a nation and then bicker over issues later! There is only one great goal to look at that matters that much at this time for our nation. And this is that we do everything we can with what we have NOW and build up our economy and eventually our country! From the guy who sits at the highest seat of government to the guy who sweeps the streets. I dare each one of you. Everyone has this responsibility to face up to this exciting challenge. Let us step up to the plate!
Joe Joson
Anaheim, California
The Philippine peso looks like an energetic pet dog rearing to go places. Despite many factors trying to beat it back down with things like … the latest ‘qou qou roo qou qou’ in Manila, it has not given up ground and has indeed moved up to higher ground. This can only mean that it no longer wants to be held back or down. I can feel something different and good coming!
Now let us see what is propelling this good old , tired but recently rejuvenated currency. Well, we have heard of a lot of things. One of them is the additional money in the government coffers from the EVAT, the most hated and dreaded tax reform. Well, you and I know that if you run a store and does not have enough capital to absorb operational costs and some losses, you can go broke. EVAT is our much needed capital extension so our economy does not just break even or worse and go bankrupt but instead make profit and more profit. We have also heard of the major peso friend , the millions of dollars from our great OFW’s from all over the world that pour in year in and year out to our beloved families and eventually to our economy. How? When you spend that almighty dollar in the Philippines it has this effect of pushing up the economy. That is one reason why the U. S. President has given back tons of tax dollars to its citizens. The citizens spend that money, then the economy goes up!
We have also heard of some success in efforts to kill that loathsome, despicable and lowlife vermin…called corruption. It is a tough nut to crack but it is getting better! I have not heard much about our fearless Congressmen and Senators asking for more money for their pork barrels. Do not be deceived by this silence. Tell them … NO MAS! No more Mr. Congressman, No more Mr. Senator! Leave the money where they belong and allow them to be used to truly advance this nation’s economy!
You have been doing the same things over and over for years . It has not made the desired change. Now , only fools keep repeating activities that bring the same results over and over. To bring about a new and better change, one has to improve his activities. Your temporary individual and selfish gain, does not bring any gain to our economy at all. Your gain keeps our country and its citizens in an economic rut! And how’s that for leadership!! And yes, I may be just making mention of congressmen and senators, but you know who you are. Governors, mayors , department heads, directors, generals on down to the lowest pawns… who are guilty of corruption. Please allow this nation to thrive! Allow its citizens to see and live a life in a progressive economy! Allow your brothers and sisters to live a decent life that they so deserve!
The recent bullish performance of the Philippine stock market is a very clear sign of confidence from folks in many areas including many who are outside the country. I salute all the responsible leaders of our nation who persevere in their selfless effort to shore up, revive, coax up, mend, push and power up our economy!
And anyone, I repeat, anyone who contributes to or causes this uptrend of our economy to slow down , stagnate or reverse its direction is a complete moron. But if you are one of those who dream of seeing the Philippines finally making it among the ranks of highly successful and competitive economies of the world, you will then be sticking your chest out each time the PESO moves up! So, if we are a smart nation, we would be taking advantage of this economic uptrend, take all the necessary steps , nurse it to higher ground and allow it to soar. And that is, persistenly and consistently!
Other signs that the economy is moving up are recent rating upgrades given to us by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Rating from negative to stable. Goldman Sachs gave us a positive from stable. Now, we have seen these upgrades before only to melt down later.
The economies that are constantly moving up like China, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and now even Cambodia and Vietnam learned that these numbers and opinions given out by these groups are closely watched by a huge number of investors from all over the world. Above nations paid very close attention and made damn sure that they did everything necessary to keep those investors coming with their investment money. The higher the opinions around the world of who or what we are as an investment nation, the better our chances of getting those investment money! The more businesslike and professional we look and act the more they are interested. China’s exponential growth for the last two decades came from these foreign investors and not from their savings. They worked hard to bring about all those changes or reforms that foreign investors were looking for. So get this straight!
The positive reforms need to be in place before the investors come in. And what are these reforms? One, kill corruption at all levels! Two, knock off all these stupid and ignorant power grabs that show absolutely NO direction, NO financial meaning, NO sense. Three, instill more institutional maturity and discipline at all levels of government. Four, bring in more professionalism in business and politics. Other governments and foreign business communities look at our politicians and their pawns and shake their heads in disbelief. Former Presidents jumping in at every commotion created by the eternal oppositionists. Military officers joining civilian demonstrations and taking over buildings. Politicians convening in hotels to oust opponents. These and many others create a sense of complete chaos , absence of order and protocol. Who would want to pour millions of dollars in investment to a nation run by people like those mentioned above? These wealthy investors and nations are professionals. And they surely know who is unprofessional when they see one. Professionals deal with fellow professionals only. You act like a moron and you are kept outside the circle of professionals. Period! And get this one too. This happened right at the time when everyone should be looking at these economic signs and planning, tweaking and laying down blueprints to nurture the positive changes! Five, redirect everyone’s focus from all the insanity above to one that is centered upon a different kind of competition. Instead of competing against each other, trying to show who is the greatest (pasikatan where everyone talks and does a trick or two and no one really listens) and all that garbage, we should fix our sights on China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And do what? Compete economically! When the time comes where our Congressmen, Senators, Justices, Generals, Directors, Department Heads, Governors , Mayors and all the rest of the citizens finally put their hearts and minds together and direct this newfound energy towards this GOAL of proudly winning with the great economies of the world, then the Philippines will never be the same ever again. When we start to take pride in the first fruits of our teamwork and see the benefits of an improved economy, when we start to experience a better quality of life, when the cost of food is so low because of higher wages and we can eat just about anything we wish to eat, when our homes are better built and bigger, when roads are decent, when we can go around the world as tourists and businesspeople… , these are just a few of the rewards of an improved economy. This situation is long overdue in our nation. We are seeing signs that we can have it. The choice is ours! And this goal is within our reach in a shorter period of time than we may think. The sooner we face this great challenge the faster we will see our first results. I dare everyone to look at this as an exciting challenge indeed! The Philippines attracting millions of dollars of investment because we have cleaned house and have brought things in order. We no longer act foolish and instead present ourselves as truly responsible and professional. This change or reform should happen across the board and soon. From our leaders on down to the smallest guy.
The President and her administration has been working very hard and encouraging this change. Let us not compete against her and her administration. Let us instead compete against the bigger economies all around us! I see more and more Senators, Congressmen, Governors, Mayors , business groups and other leaders falling in behind her. Let us not choose to stay poor and bicker about things. Let us instead decide to become rich as a nation and then bicker over issues later! There is only one great goal to look at that matters that much at this time for our nation. And this is that we do everything we can with what we have NOW and build up our economy and eventually our country! From the guy who sits at the highest seat of government to the guy who sweeps the streets. I dare each one of you. Everyone has this responsibility to face up to this exciting challenge. Let us step up to the plate!
Joe Joson
Anaheim, California
