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Did you
know 1:
The old Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
compound in
Subic, Zambales will be converted into a spa or wellness center.
Since it is very near the humongous Hanjin shipyard, the
wellness center is targeting as core clientele the more
or less 2,000 Korean executives in the shipyard that
employs 30,000.
Oh yes,
the former DPWH compound and adjacent properties are
owned by the family of Cesar Rodriguez.
Did you
know 2:
Jollibee
Foods Corp. now serves half-rice servings as part of its
corporate responsibility (read: less wastage from
finicky eaters such as children and dieting women).
Then
again, the National Food Authority has increased its
farm-gate price for palay or unmilled rice from P12 a
kilo to P17 but, mind you, only for this particular
harvest. This means traders must right now compete by
buying at a higher price of up of P19 a kilo, which
translates to milled rice retailing at P35 a kilo.
Did you
know 3:
It takes a month to book a flight to the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) and much longer to Saudi Arabia, where
the flights going to and from Manila are always fully
booked. Right now, there are about a million Filipinos
working in Saudi Arabia and another half a million in
UAE.
This
means workers who have resigned from their jobs in the
Philippines a month or two after signing their overseas
contracts are not earning money while they are waiting
for their particular flight to the
Middle East.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aeronautics Board isn’t doing
anything to increase flight frequencies for budget
carriers based in
Clark.
The
country’s semiannual international buyers’ fair called
Manila FAME is ongoing until today at SMX near the Mall
of Asia and, sad to say, there are more
sellers/exporters than there are buyers.
The
standard excuse among exporters and organizer,
government-owned Center for International Trade
Expositions and Missions (CITEM), is the strong peso has
made Philippine products less competitive than Vietnam
and China (read: hey, even the currencies of Vietnam
and China have strengthened against the weak US dollar).
A more important reason for the lack of buyers is the
mismatch of exporters’ products and what buyers are
looking for (read: many of the products on exhibit are
pretty ho-hum and don’t have that wow factor to justify
the higher prices).
Perhaps
the most interesting thing CITEM executive director Fe
Agoncillo-Reyes has come up in this FAME is the hilot
center, which will be a regular exhibitor from now on.
No, the hilots will not be exported. Instead, foreigners
will be encouraged to come to the Philippines and visit
hilots as part of the country’s medical tourism (read:
as part of this program, Agoncillo-Reyes will be heading
for
Japan
next month).
Right
now, there are about 5,000 hilots, including those with
oracions (whispered healing prayers) and batos (sacred
stones which are swallowed), in the country. They also
have grouped together into the Association of
Traditional Health Aid Givers Inc.
Under
the leadership of Bibiano Fajardo, the three-year-old
ATHAG has trained 3,000 aspirants to the field. The
two-week course costs P6,000 but the graduate needs to
practice for three months more to find work in such
places as the high-end Shangri-La Hotel spa center
called Chi, which has branches in Ortigas Center and in
Mandaue. The pay isn’t great at minimum wage but the
tips are generous and are, on the average, twice the pay
received on any given day.
Oh yes,
Fajardo talked yesterday to Technical Skills Development
Authority head Augusto Syjuco to professionalize the
business. The idea here is for Technical Education
Skills Development Authority to test and give government
certifications to ATHAG graduates. |
