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BY STANLEY PALISADA
ALAY, AKLAN -- Next to crimson sunsets kissing the tranquil indigo waters and the iconic Willy’s Rock, giant sandcastles are considered “most photographed” in Boracay Island. The dates etched on them are like “proof of life”—helpful in pictures that brag to friends one’s conquest of the country’s most important beach. But these colossal palaces conscientiously built daily by locals in exchange for donations from tourists have been outlawed. “It took a while for locals and tourists to understand the rationale behind the municipal ordinance prohibiting giant sandcastles,” said Elena Brugger, a real estate professional and environmentalist based in the island. Locals earn a few hundreds of pesos a day for their sandcastles but they disembowel the bosom of the white beach daily for tons of fresh sand needed to build them. This alters the shoreline’s surface and diminishes the sand’s color and powder-like quality, so government prohibited the practice. But more than the damage caused by sandcastles, a much sinister threat confronts Boracay’s White Beach—one that has an insatiable appetite for land—and in this case—sand. In the last five years, a dramatic rise in water levels was noted in Boracay. Coasts are also thinning. Sand erosion is most pronounced in Diniwid Beach north of the island, as waters are where
The municipal government has banned giant sandcastles because they alter the shoreline’s surface and diminish the sand’s color and powder-like quality.
In the last five years, a dramatic rise in water levels was noted in Boracay. Coasts are also thinning as waters are where sand used to be.
IS BORACAY VANISHING?
Structures that violate building guidelines flourish along the beach. Many resorts disregard the 30-meter easement required between buildings and the shoreline. Building structures “taller than the tallest tree” are also prohibited yet the mid-rise hotels along Boracay’s beachfront blatantly violate this guideline.
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sand used to be. Sand erosion in Diniwid is so drastic that the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and a team of scientists from the University of the Philippines conducted erosion research in the area, in the context of climate change, reckless development and a convolution of other anti-environment practices. UNESCO, in its climate change publications, suggested that every centimeter rise in water level results in a one-meter beach erosion. From climate change alone, Boracay is already fated to shed off portions of its reputed 4-kilometer White Beach. And sand is all that matters. “People come here not really because of parties, diving, swimming or water sports. Many other islands offer them already. It’s the sand that makes Boracay unique,” Brugger said. “And sand erosion will ultimately affect everyone [on the island] whether big or small business.” Marine experts agree. “The climate is changing and Boracay has to adapt to its impact if it wants to survive and sustain tourism,” said Mike Fortes of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UPMSI) during his presentation before multisectoral groups in the island. According to Fortes, the wanton disregard for the threats posed by climate change, the fee-
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Resorts have sprouted too close to the shorelines, which result in pollution and untold damage to the sand, reefs and water quality.
Grammy Award Winning Gospel Artist Israel Houghton To Bring Love Revolution Tour to Calgary CALGARY, AB (June 21, 2011) - - Grammy Award winning American Gospel artist Israel Houghton travels through Canada in August for his “Love Revolution Tour” including a concert in Calgary. Houghton, who has won multiple Grammy, Dove and Stellar Awards for his music, will be in concert Thursday, August 18 at 7pm at First Alliance Church located at 12345 40 Street, SE. The event is one of only three stops that Houghton will make in Canada, with the other two in Montreal and Toronto. Israel Houghton is known for injecting contemporary gospel and worship music with a blazing energy. As a singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and worship leader, he has created a canon of songs that have become standards in houses of faith around the globe. He has accomplished this largely as the leader of “Israel and New Breed,” a musical ensemble and ministry organization that has amassed gold-selling albums and critical platitudes reserved for the best of the best. Over the past decade, Houghton has amassed a legion of fans, drawing together people of all races, ages and cultures through worship. He has been fittingly graced with 2 gold-selling albums, 6 Dove Awards, 2 Stellar Awards, a Soul Train Award, and 4 Grammy® Awards including one Grammy for “Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album” for his latest project, Love God, Love People. The album is a musical tour-de-force that defies musical genres and focuses on loving God and others through acts of compassion and service. Additional concert information can be found at http://faithhouseproductions. com/index.html. Additional information on Israel Houghton may be found at http://israelhoughton.net/. For advertising opportunities at the concert, please call Lucia at 403.816.3149.
ble will of government to enforce laws, and the dearth in disaster-coping mechanisms by the community --all from indifference -- can steer the country’s premiere island to its auspicious doom in the time of global warming. Boracay’s proposed Comprehensive Land Use Plan pushed by former Tourism Secretary Ace Durano has not been approved by local government when it should have prepared the island for the monumental growth it is experiencing today. As a result, structures that violate building guidelines flourish along the beach. For instance, many resorts disregard the 30-meter easement required between buildings and the shoreline, which should have abated sand erosion and water intrusion. Building structures “taller than the tallest tree” are also prohibited yet the mid-rise hotels along Boracay’s beachfront blatantly violate this guideline. Massive clearing of coconut and other coast-growing trees have paved the way for construction. “Palm trees dampen the wind unlike hard structures such as buildings,” Brugger said. “[Hard surfaces] deflect wind,” she added. Wind transports sand and sediment back to shore. Resorts whose seawalls built too close to the shore also contribute to sand erosion. Cesar Villanoy of the UPMSI warns seawalls disrupt sand transport. Tides and changes in wave movement between seasons (amihan and habagat) aid in sand transport. “During habagat season, sand is carried by waters away from the White Beach and is brought back during amihan season, when wind and water move in the opposite direction,” Villanoy said. This is the natural flow of sediments. Sand removed during one season will be brought back in the next. In the northern portion of Station 1, for instance, erosion is already severe. Large quantities of sand have been worn away, exposing sewage pipes. Exposed to the elements, pipes can easily break and leak waste water into the sea. This could bring about the recurrence of e-coli bacteria contamination, which in 1997 scared tourists away from Boracay’s waters. Water intrusion is also evident as during typhoons, destructive flooding is experienced in resorts, bars, shops and residences along White Beach as well as houses within Boracay’s cramped inroads. The talcum fine sand earned for Boracay the moniker “best beach in the world,” attracting swarms of visitors whose activi-
ties have become bane for the sands. The boats that bring tourists had killed corals and reduced coral cover in White Beach to a measly 5 to 25 percent, according to studies by UNESCO, largely due to anchor damage. Tourists that dive, swim or snorkel in reefs also threaten these fragile ecosystems. According to research presented by Villanoy, reefs and sea grass provide the first line of defense against sand erosion. Without them, sand is easily transported by the back-flow of water. Seaweeds are also responsible for the propagation of Boracay’s precious white sand. Research by marine scientist Edna Fortes suggests seaweeds help in the formation of coral reefs that are essential in sand and sediment development. “If we protect our coral reefs which include the sources of sediments for beaches, then, we also protect our beaches and the ecosystem as a whole,” Fortes said. Marine scientist Mike Fortes told Boracay stakeholders that collective effort is needed from government, business and the community to cope with climate change and everyone must act now. “Everyday we wait to take action, the problem becomes dramatically more difficult and costly to address successfully,” Fortes said. He also recommended the approval and implementation of the comprehensive land use plan. Ecological preservation must be part of the culture of everyone in the island. Communities and businesses whose livelihood depends on tourism must also contribute. But a chunk of the task rests on the government, which for a long time played a bystander’s role in the resort island. “If we regard the threat as a ‘business as usual’ scenario; if we don’t leave ‘comfort zones’ and make sacrifices for the greater good; if we lose hope, then we will not be able to cope with climate change,” said Fortes. The Malay local government, for its part, said it is taking affirmative action, given the gargantuan task of trouble-shooting ahead. “We will impose a moratorium on new construction and strictly enforce ordinances to clean White Beach,” said Malay Mayor John Yap. “We are taking every careful step in following the intent and the spirit of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.” It is regrettable that for failing to see the calamitous cost of irresponsible development in the island, Boracay may lose more than just its sandcastles. (ABS-CBN News) n
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BY JASON GUTIERREZ
ENIGNO AQUINO III won the Philippine presidency on a battle cry to crush corruption and ease deep poverty, but a year into his term he is seen by many to be straining under the weight of his own promises. At a creek-side slum in the outskirts of Manila’s financial district where Aquino was hugely popular during last year’s election, residents said his vow to lift them out of their misery appeared to have fallen by the wayside. “We thought we had found a savior, but one year after we voted for him to win, what do we have? Nothing,” said Jennifer San Gaspar, a 36-year-old mother of nine children. San Gaspar said she remained an Aquino supporter until a few months ago when she and her neighbors were turned away from a government welfare scheme that distributes billions of pesos to poor families on condition they get health checkups and the children go to school. “They did not tell us why we were disqualified, the social worker who interviewed us never came back,” she said. “So here we are, nothing has changed. We are still poor.” San Gaspar’s sentiment is apparently
Analysts say it was impossible for anyone to quickly fix the enormous economic and corruption problems during the nine-year term of Gloria Arroyo.
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A YEAR ON,
PNOY
STRAINING UNDER WEIGHT OF OWN PROMISES Political analysts say Aquino had not yet started to tackle the roots of the country’s corruption and poverty problems, the issues that he would ultimately be judged on. All he has done is to start off his year with symbolic stuff, crushing corruption, but nothing really concrete yet.
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President Aquino remains almost unanimously regarded as personally incorruptible and people believe he will not use his power to enrich himself. shared by many across the impoverished nation as the 51-yearold bachelor president marked 12 months in office last June 30 with his popularity still high but dropping steadily. After recording the biggest landslide win in Philippine election history, Aquino’s popularity rating dropped from a peak of 74 percent in November to 64 percent in June, pollster Social Weather Stations said.
Aquino’s popularity rating dropped from a peak of 74 percent in November to 64 percent in June.
Ratings remain strong
Personally incorruptible
While his ratings are still relatively strong, analysts said the slide reflected disappointment that he had not done more to fulfill his chief campaign promises of eradicating corruption and ending poverty. Nevertheless, they pointed out that it was impossible for anyone to quickly fix the enormous economic and corruption problems that festered under his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, during her nine years in power. “The bar was set very high for him, and from the very start the cards were stacked against him,” said Antonio Contreras, a political scientist at Manila’s De La Salle University. “He was painted as a symbol of clean government, a hope for a country after a disastrous administration.” Contreras said that while he was disappointed overall with Aquino’s first-year performance, the president had at least brought back a sense of ethics and professionalism in public service.
Aquino remains almost unanimously regarded as personally incorruptible and voters feel comfortable he will not use his six years in power to build a personal fortune. This holds particular importance in the Philippines where leaders from national to village level have for decades sought to pilfer state coffers for personal benefit. Global corruption watchdog Transparency International, which ranks the Philippines as the 44th most corrupt country in the world, rated his administration’s first-year efforts an eight out 10. He has also proved his leadership mettle for many by standing up to the powerful Roman Catholic Church and backing a controversial reproductive health bill that seeks to promote the use of contraceptives for the poor.
Improved investment climate
On the economic front, Aquino’s team has so far been given
On the economic front, Aquino’s team has so far been given credit as solid managers, with global rating agencies upgrading their investment outlooks for the country. credit as solid managers, with global rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s recently upgrading their investment outlooks for the Philippines. Economic growth has slowed but remained strong with an expansion of 4.9 percent in the first quarter, while two interest rate hikes have for now put the brakes on inflation. Nevertheless, Contreras and other analysts said Aquino had not yet started to tackle the roots of the country’s corruption and
poverty problems, and those were the issues he would ultimately be judged on. “All he has done is to start off his year with symbolic stuff, crushing corruption, but nothing really concrete yet,” Contreras said.
Learning curve
Political analyst Ramon Casiple said the public should have patience and realize that a president’s first 12 months in office were a learning curve, a time
to consolidate power and lay the foundations for the next five years. “However, people will want to see real progress from the second year,” said Casiple, executive director of Manila-based think-tank Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, giving Aquino a pass mark of six out of 10. “What people are waiting for is a real programmed of governance. He needs to focus.” (Agence France-Presse) n
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HOST, AFGHANISTAN – Darby Ortego, 25, endures gunfire and mine attacks fighting for the United States army in Afghanistan, but last July 4 was his first as a citizen of the country he serves. Ortego, who battles insurgents in the violent eastern province of Khost with Bravo Company, 1-26 Infantry, recently attended a naturalization ceremony at a US base near Kabul ahead of this year’s US Independence Day celebrations. Like thousands of fellow Filipinos, he sees the US military as a fast-track to American citizenship, securing his own future and also helping his family back home. “I joined up to get my mom to America,” said Private Ortego, who is deployed at Combat Outpost Sabari in Khost, where US troops clash with Taliban rebels based across the border in Pakistan. “I want to bring my mom from her village in the Philippines to Nevada, where I live. I want her to be with me.” Ortego is one of the roughly 9,000 legal immigrants who join the US armed forces each year from countries as far apart as Panama, Nigeria, Liberia and Turkey. He has “Green Card” permanent residency in the US, and was living with his divorced father in Nevada when he signed up for the army two years ago. Other benefits to military service include a free college education, which Ortego says he hopes to use to study business management. Troop commanders say new citizens fight hard for their privileges. “He volunteered to serve in the army, so he certainly deserves to raise his right hand and take the citizenship oath,” said Ortego’s commanding officer Captain Aaron Tapalman. “Like all soldiers going through the citizenship process, he has always felt completely part of the team. You wouldn’t know unless these guys tell you.” There are around 25,000 nonUS citizens serving in the military, the Pentagon says. Non-citizens have fought for the US since the 18th century War
Despite the risk and hardship, many Filipinos prefer serving in the US army than working as manual laborers in the Middle East. of Independence, while the US officially started recruiting Filipinos after World War II when it opened military bases in the Philippines. After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the naturalization process for military personnel was streamlined when President George W. Bush scrapped waiting requirements for active soldiers. In the last 10 years, nearly 69,000 immigrant troops have become US citizens while serving. Naturalization takes just months for serving military personnel compared to years for regular legal immigrants. Unemployment and poverty in their homeland have driven millions of Filipinos abroad to search for work, often on construction sites or as domestic staff.
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FILIPINOS FIGHT FOR U.S. CITIZENSHIP IN AFGHANISTAN Some 9,000 legal immigrants from the Philippines and other countries join the US armed forces each year. They see the US military as a fast-track to American citizenship, securing their own future and also helping their families back home. “It is better in the US because there are more opportunities. You can find a job and they will pay a decent amount,” said Ortego, who sends money back to his family in Northern Samar province. But the sacrifices he now has to make for himself and his mother are significant. “Army life is tough, this is a stressful environment,” he said. “There are bad days here, IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and small arms fire. “My mom is scared for me. It is a mother’s thing. She misses me a lot, I’ve only seen her briefly once in the last two years when she stopped overnight in Los Angeles just to say hi. I keep telling her, when I get citizenship, you guys are going to be in the US with me.” In the week leading up to July 4 this year more than 24,000 new Americans — civilian and military — are passing through naturalization ceremonies,
The US officially started recruiting Filipinos after World War II when it opened military bases in the Philippines.
the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said, with events for members of the armed forces being held in Kuwait and Baghdad as well as Kabul. At an often emotional occasion, participants raise their hands and swear the oath of allegiance before receiving official certificates. Also taking the military path to citizenship is Von Bolante, 24, who moved from the city of Tacloban outside Manila to Hawaii when he was 12. Bolante, who serves alongside Ortego in Bravo Company, admits it seems “a bit odd” to serve in a
nation’s army and yet still have to apply to be a citizen. “But I might as well as be American by now anyway, it is my adopted country,” he said. “I was working in a grocery store in Hawaii and wasn’t getting anywhere so I joined up.” On his first patrol in Afghanistan, Bolante watched from a hill as his platoon mates were hit by an IED in a field. “It blew up a few meters from them. That was the scariest thing I’ve seen. I don’t know how nobody got hurt,” he said. (Agence France-Presse) n
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Lucio Tan Henry Sy Belle Corp. is expected to open its first casino in Manila in 2012. Second on the list is tycoon Lucio Tan with an estimated $2.8 billion in assets, up from $2.1 billion in 2010. The 77-year-old tycoon owns a bevy of businesses which include Fortune Tobacco, Asia Brewery, and Hong-Kong based Eton Properties. Third on the list is JG Summit founder John Gokongwei Jr. The 83-year-old is worth $2.4 billion, up from his net worth last year of $1.5 billion. Fourth on the list is Alliance Global Group’s Andrew Tan with an estimated net worth of $2 billion from last year’s $1.2 billion.
BY DAVID DIZON
IGHTY-SIX-year-old mall magnate Henry Sy remains the richest man in the Philippines while port operator Enrique Razon Jr. joined the elite billionaires’ list this year, according to the annual listing conducted by Forbes
Magazine. The annual listing said the country’s 40 richest men are now worth a collective $34 billion, up from last year’s $22.8 billion. Forbes said a 27% uptick in the stock exchange’s composite index lifted the fortunes of the country’s richest to an all time high.
It said there are now 11 billionaires in the Philippines this year, compared to only 5 last year. Forbes compiles the list based on information from individuals, stock exchanges, public documents and analysts as well as estimates of the privately held assets of the businessmen. The minimum net worth to make the list this year increased to $85 million, up from $50 million previously. For the fourth year in a row, Sy remained the Philippines’ richest man with a net worth of $7.2 billion, up from $5 billion last year. Forbes said shares in SM Investments, the Sy family’s largest asset, is up nearly 40%. Sy’s listed property developer
HENRY SY
TOPS
John Gokongwei Jr Fifth on the list is 90-year-old construction magnate David Consunji, who has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion from last year’s $715 million. “He moved into top 5 as shares of his DMCI Holdings more than doubled in past year. Value of Semirara Mining nearly tripled,” Forbes said. Below is the Philippines billionaires list: 1. Henry Sy -- $7.2 billion 2. Lucio Tan -- $2.8 billion
PHILIPPINES’ 40 RICHEST The business magazine Forbes says there are now 11 billionaires in the Philippines this year. Topping the list for the fourth straight year is mall magnate Henry Sy with a net worth of $7.2 billion. He was followed by two other taipans: Lucio Tan and John Gokongwei Jr.
Jaime Zobel de Ayala
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3. John Gokongwei Jr. -- $2.4 billion 4. Andrew Tan -- $2 billion 5. David Consunji -- $1.9 billion 6. Jaime Zobel de Ayala -- $1.7 billion 7. Enrique Razon Jr. -- $1.6 billion 8. Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. -- $1.4 billion 9. Roberto Ongpin -- $1.3 billion 10. George Ty -- $1.1 billion 11. Tony Tan Caktiong -- $1 billion Forbes said the biggest gainer in percentage terms is former trade minister Roberto Ongpin, whose fortune soared more than fourfold to $1.3 billion. Forbes said most of that gain was thanks to an increase in his stake in listed miner Atok-Big Wedge, “though Ongpin says the company’s stock price overinflates its value.” Another newly minted billionaire is port operator Enrique Razon Jr., who saw his net worth jump to $1.6 billion from $975 million last year. His International Container Terminal Service (ICTSI) has bought controlling stakes in two terminal ports, one in India’s Tamil Nadu and one in Croatia. His private company, Bloomberry, also put $350 million into a hotel complex in Manila’s Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City. Forbes, meanwhile, listed four newcomers to the richest list. They are: Jose Antonio, founder of high-end property developer Century Properties; Jacinto Ng Sr., founder of biscuit maker Rebisco; and 34-year-old Edgar Sia II, founder of Mang Inasal Mang Inasal is now the country’s third largest fastfood chain, after Jollibee and Chowking. Last year, Jollibee purchased a 70% stake of Mang Inasal for $68 million,
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Enrique Razon Jr.
Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.
Manuel Villar
Oscar Lopez
catapulting Sia’s net worth to $85 million. He is ranked 40th in the Forbes list of richest Filipinos, and is the youngest in the list. Four from 2010 list didn’t make the cut, including Lourdes Montinola, whose family owns 41% of Far Eastern University; and Jesus Tambunting, who controls Planters Development Bank. Forbes said their gains couldn’t match the stellar performance of others on the list. The remaining names in the Philippines’ 40 richest list are as follows: 12. Inigo and Mercedes Zobel -- $980 million 13. Emilio Yap -- $930 million
14. Andrew Gotianun -- $795 million 15. Jon Ramon Aboitiz -- $760 million 16. Beatrice Campos -- $685 million 17. Manuel Villar -- $620 million 18. Vivian Que Azcona -- $555 million 19. Robert Coyiuto Jr. -- $400 million 20. Mariano Tan -- $375 million 21. Alfonso Yuchengco -- $370 million 22. Enrique Aboitiz -- $310 million 23. Oscar Lopez -- $280 million 24. Jose Antonio -- $245 million 25. Eric Recto -- $200 million 26. Gilberto Duavit -- $190 million 27. Menardo Jimenez -- $185 million 28. Alfredo Ramos -- $180 million
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George Ty
Tony Tan Caktiong 29. Betty Ang -- $165 million 30. Felipe Gozon -- $163 million 31. Tomas Alcantara -- $160 million 32. Benjamin Romualdez -- $155 million 33. Wilfred Uytengsu Jr. -- $150 million 34. Manuel Zamora Jr. -- $145 million 35. Jacinto Ng Sr. -- $115 million 36. Frederick Dy -- $110 million 37. Luis Virata -- $100 million 38. Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. -- $95 million 39. Eugenio Lopez III -- $90 million 40. Edgar Sia II -- $85 million ( abs-cbnNEWS.com) n
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Halika na, makisaya, makigulo sa mga taga-Quezon. We, QAFCAS(Quezonian And Friends of Calgary & Area Society) are inviting the Quezonians and their family & friends to our 2nd annual Potluck Picnic on Aug. 14th, 9am-3pm at Sandy Beach Park site #1(4500 14A St. SW). We will have some entertainment, games & prizes, and of course lots of food to share. See you there Kabayan!
For more info please contact: Lilian & Jeramel Quincina - 403.827.1063 Mel & Yago - 403.280.0935 Josie & Fer Flancia - 403.450.6039 Amor & German Roldan - 403.764.1592
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ECONOMIC GROWTH HAS NOT BENEFITED THE POOR
Children growing up in poverty will have less access to quality education and health care, which in turn handicaps them later in life with respect to jobs and work. BY LILA RAMOS SHAHANI
HE ARROYO administration had been inordinately fond of citing the 10 years of economic growth during its tenure, peaking at a high 7.1 percent in 2007. And yet, in that decade of impressive growth, more Filipinos actually became poor. In 2003, for instance, the official poverty incidence rate for all individual Filipinos was only 24.9 percent. By 2009, this had worsened to as much as 26 percent. Put another way, the number of poor Filipinos in 2003 was a mere 19.8 million. By 2009, this number had swelled to as much as 23.1 million. In reality, many of these additional 3.3 million Filipinos were in fact children who had been born into poverty. How can a country that grows economically leave so many behind in poverty? Why is it that, despite all the anti-poverty programs of the past decade, the poverty incidence rate in this country has not been able to break the 20-percent barrier? Are we constrained to being a society where one out of every five Filipinos will live a life of poverty forever? The inconvenient truth, quite simply, is that economic growth in the Philippines has not benefited the poor as much as it has benefited corporations and betteroff families. In fact, the growth elasticity of poverty incidence (how much poverty has fallen for every 1 percent of economic growth) in this country is alarmingly low. For every 1 percent growth in the economy, the poverty incidence has tended to fall by only 0.6 percent, and may in fact have fallen to less than that figure. Worse, from 2006 to 2009, while the economy grew by an average of 4.5 percent a year, the poverty incidence by families fell by only 0.9 percent over that same fouryear period. Compare this to our Asian neighbors, who have man-
aged to significantly bring poverty down over the past decade. Over a 20-year period, Vietnam’s poverty incidence dropped from close to 65 percent to around 27 percent; Indonesia’s fell from around 55 percent to 26 percent; and China’s decreased from 44 percent to less than 15 percent. The point is: if the fruits of our economic growth had been shared equitably, shouldn’t poverty incidence have fallen by the same 4.5 percent rate for all? What can we conclude from this data? First, it is clearly not enough to merely grow the economy, particularly since the disparity between rich and poor (and across regions) remains so glaring. We need economic growth and equitable sharing of that growth. Otherwise, the rich get richer and the poor remain mired in inter-generational poverty. Second, the family size of poor families tends to be much larger, which means that the dependency on lesser incomes will ultimately translate into persistent poverty. This also means that children growing up in poverty will have less access to quality education and health
It is clearly not enough to merely grow the economy. We need economic growth and equitable sharing of that growth. Otherwise, the rich get richer and the poor remain mired in intergenerational poverty.
Economic growth in the Philippines has not benefited the poor as much as it has benefited corporations and better-off families.
One effective program to combat poverty is micro-financing so the poor can finance and run their own small enterprises.
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care, which in turn handicaps them later in life with respect to jobs and work. When they grow up and have their own families, this inexorable pattern is likely to continue. The key, then, is providing poor children with access to education and health care in the long-term. Third, if we spend on poverty reduction programs, we have to ensure that we are in fact building the capacity of the poor to work their way out of poverty. We don’t have the resources to “buy our way” out of poverty and will therefore have to provide the poor with access to productive resources. What else can we do as a country to break this implacable cycle? The Aquino administration is committed to do the following: • To identify the poor by face and profile so that programs can be targeted. If we are to spend on the poor, we should understand their respective contexts and the causes of their chronic poverty. • To focus on programs that have the best chance of reducing poverty in the immediate future and in the long-term. These include: conditional cash transfers to give poor families the incentives to take their children for regular health check-ups and to keep them in school; asset reform that provides them with access to productive resources; adequate housing; a clean living environment; and access to micro-credit and micro-equity so they can finance and run their own enterprises. • To demand results for our efforts: anti-poverty programs will have to deliver on their promise and mission and not just be about generating more funds and more projects. • To build a coalition between national government, local governments, the private sector and civil society so poverty can be addressed as a major part of our national agenda. We need to proactively address poverty so no Filipino is left behind. Robust economies and strong democracies are not built in contexts where one-fifth of a nation’s population remains poor. The opposite, in fact, is true: a society is most successful in terms of human development when a significant portion of its population consists of a productive middle- and lower middleclass. To think otherwise is to ignore one of the more compelling lessons of history. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) Lila Ramos Shahani is adjunct faculty of the Center for Development Management at the Asian Institute of Management, a doctoral candidate at Oxford University and assistant secretary of the National Anti-Poverty Commission in the Office of the President. n
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Calgary Edition
EDUCATION OVERVIEW GUIDES JULY 2011
Our world is a lot smaller than it used to be. It is now common for a person to be born in one country, educated in another, and yet work somewhere completely different. The Government of Alberta recognizes the rise of the “global citizen” and that newcomers can help solve our province’s predicted labour shortage of 77,000 workers in the next decade. There are a number of tools to help newcomers with education they earned overseas to get a job. These resources include the new Education Overview Guides, which I was pleased to announce at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce “Connections for Business” meeting on June 28. This new, free tool is designed to help employers and human resources professionals understand foreignearned education. The guides compare foreign credentials to education in Alberta. Currently, there are educational comparisons for 10 countries - Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Colombia, India, South Korea, Philippines, Russia, the former USSR and the United Kingdom. The majority of immigrants in Alberta were educated in these countries. The guides are one of many resources to help newcomers find jobs. The Alberta government is dedicated to attracting newcomers and helping them find a career in their field of education and experience as soon as possible. These new guides demonstrate our government’s commitment to tackling the labour shortage and getting qualified immigrants in the right jobs. While the new guides are designed for employers and human resource professionals, new immigrants to Alberta will also find them useful. If you are a newcomer who is educated in one of the 10 countries covered by the Education Overview Guides, you can help you to determine how your education compares to levels in Alberta. Immigrant-serving agencies and Alberta Works offices are also using the guides to help newcomers get a job that is right for their education credentials. For a list of the Alberta Works offices throughout the province, visit www.employment.alberta.ca/AWoffices. Other tools that help immigrants find work include the International Education Guides and the Occupational Licensing Fact Sheets. The International Education Guides are in-depth guides to education systems in nine different countries. The licensing fact sheets outline the process for having credentials recognized in 66 different professions. For more information on the Education Overview Guides, visit www.employment.alberta.ca/ EducationGuides. For more information on Foreign Qualification Recognition and other resources that help newcomers get a job, visit www.employment.alberta.ca/FQR or call 780-427-2655, or toll free at 310-0000. Your comments or concerns related to this article, or any future article, are always welcome. You can contact me by calling 780-415-4800 in Edmonton and area or 310-0000 and then 780-415-4800 for elsewhere in Alberta, or through email at EI.minister@gov.ab.ca.
Calgary Edition
PLANET
15 PHILIPPINES
JULY 16-31, 2011
JULY 16-31, 2011
PLANET
16 PHILIPPINES
Calgary Edition