Pala-isip

I read this article on BBC today about Hugo Chavez getting his parliament to reform their constitution to eliminate term limits for President. If approve, it can essentially make him president for life. I think Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will have a new model president to follow. Here's the complete article .

Here's a website I saw after doing some research on Francswiss. The company is called Swiss Cash, the website is http://frankyswiss.50webs.com/serene/index.html I don't know if this website or company is legit, it looks like it's based in Singapore. But it looks fishy to me. Now first if all, to be fair, this website is probably the website of the recruiter because there is a referral ID. But here is why I think it's fishy. First, clicking on the link below the lady's picture should take you to http://www.swisscash.biz/ where you can put in the referral ID. But the link doesn't work. Second, if you click the payout plan , it goes to a link that shows you how the financial adviser makes money. It looks a lot like a pyramid/multi-level networking business. That's fine, there's a lot of legitimate multi-level marketing business like Usana , Nu Skin , etc. But that is not that gives me a warning sign. If you look at the page, the top most page tells you ho...

Another scam has been unveiled in the Philippines. This time it's trading "futures derivatives". The company is called FrancSwiss (wow...what a unique name, they just reversed Swiss Francs) and were offering people with a 12% annual return. Their minimum is $40,000 to invest, but if you don't have the $40,000, they encourage you to partner with someone to come up with the minimum. It was estimated that investors lose between $120 to $250 million in investments. A friend was telling me about this where he knows someone who told him to invest in this company just last week. When my friend told me that they were offering 4.5% per day return, I told him that was a scam. Good thing he listened to me and didn't invest any money. Yesterday, the news came out of the Inquirer saying the money in the bank accounts were all gone. Taken by the owner and most probably have left the Philippines. Seriously, haven't they heard of Multi-Tel? Tibayan? G. Cosmos? If these ponz...

What's this I read? Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza is the new DENR Secretary? Mayor Atienza who tore down Arroceros Park? Atienza who removed all the grass and put tiles on Plaza Binondo? Atienza who put tiles on Baywalk and practically removed all the trees and grass so he can put up stalls for foods? Atienza who concretized Manila? What a perfect choice to head the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He will definitely have a great effect on the Philippine Environment and Natural Resources.

We went to Puerto Galera this weekend to spend some time at the beach. I've been to several beaches and resorts in the Philippines before but I must say this is the first time I truly enjoyed it. The previous times I been to some Philippine resort like Mt. Makiling, Matabungkay, Hidden Valley, Monte Mar, etc. I've never truly enjoyed them since there's either too many people or the beaches are not that great. Since most of the resorts I've been to is too commercialized, people have been throwing their trash around and spoiled the beauty of the area. This time it's different. Puerto Galera is located in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. To get to Puerto Galera, you take South Luzon Expressway all the way to Batangas. It's about a 2 to 2 and a half hour drive from Manila depending on the traffic. You go to Port of Batangas and leave your car at the covered parking. It cost about P200 a day to park. Then you take about an hour boat ride to Sabang which is the main doc...

Today is May 16, 2007 and I'm in the Philippines right now for a vacation. I was looking around about the real estate market and the general economy and here are some of my observations. As you may or may not know, the real estate market is booming. A lot of new developments are coming up and it looks like 1986 again. I was talking to a banker friend of mine and she said that the economy is doing very well because of the E-VAT. The budget is at a surplus, lending by the government is down so the new bond issues are at a lower interest rate. Hence, the increasing bond prices which made the UITF go up in value a lot. Now that it has stabilized, the UITFs are not returning as much anymore. Prime lending rate is at around 8% so it is pretty low since I recall about 3 to 5 years ago that rates are above 12%. Since lending rates is so low, this will help spur lending to buy homes and cars. Interest rates for savings is at around 3% and since the stock market is doing better. More investo...

Just read this on the Inquirer today. UP studies shows that Manila is getting hotter. Here's the article . The article shows that the average temperatures of Manila has risen 2.96 degrees Celsius for the month of May. UP says that this is due to lack of vegetation, converting natural land to asphalt and concrete. Other man-made factors are use of motorized vehicles, airconditioners and other power generation equipments. Now you don't need a study by UP to know that Manila is getting hotter. You can definitely feel it if you've lived in Manila long enough. I used to remember where we can play outside during the summer under the sun and enjoy a cool breeze in the night. But not anymore. With so many hi-rise buildings, almost no spacing for homes, traffic, pollution and the city government turning everything into concrete. It's no surprise Manila is getting hotter. What's with the clean and green when your definition of green is to pave the sidewalk and paint the walls...