Headlines, Bylines and Datelines

By Jesus F. Llanto
Researcher, Newsbreak
October 15,2008

BASCO—In 2006, Batanes was able to achieve what most local government units in the country aspire—the absence of poverty among its citizens.

Official poverty statistics for 2006 released this year reveal this archipelagic province in the northernmost part of the country registered a zero percent poverty incidence. Poverty statistics for the years 2000 and 2003 showed that Batanes consistently landed on the ten least poor provinces.

Batanes, the country’s smallest province in terms of population and land area, registered a 10.4 percent and 6.3 percent poverty incidence among families during 2000 and 2003, respectively.

Batanes governor Telesforo Castillejos said the zero poverty incidence could be attributed to the fact that almost all Ivatan families engaged in farming, and therefore has assured source of food. “Almost all the families have a piece of land to till.”

Difficulties of linking with neighboring provinces and the unpredictable weather, said the governor, have taught the Ivatans to be self-reliant. “Our mentality is we cannot always depend on the outside [mainland] especially when the seas are unnavigable so we have to go farming,”

“Even government officials and employees here are involved in farming,” the governor added.

Despite a huge number of families involved in farming, the province’s agriculture sector was not able to take off and maximize its potential due to weather and transportation problems. Tess Castilejos, provincial trade and industry official, said that these problems have discouraged the farmers from planting more crops so they can trade with other provinces.

“They only produce [agricultural products] to be self-sufficient,” DTI’s Castillejos told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak. The DTI official also said that lack of access to market has hampered the growth in agricultural production. (abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak)

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This is the second of a three-part series on the province of Batanes. The first part discussed organic farming in the province.

(Disclosure: The author is among the journalists who visited Batanes during a media appreciation seminar sponsored by NEDA.)

By Jesus F. Llanto
Newsbreak, Researcher

September 23, 2008–In some areas in the country, farmers who have abandoned planting coconut and cassava are now cultivating these crops again because of  increasing demand for biofuels.

Governor Rolando Yebes of Zamboanga del Norte said that farmers in his region are now going back to planting these crops because of the surging demand and the entry of companies interested in the production of biofuels.

“Before farmers cut their coconut trees and sold them for lumber. Now, they are planting coconuts for biofuels,” he told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak adding that cassava, which has shown growth in previous years, is expected to increase further due to investments from biofuel companies like Basic Energy Corp., which is reportedly eyeing an ethanol plant in the region using cassava as feedstock.

Constancio Alama, assistant regional director for agriculture of Region IX, said that despite the promise of biofuels, there is a need to ensure that local government units should prioritize the production of food over biofuels. “Bakit uunahin ang sasakyan kung may nagugutom? (Why should we prioritize vehicles when people are hungry?)”

Zamboanga del Norte is not alone. In many parts of the world, with the unprecedented rise in oil price, a tug of war is taking place over using land for fuel or food.

The passage in the Philippines of the Biofuels Act in January 2007 generated a lot of interest about this renewable source of energy. The law aims to break the Philippine’s dependence on imported fuel particularly oil. Two years after the enactment of this law, liquid fuels for vehicles and engine are required to contain at least five percent of biofuel.

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Photo Source: www.sarangani.gov.ph

By Jesus Llanto, Newsbreak

Sept. 16,2008–The Philippines is not immune to the effects of the financial turmoil in the United States but it is in a better position to respond to the impacts, an economist from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said today during the release of the bank’s growth forecast for the region.

“The Philippine cannot be insulated…but there have been macroeconomic policies that have make it less vulnerable and in better position to respond to the negative impacts of these events,” said Thomas Crouch, ADB’s deputy director general for Southeast Asia, during the release of update of the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Tuesday.

“The cost of insulating is very high,” said Neeraj Jain, ADB’s country director for the Philippines. “It will be bad for the Philippines to cut itself from the global market.”

Jain said fiscal space created by policies implemented during the past two to three years will curtail or limit the impact of these events.

The ADB economists gave their comments as the financial crisis in the US spread following the events on Wall Street, where Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection and rival Merrill Lynch agreed to be sold to Bank of America for $50 billion.

Slower economic growth
The ADB has trimmed down its economic growth forecasts and raised inflation projections for the Philippines. The Manila-based multilateral bank forecasts a 4.5 percent and 4.7 percent economic growth in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The figures are below the 6.0% and 6.2% projected in April. With a report from Reuters.

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By Jesus Llanto
Researcher,Newsbreak

August 5,2008–Most Filipinos think that the next president should be pro-poor and should focus on preventing the soaring prices of the basic commodities and reducing poverty, a survey by polling firm Pulse Asia showed.

The Ulat ng Bayan Survey held from July 1-14, 2008 showed that almost four out of 10 (39%) Filipinos thinks that being pro-poor is the most important characteristic the next president should possess.

Aside from being pro-poor, the next president, the survey showed, should be able to enforce law equally on influential as well as ordinary people (35%) and be knowledgeable in the management of government (34%). Respondents also think that the next president should be trustworthy (29%) and fight anomalies in the government (28%)

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By Jesus F.Llanto
Newsbreak, Researcher

June 24-2008-President Gloria Arroyo will deliver her 8th State of the Nation Address (SONA) amid her very low and negative satisfaction rating and a public perception that her administration is the most corrupt in the entire Philippine history, according to a leading survey outfit Pulse Asia.

Arroyo, the longest serving president since Ferdinand Marcos, has been performing very badly in opinion surveys and is making—and breaking records—when in comes to satisfaction ratings.

As far as net satisfaction ratings of post-Marcos presidents are concerned, Arroyo holds four records: she is the first post-Marcos president to receive a negative rating; she is the only president since 1986 who received a negative satisfaction rating for the longest time; she is the president who received the lowest rating at start of her administration; and she is the one who received the lowest rating among the four presidents since the fall of Marcos regime.

The latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) proves Arroyo’s very low satisfactory rating. It showed that Arroyo is the most unpopular post-EDSA president after her net popularity rating crashed to -38 and broke her old record of -33 in May 2005

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by Jesus Llanto

The University of the Philippines’ rankings in the top world universities has declined but UP officials said these do not reflect the current state of education in the university.

In 2007, UP landed in the bottom spot of Times Higher Education Supplement-Quacquarelli-Symonds (THES-QS) list of top 400 universities. UP ranked 398th, along with National Central University (Taiwan) and Sogang University (South Korea).UP landed on the 372nd and 299th spot of the THES-QS list in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

The THES ranking showed that UP is behind the universities of its neighbors like National University of Singapore (33rd), Malaysia’s Universiti Putra Malaysia (364th), and three Indonesian universities—Universitas Gadjah Mada (360th), Bandung Institute of Technology (369th), and University of Indonesia (395th).

THES, an annual study conducted by the London-based magazine, started in 2004. It used to be a supplement of The Times newspaper of London. (abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak)

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RELATED STORY:

New charter to improve UP’s competitiveness but more funds needed.

June 23,2008-At least 700 passengers are missing as a ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized as typhoon Fengshen swept the Philippine archipelago. Latest reports say that as of Monday, only 33 survivors have been found alive. The ferry tragedy is the worst maritime accident in the Philippines since 1987, when MV Dona Paz collided with another vessel and resulted to more than 4,000 deaths.

Here are the videos from Al-Jazeera , BBC and Reuters[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM4MzSNuDbs]

In 2002, American cable company VH1 (Video Hits One)released a list of the “100 Greatest Love Songs of All Time”. (Those in bold are among my favorites)

1 WHITNEY HOUSTON -I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU
2 ELVIS PRESLEY -LOVE ME TENDER
3 CELINE DION -MY HEART WILL GO ON
4 JOURNEY -OPEN ARMS
5 PAUL MCCARTNEY & WINGS -MAYBE I’M AMAZED
6 RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS -UNCHAINED MELODY
7 LIONEL RICHIE/DIANA ROSS -ENDLESS LOVE
8 ELTON JOHN -YOUR SONG
9 JACKSON 5 -I’LL BE THERE
10 AEROSMITH -I DON’T WANNA MISS A THING11 ETTA JAMES -AT LAST
12 BEE GEES -HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE
13 SINEAD O’CONNOR -NOTHING COMPARES 2 U
14 OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN -I HONESTLY LOVE YOU
15 BILLY JOEL -SHE’S GOT A WAY
16 FRANK SINATRA -FLY ME TO THE MOON
17 FAITH HILL -BREATHE
18 PETER GABRIEL -IN YOUR EYES
19 CHICAGO -IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW
20 SONNY & CHER -I GOT YOU BABE

21 OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN/JOHN TRAVOLTA -YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT
22 BARBRA STREISAND/NEIL DIAMOND -YOU DON’T BRING ME FLOWERS
23 NAT KING COLE/NATALIE COLE -UNFORGETTABLE
24 ERIC CLAPTON -WONDERFUL TONIGHT
25 JOE COCKER -YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL
26 STYX -BABE
27 ROD STEWART -YOU’RE IN MY HEART
28 MARVIN GAYE -LET’S GET IT ON
29 WILLIE NELSON -ALWAYS ON MY MIND

30 CELINE DION -BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME
31 STEVIE WONDER -YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE
32 JOHN LENNON -WOMAN
33 BRYAN ADAMS -(EVERYTHING I DO) I DO IT FOR YOU
34 REO SPEEDWAGON -KEEP ON LOVING YOU
35 CARPENTERS - SUPERSTAR
36 BARRY WHITE -YOU’RE MY FIRST, MY LAST, MY EVERYTHING
37 NO DOUBT -DON’T SPEAK
38 MADONNA -CRAZY FOR YOU
39 BON JOVI -I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU
40 SHANIA TWAIN -YOU’RE STILL THE ONE

41 KISS -BETH
42 MEATLOAF -I’D DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE
43 EXTREME -MORE THAN WORDS
44 BILL MEDLEY/JENNIFER WARNES -I’VE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE
45 TONI BRAXTON -UNBREAK MY HEART
46 AL GREEN -LET’S STAY TOGETHER
47 PRINCE -I WOULD DIE FOR U
48 SADE -BY YOUR SIDE
49 BONNIE RAITT -I CAN’T MAKE YOU LOVE ME
50 ATLANTIC STARR -ALWAYS

51 JANET JACKSON -THAT’S THE WAY LOVE GOES
52 DEF LEPPARD -LOVE BITES
53 BARRY MANILOW -MANDY
54 ALICIA KEYS -FALLIN’
55 PRETENDERS -I’LL STAND BY YOU
56 ROBERTA FLACK -THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE
57 FOREIGNER -I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS
58 EMOTIONS -BEST OF MY LOVE
59 JOURNEY -FAITHFULLY
60 COMMODORES -THREE TIMES A LADY

61 HEART -ALONE
62 MR. BIG -TO BE WITH YOU
63 LEE ANN RIMES -HOW DO I LIVE
64 MODERN ENGLISH -I MELT WITH YOU
65 RICKY MARTIN/THE FREE WHORE -NOBODY WANTS TO BE LONELY
66 GOO GOO DOLLS -IRIS
67 BANGLES -ETERNAL FLAME
68 BOSTON -MORE THAN A FEELING
69 INXS -NEVER TEAR US APART
70 DAVID CASSIDY -I THINK I LOVE YOU

71 LED ZEPPELIN -WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
72 CAPTAIN & TENILLE -LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER
73 VANESSA WILLIAMS -SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST
74 CHAKA KHAN -I FEEL FOR YOU
75 PETER FRAMPTON -BABY I LOVE YOUR WAY
76 DONNA SUMMER -LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY
77 LISA LISA & CULT JAM -ALL CRIED OUT
78 EDWIN MCCAIN -I’LL BE
79 GUNS N’ ROSES -SWEET CHILD O’MINE
80 KENNY ROGERS & DOLLY PARTON -ISLANDS IN THE STREAM

81 BONNIE TYLER -TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART
82 CHRIS ISAAK -WICKED GAME
83 BOYZ II MEN -I’LL MAKE LOVE TO YOU
84 CYNDI LAUPER -TIME AFTER TIME
85 WHAM -CARELESS WHISPER
86 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN -SECRET GARDEN
87 WHITESNAKE -IS THIS LOVE
88 DIDO -THANK YOU
89 CHEAP TRICK -I WANT YOU TO WANT ME
90 BRIAN MCKNIGHT -BACK AT ONE

91 ELVIS COSTELLO -ALISON
92 AIR SUPPLY -ALL OUT OF LOVE
93 PAT BENATAR -WE BELONG
94 N’SYNC -THIS I PROMISE YOU
95 ROXETTE -IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE
96 ANDY GIBB -I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR EVERYTHING
97 CHRISTOPHER CROSS -THINK OF LAURA
98 LL COOL J -I NEED LOVE
99 ENRIQUE IGLESIAS -HERO
100 POISON -EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN