“COMPLEXITY, EVOLUTION, AND NETWORK SCIENCE”

       César Hidalgo's work focuses on improving the understanding of systems by using and developing concepts of complexity, evolution, and network science. His current research agenda at Harvard University focuses mainly in the study of economic development from the perspective of complexity and network science. In particular, He studies the evolution of countries' productive structures, both empirically and theoretically, by looking at how the development process is shaped by the similarity between a country's products and the capabilities that go into producing them.

       His goal is to help improve understanding of the evolution of prosperity in order to help develop industrial policies that can help countries raise the living standards of their citizens. His areas of application include economic development, systems biology, and social systems. He is a native of Santiago de Chile, Hidalgo holds a PhD in physics from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor's degree in physics from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.LYN

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“Repeated interactions can contribute to the loss of diversity. This is a trade-off that you cannot avoid… Diversity is the key to adaptivity, resilience, and innovation.” (Hidalgo, 2008)

Cesar Hidalgo, stressed the need for awareness of the potential of a “tragedy of the networks,” in which a network’s natural loss of diversity over time incurs a loss of adaptive capacity, resilience, and innovation. He stated a careful brokering of collaboration of key leaders and connector personalities could prevent this, orchestrating change in a manner that optimizes network performance in both supporting diversity and preserving crucial network ties. LYN

The most important unsolved problem of the last century is how to make a rich country out of a poor one. Development economists have many theories about how the trick is done but few proven answers. Thanks to César A. Hidalgo of the M.I.T. Media Lab, we can now visualize the differences between national economies in new ways. Hidalgo is a statistical physicist fascinated by the structure of networks, and along with the Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann, he has been developing tools designed to study not just economic wealth but also economic structure and sophistication. His works seeks to improve the understanding of systems using and developing concepts of complexity, evolution and network science. These interests, combined with background in and knowledge of graphic design, all contributed to the development of the product space diagram.

Economies that export many types of products are more likely to be sophisticate and products exported only by sophisticated economies are more likely to be complex. However, sophistication and wealth do not always go hand in hand. When economies are relatively sophisticated but relatively poor, they often have the potential for quick growth. Hidalgo together with Hausmann have also mapped the world's "product space" using trade data on 774 product classifications, from cotton undergarments to phenols. The map shows not just the size of the world's economies, but also their interconnectedness and complexity, and the great differences between different types of economy. These product maps formulated by them lead to an uncomfortable conclusion about economic development that is, they hint at how difficult and complex it may be for government planners to kick-start a new industry, while showing that there are new industries that will struggle to get started without help.PEY

In terms of research, Cesar Hidalgo has done some absolutely incredible stuff; applying the new science of networks to the study of global economy (working with colleagues) and mobility within networks and he approaches networks as objects of art. Through his works, it is clear that the boundaries between art and science need not be so rigid.

            According to Hidalgo (and his colleagues), economies grow by upgrading the type of products they produce and export. The technology, capital, institutions and skills needed to make such new products are more easily adapted from some products than others. They study the network of relatedness between products, or product space, finding that most upscale products are located in a densely connected core while lower income products occupy a less connected periphery. He shows that countries tend to move to goods close to those they are currently specialized in, allowing nations located in more connected parts of the product space to upgrade their exports basket more quickly. Most countries can reach the core only if they jump over empirically infrequent distances in the product space. This may help explain why poor countries have trouble developing more competitive exports, failing to converge to the income levels of rich countries. 

            One of his works also shows that the measures of complexity they derive are correlated with a country's level of income, and that deviations from this relationship are predictive of future growth. This suggests that countries tend to converge to the level of income dictated by the complexity of their productive structures, indicating that development efforts should focus on generating the conditions that would allow complexity to emerge in order to generate sustained growth and prosperity. AMA

Who is CESAR HIDALGO?

                Cesar Hidalgo is a Chilean Physicist, a Professor at the MIT Media Laboratory, Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Laboratory and a faculty associate at Harvard's University Center for International Development. He is well-known for his Trans Disciplinal works which focus more on improving the understandings of systems, industrial policy and economic growth by applying new science of networks and mathematical tools which are largely derived from statistical physics. Moreover, he is also developing some industrial policies which are useful to countries in raising the standard of living of their people.

His works

                Cesar hidalgo is definitely different from other physicist since he approaches networks as an art. He is good in applying science of networks in analyzing the global economy. Most of his works are illustrated using trajectories, mobile phone networks, nodes, nematodes and figures. He is currently studying economic development from the view point of complexity and networks science.

                Hidalgo, together with Ricardo Hausmann argues that a country’s production capacity depends on the diversity of its inputs and outputs. They assume that products that require more inputs are more scant. In addition, they mapped a Product Space to explain how difficult for undeveloped countries to create a competitive exports. JAM

           

César A. Hidalgo holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor in Physics from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.César A. Hidalgo is the Asahi Broadcast Corporation Career Development Professor at the MIT Media Laboratory, Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Laboratory and a faculty associate at Harvard's University Center for International Development. César worked as an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Research Fellow at Harvard's Center for International Development before he joined the MIT. Dr Hidalgo's work focuses on improving the understanding of systems using and developing concepts of complexity, evolution and network science. His areas of application include (i) economic development, where he has pioneered the use of networks to quantify the productive structure of countries and its evolution, (ii) systems biology where he has published work on disease co-morbidity and genetic regulation, and (iii), social systems, where he has worked on human mobility and social network analysis using mobile phone data. Dr. Hidalgo is also a graphic art enthusiast and has published and exposed artwork that uses data collected originally for scientific purposes.

Awards:

-Center for Research Computing award for Computational Sciences and Visualization (2008)

-Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award for Excellence in Teaching. Kaneb Center, Notre Dame (2007)

-Selected as an outstanding teaching assistant by the American Association of Physics Teachers (2007)

-Nominated for best student paper at the APS March meeting (2007)

- Hellen Kellogg Institute Supplemental Award. Notre Dame, IN (2004-2008)

-Appeared on Marqui's Who is Who in the world. (2006-2008)

-Companionship Award. British High School. Santiago Chile (1995)

His research focuses on the dynamical aspects of social and biological phenomena. He have specialized in the analysis of large data sets in an empirically driven approach to understand the interplay between the structure and the dynamics of the networks defined by systems as diverse as mobile phone networks, genetic coexpression, TF-promoter binding, disease comorbidity, and economic complexity.

           His current research agenda at Harvard University focuses mainly in the study of economic development from the perspective of complexity and network science. In particular, he study the evolution of countries' productive structures, both empirically and theoretically, by looking at how the development process is shaped by the similarity between a country's products and the capabilities that go into producing them.CHA

US in Crisis! Philippines in....

“PNoy economic team looks at how US debt crisis will impact PHILIPPINE ECONOMY”

President Aquino’s economic team studied the possible impact of the United States debt problem on the Philippine economy. The President wanted to know the possible effects of the US debt crisis and expressed concern about the rising peso and its impact on exporters.

“A lower dollar means that we pay less in terms of our foreign debt. If we were paying P42 to one dollar and the exchange goes down to, say, 40 then we’re actually saving P2 per dollar," he said.

The negative effect, on the other hand, is that Filipino workers in North America may think twice before sending money to the Philippines. If the economy of US weakens and the dollars goes down, the result is that our fellow citizens who reside at North America will be careful. Meaning, they will remit, they could remit less or if they don’t remit less, what they remit will be worth also less. So it will have an impact on consumption.LYN

“Exporters not threatened by US crisis but fear impact on other markets”

It was stated that CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine export industry is not threatened by another economic crisis faced by the United States, unless the financial instability will spread to other major markets such as Europe, China, and Japan.

PhilExport president and chief executive officer (CEO) Sergio Ortiz-Luiz Jr. said that after the recession, the Philippine exports have developed strong connection with other major markets; in fact latest figure showed that the country’s exports to US went down from 34 percent to 12 percent. Surprisingly, Japan is now the number one export market of the Philippines, followed by US and China.

In the year-on-year comparison that Philippine export sector only grew by three percent, a slight shortage of the industry’s projection of growing 10 percent this year. Nevertheless, Ortiz-Luiz said the sector is not downgrading its target of growing 10 percent this year, as the projection in the next few months is seen to be promising.

The PhilExport head said that aside from China, Japan, and Europe, the Philippine export is also getting its confidence from the growing market in Asia. Moreover, the Philippines is now growing its business within the Asian market, and this may offset the decline of orders coming from the US.

Last year, because exporters considered it as “recovery year”, the industry grew by 25 percent, and exceeded the target of 20 percent growth set by the industry players in 2010. Despite the slow pace of growth seen in the first six months this year, Ortiz-Luiz is confident that the 10 percent target growth is achievable, if the positive trend will continue. LYN

“NEDA sees no reasons to be alarmed with US crisis, downplays critics”

“With regards to the impact to the Philippine economy of the US credit rating downgrade , NEDA estimates that it will be minimal, around .11% of the GDP (gross domestic products). And that is too small,”
                                                      - Ruperto Majuca(NEDA Assistant Director General)                                         

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) sees no enough reason to be alarmed despite the prevailing economic crisis in Western countries, particularly the United States. NEDA Assistant Director General Ruperto Majuca reiterated the government’s stand amidst continuous speculations that the US’ downgrade and economic crisis will greatly affect the local economy.

However, Majuca said that the government must do necessary measures “to calm the market so that the indirect effects will not happen”, also referring to future effects of the crisis.

Lower exports in trade channels, slower flows in remittance channel as well as in foreign direct investments are among the most likely effects of the US credit downgrade to the Philippines. But he noted that the people should not be alarmed with these.

“Our people should not be alarmed because this (US crisis) has only small effects. The (US) economy has already experienced the slow down before, and there we’re just additional points on the slow down today. So, it would just possibly hit through the trade channel and the remittance channel,” Majuca said during the media briefing.

Among other economic issues, which confronted the Philippine economy this year included the slowdown of the economies of US and other European countries, political turmoil in the Middle East countries, and supply-chain destruction brought by disasters in countries like Japan.

However, Majuca emphasized that despite of all the recent events affecting the local market, the economy showed remarkable resiliency.

“The 2011 1st quarter was buffeted by so many shocks… but despite of all these things, with the many shocks, the economy shows remarkable resiliency…. We can expect brighter numbers, rosier numbers for Q3 and Q4,” he ended. CHA

“PESO is strengthening despite the US Crisis”

The Philippine peso on Monday closed at a three-year high at 41. 925 pesos against U.S. dollar, its strongest finish since April 30, 2008 when it closed at 42.17 pesos against U.S. dollar.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) also hit a new all-time high of 4,550.53, surpassing the previous peak hit on July 20.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in an interview that the Philippines is glad that the unthinkable did not happen. "We are breathing a sigh of relief that they (U.S.) had finally resolved it."

According to Governor Amando Tetangco of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country's central bank, while there is no guarantee that the United States would not lose its triple-A rating, the Philippine economy would be able to sustain its growth although "the loss of its (U.S.) credit rating would temporarily heighten local market volatility."

International financial institutions have forecast the Philippine economy to grow by 5-6 percent this year. The Philippine government, however, said that it is aiming for a 7-8 percent growth in 2011.

Tetangco said that the peso would continue to strengthen as foreign investors would opt to keep flocking to emerging economies like the Philippines as the United States and some industrialized countries in Europe are plagued by worsening debt problems.

He also assured the public that the domestic banking sector is prepared to weather any short-term shocks in the financial market, adding that while a downgrade would undermine the assets of banks, particularly those that hold U.S. debts, local banks remained “well capitalized."

The Philippines' GIR, considered healthy under international standards, was beefed up by remittances and foreign investments in business process outsourcing and portfolio instruments. CHA

“Value of investments in this country will not change despite the US Crisis”

The U.S economy is experiencing financial crisis since 2008 which can be evidenced by the decline of its rate profit and the downgraded of its credit rating from AAA to AA+ by the Credit Rating Agency Standard and Poor’s. According to Former Secretary of State Otto Reich,  U.S debt crisis have indescribable global economic consequences since United States produces and consumes almost a quarter of all products sold globally and if this crisis continues, its global effects could deepen. It can lead to a recession, higher interest rate and higher rate of unemployment.

        In the Philippines, President Aquino declared that the weakening economy of U.S will not have a negative impact on the Philippines Investment Sector. “The value of investments in this country will not change with what is transpiring in America and if foreign investors continues to see it profitable to continue doing business in the Philippines, then they will remain in the Philippines” he said.

        In contrast to what President Aquino has said, “the US’ debt crisis will inevitably affect the economy of the Philippines and the outlook is not good” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said. According to him, Aquino administration should change and reverse some of the economic policies that make Philippine economic growth dependent on US investments.

       On the other hand, the Philippine export industry is not threatened by the crisis faced by US but since its economy is large enough to affect other countries like China, Japan and Europe, they must continue monitoring the impact of US Crisis. JAM

“US Crisis will cause low remittances of OFWs”

OFWs are the major contributors to the country's economy. The largest number of OFWs can be found in the United States, United Kingdom and Middle East. Remittances from these overseas workers help drive the Philippine economy and account for at least 10% of the country's GDP.

However, with the US recession bringing down the global economy, the jobs of overseas Filipino workers have also become at risk resulting to a decrease in remittances. Low remittances had caused the families of some OFWs to suffer because of less money they receive. There was also less help for economic growth and aid to sustain the development of the country. Another effect of US crisis is the decline in exports as a result of weak demand in the US and other parts of the world. AMA

US in crisis???

“Major Economic Problems Facing the United States”

The United States is facing economic disaster on a scale few nations have ever experienced.

--They have quietly become a second-class country in many respects.--

They can no longer produce what they need to sustain theirselves.

--They import much more than they export, and they are selling off their assets and taking on massive debts to sustain a standard of living they can no longer afford.--

They are failing even to acknowledge predatory foreign trade practices.

--They encourage U.S. manufacturers to design, engineer, and produce in third world markets like Mexico and China.—

“Trade Deficit Widens to Three-Year High”

It was reported that America’s trade deficit in June rose to the highest level since October 2008, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The deficit rose 4.4 percent during the month, to $53.1 billion as exports fell to their lowest level in more than two years. Economists had expected the trade deficit to be around $48 billion for the month.

Exports fell 2.3 percent to $170.9 billion. Imports fell 0.8 percent to $223.9 billion, largely due to the falling cost of crude oil products.

The drop in exports is a major concern for American manufacturers who were driving much of the economic growth in months past. “The real weakness was in exports and that’s consistent with slower growth in the rest of the world,” Jay Bryson, a global economist at Wells Fargo Securities, told Bloomberg News. “The contribution of exports is going to be a little shakier.” Now, however, global markets are grinding to a standstill, which could endanger any economic recovery in America.

America’s trade deficit with the European Union rose 12.2 percent to $9.8 billion. That is the largest trade imbalance America has held with the EU since 2008.

America’s most politically sensitive trade deficit, the one it holds with China, rose 6.8 percent to $26.7 billion. Since China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, it has consistently been able to game the system through mercantilist practices and gain an unfair advantage against American competitors. That not only leads to trade deficits, but massive jobs losses and the offshoring of entire manufacturing operations.

OVERALL, America’s trade deficit on the year is 15.3 percent to $576.6 billion. LYN (email sent for the error in her code)

"The market's already been shaken out," -Harvey Neiman, a portfolio manager of the Neiman Large Cap Value Fund "The United States deserves to have this happen,because of its clumsy handling of fiscal policy.” - Peter Morici, a University of Maryland business economist.

The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, lowered the US AAA rating for the first time since granting it in 1917. The move came less than a week after a gridlocked Congress finally agreed to spending cuts that would reduce the debt by more than $2 trillion -- a turbulent process that contributed to convulsions in financial markets. The agreed cuts were not enough to satisfy Standard & Poor.

The drop in the rating by one notch to AA-plus was telegraphed as a possibility back in April. The three main credit agencies, which also include Moody's Investor Service and Fitch, had warned during the budget fight that if Congress did not cut spending far enough, the country faced a downgrade. Moody's said it was keeping its AAA rating on the nation's debt, but that it might still lower it. But any losses might be short-lived. The threat of a downgrade is likely already reflected in the plunge in stocks said.

One fear in the market has been that a downgrade would scare buyers away from U.S. debt. If that were to happen, the interest rate paid on U.S. bonds, notes and bills would have to rise to attract buyers. And that could lead to higher borrowing rates for consumers, since the rates on mortgages and other loans are pegged to the yield on Treasury securities. However, even without an AAA rating from S&P, U.S. debt is seen as one of the safest investments in the world. And investors clearly weren't scared away this week. While stocks were plunging, investors were buying Treasuries and driving up their prices.

A study by JPMorgan Chase found that there has been a slight rise in rates when countries lost an AAA rating. The government fought the downgrade. Administration sources familiar with the discussions said the S&P analysis was fundamentally flawed. S&P said that in addition to the downgrade, it is issuing a negative outlook, meaning that there was a chance it will lower the rating further within the next two years. It said such a downgrade, to AA, would occur if the agency sees smaller reductions in spending than Congress and the administration have agreed to make, higher interest rates or new fiscal pressures during this period. CHA

The U.S. economy is currently experiencing its worst crisis since the Great Depression. One of the underlying causes of the current crisis can be traced to the decline of the rate of profit.

The most important cause of the subpar performance of the U.S. economy in recent decades is a very significant decline in the rate of profit for the economy as a whole. This significant decline in the rate of profit appears to have been part of a general worldwide trend during this period, affecting all capitalist nations. According to Marxist theory, this very significant decline in the rate of profit was the main cause of the “twin evils” of higher unemployment and higher inflation and also of lower real wages, experienced in recent decades. As in past periods of depression, the decline in the rate of profit reduced business investment, which in turn resulted in slower growth and higher rates of unemployment. An important factor in the postwar period was that many governments in the 1970s attempted to reduce unemployment by adopting expansionary fiscal and monetary policies (more government spending, lower taxes, and lower interest rates). However, these policies generally resulted in higher rates of inflation, as capitalist firms responded to the government stimulation of demand by rapidly raising prices in order to restore the rate of profit, rather than by increasing output and employment.

Financial capitalists revolted against these higher rates of inflation, and generally forced governments to adopt restrictive policies, especially tight monetary policy. The result was less inflation and a return to higher unemployment. These facts demonstrate that government policies have affected the particular combination of unemployment and inflation at particular times, but nevertheless the fundamental cause of both of these “twin evils” has been the decline in the rate of profit. AMA

The Current Crisis

The housing bubble started to burst in 2006, and the decline accelerated in 2007 and 2008. Housing prices stopped increasing in 2006, started to decrease in 2007, and have fallen about 25 percent from the peak so far. The decline in prices meant that homeowners could no longer refinance when their mortgage rates were reset, which caused delinquencies and defaults of mortgages to increase sharply. The American dream of owning your own home is turning into an American nightmare for millions of families.  A total of about 6 million mortgages either have already been foreclosed, are in foreclosure, or are close to foreclosure. Six million mortgages are about 12 percent of all the mortgages in the United States. The situation could get a lot worse in the months ahead, due to the worsening recession and lost jobs and income, unless the government adopts stronger policies to reduce foreclosures. Defaults and foreclosures on mortgages mean losses for lenders. Estimates of losses on mortgages keep increasing and there will also be losses on other types of loans, due to the weakness of the economy. Therefore, total losses for the financial sector as a whole could be as high as $2 trillion. The losses for the banking sector could be as high as $1 trillion and losses of this magnitude would wipe out two-thirds of the total capital in U.S. banks. This would obviously be a severe blow, not just to the banks, but also to the U.S. economy as a whole.

The blow to the rest of the economy would happen because the rest of the economy is dependent on banks for loans. Bank losses result in a reduction in bank capital, which in turn requires a reduction in bank lending (a credit crunch), in order to maintain acceptable loan to capital ratios. According to this rule of thumb, even the low estimate of bank losses of $1 trillion would result in a reduction of bank lending of $10 trillion! This would be a severe blow to the economy and would cause a severe recession. In addition to the credit crunch, consumer spending will be further depressed in the months ahead due to the following factors: decreasing household wealth; the end of mortgage equity withdrawals and declining jobs and incomes. All in all, it is shaping up to be a very severe recession.

Bank losses may be offset to some extent by “recapitalization,” i.e., by new capital being invested in banks from other sources. However, it is becoming more difficult for banks to raise new capital from foreign investors, because their prior investments have already suffered significant losses. PEY

August 2011- Credit Rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the US Credit rating from AAA to AA+ which took place because of the negative outlook on the long term rating. First, let’s define what credit rating is. Credit Rating assess the credit worthiness of a business enterprise such as a corporation or a government who is an issuer of a particular debt. Credit rating agencies like S&P use this to measure the ability of a particular entity to pay its short and long term maturing obligations. A weak credit rating denotes that the company has a high tendency of non-payments of its maturing debts.

        The demote of the US credit rating indicates the lack of trust of other firms in the government of US to pay its maturing obligation. Since this can lead to an increase in interest rate of Treasury debts, US government may tend to borrow more money and increase its taxes. The rates for credit cards, car loans, student and other debt may also increase. In addition, the downgraded of credit rating of US will result to a higher mortgage rate.

        Since it can affect the economy of United States, the government must stabilize its loans and debts by controlling its expenditures and meeting all its obligations on time. JAM

 

WANG-WANG PHILIPPINES (PRESIDENT AQUINO'S FIRST SONA) part2

 “To the Filipino nation, my Bosses who have steered us toward this day: Thank you very much for the change that is now upon us. The Filipino people are, finally, truly alive.”Noynoy Aquino

            Finally, the much awaited SONA of President Noynoy Aquino had come last July 25, 2011. In the SONA of President Aquino, he focused on TRANSFORMATION. This transformation is about transforming the society and changing the mindset of Filipinos towards the government. During the SONA, President Aquino had mentioned the anomalies during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. These anomalies include the corruption in the AFP, misappropriation of government funds, and over importation of rice. Included in his SONA were the issues of the 1 billion spent by PAGCOR for coffee. All these issues are the reasons why President Aquino’s focus is about transformation. He is not only after the economy of our country; he is also after the perception of his countrymen towards the government.

As part of the president’s speech, he enumerated some of his accomplishments throughout his 13 months reign. Under his administration, he was able to eradicate the “utak wang-wang” of Filipinos. This “wang-wang” doesn’t only pertain to the sirens of vehicles, but the “wang-wang” includes the “wang-wang” for the taxpayers, for the DPWH, for the soldiers, and for rice importation. He was able to improve the credit rating of our country which will result to lower interest rate for our foreign debts. Another accomplishment was the revival of the confidence of investors in our energy sector. Part of his SONA which was applauded most is on the issue of enhancing national security and national pride. This national security and pride is pointing out on the relationship of our country between China in the issue of territory. President Aquino also mentioned the unemployment rate was which was reduced to 7.2 percent in April 2011 from 8 percent in April 2010 due to job generation project. Another program was the government's Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program; in which 1.6 million Filipinos were already receiving conditional cash transfers (CCT); that is equivalent to over 100,000 family-beneficiries monthly.  President Aquino also vowed to address corruption in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where "politics have been dominated by horse-trading and transactional politics." He said the ARMM must "experience the benefits of good governance." 

These were just some points tackled by our president in his SONA. His SONA was delivered in our own language in which I admired it most. Previous SONA of our former presidents were delivered in English in which not all Filipinos are able to understand their speeches. I hope that any promises made by our president will not just remain as promises. I also hope that his wish for transformation will come true. CHA

On July 25, 2011, President Benigno “PNOY” Aquino delivered his Second State of the Nation Address. It is a special occasion wherein he will disclose to his people all the things he has done to develop and improve the Philippines for the past one year of his administration. With the help and support of his cabinet members, from 20.5% self-rated hunger in March, it dropped to 15.1% in June which is equivalent to a million of Filipinos that can now have a proper meal pear day. He cited also that there will be more private investors on power plants; seven-times all-time high in stock market, housing projects for policemen, soldiers, and employees of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and Bureau of Fire Protection; upgrades and modernization of the equipment of the armed forces; and conviction of more human traffickers.  In addition, there is also an increase in rice production of 15.6% which is achieved through the use of effective types of seedlings and proper irrigation.

           As a Filipino, we cannot yet judge President Aquino right now because he just started. Let us give him a chance to prove that he deserve all the trust and support we placed upon him. Nothing will happen to our country if we kept on insulting and criticizing all his plans. He needs our trust and support.  Let’s wait and see if all his promises to us during his campaign will all be fulfill.  JAM

“Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.” 

These were the words P-Noy wants to define his presidency. In his second SONA, Aquino emphasized his obsession to remove the “utak wang-wang” in the Philippine government. By citing accomplishments of his administration, he indicated that he had succeeded in stamping out the noisy “wang-wang”. For the past weeks, many cases were exposed that have shown us how top government officials during the Arroyo administration stole and misused billions and billions of pesos meant for the people and the service for the people. Yes, but still these people accused of graft and corruption are free when supposedly they should be on jail now.

Among the accomplishments he cited were the decrease in the number of self-rated hunger from 20.5 percent in March to 15.1 percent in June, the Philippine stock market reaching seven record highs in the past year and the improved credit ratings resulting from the governments “prudent use of funds and creative financial management”. The President ended his speech by calling on Filipinos to end the culture of negativism and crab mentality and to recognize instead the good that is being done to give the country a much-needed lift. I agree with him that change should not only start with our government but should begin in ourselves too. We should not depend all on the government. We must do our part too to achieve the better life that we all want to have.

One of the future directions that he mentioned on his SONA is the Philippines’ rightful claim to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. “Now, our message to the world is clear: What is ours is ours; setting foot on Recto Bank [in the South China Sea] is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue [in Manila],” he added. I hope that this conviction will remind us all to fight for what is ours and be aware of our rights. Not only on this issue but on everything that happens to us. Also, I wish that we will be more united for the building of a new Philippines. AMA

WANG-WANG PHILIPPINES (PRESIDENT AQUINO'S FIRST SONA) part1

PRESIDENT BENIGNO "NOYNOY" AQUINO III

Manila, Philippines – President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III gave his 2nd State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25, 2011

As shown live on local TV that day, President Noynoy Aquino delivered his SONA 2011 with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. behind him.

PNoy’s 2nd SONA was attended by top local politicians including former President Fidel V. Ramosand Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada, as well as Vice President Jejomar Binay, senators and congressmen.

***New President’s SONA is a breather and gives hope to millions of Filipinos.***

President Noynoy Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) then proceeds to give a glimpse of the current state of the country based on what they have found in their initial assessment of the country.

Among those that President Aquino’s SONA mentioned as among the anomalies during Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’ term includes the over importation of rice where rice stocks ended up rotting in warehouses, excessive perks of high officials of the GSIS, 130 million pesos of classroom funds, and other missing appropriations that were not delivered or used for other purposes.

“We had been deliberately deceived on the real status and condition of our country,” says Aquino during his SONA. He is referring to how Arroyo and her cohorts tried to paint good picture of the country when in fact they are siphoning government funds.

He summarized what had happened by saying that 90% of the 2010 budget are already spent and only 10% remains. President Aquino says that there leaves the government about 1% to be spent in the next months for the new administration.

President Noynoy Aquino’s SONA then proceeded on how his administration will change all of this. He mentioned about the rehabilitation of watersheds and dams and the protection of the environment, a peace process that is fully supported and a fast resolution to extra-judicial killings.

President Aquino said that his government will be based on transparency and good governance and that corruption will no longer be a culture. He also said that government processes will be made faster so that services can be delivered easily.

President Aquino also mentioned major infrastructure and modernization development in which the government will not be spending a centavo. Among these projects is the proposal to develop an expressway running from Manila passing to Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, and Cagayan Valley.

Another proposal, President Aquino says is the possible lease of the Navy headquarters in Roxas Boulevard and the Naval Station at Fort Bonifacio. The proposal states that the investor will pay for the cost of the transfer of the Navy Headquarters to Camp Aguinaldo. In exchange the investor will immediately give $100M. In addition to that, Aquino also said that the investor will also give shares of the company earnings to the government.

Another very concrete plan of action is in fast tracking business application. President Aquino in his SONA said that documents needed for business application will be brought down from 36 to 6 and the number of pages of the application form from 8 to a single page.

Other noticeable changes which President Noynoy Aquino delivers in his SONA were the increase in the number of years for Basic Education in the Philippines which he propose to be elevated to the 12-years global standard, funding for classrooms, service contracting through the GASTPE, increase in the conditional cash transfers to help poor students, and an increase in the coverage of PhilHealth (a Philippine health care plan).

There were other changes and also Bills which the new President asked the help of the House of Representatives and the Senate. He calls on them to help pass his legislative agenda. LYN

"ASSESSMENT OF PRES. AQUINO'S 2ND SONA"

The State of the Nation Address (SONA) is an annual event in the Philippines where the President addresses the status of the nation. On July 26, 2011 President Aquino presented the address in Manila.

He said:

·         Getting rid of the use of the wang-wang (which symbolized abuse of authority) is a major step in changing the Philippines

·         The Philippine's still has exclusive sovereignty over the South China Sea aka. "West Philippine Sea"

·         The government is fighting hunger and poverty--with survey showing hunger decreasing from 20.5% to 15.1% from May to June

·         Business and the economy in the Philippines is improving as evidenced by a boom in investors and new businesses

·         Aquino encouraged citizens to pay the proper amount in taxes

·         The nation is increasing security and the people are "ready to protect themselves"

·         The unemployment rate went from 8% to 7.2%

Validity of Aquino's facts and Figures

Despite the continuing decline in the people’s satisfaction and approval of his performance as President, Benigno S. Aquino III claims that he is not worried. “I’m really not concerned with the popularity. It will go up and down,” Aquino said in reaction to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS). The SWS reported that the net satisfaction rating of the President fell to +46% in June from a high of +64% in November 2010. A separate survey by Pulse Asia also shows a similar trend. The approval rating of Aquino dipped to 71% in May from 79% in October 2010.

Aquino, however, is missing the point. The issue is not popularity.

If President Aquino is facing a decline in the SWS and Pulse Asia performance surveys, it’s not because of bad public relations. It’s not simply “a weakness in messaging” as Aquino put it. The emerging trend in his satisfaction and approval ratings as President is about policy. People expected him to address their most urgent issues – livelihood, jobs, and prices. After a year, he has not only failed but even exacerbated the plight of the people.

Soaring prices

Worse, Aquino’s pantawid programs are not only gravely inadequate even as relief measures. His main policies are also gravely anti-poor. He ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to hike the price of its rice by P2 to 4 a kilo. The move was part of the gradual privatization of the agency’s functions. Aquino also refused to control spiraling prices and ignored calls to scrap the 12% value-added tax (VAT) to at  least mitigate the impact on consumers. That will turn-off investors and creditors, he said.

Consequently, since Aquino’s inauguration, households are now paying P107 more for an LPG tank while jeepney drivers saw their daily income fall by more than P340. Households consuming 200 kilowatt-hours (kWh) are now shelling out an additional P86 to pay MERALCO and NAPOCOR. Households consuming 30 cubic meters are now paying P97 more to Manila Water and P224 more to Maynilad.

On jobs

But as far as Aquino is concerned, jobs are being created. In his SONA, he mentioned that the unemployment rate in April went down to 7.2 percent in April 2011 from 8 percent during the same period last year, crediting the efforts of his administration. Some 1.4 million jobs have been supposedly created in his first year. The numbers are from the Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The 1.4 million jobs supposedly created between April 2011 and April 2010 could not be attributed to government intervention. In the first place, the only job generation program that the Aquino administration has so far initiated is the Community Based Employment Program (CBEP). This program has only created 170,000 jobs out of a target of 1.1 million. About 63 percent of these jobs are in infrastructure/construction, of low quality, and highly temporary. The 170,000 could even be deceitful because a worker can avail of more than one CBEP job.

Looking at the NSO data, more than 456,000 jobs of the 1.4 million additional jobs are classified as those who worked for private households (domestic help, etc.), self-employed without any paid employee (vendor or sari-sari store owner, etc.), employer in own-family operated farm or business, and worked without pay in own-family operated farm or business. In other words, a significant part of the additional employment in the past year was due to the people’s “sariling diskarte” and not because of any meaningful job generation program of government.PEY