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Government upbeat on economy
By Richard A. Ramos
WHILE VAST MAJORITY of the citizenry continue to wallow in sad times, all is definitely not lost as the national economy has produced some surprising gains and results in its attempts to rebound from its financial woes a couple of years back.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo beamed as she pointed out that strong international alliances have been forged with several countries that have led to billions in investments and the creation of over five million new jobs.
“Creating good paying jobs, stable prices, and bringing the benefits of a strong economy to every Filipino in every province is the focus of the national agenda. It is a pro-poor, pro-growth, pro-modernization agenda,” the president related during the recent Philippine Development Forum held recently at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel in Cebu.
The forum was attended by over 300 delegates coming from various international aid donors where they reviewed the country’s progress and plans to accelerate broad-based growth through sustained reforms and higher investments.
The president likewise expressed optimism in achieving a seven percent growth rate by 2010. Confidence level was further boosted by way of a unifying leadership, building enterprise, and political stability at all levels.
She assured the crowd that the country is on the right track as her team is working to cut red tape, building the digital and physical infrastructure as well as a strong energy grid nationwide.
The Tales
Finance Secretary Margarito “Gary” Teves delved into specifics as he outlined the country’s impressive gains as greatly attributed to the imposition of the Expanded Value-Added Tax (E-VAT).
“The peso is at its highest peak in the last six years. The stock market is at an 11-year high, while inflation is at a two-year low,” he declared in a luncheon press conference at the hotel.
Gross Development Product, or GDP, has attained a five percent growth rate for the past three years. This was a first since the pre-martial law years in 1970, he said.
“The fiscal reforms have opened the window of opportunity to translate to more investments and more jobs. The biggest challenge is how to sustain the gains of the economy and begin the reform process,” he said.
There is also a need for the country to increase its competitiveness ranking as well as its investments capabilities in order to improve its low ranking in global surveys, he added.
Meanwhile, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila lauded the government for exercising its political will by taking over the NAIA-3 terminal which has been besieged by several legal issues.
Regarding competition and deregulation issues, he saw a pressing need to align the policies of the Philippine Ports Authority, or PPA, and the aviation industry along with that of the national government in order to strengthen its overall framework and feasibility.
Earlier, Joachim von Amsberg, World Bank country director of the Philippines, congratulated the Philippine government for its major progress in fiscal management and economic turnaround in the national economy.
Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano test drives the fully air-conditioned, Hop-On Hop-Off Manila Jeepney with Senator Richard J. Gordon and Hop-ON Hop-Off Travel, Inc. managing director Clang Garcia.
Hop-On Hop-Off Manila:
A Tourism Breakthrough
Senator Richard Gordon and the Department of Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano witnessed the official launch of the Hop-On Hop-Off Manila and unveiled the bright yellow, custom-built 21 seater air-conditioned jeepney at the InterContinental Manila recently.
The Hop-On Hop-Off Manila is the first sightseeing tour in the Philippines will serve as a link between airports, hotels and major tourist attractions in key cities nationwide. Tourists may conveniently Hop-On or Hop-Off as they wish to explore Manila’s major attractions.
The program aims to provide a convenient, accessible and tourist-friendly day tour service to promote the jeepney as an enduring cultural icon and to help create awareness and appreciation of the rich cultural heritage of Manila. The project plans to have a total of 60 passenger jeepneys in its fleet in the first year of operations. The first phase will ply the route of Manila, Makati and Eastwood while the second includes the establishment of Hop-On Hop-Off links to nearby tourist destinations like Tagaytay, Clark and Subic.
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Local Eye for the Foreign Guy
By Lex Ledesma
Treats on the Street I have been biking around Makati quite regularly as a form of exercise. Around 1-2 hours a day, I just keep moving wherever my pedaling would take me. It’s been exhilarating even if I need to swerve around sometime angry motorists. I wish people would have more respect for bikers on the road.
More often than not, I end up exploring the eskinitas (alleys) in the area. One would think that contrary to the hustle-bustle of Ayala and Makati avenues, the village roads have less action. What I have found however is that these narrow roads have their own lively commerce going on almost 24/7. The common line of business is “street food chains.”
Ingenuity is the key in setting up street food businesses. To forgo paying rent, most vendors just take a spot along the sidewalk, sit on their kiddie chair and carry baskets or bilaos on their laps. Some park their wooden pushcarts with built-in stoves along the roadside. Others have rolling kiosks (2X2 booths dragged by a bicycle). Anything goes as long as you don’t take up the space of other merchants.
Pork barbecue is one of the most common foods sold on the streets. Other barbecued delicatessens are isaw (chicken intestines), helmet (chicken heads), betamax (pig’s blood) and adidas (chicken feet). The term betamax was coined because the black and rectangular characteristic of the food resembles the 80’s Betamax tapes and adidas was invented because the chicken’s three-clawed foot looks like the old Adidas logo which resembled a tulip with three petals.
Cousins by name to the barbecue, you may not be familiar with the bananacue and kamote-cue. Bananacue is saba (a kind of banana for cooking) fried in sugar and served on a stick). Its sibling is the turon. Turon is prepared in almost the same way except that the saba is covered in lumpia wrapper rolled over brown sugar before frying. The kamote-cue is sliced sweet potatoes deep-fried and later on refried over sugar and served on a stick like the bananacue.
Speaking of deep-fry cooking, other street cuisines that are prepared in this way are fish balls, squid balls, chicken balls and kikiam (processed pork fingers). I love these because buying these is an interactive process. Merchants give you the freedom to choose your balls by poking them with your stick. Watch out though for flying oil, you don’t wanna get burned! It is also best dipped in home-made sauces. Usually, there’s an option of sweet and sour, chili or combination. You just have to keep track of how many you have eaten to pay the manong after. Quek-quek and tokneneng are deep-fried goodies also. The former is quail’s egg and the latter is duck’s egg. Both are rolled over flour and with a signature orange coloring. But of course, the most popular eggs we have in town are balut (duck’s egg with fetus) and penoy (without fetus). These two egg variants are not for the faint of heart.
For those looking for “safer” options there are always vendors selling fried or boiled peanuts. Personally, these are great when one is looking for a midnight snack after a night out on the town.
These are just a few of the many munchies we have on the Philippine road. Whether they pass BFAD’s standards of food preparation or not, it doesn’t matter to the Pinoy street-food connoisseur. Each of these are a delectable snack conveniently located for on-the-go people. In these difficult times food that fits into the meager budgets of the masses are always welcome. Eat at your own risk but if you decide to take your chances, at least you have a gastronomic sense of how exotic this country is.
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