Business Matters Issue 32

8/7/2019 Business Matters Issue 32

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January 3-9, 2011 Email:[email protected] Vol. IV No 0032

P20

Rising costs to hit poorWith e surge n e oll fees ofe Sou Luzon Expressway (Slex)and e Nor Luzon Expressway(Nlex), and e loomng ncreasen oer commodes, e poor areexpeced o bear e brun of gerexpendures w e comng of enew year.

Slex and Nlex ae been al-lowed by e toll Regulaory Board

o carge ger oll fees, w Slexgeng a 250 percen ncrease andNlex, an 11 percen ke, sarngJanuary 1. te measure s expecedo lead o ger prces for goodsa come no e meropols.

Basc commodes suc as sug-ar, rce , LPG and een fuel ae , oflae, rsen by a leas 10 percen re-sulng n e foregong of oer pur-cases by Flpno ouseolds. Re-pors reeal a some famles aeaken o less purcases for Crsmasgoodes suc as am due o e surgen e consumer prces.

te consumer prce ndex assurged by more an 50 percen nNoember as a resul of e earlerncreases n e prces of basc com-modities. The November ination

rae was measured a 3.6 percenn Mero Manla, from 2.2 percenn Ocober. te areas ousde MeroManla was placed a a muc lower2.8 percen.

Sugar as rsen from P54 o P64resulng n e ncrease of sof drnksand oer juces, mos of wc de-pend on sugar as raw maeral.

Already, reas of e ncreasen e fares carged by buses, jeep-neys and axs are beng ared ands could agan add o e economcwoes of e aerage wage earner.

Bu economss are agreed ae Bangko Senral ng Plpnas(BSP) as e moneary ools neces-sary to prevent a runaway ination,wc s s mandae. Repors ema-nang from e BSP reeal a econsumer prce ndex s sll wn

manageable lms.Ination rate has been in the

sngle dg leels eer snce spiked up in 2008, specically ine mons of June, July, Augus ,September and October. The ina-on rae a g of 12.5 percenn Augus afer ng double-dg leels a 11.4 percen n June,2008.

From a g of 12.5 per-cen n Augus, afer reaced12.2 percen e mon beforethat, the ination rate has sinceapered off o sngle dg leels,sarng n Noember, 2008 wen reaced a pon sy a 9.9 per-cen.

Bangko Senral can be cred-ed w e successful renng nof the ination rate that saw therae ng a low of 0.2 percenand 0.1 percen n July and Au-gus, 2009 respecely.

For e res of e year, eination rate has reached a highof 4.4 percen n Aprl and Marcdue o e combned effecs of ecalames a sed e coun-ry.

Economss belee a eination rate will not reach dou-ble-dg leels jus lke n 2008snce ere are seeral monearyools a e dsposal of e BangkoSenral. in fac, e BSP as seeno a e peso-dollar rae doesno exb olale rae ranges byway of enerng e foregn ex-cange marke.

te BSP as been crededw emperng e rse n e con-sumer prces by way of nroduc-ng moneary measures as well ase managemen of e enry ofinvestment inows.

Economss see e counryweaerng e surge n e ollfees n e ollways and a ase leeway o conrol e rse nconsumer prces.

Ditch the Power BandPage 5

Obisety ups death riskin car crashesPage 11

Merchandise exportperformancePage 6

BSP primer on the newcurrency programPage 12

By Lito U. GaGni

DBP pes brch i ClrkDEvELOPMENt Bank ofe Plppnes (DBP)recenly-opened s newesbranc, DBP Clark, as expeced o elp n efnancng needs of keyndusres and busnesses ne Clark Freepor Zone.

Mayors EdgardoPamnuan of AngelesCy and Marno Moralesof Mabalaca joned DBP

presden & cef execueoffcer Francsco F. DelRosaro, Jr. n naugurange DBP Clark offces locaeda Palon 1, Berapliii Clark Cener along JoseAbad Sanos Aenue, ClarkFreepor Zone.

DBP Clark promseso become a al force nspurrng furer grow eren Pampanga and gesus anoer presence n eCenral Luzon regon, DBPpresden & CEO FrancscoF. Del Rosaro, Jr. sad.

W DBP Clark, welook forward o elpnge grow of key secorssuc as manufacurng,

real, oursm, small andmedum enerprses, amongsoers.

DBP Clark s e 79branc of e sae-ownedbank wc s eyeng oopen more brances as parof effors o reac ou o moreclens and deelopmenparners parcularly n ecounrysde. te brancwll make aalable o

clens and deelopmenparners a complee range ofDBP producs and sercesand lendng facles.

D B Pf n a n c e s a r o u sdeelopmenalnaes nnfrasrucureand logscs,c o m m u n yserces sucas eal careand educaon,enronmenalproecon, andmcro, smalland medumenerprses.

Photo shows (from left) DBP president & CEO Francisco F. DelRosario, Jr.; Subic & Clark Alliance for Development Council head andCentral Country Estates Inc. president Nestor Mangio; and Mabalacat,Pampanga mayor Marino Morales during the inauguration of DBP

Clark.


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2 January 3-9, 2011

Creae iRR for foregn nesmens AngaraSENAtOR Edgardo J. Angarasad goernmen mus pres-en able projecs and creaemplemenng rules and regula-ons (iRR) for foregn nes-mens n order o arac nes-ors n 2011.

"Wa we need now s acomplee nesmen dre wspecic projects that are sustain-able and launcable n 2011. v-able prospecs for deelopmenprojecs are wa foregn nes-ors are lookng for," e sad.

Angara, ce-car of eSenae Commee on Fnance,explaned a e counrysould am for small- o med-um-scale nesmens nallywle buldng up s own re-sources for andlng ese newbusnesses.

"We don' ae any bgcke ems a e momen be-cause we need o mee ceranrequirements rst--for example,more power sources n ceranregons, a compreense seof rules--o sow e bgger n-esors a we are capable ofabsorbng er capal," saedAngara.

Accordng o Angara, eg regard for our new goern-

men s a pose ndcaor fore oerall sae of our counry.

"i's good a we aresowng fa n our new ad-mnsraon-- sows unyand sably. Bu now 's up oour goernmen o soldfy a

good nal mpresson wconcree plans or a goodwllwll dsspae," e sad.

A lack of nesmen pro-moons and feasbly sudess oldng back mos of esenesors, sad Angara, and e"absence of compreenserules o goern foregn nes-mens. We mus promulgae eiRR (mplemenng rules andregulaons) as soon as possbleo sow jus ow serous weare."

"Nex, we sould denfywc counres are neresed.For example, i jus wen o Ko-rea for an nesmen forum--eKorean goernmen s probablye mos eager n Asa o elpou our naon's economy. Nowa ey'e sown neres, 'sup o us o proe a our coun-ry s a worwle nesmenand connce em o pu up efundng were 's really need-ed," e assered.

Aquino signs 2011national budget into law

PRESiDENt Bengno Smeon Aquno iiias sgned no law Republc Ac 10147-- e P1.645-rllon General Appropra-ons Ac for 2011 -- wc s acually s

rst nancial blueprint that will enablee naonal goernmen o address eurgen needs of e margnalzed secorof socey.

in a speec afer e sgnng a Mala-canangs Rzal hall, e Cef Execuesaid this is the rst time in 11 years thate naonal budge was sgned on me.

Of e oal budge, e socal ser-ces secor go e lon's sare a 34.1percen, a 16.8 percen ke from s 2010budge, e ges ncrease among allsecors. i ncludes a P21-bllon alloca-on for e condonal cas ransfer pro-gram and P1.2 bllon n unauded nel-lgence funds.

"Congress has ratied the GeneralAppropraons Ac for 2011. By so do-ng, as made possble my sgnng enaonal budge oday. ts wll be erst time in 11 years that the budget willbe sgned no law on e same year a was submed," e Presden sad.

te Presden noed a e houseof Represenaes and e Senae aeproen a bo cambers of Congressare ndeed serous abou e prmary duyof e legslaure.

"te budge s e mos mporan acof any Congress. is early passage meansa e muc-needed programs for po-ery alleaon and deelopmen can bemplemened earler," e sressed.

te Presden poned ou a e

early sgnng of e budge "wll enable uso address e urgen needs of our peoplen a mely manner. Suc needs ncludebuldng more rural eal uns and pro-

dng mmunzaon for cldren. tsalso allows us o consruc new class-rooms and re new eacers, as promsedo e Flpno people."

Presen durng e budge sgnngceremony were Senae Presden JuanPonce Enrle, house Speaker FelcanoBelmone Jr., Congress commee lead-ers and members of e Cabne.

Meanwle, Budge and Manage-men Secreary Florenco Buc Abadsad e sgnng of e GAA for 2011 sthe rst budget with transparency andaccounably prosons negraed un-der e zero-based budgeng (ZBB) ap-proac.

Under e ZBB approac, e goern-men, accordng o Abad sould reduceor ermnae fundng for projecs or pro-grams which are ineffective, inefcientor fraug w leakages, and o expandfundng for ose wc are well perform-ng and are crcal for deelopmen.

tese general and specal pro-sons requre us o dsclose key nforma-on on budgeary appropraons and re-leases usng new nformaon ecnology.ts admnsraon as nong o defrom e people, e sad.

Asde from socal serces, e sec-ors a go an ncrease n e 2011 bud-ge were e followng:

--P110 mllon for e manenanceand operang expenses of 80 sae un-

erses and colleges;--P8 mllon n e budge of e Of-

ce of the Vice President;--P200 mllon n subsdes for local

goernmen uns;--P590 mllon n e budge of e

house of Represenaes; and--P345 mllon n e budge of e

Senae.in a saemen, Senaor Frankln Dr-

lon expressed suppor on e ems eoedby Presden Aquno.

"i suppor e eo. ts s a houseproposal wc olaes e Consuonas lms e Presden's power o re-algn ems n e budge," Drlon sadof e deleed specal proson on con-donal cas ransfer wc requres ae unused poron of e P21 bllon al-locaon for e drec cas gran for epoor sould be realgned o educaon,eal ec.

Presden Aquno also eoed edeb cap lm of 55 percen of gross do-mesc produc, w Drlon sayng a "lms e goernmen's ably o bor-row for projects or renance our debt forlower neres." A smlar proson wasalso eoed by former Presden GloraMacapagal-Arroyo.

A proson as also been scrappedon lump sum allocaon wc prodesa before any projec s execued, erepresenaes of e dsrcs concernedsould be consuled. Drlon sad a eproson wll delay mplemenaon ofprory projecs as oulned n e bud-ge. (PNA)

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III welcomes Allan Pineda Lindo Jr., the Filipino-Amer-ican singer of Black Eyed Peas better known by his stage name Apl.de.ap, in a courtesycall at Malacaang. The 36-year-old pop icon was born in Sapang Bato, Angeles City, Pam-panga. Through his Apl Foundation, he plans to nance the construction of school build-ings initially in his home province. Other members of the Black Eyed Peas include includewill.i.am, Taboo and Kim Hill. (PNA)

Unbanks non-performng loans rao a 3.20 %BY Ocober 2010, e non-performngloans (NPL) rao of unersal and com-mercal banks (U/KBs) sood a 3.20percen. ts s ger by 0.09 percen-age pon an las mons 3.11 percenbu an mproemen by 0.17 percenagepon from year agos 3.37 percen ra-tio. This is the twenty-fth consecutivemon a e NPL rao as been be-low four percen.

te mon-on-mon moemencame abou as e 0.25 percen rse nNPLs was accompaned by e 2.48percen declne n oal loan porfolo(tLP). NPLs rose o P83.35 bllonfrom las mons P83.14 bllon wletLP dropped o P2,604.05 bllon fromP2,670.32 bllon.

Ne of nerbank loans, e NPLrao rose o 3.49 percen from las

mons 3.46 bu eased from year agos

3.89 percen rao. te ncrease n erao from las mon ranspred as egrow n NPLs came w e 0.53percen reducon n regular loans oP2,387.04 bllon.

te resrucured loans (RLs) otLP rao wen up o 1.66 percen fromlas mons 1.64 percen bu fell fromyear agos 1.91 percen rao. te ra-o ncreased from las mon as e0.74 percen reducon n gross RLs oP43.72 bllon was ouweged by elarger conracon n loans.

Meanme, e real and oer prop-eres acqured (ROPA) o gross asses(GA) rao go beer o 2.19 percenfrom las mons 2.21 percen and yearagos 2.55 percen rao. te rao fellfrom las mon as e 0.52 percen de-clne n ROPA o P127.84 bllon came

w e grow n GAs.

te non-performng asses (NPA)o GA rao mproed o 3.63 percenfrom las mons 3.65 percen andyear agos 4.16 percen rao. te m-proemen from las mon occurredas e 0.22 percen drop n NPAs camew e grow n GAs. te NPA leelsood a P211.19 bllon, down from lasmons P211.65 bllon and year agosP222.49 bllon.

U/KBs proded adequae pro-sonng agans poenal cred losses.te NPL coerage rao srengened o117.15 percen from las mons 117.13percen. Lkewse, e NPA coeragerao wdened o 59.67 percen from lasmons 59.57 percen. Year-on-year,s mons NPL and NPA coerageraos also fared beer an er refer-ence raos of 106.37 percen and 53.04

percen, respecely.

25 small banksshut down

in 2010thE bankng sysem as neer been as srongas ey are a presen bu s dd no preen

25 banks from fallng oer and soppng op-eraons s year alogeer, regulaors sadrecenly.

ter falure promped e polcy-makngMoneary Board of e Bangko Senral ngPlpnas o place em under e wngs of ePlppne Depos insurance Corp., requrnge PDiC o deermne weer s pecularsae s only emporary and e bank s saed,or permanen wen e process of lqudangs asses o pay off deposors and credorsbegn.

A bank falure s someng a PDiCpresden Jose "Jopo" Nograles deess, ande owed o preen e complee sudown ofany bank f ere was any cance of brngng back from e gnomny of oal falure.

he as mananed a regulaory ner-enon, weer from e BSP or e PDiC,as e bes cance of success wen problem-

ac banks are sll operang and a pos-clo-sure reablaon effors almos always endup n falure.

Regulaory nerenon comes afer eproblemac bank s aken oer and no before,e exsence of e cenral bank's promp cor-rece acon or PCA program, nowsand-ng, Nograles sad.

Ofcials said the PCA approach also hass problems n a problemac banks ofendelberaely gnore on accoun of e sgmaaaced o a bank known o ae approacede regulaors for elp.

Nograles acknowledged roubled banks docoose o gnore e PCA and look eerywerebu oward regulaors "for fear of a possblerun on bank deposors" as soon as nformaonabou suc a ransacon reaces e bankngpublc.

he sad a n a PCA, e PDiC acs as

macmaker seekng ou ose wo ae ewerewal o njec fres capal o osebanks a sorely need and keepng a efforas close o er ear as ey can keep .

he only sad a of e 25, all bu onewere rural banks and e oer lone falure wasa rf bank.

Bu en, rural banks are mos noed forrng for a few years before ankng, ofene cm of msmanagemen by eer s ownse of sareolders or by e professonal man-agers asked o run em.

Depuy BSP Goernor Nesor Espenlla Jr,ead of e powerful superson and exam-naon secor a deal drecly w e banks,sad earler mos rural banks were famlyowned and a s ofen proed more a cursean a blessng.

"Mos rural banks are reaed by er own-ers as personal pggy banks," e sad. (PNA)


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Foreign Matters January 3-9, 2011 3

Meralco in talks for power generationPOWER dsrbuor Manla Elec-rc Co. (Meralco) s n alks wfour companes for a possblejon enure n pung up powergeneraon projecs w oalgenerang capacy of abou 1.5gigawatts in the next ve years.

"We're sll connung ds-cussons w a number of po-enal parners. We aen' madea nal choice of partner but dis-cussons are sll ongong w anumber of em. We're lookng apoenally wo o four parners,"Meralco chief operating ofcerOscar Reyes sad.

Meralco s lookng a a par-ner a can pu up e power proj-ec a e soones possble meand a a lower generaon rae.

"te key n e coce ofparner w wom can we brngcapacy no operaon a esoones..ose wo wll be able ogenerae power a e mos coscompee prce so a we wllbe able o deler power o e

consumer a a more affordableleel," e sad.

Reyes sad e companyoped o srke a deal w epower rms that could bringelecrcy coss a below P5 perklowaour(kW).

"We're opng for lowercoss. Our aspraon s a muc

lower generang cos becausea's wa our consumers areaskng," e sad.

he sad Meralco would makean nesmen decson nex year,ncludng s possble parner, ca-pacy of e projec, ype of fuel

a wll be used o generae elec-rcy, among oers.

Meralco s so far n alksw DMCi holdngs and teaMEnergy Corp. for s plannedpower generaon projec.

Meralco presden and cefexecue Manuel Panglnansad a by pung up a powergeneraon facly, e powerdistribution rm will be able toinuence the behavior of powerraes n e long-erm.

i don' belee ere arequick xes to the industry's abil-y o lower power raes n esor-erm. We jus ope o beable to inuence the behaviorof power raes n e long-erm.if Meralco cooses o reman as

a pure dsrbuor of power enit has no ability to inuence theenre food can of power coss.Meralco as go o moe up afood can, Panglnan sad.

Panglnan sad Meralco waslookng a exsng power plansor browneld plants that may re-qure expanson or reablaon.

he sad was also lookng agreeneld or constructing an en-rely new power plan.

Panglnan sad Meralcos

preference s o ake a major-y poson of 51 percen n epower plan projec.

Meralco s currenly e

counrys bgges power ds-rbuor w oer four mlloncusomers n s francse area.(PNA)

Govt urged to save PH coconut industryA pary-ls lawmaker wans goernmeno nsue reforms n e coconu ndus-ry o sae e dyng secor, wc asbeen e source of lelood for some24 mllon people for decades.

Rep. Saron S. Garn (Pary-ls,AAMBiS-OWA) sad unless e goern-men acs now o sae e ndusry, was radonally known as e ree of lfemg end up as e ree of despar.

Accordng o Garn, e weak ns-tutional, policy, technical and nancialsuppor from e goernmen as exacer-baed e problems beseng e coconundusry rangng from decreasng pro-ducon due o senle rees, llegal log-gng, poor ferlzaon, monocroppngand oo muc focus on copra.

Garn sad e lack of ranng andeducaon as componens of capacybuldng as also seerely affeced ecoconu ndusry and e coconu farm-ers.

As a resul of s, 70 percen ofour farmers only end and ares coco-

nus n er farms wen coconu farms

ae grea poenal for ner-croppng.te as area under e coconu canopycan and sould be ulzed o plan corn,cacao, bananas, calamans, abaca, andoer crops and can een be used forlesock-rasng, Garn sad.

Garn sad g-alue producs maybe dered from coconu suc as coconusugar, coir, ber, peat and charcoal butmos coconu farmers only sell copra.

Because of s, our coconu farm-ers wo are mosly no copra produc-on, of wc 80 percen are expored,are dependen on e olale nerna-onal marke of commody ol, Garnsad.

All ese coupled by nadequaegoernmen suppor ae sen e co-conu ndusry spralng downwards,Garn poned ou.

Garn called on e goernmen oac now o sae e coconu ndusry.Se soug e long oerdue release ofe conroersal P200 bllon coco leyfunds. Mus we keep wang for e

sad release and no ac wle e Pl-

ppne coconu ndusry s sldng downunto a op of ruins? Garin asked.

Bu w or wou e coconu leyfunds, Garn sad reforms n polces andallocaons mus sweep e goernmenfrom op o boom a e soones pos-sble me.

Se lamened e low yearly subsdygen e Plppne Coconu Auor-y. te Plppne Coconu Auory(PCA) as a yearly subsdy of aroundP500 M, equalen o a mere 1.5 percenof e oal allocaon of e Deparmenof Agrculure. Jus 1.5 percen alloca-on for one of e bgges agrculuralndusres of e counry, se sad.

Garn urged e Deparmen of Agr-culure for more polcy nerenons one coconu ndusry, wc coers a oalcoconu area of 3.4 mllon ecares, anarea a corresponds o abou one-rdof e counrys arable agrculure land,ger an ose of rce and corn.

As e number one agrculural ex-por, coconus accoun for nearly alf of

our agrculural expors, w earnngs

amounng o more an $1 B per yearbu unforunaely e abundance of eresources s nersely relaed o e saeof e coconu ndusry and e coconufarmers, Garn sad.

Garn sad wa s unforunae sa coconu as e lowes farm alueper ecare among crops. Dependngon e crop yeld and prces, an aeragecoconu farmer would earn only abouP15,000 per ecare per year.

tus an aerage coconu farm of2.4 ecares wll only earn a coconufarmer P36,000.00 per year a rans-laes o a monly ncome of P3,000.00,wc means a coconu farmers ander famles are surng on a budgeof P20 per person per day, Garn ced.

te alarmng fac s a areas sucas e Auonomous Regon of MuslmMndanao (ARMM), Caraga, Regoniv-B, Bcol, Easern vsayas, and Zam-boanga Pennsula wc are gly co-conu dependen end o ae e gespoery ncdence n e counry, Garn

added. (30)

Arroyos want sidewalksfor pedestrians only

thE moer and son Arroyo lawmakers arecallng for regulaon a would coer euse of sdewalks for commercal and ader-tising purposes to ensure the smooth ow oftrafc and provide for a safe and convenientmoemen of goods and people.

Rep. Dosdado M. Arroyo (2nd Ds-rc, Camarnes Sur) and s moer Rep.Glora Macapagal-Arroyo (2nd Dsrc,Pampanga) fled house Bll 1217 o pro-b e use of srees for dsplay and sale

of goods and commercal and adersngpurposes.

Arroyo sad e occupaon and use byprae ndduals of sdewalks and oerpublc places deoed o publc use boconsue publc nusances.

i as been obsered a some cy,muncpal and een proncal srees, a-enues, alleys, sdewalks, brdges, parksand oer publc places are no properlyulzed by road users and e publc, Ar-royo sad.

Adequae sdewalk areas mus bemananed o allow safe pedesran pas-sage and for e safe and conenen useof weelcars, srollers and smlar nsru-mens, Arroyo sad.

Under e bll, people are probedo use srees, sdewalks, aenues, alleys,brdges, parks and oer publc places for

endng or for e sellng of foods, maga-znes, newspapers, cgarees, brooms,waces or jewelry, soes and oer foo-wear, as well as oer ems.

te bll also probs e use of publcplaces for e conduc of soe-sne occupa-on, wasng cloes, angng cloes andbang, as a ecle garage, or for eclerepar, dumpng of garbage, pcke fence n-sallaon and as a baskeball cour or goal.

Lkewse, people are probed from

usng sdewalks as anmal pens or for keep-ng anmals n cans, sorage for sofdrnks,wnes or lquor boles and cases, soragefor consrucon maerals, for drnkng l-quor and beerages and as pcnc groundsor for oldng gaerngs.

Under e measure, auores sallonly gran perms for emporary use ofsdewalks for communy-wde specal oc-casons or for sales promoon days and forcc or carable purposes.

te bll prodes furer a e use ofsdewalks and e dsplay or sale of mer-candse mus be of a non-permanen na-ure and mus be done nealy and orderly.

Violators face a ne of P1,000 and 30days mprsonmen. Any perm ssued sallbe reoked and suc reocaon sall pro-b e gran of a new perm for welemons from e dae of concon.

NEDA: Exports to growby double digits next year

thE Naonal Economc and Deelopmen Auory (NEDA) expecs expors ogrow by double dgs nex year amd srong peso.

"Expors s one of e ngs a we are ryng o reew and ry o see on owto x it, because as you know the prospects of the currency is that it will be stableraer an deprecang wc s good," Socoeconomc Plannng Secreary Cay-eano Paderanga old reporers.

he projeced a expors may sll grow by double dgs nex year, bu loweran s year's expor arge.

te Deelopmen Budge Coordnaon Commee (DBCC) s argeng a 15-percen grow n expors s year.

Paderanga sad e peso s lkely o be around were s rg now "a leas e

early part going to the rst half of 2011."Currenly, e peso sood a around P44 agans e US dollar."All of e exporers are experencng e weakenng of e dollar also sows

a our radonal marke [US and Europe] are also no robus as used o be," Pad-eranga sad.

"Wa we are concern abou s really e marke," e added.Gen s, Paderanga s opng a e grow wll come from e counry's

new marke."tere's an ncreasng rade w Asan rm, a's been noced n e pas few

years," e sad.te counry's mercandse expors o Easern Asa n Ocober accouned for

41.4 percen of e oal expors.Meanwle, expors o ASEAN member-counres represenng 25.8 percen of

e oal expors.On e oer and, oal expors o European Unon (EU) accouned for 11 per-

cen and 14.7 percen for Uned Saes.in Ocober, expors rose 26.4 percen o $ 4.739 bllon from s year ago leel

of $ 3.748 bllon.For the rst 10 months, export earnings increased by 37.1 percent to $ 43.047

bllon from $ 31.397 bllon recorded from January o Ocober las year. (PNA)

Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has convened the City Development Council whichincludes as members the four QC congressional representatives, city councilors, barangaychairpersons and NGO/PO representatives. Department of Interior and Local Government

Secretary Jesse Robredo was the guest speaker during the inaugural session of the coun-cil at the Philippine Social Science Center (PSSC) at Commonwealth Avenue. Looking onare; Rep. Winston Castelo, Councilor Precious Hipolito-Castelo and newly-elected QC Ligang mga Barangay president, barangay captain Ranulfo Ludovica of Batasan Hills.


4/12

Environment4 January 3-9, 2011

ADB, NGOs to help 5 Pacic countriesmanage marine resources

thE Asan Deelopmen Bank (ADB), e Global Enron-men Facly (GEF), and e Ausralan insue of MarneScience (AIMS) are helping ve Pacic countries manage

er marne resources n e Coral trangle.te projec s par of ADBs commmen o e Coraltrangle inae (Cti) a regonal effor o presere andmanage Asia-Pacics marine resources. ADB is coordinatingthe mobilization of nancial support for the CTI plan of action,n consulaon w deelopmen parners.

Ofen referred o as e Amazon of e Seas, e Coraltrangle conans as marne resources crcal for e eco-nomc and food secury of an esmaed 120 mllon people.tese resources are a mmedae rsk from a range of facors,including the impacts of climate change, over-shing, and un-sustainable shing methods.

te Manla-based ADB , s dedcaed o reducng poeryin Asia and the Pacic through inclusive economic growth, en-ronmenally susanable grow, and regonal negraon.

Esablsed n 1966, s owned by 67 members counres 48 from e regon. in 2009, approed a oal of $16.1 bl-lion in nancing operations through loans, grants, guarantees,a trade nance facilitation program, equity investments, andtechnical assistance projects. ADB also mobilized conancing

amounng o $3.2 bllon.te ADB Board of Drecors as approed a ecncal as-

ssance of $1.15 mllon for Fj islands, Papua New Gunea,Solomon islands, tmor-Lese, and vanuau as par of eSrengenng Coasal and Marne Resources Managemen nthe Coral Triangle of the Pacic (Phase 2) regional technicalasssance projec.

Asde from e ecncal asssance, ADB wll also pro-de $800,000 n gran o be sourced from e Regonal Coop-eraon and inegraon Fund under e Regonal Cooperaonand Fnancng Parnersp Facly.

te GEF wll prode $13.1 mllon as gran o be ad-mnsered by ADB. te AiMS wll prode abou $450,000n non-cas conrbuon, wc wll no be admnsered by

ADB. A oal of $3 ml-lon wll be conrbuedby the ve participating

goernmens. te oer-all projec cos s es-maed a around $18.5mllon.

te ecncal as-ssance s one of reesubprojecs under eCti plan. i wll elpensure food securyfor e populaons nPacic countries due toncreased reslence ofer marne and coasalecosysems.

te ADB ecncalasssance wll also sup-por e nroducon ofa more effece coasaland marne resourcemanagemen, especal-

ly ose assocaed wcoral reefs, reaenedby uman and clmaecange mpacs.

A clmae cangeadapaon program s beng bul no e projec,wc wll nclude conducng clmae ulnerabl-y assessmens, deelopng clmae adapaonmeasures, and creang publc awareness of cl-mae cange callenges.

ADB wll be e execung agency and wllexercse oerall responsbly for e coordna-on, superson, and mplemenaon of all proj-ec aces.

Ocean acidity risedecreases nitrogen

in world seasiNCREASiNG acdy n e sea'swaers may fundamenally cangeow nrogen s cycled n em,say marne scenss wo pub-lished their ndings in this week's

ssue of e journal Proceedngs ofe Naonal Academy of Scences(PNAS).

Nrogen s one of e mos m-poran nurens n e oceans. Allorgansms, from ny mcrobes oblue wales, use nrogen o makeproens and oer mporan com-pounds.

Some mcrobes can also usedfferen cemcal forms of nrogenas a source of energy.

One of ese groups, e ammo-na oxdzers, plays a poal role ndeermnng wc forms of nrogenare presen n e ocean. in urn, eyaffec e les of many oer marneorgansms.

"Ocean acidication will havewdespread effecs on marne eco-

sysems, bu mos of ose effecsare sll unknown," sad Dad Gar-rson, drecor of e Naonal Sc-ence Foundaon (NSF)'s Bolog-cal Oceanograpy Program, wcfunded e researc along w NSF'sCemcal Oceanograpy Program.

"ts repor a ocean acd-cation decreases nitrication (theamoun of nrogen) s exremelymporan," sad Garrson, "becauseof e crucal role of e nrogencycle n bogeocemcal processes-processes a ake place rougoue oceans."

very lle s known abou owocean acidication may affect criticalmcrobal groups lke e ammonaoxdzers, "key players n e ocean'snrogen cycle," sad Mcael Bemanof e Unersy of hawa and leadauor of e PNAS paper.

in sx expermens spread acrosswo oceans, Beman and colleagueslooked a e response of ammonaoxidation rates to ocean acidica-on.

in eery case were e re-searcers expermenally ncreasede amoun of acdy n ocean wa-ers, ammona oxdaon raes de-creased.

tese declnes were remark-ably smlar n dfferen regons ofthe ocean indicating that nitricationraes may decrease globally as eoceans acdfy n comng decades,sad Dad hucns of e Uner-sy of Souern Calforna, a co-au-

or of e paper.

Oceanic nitrication is a majornaural componen of producon ofe greenouse gas nrous oxde.From e seas, nrous oxde eneners e amospere, says Beman.

"All else beng equal, decreases nnitrication rates therefore have thepoenal o reduce nrous oxdeemssons o e amospere."

Oceanc emssons of nrousoxde are second only o sols as aglobal source of nrous oxde.

W a ph decrease of 0.1 nocean waers (makng e waersmore acdc), e scenss esmaea decrease n nrous oxde emssonscomparable o all curren nrous ox-de emssons from fossl fuel com-buson and ndusral acy.

An mporan caea, ey say,s a nrous oxde emssons fromoceanic nitrication may be alteredby oer forms of global enron-menal cange suc as ncreased de-poson of nrogen o e ocean, or

loss of oxygen n some key areas."ta could offse any decrease

due to ocean acidication, and needso be suded n more deal," sayshucns.

Anoer major mplcaon ofthe ndings is equally complex, theresearcers say, bu jus as mpor-an.

As uman-dered carbon d-oxde permeaes e sea, ammona-oxdzng organsms wll be a a sg-nicant disadvantage in competingfor ammona.

Oer me, a would sf eaalable form of dssoled nrogenn e surface oceans away fromforms lke nrae a are producedby nitrication, and toward regener-aed ammonum.

W a decrease n aerageocean ph from 8.1 o 8.0 (greaeracdy), e scenss esmae aup o 25 percen of e ocean's pr-mary producon could sf fromnrae- o ammonum-suppored.

te consequences of suc asf are no easly predced, sayshucns, bu would lkely faorceran drfng, mcroscopc planspeces oer oers, w cascad-ng effecs rougou marne foodwebs.

"What makes ocean acidica-tion such a challenging scienticand soceal ssue s a we're en-gaged n a global, unreplcaed ex-permen," says Beman, "one a'sdifcult to study--and has many un-

known consequences."

Dead Sea drlled o reeal clmae

n Jesus' lfemeJERUSALEM, israel -- Abou 50mles from Beleem, e ownwere Jesus was born, scenssare drllng oles under e DeadSea o deermne clmae andearquake acy paerns n eholy Land a e me of s br,e Enronmen News Sercerepored recenly.

Scenss from eg naonsare examnng e Dead Sea'sseaoor by boring into the world'sdeepes basn and drllng down460 meers (1,500 fee) rouglayers of sedmenary rock depos-ed oer undreds of ousandsof years.

te inernaonal Connen-

tal Scientic Drilling Program,iCDP, brngs ogeer researceams from israel, Japan, Nor-way, Swzerland, e UnedSaes and Germany.

te eam ncludes scenssfrom tel A Unersy, e is-rael Geologcal Surey and eisrael Academy of Scences andhumanes as well as researcersfrom Jordan and e PalesnanAuory.

Scenss and ecncans ofe GFZ German Researc Cen-re for Geoscences n Posdamae now compleed a geopys-cal measuremen procedure ne ole and elped w e n-al examnaon of e sedmencores in a eld laboratory.

"We ae drlled rougabou alf a mllon years of sed-menary deposs," esmaes Dr.Ulrc harms from e iCDP'soperaonal suppor group a eGFZ researc cener.

"From s, we can deduceno only e clmae sory, bualso e earquake acy n ssesmcally ery ace regon,"sad Dr. harms, wo s worknga e Dead Sea drllng se.

tngs ae no always gonesmooly snce Noember 18wen e drllng began onse.A major sorm on December 12 -e wors on e Dead Sea snce1980 - w exremely srongwnds and sandsorms, dsrupedresearc, bendng and breakng

drllng ppes and sfng edrllng rg.

Bu een a s prelmnarystage, some exciting nds havebeen repored. Afer drllngroug ard clay, on December 6,e drllng crew peneraed wood,wc ey esmae was probablywased no e lake durng aood some 400,000 years ago.

A sal lake borderng Jordano e eas and israel and e WesBank o e wes, e Dead Sea slocaed abou an our's dre fromJerusalem. te rg s some egkilometers (ve miles) from shoren a place were e lake s 300meers deep.

te area s prone o ear-quakes, wc connue oday. OnDecember 11, ere was a smallearquake, w a magnude of3.5, n e norern Dead Sea nofar from e drllng se.

Although scientic drillingaemps o recoer cores downe enre dep of a ole, s noalways possble, sad Dr. harms,aloug e drecon and nclna-on of e well were deermnedw precson and e pyscalproperes of e rocks were mea-sured down o e boom of e460 meer deep boreole.

tese unque measuremensare used o record a connuoussurey of e deposs n e DeadSea and o compare e sureyw e recoered cores.

in addon, Dr. harms ex-planed, a second seres of coress beng obaned from a secondwell n order o erfy and securee daa.

"if eeryng goes perfecly,we may soon be able o prodenformaon abou pas clmaeand enronmenal canges n eBeleem area," e sad.

"We belee a e resulsof s projec wll ae as m-plications in the elds of science

and enronmen and wll sedlg on new naural resources,"Professor tz Ben-Araam oftel A Unersy and MoSen of e israel GeologcalSurey, sad n a jon saemeno e meda n Noember.

"A sorc ydro-geologcal-enronmenal sudy of e DeadSea wll elp unrael e mys-ery of uman culural eoluonn s area," sad Ben-Araamand Sen. Edence of a seereweaer paern, or major ear-quake could also ndcae umanmgraon n or ou of e regon.

Sedimentary cores drilled from beneath the seabed revealclimate and earthquake patterns over time. (Photo courtesy

ICDP)


5/12

Health & Wellness January 3-9, 2011 5

Breastfeeding benets boys' brainsBREAStFEEDiNG for a leas sxmons as been assocaed w enancedimmunity and other benets for children-- bu a prospece sudy from Ausralasuggess breasfeedng may also yeldacademic benets later in a child's life, atleas for boys.

te sudy, wc followed almos3,000 cldren from br onward, foundose wo were predomnanly breasfedfor six months or longer had signicantlyger scores on sandardzed ess ofreadng, ma, and spellng a age 10compared w kds breasfed for sorerperods, accordng o Wendy Oddy, PD,of teleon insue for Cld healResearc n Per n Wesern Ausrala, andcolleagues repored onlne n Pedarcs.

howeer, MedPagetoday.com alsorepored a Oddy and er co-auors sade effecs on ose es scores appeared obe muc sronger for boys an for grls.

"Our sudy adds o growng edencea breasfeedng for a leas sx monshas benecial effects on optimal childdeelopmen," ey wroe.

Wle breasfeedng s promoed asbenecial to both the mother and newborn-- and excluse breasfeedng for a leassx mons s wdely recommended -- ebenets of breastfeeding on cognitivedeelopmen ae no been clear, accordngo background proded by e auors.

For example, e researcers asked,would benets breastfeeding reectnutritional or socioeconomic advantages?Some studies have shown no benetsn erms of academc aceemen afer

adjusng for socoeconomc saus,enronmen, and maernal erbal ably,while benets are apparent in others.

to examne e relaonsp beweenduraon of breasfeedng and educaonaloucomes, e researcers assessed daafrom e Wesern Ausralan Pregnancy

Coor, wc ncluded 2,900 women wowere enrolled a 18 weeks gesaon. Aoal of 2,868 nfans were en followedprospecely.

te researcers macedese daa w sandardzedes scores n maemacs,readng, wrng, and spellngfor 1,038 of ese cldren.

Oerall, e researcersfound a cldren wowere breasfed for a leas sxmons ad ger academcscores an ose wo weren'breasfed a long.

Cldren of moerswo were merely connungo breasfeed a sx monshad signicantly betterscores, wc ncreased weac addonal mon ofbreasfeedng for ma, readng, wrng,and spellng.

Bu ese resuls were aenuaed wenadjused for confoundng facors ncludngmaernal and demograpc facors. Weac addonal mon of breasfeedng, escores sll ncreased, bu dd no reac anylevel of signicance, the researchers said.

howeer, cldren of moers wowere predomnanly breasfed a sx mons

had signicantly improved academic scoresn mularable models for readng, ma,and spelling. Those ndings approachedsignicance for writing, the researcherssad.

te relaonsp may be explanedby e fac a nurens n breas mlk

-- especally long-can polyunsauraedfay acds -- are essenal for opmumbran grow, ncludng cell membranes

and neurons.Wen lookng a oer facors, e

researcers found a lower maernaleducaon and famly ncome weresignicantly associated with decreasedcld academc aceemen.

Conersely, readng and lookng abooks w e cld beween ages 3 and5 were assocaed w mproed meanscores for readng and wrng, parcularly

for grls.ts gender dfference also eld rue for

e bg pcure. Wen analyzng e coorby gender, predomnan breasfeedng a sxmonths was signicantly associated wtihncreased maemacs, readng, wrng,and spellng scores for boys -- bu ere

was no effec on educaonal aanmenfor grls n any subjec.

te researcers sad s could be dueo e fac a male cldren are knowno be more ulnerable o adersy durngcrcal perods, wc may be relaed o eneuroproece effec of esradols. teseare ypcally a ger concenraons nfemale cldren.

tus, any neuroproece role ofbreast milk would have greater benets formale cldren, ey explaned.

Anoer possbly s abreasfeedng as a pose effec on emoer-cld relaonsp, faclangbondng, neracon, and, ndrecly,cogne grow. Sudes ae sown amale nfans are more relan an femaleson maernal aennon, so e poseeffecs of s bond may be sronger nmales.

One lmaon of e sudy was a could no conrol for maernal nellgence.tere was also a lack of nformaon oncldren wo aended non-goernmenscools, and no daa on academcaceemen a oer me pons.

te sudy was also conduced onlyamong moers and cldren n Ausrala,wc may lm s generalzably ooer locaons.

Dich he

pwer bds,ausrlis urgedthOSE expense ologram-sudded wrsbands

guaranteed to boost exibility, balance and strength areabou as effece as a rubber band pcked up off esree, Ausrala's consumer wacdog sad recenly.

"i's a crock, frankly," Ausralan Compeon andConsumer Commsson carman Graeme Samuel sad."And we are ery dsapponed a so many people aepad undreds of ousands f no mllons of dollars obuy ese Power Bands."

Samuel ordered e Ausralan dsrbuor of ewrs wear endorsed by baskeball player SaqulleO'Neal and Formula One drer Rubens Barrcello oadmit its claims were pseudoscientic nonsense.

"We admit that there is no credible scienticedence a suppors our clams, and, erefore, weengaged n decepe conduc," Power Balance AusralaPy. Ld. sad n a dsclamer bured on s webse.

Samuel warned e publc of smlar producs "nomore benecial than a rubber band."

hs commsson aced afer e consumer lobbygroup Coce esed e produc on 20 oluneers andfound no appreciable difference in exibility, balanceand sreng wen wearng e band.

"if e producs were ceap, we could a leas callem a armless b of nonsense," Coce spokesmanCrsoper Znn sad, "bu a 60 Ausralan dollars($60) for e wrsband and 95 Ausralan dollars for ependan, ey are far oo oerprced o laug off.

"Coce s all for e power of pose nkng,but we can't nd anything positive to say about PowerBalance."

Revealing more on age-old bouts of goutGOUt s a form of arrs, an acueaack of wc ofen means a red,swollen and nensely panful bg oeafter a heavy meal and recent scienticresearc as sed more lg on emolecular processes a cause sjon dsorder, Eartmes.org repors n s webse.

"Gou s a good exampleof how new ndings on adsease known for mllennalead o e deelopmenof oally new erapeucapproaces," noed AndreasKrause, cef pyscan ne Deparmen of inernalMedcne, Reumaologyand Clncal immunologya immanuel hospal nBerln.

Gou resuls froma more or less sronglypronounced genec defec

n wc e body s unableo excree enoug urc acd,wc bulds up n e blood,crysallzes and s deposedn e jons - usually ebg oes bu somemes eankles, knees or ands.

Snce e bodyproduces urc acd wen breaks down organc compoundscalled purnes n food, gou aacksusually occur afer eay meals. Gouas erefore long been regarded as a"disease of afuence."

"Gou aacks are reaed wnon-steroidal anti-inammatory drugssuc as dclofenac, and somemesw corsone or colccne," sadSebasan Ullrc, senor pyscan n

e Gasroenerology Deparmen ofhamburg's Asklepos Clnc Alona.

A plan oxn exraced from eauumn crocus (Colccum auumnale),colccne s prescrbed only for sorperods because of s srong sde-

effecs.For years, e sandard erapes for

eleaed leels of urc acd n e blood(yperurcema) ae been allopurnol,a drug a nbs urc acd producon,and deary canges.

Organ meas (ler, ear, kdneys,ec.), red mea, some knds of salwaersh and seafood, beer and sugarybeerages are especally g n purnes

and, as suc, conduce o rasng urcacd leels.

howeer, "allopurnol s of lmedusefulness o people w poor kdneyfuncon, wc s ofen e case wener urc acd leels are g," accordng

o Juergen Wollenaup, drecor ofe Deparmen of Reumaologyand Clncal immunology a eScoen Clnc hamburg-Elbek.

Bu wa causes gou'ssymptoms? In recent years themmune sysem as been sowno play a large role.

"Urc acd crysals deposedn a jon are absorbed by ceranmmune cells," Krause explaned.te crysals acae e cells'inammasome, a multi-proteincomplex dscoered jus a fewyears ago.

ts rggers producon ofnerleukn (iL)-1bea, wc are

sgnallng molecules a causegou's caracersc redness,swelling, inammation and asensaon of nense ea.

Researcers ae dscoereda number of drugs a nbeer e producon or acon ofIL-1beta. The drugs' efcacy ingou erapy s now beng esed,

manly n e Uned Saes, Ullrcsad.

A new drug approed n Germanya year ago works n e same way aallopurnol does and, expers say, asadanages n reang paens wkdney damage. On e oer and, eexpers noe a e drug reduces lerfuncon n some people, a rsk aneeds o be monored closely.

tnkng abou food can make you feel fullSiMPLY sualzng a cocolaebar doesn' make a person fa.

Researcers a CarnegeMellon Unersy repored n ejournal Scence a ey aefound a wen people nk aboua parcular food ey don' ge eenmore ungry for , and nsead ercrang for s reduced.

Eatmes.org sad erepor ad noed a e noonof nkng abou a amburger,for example, makes a personungry for one as been wdelyeld. tere s a lo of leraureon food crangs suggesng

a fanaszng abou a food

wll smulae an appee for.

te majory of scenssae eld e opnon a nkngabou a food ses n moon esame neurologcal processes aseang, smellng or seeng .

Bu Carey Morewedge, woled e researc, and s fellowresearcers now belee a emore a person nks abou eanga food, e less e craes .

Morewedge sad e edencesuggess a wen a personpcures mself eang foods edesres, magnng e experence

orougly, e may acually wan

less of ose foods.tnkng of a food - ow

ases, smells or looks - does ncreaseour appee. Bu performng emenal magery of acually eanga food decreases our desre for ,Morewedge explaned.

"Mos people nk amagnng a food ncreases erdesre for and wes erappetite. Our ndings show that its no so smple," sad Morewedge,asssan professor of socal anddecson scences a CarnegeMellon Unersy n Psburg,Pennsylana.

in one expermen, a conrol

group was old o magne pung33 cons n a wasng macne onea a me. Anoer group was oldo magne pung 30 cons no awasng macne and eang reeM&M candes one a a me. tenal group was told to imaginepung ree cons no a wasngmacne and eang 30 M&Ms onea a me.

All e es subjecs were engen a cance o ea freely froma bowl of M&Ms. tose woad magned eang 30 candesacually ae fewer wen e bowlwas offered.

"Our ndings show that

abuaon s no only goernedby e sensory npus of sg,smell, sound and ouc, bu also byow e consumpon experences menally represened," sadJoacm vosgerau, an asssanprofessor of markeng wo was one researc eam.

to a ceran exen smplymagnng an experence sa subsue for ang aexperence, vosgerau added.te dfference beween menallymagnng someng and acuallyang e experence may bemuc less an beleed us far,

e sad.


6/12

6 January 3-9, 2011

M E R C h A N D i S E

EXPORtS FOR OCtOBER2010 UP BY 26.4 PERCENt

te Plppnes oal

earnngs for mercandse expor

n Ocober 2010 amouned o$4.739 bllon, ger by 26.4percen from s year ago leelof $3.748 bllon. Compared opreous mon leel, recepsfrom mercandse exporsdeclned by 11.0 percenfrom $5.325 bllon posed nSepember 2010. Meanwle,aggregae mercandse exporsfor e 10-mon perod n 2010ncreased by 37.1 percen o$43.047 bllon from $31.397bllon recorded from Januaryo Ocober 2009.

E L E C t R O N i C

PRODUCtS iNCREASED BY38.2 PERCENt

Accounng for 63.0 percenof e oal expor reenuen Ocober 2010, ElecroncProducs was e counrys opexpor w oal receps of$2.987 bllon. i mproedby 38.2 percen from $2.162bllon regsered n Ocober2009. Componens/Deces(Semconducors) wccomprsed 50.0 percen of eoal expors, ad e bggessare from among e majorgroups of elecronc producsw expor earnngs amounngo $2.369 bllon or an annualgrow of 63.8 percen. Ona monly bass, Elecronc

Producs, oweer, decreasedby 14.1 percen from $3.478bllon posed n Sepember2010.

A r c l e sof Appareland Clong

A c c e s s o r e sfollowed as esecond op earnern Ocober 2010w oal exporreceps of$145.13 mllonor a sare of3.1 percen oe oal exporsreenue. i grewby 24.6 percenfrom $116.44mllon recordedn Ocober2009.

Coconu Ol(ncludng crudeand rened)wc comprsed

3.0 percen sareof oal exporsn Ocober 2010emerged as RPsrd op ganerw reenuealued a$140.48 mllon,an ncrease of 81.8 percenfrom $77.29 mllon recordeddurng e same mon n 2009and regserng e gesannual grow among e open expors.

Ranked four n Ocober2010 and conrbung 2.5 perceno e oal expor receps wasWoodcrafs and Furnure w

reenue amounng o $118.26mllon. ts alue was up by29.3 percen from s year ago

leel of $91.46 mllon.ignon Wrng Se and

Oer Wrng Ses Used nvecles, Arcrafs and Sps(conssng only of elecrcalwrng arness for moorecles) w 2.1 percen sareo e oal expor recepsranked fth with value posteda $100.29 mllon or a 14.9

percen ncrease from $87.27mllon regsered n Ocober2009.

Roundng up e ls ofe op en expors for emon of Ocober 2010 wereOer Producs Manufacuredfrom Maerals impored onConsgnmen Bass w exporreenue of $96.53 mllonncreased by 47.9 percen;Meal Componens (excludngbrakes and sero brakes) wexpor earnngs of $81.12mllon acceleraed by 59.2percen; Caodes & Seconsof Cathodes of Rened Copperw expor receps of $62.35mllon conraced by 44.5percen; tuna (ncludng fres,frozen, prepared or presered

n arg conaners) recordedsales amounng o $25.47mllon expanded by 28.8percen; and Bananas (fres)w proceeds blled a $25.19mllon lowered by 39.1percen.

toal receps from eop en expors reaced $3.782bllon, or 79.8 percen of eoal expors.

EXPORtS OFMANUFACtURED GOODSStOOD At $4.197 BiLLiON

Accounng for 88.6percen of e oal expor

MERChANDiSE EXPOcob


7/12

January 3-9, 2011 7

Rt PERFORMANCE

receps, ouward spmensof Manufacured Goods nOcober 2010 reaced $4.197bllon or a 31.8 percenncrease from $3.186 bllonrecorded n e same peroda year earler. Mon-on-mon, wen down by 11.0percen from $4.716 bllon

recorded n Sepember 2010.income from toal Agro-

Based Producs comprsng6.0 percen of e oal exporsreenue n Ocober 2010expanded by 22.2 perceno $281.82 mllon from$230.59 mllon n Ocober2009. Compared o spreous mon leel, wasger by 16.6 percen from$241.62 mllon recorded nSepember 2010.

Earnngs from MneralProducs w a sare of2.7 percen n Ocober 2010reaced $128.98 mllon.i declned by 29.0 percenfrom $181.57 mllon nOcober 2009. Smlarly,expor receps from SpecalTransactions reecting 2.3percen sare was lower by 15.0percen from $129.78 mllonn Ocober 2009 o $110.27mllon n Ocober 2010.

Peroleum Producsaccounng for 0.4 percen sareof e oal expors r eenue grewby 0.4

percen o $18.92mllon from $18.84mllon n Ocober2009. ForesProducs w 0.03percen sare of eoal expors on e

oer and, exbed negaegrow of 6.6 percen from$1.72 mllon n Ocober 2009

o $1.60 mllon n Ocober2010.

EXPORtS tOSiNGAPORE ACCOUNtEDFOR 18.2 PERCENt

Sngapore comprsng 18.2percen of e oal expors for

Ocober 2010 emerged as ecounrys op desnaon ofexpors for Ocober 2010 wreenue amounng o $860.59mllon. i was ger by 298.1percen from $216.20 mllonrecorded a year ago.

Japan ncludng Oknawafollowed as e second opmarke of e counry forOcober 2010 w exporearnngs of $762.39 mllon or16.1 percen sare of e oalexpors. te amoun ncreasedby 25.5 percen from $607.61mllon repored a year earler.

Uned Saes of Amerca(USA) ncludng Alaska and

hawa represenng a 14.7percen of e oal exporscame n rd w spmensamounng o $696.55 mllon.Compared o s Ocober 2009leel, e amoun ncreasedby 5.4 percen from $660.99mllon.

People s Republic ofCna ranked four n Ocober2010 w $558.12 mllon or

11.8 percen sare of e oalexpors, expanded by 165.7

percen from s Ocober 2009leel of $210.06 mllon.

Ff n rank and accounngfor 7.4 percen sare of e oalexpors was hong Kong wexpor earnngs wor 351.43mllon or an ncrease of 30.6

percen from $269.14 mllonposed n Ocober 2009.

Oer op en markes forOcober 2010 were taland,$186.39 mllon; Neerlands,$161.76 mllon;Germany,$155.36 mllon; tawan,$150.47 mllon; and Republcof Korea, $137.00 mllon.

toal expor recepsfrom RPs op en markes fore mon of Ocober 2010amouned o $4.020 bllon or84.8 percen of e oal.

EXPORtS FROMEAStERN ASiA WORth$1.961 BiLLiON

te Plppnes

mercandse expors o EasernAsa n Ocober 2010 accounedfor 41.4 percen of e counysoal expors. i amouned o$1.961 bllon or an ncrease of42.3 percen from s Ocober2009 leel of $1.378 bllon.

Meanwle, expors oASEAN member-counresrepresenng 25.8 percensare of e Plppnes oal

mercandse expors nOcober 2010 wor $1.222bllon, an annual posegrow of 120.7 percenfrom $553.92 mllonrecorded n Ocober 2009.

On e oer and,Ocober 2010 oal exporso European Unon (EU)

comprsng 11.0 percenconrbuon o oal exporswere alued a $522.58mllon. te alue declnedby 45.9 percen from$965.81 mllon regseredn Ocober 2009.

Noes:1/ - ncludes Cna,

hong Kong, Japan, Macau,Mongola, N, Korea, S.Korea, tawan

2/ - ncludes BruneDarussalam, Camboda,indonesa, Laos, Malaysa,Myanmar, Sngapore,taland, venam

3/ - ncludes Ausra,Belgum, Bulgara,Cyprus, Czec Republc,

Denmark, Esona, Fnland,France, Germany, Greece,

hungary, ireland,ialy, Laa,Luana, Mala,N e e r l a n d s ,Poland, Porugal,R o m a n a ,Sloaka, Sloena,Span, Sweden,Laa, and UKGrea Bran & N.ireland

t e c n c a lNoe:

Sarng we January 2007Press Release,analyss and

ables are basedon e 2004P l p p n eS a n d a r dC o m m o d yC l a s s f c a o n( P S C C )groupngs (asamended n1999). ts sn complancew NSCBResoluon No.

03, Seres of 2005 enledApprong and Adopng e2004 Plppne SandardCommody Classfcaonby all concernedgoernmen agences andnsrumenales.

r 2010


8/12

Opinion8 January 3-9, 2011

Lito U. GaGniEdor

CEFERino M. aCoSta iiiNews

JaMES U. GaGniResearcer

RaMiL t. SaRMiEntoLayou

RaUL S. GonZaLEZ, BERnaRDo PaCHECo,aLFRED SantiaGo JR., GEoRGE t. SiY

Conrbung Edors

Busness Maers s publsed eery Monday by Grandbooks Publsnginc. w edoral and busness address a 50 M.R. Flores S. Ex.,

So. Rosaro Kanluran, Paeros, M.M.telepones: (632) 628-43-48 Fax: (632) 628-38-82

E-mal: [email protected]

WE face a callengng year.Eery drecon we face bombards us w

dre prospecs. Jus consder e prce ncreasesannounced n eery magnable good andserce.

te Nor Luzon Expressway (NLEX)and e Sou Luzon Expressway (SLEX)wll be kng er oll fees. ta means addedcos consrans on e goods ferred from epronces o e meropols.

ts addonal cos srucure wllsmlarly nudge e prces of goods and sercesespecally e fares. ta means a can reaconof sors a would mean an addonal burdenon e populace.

Before e SLEX and NLEX ncreases noll fees, e populace ae o make do we prce ncreases n basc commodes:rce, sugar, LPG and fuel. te rse n esecommodes wll already wreak aoc on epurse srngs of Juan de la Cruz. how mucmore w e oer cos srucures n oerelds such as the tollways.

Eery drecon we face s a daunngurdle of ger coss. Agans s backdrop ofger fees, fuel and prces Juan de la Cruz aso make do w ger ransporaon coss,begnnng w e LRt and MRt fares.

tese prce spralsa e begnnng of eyear do no augur well formajory of e populaon,many of wom le belowpoery lnes.

Now mred n

poery, wa wll eprce sprals mean for mosof the population? Thecallenges are mmenseand e goernmen aso come up no jus we sop-gap measures buw ways of reducng eburden on e sufferngFlpnos.

how sould eAquno admnsraonaddress s runawayprce spral n eeryconceable good andservice? That requires notjus nnoaon bu e

seng up of mecansms a would ease eburden on e majory of e populaon.

te prce sprals come a a me of afalerng expor rus broug abou by eapprecaon of e peso a makes our exporems less compee n e expor marke.

A e same me, e economy as oaddress the xed imbalances which effectivelyamper e goernmens ably o elp esufferng populace by way of subsdes. tascal imbalance, with the budget decit seeno op P300 bllon, wll furer consrc egoernmens poery alleaon effors.

Wa s needed s for e goernmen ocome up w noel ways by wc Juan de laCruz can weaer e mpendng prce spral.te Deparmen of trade and indusry and eNaonal Food Auory for nsance can comeup w specal oules, smlar o e Kadwadurng Marcos me, a would caer o epoor.

in s way, e economc ardsps ae poor wll ae o le w as a resul of eprce spral , wll be lessened a b. ta s was needed: o sop e possble backlas frome surge n consumer prces and oer sercesa can come abou as a resul of e ncreasen e prce of basc commodes.

With e order of Presden Aquno o Execue Secreary Paquo Ocoa olook a e plea-bargan agreemen of former AFP comproller Carlos Garcaa led o s release from ncarceraon, e campagn gg pag walang

corrup, walang marap assumes renewed meanng.te reew, o be underaken by Ocoa, pus n a clearer focus e

goernmens rus o nculcae no e mnds of e people s ancorruponagenda for s under s ery same plaform a e Presden was carred oa uge cory n e elecons.

te reew ecoes e frusraon of e busness communy and ePresden oer e release of Garca followng a P60,000 bal posed afer eplea-bargan agreemen was sruck w e prosecuors. ta plea barganmean a Garca pleads guly o e lesser offense of drec brbery plus ereurn of a lle more an P100 mllon. ts conrass w more an P300million worth of assets that were identied as part of ill-gotten wealth by Garciaand his family in the governments ling of the antiplunder case.

Ocoa s now e man responsble for e legal poser on Garcas plundercase plea-bargan agreemen. Repors ae a Ocoa as soug adcefrom e legal eam of e Palace by way of e submsson of memorandum.tose soug for er ake on e Garca poser, wc s now e objec ofrdcule from many n e busness communy were Jusce Secreary Lelade Lma, Solcor General Anselmo Cadz, Cef Presdenal Legal Counsel

Eduardo de Mesa, former Jusce Magdangal Elma and e members of etru Commsson, led by former Cef Jusce hlaro Dade Jr.

W s deelopmen, Ocoa assumes full responsbly for eforcomng Malacaang order a may come abou as a resul of ereew. ts conrass w e way e execue secreary found mselfbeng unnecessarly dragged no e earler Malacaang debacle n eSupreme Cours rasng of Execue Order (EO) 1, wc creaed etru Commsson. We undersand a Ocoa was beng made o ake eea for e SC debacle, especally wen e SC umbed down e dreceas unconsuonal as runs agans e consuonal guaranee of equalproecon under e law.

te raals of Ocoa may ae been compounded by e ew expressedby Sen. Mram Defensor-Sanago a e Palace legal eam s n dre needof a opnoc consuonals and a e docrnal foundaons are orrblynadequae. i s sad a e tru Commsson EO was acually e brancldof Socal Welfare Secreary Dnky Solman and Budge Secreary Buc Abadbut the two are, fortunately for them, out of the line of re when brickbats wererown on e recen Supreme Cour beang a e EO 1 suffered.

Ocoas oer woe s a e as o make do w elp a would comefrom Presidential Chief Legal Counsel de Mesawho in a sarcastic t saide may ae o nesgae corrupon under e Emlo Agunaldo presdencyf EO 1 were amended o nclude all preous admnsraons n s probe.De Mesa does no come from Ocoas Samar group and s seen o ae beenhighly recommended by a powerful law rm that helped the President in theMay 2010 elecons.

te oer eadace of Ocoa s reporedly Solcor General Cadzmself. Cadz and Ocoa do no belong o e same clque wn e crcleof personalities close to the President. Cadiz is identied with the Balai groupand s a close adser of defeaed ce-presdenal aspran Mar Roxas. i wasbrued abou a Cadz ad ed for e jusce porfolo bu ended up benge solcor general.

Cadz defended EO 1 before e hg trbunal. So e was prmarlyresponsble for e debacle e Palace suffered n e tru Commsson case.Yet it is Ochoa who appears to be taking all the ak. But the Garcia case willnow bear e mprn of Ocoa, wo s expeced o ake e lne on e reworkngof e Garca case, n congruence w e campagn gg pag walang corrup,

walang marap pon.Acually, Ocoa sould ae goen e needed elp from de Mesa and Cadz

ad e wo legal eagles been quck o nk on er fee wen e SC declarede tru Commsson unconsuonal. Bu nsead of soberly explanng wye SC may ae erred, de Mesa and Cadz wen on a meda rampage accusnge SC of playng polcs. De Mesa en wen on o announce s comc plan onesgae corrupon durng e presdency of General Agunaldo.

Cadz and de Mesa may no ae realzed bu er basng of ejusces of e SC s of no elp o Ocoa. te emoonal response o e SCdecision has merely further conrmed fears expressed by Senator Santiago thate Presdens eam s lgweg. i looks lke Ocoas eadaces are noye abou o end, especally w e many facons balng for e ear of ePresden. W e Garca caper, oweer, Ocoa can ake comfor n e faca s someng rg up s alley, especally snce e campagn plaformwas principally part of what the Samar group nely tuned.

Jesus hpolos legacyFormer Publc Works mnser Jesus hpolo was lad o res yeserday; e

succumbed o mulple-organ falure las tursday a S. Lukes. te mnser,

one of e ables a en-Presden Marcos ned no publc serce, can layclam o one legacy: e concreng of e major srees n Mero Manla. For was durng s enure a e soug e concreng of e major orougfaresbecause aspaled roads easly ge rued durng e rany season.

hpolo was one of ose wo bul e famed Cesapeake Bay Brdgen vrgna, one of e seen engneerng wonders of e world, for s 17.6-mle- long span of russes. i coered m for e tmes Journal and e used ocall me tokayo as my rst name is Hipolito and in one of our out-of-town trips,e sowed us a baley brdge n La Unon a e desgned wen e was sll acl-engneerng suden and wc won n a naonwde compeon.

ta s ow brllan e man was and we sll sand n awe a saccomplsmens and e way e soug an engneerng soluon o man-madeproblems. We remember a e een oug of usng small seel probes n edrainage canals of Metro Manila that were lled with silt that was causing theslow egress of waer. te seel probe would en be allowed o brae n ordero sofen e coagulaed sl so a e dranage mans could en be cleanedou. ta s ow e red o sae goernmen funds, one reason e caused econcreng of e meropols snce would mean longer lfespan for e roads.

EDitORiAL

View from the EastBy JESUS t. tanCHanCo SR.

Ochoas travails

Prce sprals s year


9/12

January 3-9, 2011 9

CONSUMER PRiCE iNDEX

FOR NOvEMBER 2010 thE annual headline inationrae a e naonal leel wen up o3.0 percen n Noember from 2.8percen n Ocober prmarly dueo e jump n e annual grow nfuel, lg and waer (FLW) ndex

o 12.0 percen from 8.3 percenn Ocober. hger annual raes ofprce ncremens n ousng andrepars (h&R) and serces ndexalso conrbued o e uprend.Ination a year ago was 2.8percen. Excluding selected food andenergy items, core inationadanced o 3.5 percen nNoember from 3.3 percen nOcober. Similarly, the annual ination raten e Naonal Capal Regon (NCR)ncreased o 3.6 percen n Noemberfrom 2.2 percen n Ocober. i resuled

from ger annual prce adjusmensn food, beerages and obacco (FBt),h&R and FLW ndex. Annual ination rate in AreasOusde e Naonal Capal Regon(AONCR) connued o moea a slower pace of 2.8 percenn Noember from 2.9 percenn Ocober broug abou by e

deceleraon n e annual prce gansn FBt and h&R ndex. From the -0.2 percent drop inOcober, consumer prces pckedup o 0.8 percen n Noember.ts was caused by ger cargesfor elecrcy raes n NCR and nseleced regons and e prce upckn LPG, kerosene, gasolne and desel.Prces for seleced food ems suc assh, vegetables and chicken also wentup durng e mon.CONSUMER PRiCE iNDEX(2000=100)NOvEMBER 2010

By Regon, Year-on-Year The annual ination raten NCR acceleraed o 3.6 percenn Noember from 2.2 percen nOcober.

On the other hand, theannual ination in AONCR continueda downward rend as seled o 2.8percen n Noember from 2.9 percenn Ocober. Eleen regons recordedlower annual grow raes wZamboanga Pennsula posng ebgges deceleraon of 1.1 percenagepons (2.2% from 3.3%). Amonge regons, ilocos posed e lowesannual ination at 0.7 percent whilee ges annual rae a 5.2 percenwas sll n ARMM.

By Commody Group, Year-on-Yearhger annual prce ncremens n ePlppnes were regsered n h&Rndex a 1.9 percen n Noemberfrom 1.8 percen n Ocober; FLW,12.0 percen from 8.3 percen; and

serces, 3.8 percen from 3.7 percen.Slower annual prce ncreases wereoweer seen n FBt and clongndex a 1.9 percen and 1.7 percen,respecely from er correspondnglas mons raes of 2.0 percen and

1.9 percent. Annual ination formscellaneous ems remaned a 1.2percen. The annual ination forfood alone ndex a e naonal leelremaned a s Ocober rae of 2.0percen. The annual price changesin sh and miscellaneous foods

ndex were correspondngly gera 2.3 percen and 7.2 percen nNoember from 2.0 percen and7.1 percen n Ocober. On e oerand, slowdowns n e annual prceke were posed n rce ndex a0.8 percen from 1.4 percen; cerealpreparaons, 2.8 percen from 2.9percen; dary producs, 1.4 percenfrom 1.6 percen; eggs, 2.7 percenfrom 3.1 percen; and mea, 1.6percen from 2.4 percen. An annualprce decrease was sll recorded ncorn ndex a -0.8 percen from 0.5percen and frus and egeables, -5.7percen from -7.5 percen. In NCR, higher annualprce ncremen was posed n FBtndex a 0.7 percen n Noemberfrom -1.0 percen n Ocober; h&R,

2.3 percen from 2.1 percen; andFLW, 18.5 percen from 10.9 percen.On e conrary, e annual prce add-ons n mscellaneous ems ndexeased o 0.6 percen from 0.7 percenwle ose for clong and sercesndex remaned a 1.2 percen and 4.7percen, respecely. The food alone index inNCR regsered a ger annualination rate at 0.6 percent inNoember from -1.2 percen nOcober.te annual rae of prce addon nrce ndex was ger a 0.8 percenn Noember from -0.3 percen nOcober; dary producs, 1.4 percenfrom 1.3 percent; sh, 3.6 percentfrom 2.2 percen; and mscellaneousfoods, 3.9 percen from 3.5 percen.

On e oer and, e annual prcencrease n e corn ndex dpped o10.4 percen from 11.6 percen; andcereal preparaons, 1.9 percen from2.0 percen; eggs, 2.6 percenfrom 3.0 percen. Negaeannual raes were sll nocedn frus and egeablesndex a -8.9 percen from

-20.4 percen and mea, -0.6percen from -0.2 percen. In AONCR, theannual grow for FBtndex furer deceleraed o2.3 percen n Noemberfrom 2.8 percen n Ocoberand h&R, 1.5 percen from1.6 percen. te annual raefor FLW ndex was oweerger a 8.6 percen from6.9 percen and serces, 3.3percen from 3.1 percen.Annual ination for clothingand mscellaneous emsndex remaned a er lasmons raes of 2.0 percenand 1.3 percen, respecely. The annual price hike ine food alone ndex n AONCRconnued o moe a a slower paceof 2.4 percen n Noember from 2.9percen n Ocober. Negative annual pricecanges were seen n corn and frusand egeables ndex a -1.0 percenand -4.7 percen, respecely fromer correspondng las mons raesof 0.3 percen and -2.9 percen. The annual price increasen e rce ndex also mproed o 0.9percen from 1.7 percen as reenregons recorded eer negae orslower annual prce moemen. tebgges decrease of 3.6 percenagepons was n Zamboanga Pennsula(-1.7% from 1.9%), e lowesannual rae. Meanwle, e gesannual rae was n Daao and

SOCCSKSARGEN a 3.7 percen. Annual price gain in dairyproducs ndex eased o 1.5 percenfrom 1.6 percen; eggs, 2.8 percenfrom 3.0 percen; and mea, 2.6percen from 3.6 percen. A gerannual grow was oweer nocedin sh index at 2.1percen from 1.9percen wle osefor cereal preparaonsand mscellaneousfoods ndex remaneda 3.2 percen and 8.6percen.

By Regon, Mon-on-Mon Consumer pricesn NCR sowed apose grow of

1.6 percen n Noember from -0.2percen n Ocober due o e 9.6percen prce ke n FLW ndex from-7.1 percen. Moreoer, prce upckn FBt and serces ndex wereger a 1.2 percen and 0.6 percen,respecely from 0.5 percen andclong and mscellaneous ems, 0.1percen from zero grow. A slowerrae of prce add-on was oweerobsered n h&R ndex a 0.2 percenfrom 1.0 percen. Prices in AONCR went up 0.6percen n Noember from -0.2percen n Ocober. Upward prceadjusmen n e ealy wegedFBt ndex was ger a 0.6 percenfrom -0.3 percen; FLW, 2.6 percenfrom -0.7 percen; serces, 0.3 percenfrom 0.2 percen; and mscellaneous

ems, 0.1 percen fromzero grow. Prce gann e clong ndexremaned a 0.1 percenwle e h&R ndexposed a zero grow

from 0.1 percen. All the regionsrecorded germonly prcencremens excep forCenral vsayas andZamboanga Pennsula.te ges mon-on-month ination wasfel n Cagayan valleya 2.9 percen wle e

lowes a zero growwas seen n Zamboanga Pennsula. Among the three big areas of thecounry, prces of consumer ems

regsered ger grow raes nLuzon compared o vsayas and

Mndanao.By Commody Group, Mon-on-Mon The month-on-monthination rate in the Philippines roseo 0.8 percen n Noember from-0.2 percen n Ocober. A 0.7 percenncrease n e prces of e ealyweged FBt ems from s preousmons rae of -0.1 percen and ejump n FLW ndex a 5.0 percenfrom -3.0 percen rggered euprend. Moreoer, prces of sercesems adanced o 0.4 percen from0.3 percen and mscellaneous ems,0.1 percen from zero grow. One oer and, prce addons nh&R ems was pegged a a slowerrae of 0.1 percen from 0.4 percenwle a pose monly grow rae

was reaned n clong ndex a 0.1percen. The adverse effects ofypoon Juan n e producon ofegeables lowered s supply n emarkes. tus, prces of egeableswen up durng e mon parcularly

ose low-land grown egeables orose a go no pnakbe ds.in addon, ger prces of selecedfrus were also noced n manyregons ncludng NCR. All esefacors rased e ndex of frusand egeables n e ree areas:Plppnes, 5.5 percen from -0.3percen; NCR, 6.7 percen from 4.0percen; and AONCR, 5.1 percenfrom -1.5 percen. Prices of sh rose by 0.7percen n e Plppnes, 1.0 percenn NCR and 0.6 percen n AONCR.hger prces were rggered by edifculty in catching sh that usuallysele deep n e waers durng ecold mons. As the holiday seasonapproaces, bgger demand of

ccken was obsered durng emon. i rased ccken prces assupply was less o mee e markerequremens. ts resuled o germonly grow raes n e meandex n e Plppnes and AONCR

a 0.6 percen and 0.1 percen from-0.4 percen and NCR, 1.8 percenfrom -0.3 percen. Upward adjustments in theprces of sugar n e world markeand s low supply caused by e delayn e mllng of sugar connued opus s prces up durng e mon.Prce ke n cookng ol was sllrecorded as ypoons resuled o lessproducon of copra. tese facorsmoed e mscellaneous foods ndexn e Plppnes by 0.5; NCR, 0.2percen; and AONCR, 0.6 percen. The continued sufcient

supply of rce due o e on-gongaress of palay n many regons

correspondngly pulled down egroups ndex n e Plppnes andAONCR a -0.2 percen and -0.4percen, respecely. ZamboangaPennsula recorded e bggesdecrease n e rce ndex a -2.1percen wle Cagayan valley posede ges rae of 0.7 percen. One conrary, prces of rce n NCRclmbed by 0.8 percen from zerogrow as e prce of NFA rce wenup durng e mon. Higher charges inelecrcy raes along w e upwardadjusmens n e prces of LPG andkerosene pused up e FLW ndex ne Plppnes by 5.0 percen; NCR,9.6 percen; and AONCR, 2.6 percen.Add-ons n e prces n carcoal andcandles n seleced regons were also

noced durng e mon. The services index in thePlppnes grew by 0.4 percenn Noember from 0.3 percen nOcober; NCR, 0.6 percen from 0.5percen; and AONCR, 0.3 percenfrom 0.2 percen. ts was broug

abou by e general prce ncremensn gasolne and desel n mos of eregons ncludng NCR. Increased rental rates inNCR and ger daly salary forcarpener, elecrcan and plumberslgly pulled up e h&R ndexn e area by 0.2 percen and n ePlppnes, 0.1 percen. On e oerand, e h&R ndex n AONCRad a zero grow from 0.1 percen nOcober.NOTE: CPIs and ination ratesby pronce and seleced cy arealso aalable upon reques aNSO, indusry and trade SascsDeparmen, Economc indcesand indcaors Dson (teleponeNumbers: 716-39-35 and 715-33-47).


10/12

Science & Technology10 January 3-9, 2011

Chinas lunar probesurvives eclipse

fy-throughChiNAS solar-powered lunar probe saelle Cang'e 2 as successfully soode es of a lunar eclpse and ours of flyng n complee darkness, e BejngAerospace Conrol Cener (BACC) sad recenly.

te orber, launced on Ocober 1, flew ou of e sadow jus before ee-nng durng e lunar eclpse, sad Zou Janlang, depuy cef engneer of eBACC.

i enered e sadow ree ours before. Durng e ree-ours wen eorber was obscured from e sun's rays by e ear, reled solely on baerypower and experenced emperaures of around 200 degrees Celsus below zero,Zou sad.

Wle n e sadow, could no be drecly conrolled from ear and reledon pre-se nsrucons. i was e frs me e orber ad experenced a lunareclpse.

Zou sad e European Space Agency ad proded racng and monorngsuppor for Cang'e 2 durng e sx ours before e probe enered e sadow,wen was ou of reac of Cna's monorng saons.

Cang'e-2, named afer a legendary Cnese moon goddess, enered slong-erm lunar orb on No. 3. and as begun capurng mages of e moon'sSnus irdum, or Bay of Ranbows.

in celebrang e success of Cang'e-2, Cnese Presden hu Jnao alede projec as anoer aceemen n Cna's lunar exploraon program and aresul of s dre o buld an nnoaon-orened naon.

Cna's frs lunar probe Cang'e-1 was alaunced n Ocober 2007 and

ended s 16-mon msson n Marc 2009. (PNA)

Flm sequences ge geneccode o cac deo praes

YOU know wen you're wac-ing a pirated lm downloadedfrom e inerne ere's nomsakng e fuzzy fooage, or

e guy n e fron row gengup for popcorn. Despe e poorqualy, praed deo s a serousproblem around e world. Crm-nal copyrg nfrngemen occurson a masse scale oer e iner-net, costing the lm industry and e US economy bllonsof dollars annually.

Now Dr. Alex Bronsen oftel A Unersy's Deparmenof Elecrcal Engneerng as anew way o sop deo praes.W s wn broer Mcaeland israel researcer Prof. RonKmmel, e as deeloped eulmae soluon: reang deofooage lke DNA.

"i's no only members ofe anmal and plan kngdoma can ae DNA," says Dr.Bronsen, wo was nspred byDNA sequencng ools used nbonformacs laboraores. "if aDNA es can denfy and caccrmnals, we oug a a sm-lar code mg be applcable o

deo. if e code were copedand canged, we'd cac ."

Of course, deo does noae a real genec code lke

members of e anmal kngdom,so Dr. Bronsen and s eamcreaed a DNA analogue, lke aunique ngerprint, that can be ap-plied to video les. The result is aunique DNA ngerprint for eachnddual moe anywere one plane.

Wen scenes are alered, col-ors changed, or lm is bootleggedon a camera a e moe e-atre, the lm can be tracked andraced on e inerne, explansDr. Bronstein. And, like the lms,deo ees can be racked andcaug.

te ecnology employs annsble sequence and seres ofgrids applied over the lm, turn-ng e fooage no a seres ofnumbers. te ool can en scane conen of Web ses werepirated lms are believed to beoffered, pnponng subsequenmuaons of e orgnal.

te ecnque s called "d-eo DNA macng." i deecs ab-

erraons n praed deo n esame way a bologss deecmuaons n e genec code odeermne, for example, an nd-

dual's famly connecons. teecnque works by denfyngfeatures of the lm that remainbascally uncanged by ypcalcolor and resoluon manpula-ons, and geomerc ransforma-ons. i's effece een w bor-der canges, commercals addedor scenes eded ou.

te researcers ae seer sgs on popular deo-sarng web ses lke Youtube.Youtube, ey say, auomaes edeecon of copyrg nfrnge-men o some degree, bu erecnque doesn' work wen edeo as been alered.

te problem w cacngboolegged and praed deo sa requres ousands of man-ours o wac e conen bengdownloaded. Producon compa-nes know er only ope n re-coupng solen conen s by auo-mang e process. "vdeo DNA"can prode a more accurae anduseful form of s auomaon.

New security featuresto make onlinebanking safer

FRAUDSTERS keep on nding ways to steal money from accounts on-lne. Bu banks are also seppng up er secury measures o proec onlnemoney ransfers, Eartmes.org repored recenly.

Online banking was rst introduced to the world 30 years ago in Ger-many, wen e verbraucerbank AG bank se up a sysem o allow cusom-ers o ransfer money from compuer screens.

Een back en, money ransfers could no be compleed wou a pre-assigned transaction number in combination with a PIN (personal identica-on number). te prncple s largely e same oday.

Bu ransacon numbers a are prned and dsrbued mg be see-ing their last days, because online thieves keep nding ways to get a holdof ese numbers. Banks ae red o ge around s problem by requrngcustomers pick specic numbers from a list for each transaction, even pre-deermnng a random order o be used from e ls, n e an opes awll fol ees.

Bu none of a as proed a guaranee agans ees. ta nablyas cos ousands of euros from nnocen cusomers.

Germany's federal polce logged abou 2,900 cases of psng n 2009,n wc ees used onlne rckery o seal ransacon numbers. tanumber s expeced o ae doubled for 2010.

tus, e prned lss are becomng a ng of e pas. "te currensysem w paper lss s endng and wll be su down, a e laes, by md2011," says Juergen Eber, a spokesman for Germany's Posbank.

Some banks ae already goen rd of e prned numbers. Seeralae already offered o prode e numbers o cusomers as moble pone-based ex messages, meanng e moble pone number needs o be lnkedo e bank accoun number.

ts sysem s seen as safer, snce e ransmsson of daa a exmessagng means ere's a second daa ransmsson cannel o secure emoney ransfer.

Bu already, smarpone users ae seen malware programmes crop-png up, argeng operang sysems lke Noka's Symban or RiM's Black-berry, o capure ese ransacon numbers or reroue em o e ponenumber of a swndler.

tus, secury analyss ae recommended only usng ese moblenumbers on secure smarpones or smple mobles a are no lnked o enerne.

Oer German banks ae begun o moe o a sysem wereby wodeces are needed o recee e ransacon numbers. informaon s n-pued on a regular compuer, wle e ransacon number nformaon s

dsplayed on a separae dece a resembles a pocke calculaor.A deb card s nsered no s secondary dece o access e ransac-

on number. "Con-arss ae no way o manpulae bo deces smul-aneously for er own ends," says Eber. te new serce "s opmzedfor cusomers wo don' ae a moble pone or wan o do bankng wleunderway."

A smpler opon, aalable for abou 15 euros ($20), means users don'ae o ype n e number dsplayed on e secondary dece, bu can lethe information be transmitted to their PC via light signals from ve lightsensors on e number generaor.

tose sensors en recee e recpen's accoun number and etransaction conrmation, which must be conrmed by the user. The genera-or en releases e proper number o complee e ransacon.

te new sysem as receed g marks for safey from groups lkethe German Federal Ofce for Information Security (BSI).

"hardware-based soluons are generally recommended, snce e cryp-ograpc key s securely sored on a specal plaform," says BSi spokesmantm Grese. Usng e exra ardware also makes onlne bankng less ul-nerable o aacks lke psng.

"The shadow set against the moon was indescribably

beautiful!" Jimmy Westlake, an astronomy professor atColorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs, Colo.,said of the view moments before the beginning of total-ity, when the moon is fully engulfed in Earth's shadow.Westlake was viewing this eclipse from near Dublin, Ga.[Westlake's photo]

te fuure of lgng s organc LEDsFORGEt lg bulbs. in e fuure,organc lg- emng dodes wllcause porons of your walls, celngsor anyng else desred o ge you alle llumnaon you need, were youneed , accordng o a eam of Germanresearcers.

As n "Sar trek," a smple ocecommand or a sor pus on e lgswc - and e wole celng lgs upn a unform and pleasan colour.

te ecnology bend smarel s organc lg- emng dodes,or OLEDs for sor. tese dodes usespecal molecules o em lg as soonas curren passes roug em.

The rst OLEDs have onlyrecenly become aalable, and ey aresmall and expensive. A at disk with adameer of eg cenmeres cossnearly $300.

Bu researcers a e Fraunoferinsue for Laser tecnology iLtn Aacen are workng ogeerw Plps o deelop a process formakng ese lamps dsncly bggerand ceaper - and us suable for emass marke.

tese new lamps areexpense prmarly due o e coslymanufacurng process. An OLEDconsss of a sandwc layer srucure:a at electrode at the bottom, severalnermedae layers on op, as well ase acual lumnescen layer, conssng

of organc molecules.

The nal layer is a secondelecrode made of a specal maeralcalled itO [ndum n oxde]. togeerw e lower elecrode, e itO layeras e job of supplyng e OLEDmolecules w curren and causngem o lg up.

te problem s, oweer, a eitO elecrode s no conduce enougo dsrbue e curren unformly acrossa larger surface. te consequence:insead of a omogeneous fluorescenpaern, e brgness sbly decreasesn e cenre of e "llumnaedcelng."

"in order o compensae, addonalconducor pas are aaced o e itOlayer," says Crsan vedder, projecmanager a e Fraunofer insue forLaser tecnology. "tese conducorpas conss of meal and dsrbue ecurren unformly across e surface soa e lamp s l omogeneously."

Normally e conducor pas areappled by energy-nense eaporaonand srucurng processes, wle only amaxmum of 10 per cen of e lumnousarea may be coered by conducorpas.

"te large remander, ncludng ecemcal ecan, as o be recycled n acomplcaed process," explans vedder.

ts s dfferen n e new processby e researcers from e Fraunoferinsue for Laser tecnology. insead

of deposng a lo of maeral by

eaporaon and remong mos of agan, e scenss only apply precselye amoun of meal requred.

Frs of all, ey lay a mask on esurface of e itO elecrode. te maskas mcromere sls were laer econduce pas are supposed o be.

On s mask, e researcersdeposit a thin lm of metal made ofalumnum, copper or sler - e mealou of wc e conducor pa ssupposed o be made. Subsequenly,a laser passes oer e conducor papaern a a speed of seeral meers persecond.

te meal mels and eaporaeswle e apor pressure makes surea e meled drops are pressedthrough the ne slits in the masks ono e itO elecrode. te resul areextremely ne conductor paths. At upo 40 mcromeres, ey are dsnclynarrower an e 100-mcromereconducor pas wc can be producedw conenonal ecnology.

"We ae already been able odemonsrae a our meod worksn e laboraory," says vedder. "tenex sep s mplemenng s meodn ndusral pracce ogeer w ourparner Plps and deelopng a planecnology for nexpensely applynge conducor pas on a large scale."

te new laser process could beready for praccal applcaon n wo o

ree years.


11/12

Motoring January 3-9, 2011 11

Indiana state gets rst EVs from ThinkNORWEGiAN Ev manufacurertnk repors as deleredits rst US-built cars from itsassembly operaons a ElkarLake n indana for e saegovernment's eet.ta Evs are powered by a lum-on baery produced by Ener-1,also an Indiana rm, and will havea range of 160 klomeers. i s obe sued prmarly by e sae'sDeparmen of Naural Resourcesfor indana's park sysem.

Were proud to be the rstmanufacurer o deler an all-elecrc car bul n e US wan adanced baery a suse needs of goernmen andcommercial eet operators, saidtnk CEO Barry Engle. Ourdelery s par of a larger efforo elp ransform e US lg-duty vehicle eet from one thats mosly dependen on mporedol o one a s fueled enrely bydomescally-produced elecrc

energy. As par of a goal, weemade a sraegc decson o argeinitially the many millions of eetecles n operaon n e USmarket. These eets can jump-start vehicle electrication inAmercas ces and elp pus endusry pas early adopers nomansream consumer markes.Flee sales wll dre up ecleand baery producon olumesand dre down coss, wc wllbenet retail consumers."

2010 a dening year for recallsChARACtERiZiNG e 2010auomoe model year can beque perplexng because asbeen through so many deningmomens could be e yearof recoery," or maybe edening "green automotive year,"and, peraps, e "e year of newmodels."

tey all sound good, andare ceranly rue, bu f you akea candd look back a e las 12

mons of e US auo ndusry, was oerwelmngly "e yearof produc recalls." And ere'sno sgn of e rend comng o anend, Auomoe NewsWre sadn s webse.

in jus e las few weeks,honda Moor as announced wll recall 1.35 mllon Fmodels. Crysler wll recall367,350 mnans. Ford Moorwll recall an addonal 37,000Wndsar mnans, s oer andaboe e some 600,000 asalready recalled. volkswagenas announced wll recall oer377,000 ecles. And e recallKng of e Year - toyoa Moor- announced sll anoer recall,s me Senna mnans a

ae fauly brake sysems.Le's begn w

toyoa, wo adsad as Decembercame o a close a would recall 110,000Senna mnansglobally a wereassembled pror oNoember 5, 2010.i's a curous recalln a, accordng otoyoa, a lg swcbracke locaed closeo e parkng brakecould ge damagedwle usng eparkng brake, wccould ulmaely leado e brake lgs

remanng on, wcn urn could mpar

e brakng sysem.ts s beleed o be toyoa

Moor's 16 recall oer e las15 mons a as noled oer11 mllon ecles. toyoa sad sn' aware of any accdensor njures caused by e defec,wc wll be repared by toyoadealers wen e pars becomeaalable nex February.

Meanwle, Crysler Groupas ssued a recall of some 367,350

model year 2008 Crysler town& Counry and Dodge GrandCaraan mnans were - sone s een beer an e toyoabrake lg problem - a waer leakfrom e ar condonng sysemcould deploy e arbag. Cryslersays as receed seeral reporsof njures from e deployedarbags w a coun of some 30arbags a deployed as a resulof e waer leak.

Ford Moor recenlyexpanded a recall announcedlas Augus on Ford Wndsarmnans were e rear axle cancorrode and break. ts laesexenson of e recall brngse oal number of Wndsarmnans noled n s recall

o 612,000 uns.

honda Moor announcedearler oday a wll recall1.35 mllon F models globally- abou 143,000 uns n e US -because of defece wrng n eecle's eadlg. No accdensae been repored as a resul ofe problem o dae.

And nally, Volkswagen hasannounced a recall of oer 377,000ecles because - ge ready fors one - a fauly wndseld

waser reseror could cause fuelleaks. volkswagen sad a smallplasc ab on e wndseldwaser reseror could cafeagans an underood fuel lneand cause a leak and possbly are. Recalled vehicles include2007 - 2009 model year Jeas,Jea SporWagens, Golfs andRabbs. Also beng recalled are2006 - 2010 model year Beelesand Beele conerbles.

Bu e snng lg ne auomoe world came ne mddle of December as eNPTSA (North Pole Trafc SafetyAdmnsraon) sad a Sana'ssleg as been gen a compleenspecon and was deemed readyto y without any airbag, brake or

fuel leakng ssues. On Prancer!

MODERAtELY and morbdlyobese persons face manyeal ssues -- ear dsease,dabees, yperenson, sroke,gallbladder dsease and oers.

Now, ncreased cancesof dyng wle drng durnga seere auo accden can beadded o e ls.

in a seere moor eclecras, a moderaely obese drerfaces a 21 percen ncreased rskof dea, wle e morbdlyobese face a 56 percen ncreasedrsk of no surng, accordngo a sudy posed onlne aeadof prn n e Amercan Journalof Emergency Medcne.

Derc Jele, MD,professor of emergencymedcne a e Unersy aBuffalo Scool of Medcneand Bomedcal Scences anda Ere Couny Medcal Cener,is rst author on the study. The

researc s funded n par by agran from e Federal hgway

Admnsraon.ineresngly, underweg

and normal weg drers werefound o be a ger rsk ofdyng from a seere cras an

slgly oerweg drers."te seery and paernsof cras njures dependon a complex neraconof bomecancal facors,ncludng deceleraon elocya mpac, sea bel and ar baguse, ecle ype and weg,and ype of mpac," saysJele, "bu e effec of bodymass on cras oucome as nobeen preously ealuaed ndaabases of adequae sze orconrolled for some of eseconfoundng facors.

"Cras es dummesae saed les and prodednaluable daa on ow umanbodes reac o crases, buey are desgned o represen

normal-weg ndduals. ifey represened our oerweg

Amercan socey, ere could befurer mproemens n ecledesgn a could decreasemoraly."

Based on s daa, Jele

suggess seeral canges amg sae les. "Exendnge range of adjusable seaswould be elpful, as well asencouragng moderaely andmorbdly obese ndduals obuy larger ecles w morespace beween e sea and eseerng column.

"We also recommend amanufacurers desgn and esecle nerors w obesedummes, wc currenly areno aalable, n addon oesng w e 50 percenle(BMi 24.3) male dummy," eadds. "i would mproe safeyfor e one-rd of e USpopulaon a s obese. Forunderweg and normal weg

ndduals, placng arbagswn e sea bel also mg

be proece."Jele and colleagues se ou

o nesgae e relaonspbeween drer body sze andrsk of cras-relaed faaly by

analyzng daa n e naonalFaaly Analyss ReporngSysem daabase (FARS).

Accordng o FARS, obe ncluded n e daabasea cras mus nole: "aecle raelng on a roadwaycusomarly open o e publcand mus resul n e dea of anoccupan of a ecle or a non-moors." From e 168,049drers n seere moor eclecrases enered n e daabase,155,584 me e crera forncluson n e analyss.

Drers were groupedbased on body mass ndex(BMi) -- weg n klogramsdded by eg n meerssquared -- no underweg,

normal, oerweg, slglyobese, moderaely obese and

morbdly obese caegores.Seere crases beween

2000 and 2005 a noledone or wo ecles (cars,pckups, SUvs or ans) were

used n e analyss. Faalesconsdered relaed o e crasa occurred wn 30 daysof e cras, suc as oseresulng from surgery, alsowere ncluded.

in addon o e oerallresuls, daa analyzed by sexsow a n e moderaelyand morbdly obese caegores,bo male and female drersndependenly demonsraed asascally sgnfcan ncreasen dea wen compared wnormal-weg drers.

"te rae of obesy sconnung o rse, so s mperae a car desgns aremodfed o proec e obesepopulaon, and a cras ess

are done usng a full range ofdummy szes," Jele saes.

Obesity ups death risk in car crashes

FORD Moor Co. as reealed plans o brng s popular C-Max mnano e Amercan marke, argeng e cldren of baby boomers woare expeced o add 11 mllon new ouseolds n e US oer e nexdecade.

te C-Max, wc s bul on a Ford Focus casss, as been a n Europe. te US model, slaed o debu n 2011, wll mark earrival of Fords rst application of an all-new 1.6-liter EcoBoos I-4engne, sad o deler a combnaon of response performance wmproed fuel economy and reduced CO2 emssons.

te new compac famly mnan nroduces a os of unque

f e a u r e s for a ecle n s class aswe l l , ncludng a ands-free

power-operaedrear lfgae,

ersale 5+2s e a n g

conguration

with ve seats in eman cabn and wo smaller seas n e rd row, wn sldng doorsand ace park asss, an adanced new sysem a auomacallyseers e ecle no parallel parkng space. Ford, of course, wll alsoload models w s Sync elecronc ecnology a appeals o emarke segmen 's amng oward.

in a saemen, Ford sad wll nroduce e C-Max o e USmarke nex mon a e Dero inernaonal Moor Sow.

Ford asn' sad were wll assemble e C-Max bu ere arerumors a e oolng and producon for e mnan s par of e$600 mllon Ford Moor announced would nes a s plan nLouslle, Kenucky, wo weeks ago.

Ford sad e C-MAX s an all-new, affordable ransporaonalernae for growng, busy Nor Amercan famles wo craeindustry-rst technology, exible seating and interior space, sportyperformance and bes-n-class fuel economy.

te Ford C-MAX prodes sll more proof

Business Matters Issue 32

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