Be Free Pinoy - for your FREEDOM

By looking around the neighborhood today, we can find different forms of LOANS available to the masses.  Some are like "goods for Arawan", "ATM Collateral Loans", and many others.  One in "HOT List" lately was the 5-6 which have been dominated by our Indian friends. And that our government under Duterte's administration is paying attention to. It says "5-6 brings NO GOOD to the Filipino people". Indeed a lot of people out are shouting "Be DEBT FREE" if you want to be financially independent. However, many have been patronizing DEBT! That is why the industry is flourishing - Credit Coops, Thrift Banks, Individuals engaging in lending, and so on...  Is taking CASH LOANS really bad to our finances?  Well, to some extent - NOT exactly! (peace bro  +Bong Bungalan Jr.  ) I may seemed in contradiction here. What I'd like to drive in here is - depende sa nature, purpose, and the scheme ng LOAN availed.  For ...

This is my first post here and I just want to share here what has happened to me as 2016 was about to end. Please bear with me if at times "magbinisaya ko" for I just want to speak from the heart. Well, my work has been in a far away distance from home, so almost everyday, unless matulog ko sa area, I have to travel about 40+ kilometers via motorcycle.  As a motorcycle rider, we should know unsay dapat equipments (protective gears) nga isul-ob and dapat functional ang mga parts sa motor like side-mirrors, horn and brake/signal lights while driving. A few basic stuffs are HELMET, JACKET, GLOVES, etc... and of course, bawal mag shorts. Usually, sa Pilipinas or I mean dire sa Gensan ma-observe nako nga pag walay dakop - riders are violating these basic protection. Funny thing,  isab-it ra sa bukton ang helmet and pag naay ra'y dakop- saka pa isul-ob. In my case, indeed pag naka helmet medyo limited ang akoang vision coverage and igang pod. Well, for those of...

Inflation When you heard somebody in authority like an economist, or a government economic guru, or a central bank official that would say - "... we are targeting an inflation rate of 3 to 4% this year.", what do you have in mind? More often than not, majority would agree that it is for the economic health of the country - to boost the economy in order to generate more jobs, in order to make business environment conducive for entrepreneurs and investors, and so on... Sure! But wait - has there anyone thinking of trying to look at the other side of the coin? Looking on the other side at any case gives us the whole picture of the situation. Inflation has usually been portrayed as an essential ingredient of the government's economic agenda across the board. It is rarely presented as to what it does to the individuals -  the working public, consumers and even to the families that concerns to you and me. Here are the TWO SUBTLE effects of Inflation that a...

It's fascinating to see how could the majority of people has always been in bottom low when it comes to economic status, the fact that no such sane person has ever planned to become poor. Ironically, getting out of poverty and waging war against it has been the greatest struggle among the people.Yet, the truth is painfully clear that majority are still in poverty. Here in the Philippines, one of the greatest concerns is on how to alleviate the poverty problem that has been around ever since. This is very evident  as 2016 election is commencing, political aspirants are trying to reach the support of the people by not forgetting to stipulate their promises on how would they address poverty. Unfortunately, many administrations have had completed their political terms with similar promises of addressing poverty yet, data shows that this problem did not wane but instead, it grows even more: e.g. the disparity between the rich and the poor has been increasing as time went by. Do ...

“When you DIE, there’s no more Bank Secrecy” – Kim Henares, BIR Commissioner once said, according to the report of BusinessWorld Online about three years ago. More recently, the same guy had said that “Relaxed Bank Secrecy Law soon a global standard”. In that recent news, Commissioner Kim confirmed that the government has been planning to repeal the Republic Act 1405 known as the Bank Secrecy Law of the Philippines although it is not yet their priority. The Philippine government seemed serious in searching and going after those individuals who are deliberately evading taxes – this time it is on Estate Taxes. For many years, the Bank Secrecy Law has been the great vehicle for concealing the true value of an individual’s wealth in Cash. For many years, this Law has also been of great help and an avenue of transferring wealth to the heirs unnoticed by the Tax man. However, over the time, there has always new Laws, Acts, amendments, decrees and so on that weakens the teeth of prior Laws....

We've just arrived at our destination after around 6-hour drive from our hometown, General Santos city. We are here now in one of the remote communities of the mountainous part of Compostela Valley province. As we arrive, we were into meeting with our relatives and into chatting given that we've not seen them for quite a while. I really missed the kind of life here. I used to grow up in a community where there were no electricity and water were literally being fetched from the spring and hauled to every household. However a lot has changed already: Families here don't have to fetch water anymore because reservoir has been built and water hoses run to every household and thus faucets are now being installed in kitchen, restrooms, etc... But the province has been experiencing drought for a couple of months and the situation has affected the water supply of the community. Water supply here right now is occasionally available during the morning and for only a few hou...

On June 19, 2013 issue of the Philippine Inquirer – on it's Business Section's Headline says “Gov't Plans Inflation-Linked Bonds”. The news further said that aside from issuing this type of bond, the government also plan to borrow USD 2Billion from overseas:50% from Multilateral Lenders like the World Bank and the other half through Global Bond Issuance. All of these plans, according to that report will cover the 10th of the government's funding needs. Another point that these things have to be is to take advantage of the credit rating upgrade which means the Philippine government will enjoy low interest rate of its borrowings. This is pretty good for the government but subtly bad to you and me as an individual. Upfront, these initiatives will of course create jobs, finance government projects such as farm to market roads, buildings, bridges, etc,... However, unfamiliar, misunderstood side effects will fall upon individuals who already have jobs, savings ...