Saturday, March 31, 2012

Criteria for best Philippine cities to live in

Inquirer Property recently asked top analysts: What, for you, would be the criteria for a most liveable Philippine city? And based on such criteria, what are the top five cities? Here are the results:

1 Cost of living index. Enrique Soriano, Ateneo program director for real estate and senior adviser for Wong+Bernstein Business Advisory, and Lui Matti, executive director for asset services, CB Richard Ellis Philippines, chose the cost of living index as their top priority for the quality of living variables.

2 The affordability of rental and home ownership ranked second for Soriano, as he explained that amortization should take up 20 to 30 percent of the household income.

3 A well-masterplanned community is the most important item for David Leechiu, country head of Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu.

“This means the developer has a viable, sustainable, credible, long-term development plan for the city. The developer is not going to just cram buildings on the land without considering the traffic, access, drainage, parking and other infrastructure. This also includes the ratio of developed land versus open spaces such as parks, church grounds, events clusters and covered walkways. The city needs to have intense and reasonable regulation governing its districts, e.g. zoning, building guidelines, restrictions; that are not just fair but also enforced,” Leechiu said.

Claro dG Cordero Jr., Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu’s head of research, consulting and valuation, has a similar view, placing as his second priority the well-organized land use and development plan (as well as preventive programs that will mitigate effects of both natural and man-made adverse events).

4 Accessibility. Easy access to basic services (food, water, medical care, general security and safety, and education) is Cordero’s first priority. Matti lists as his fifth priority accessibility to schools, hospitals and recreational/entertainment centers including the presence of hospitals. Soriano’s third is convenience to and from the workplace and average commute time.

Lifestyle factors such as places to socialize like bars, movie houses, supermarkets, malls and convenient access to leisure destinations is Soriano’s fourth top priority. Soriano cited the presence of wellness facilities as his seventh.

Soriano said adult education or business schools and schools for children with a higher concentration of teacher-to-student ratio is his fifth priority.

5 Job opportunities. This would be Cordero’s eighth priority—the availability of employment/entrepreneurial opportunities.

6 Connectivity. Infrastructure support and facilities such as IT infrastructure (secure Internet and telecommunication networks), road networks, connectivity with other cities through airports and seaports is Cordero’s third priority. Matti’s second priority is infrastructure, including roads, public transport system and telecoms/Internet.

7 Low crime rate, rapid emergency response. Leechiu’s third top criteria of an ideal city would be security: not from crime, but that the city should have infrastructures for rapid responses to emergencies, services such as hospitals, ambulances, fire and earthquake, flooding and the like. High in education and low in crime is Soriano’s sixth criteria. Cordero’s fifth is a stable peace and order environment; Matti’s seventh would be a low crime rate.

8 Right of property buyers. Leechiu’s second most important criteria would be property rights of buyers being upheld and enforced: that the titles are clean and clear; and that there are no disputes to ownership due to conflicting claimants.

9 Environment and air quality. Low pollution levels is Soriano’s eighth priority. Matti’s eighth on the list is low pollution, as well. Cordero’s sixth is good balance of environmental preservation and urban development. Weather is a high factor for Matti in choosing the city to settle into.

10 Diversity for global market. Leechiu’s fourth priority is diversity: “The district should have elements catering to the global market: so to not just have multinational office locators and residents, but museums and other mediums of culture and education.” Cordero’s seventh is the presence of programs/developments that will support free exchange/discourse involving religion, culture and the arts; Matti’s third is language. He said it should be somewhere where this won’t be an issue for the person living there. Matti’s ninth priority is somehow related: friendly people.

11 Policies to attract outside capital. Leechiu chose this, but with a qualification: “I don’t just mean foreign capital, but capital from other local sources. The city developer has to allow other developers to put up projects provided they conform to the build guidelines. This will ensure that other ideas flow into the district that will benefit its stakeholders. By attracting capital from third parties, whether foreign or local, to develop projects, it will ensure diversity of ideas that will build character for the district,” Leechiu said.

For this, Cordero’s fourth priority is needed: a credible, trustworthy and organized government (which would support the ease of doing business).

ADB sees robust ASEAN growth in ‘difficult’ 2012

PHNOM PENH – Southeast Asian economies are forecast to grow by 5.2 percent in 2012, the chief of Asian Development Bank said Friday, though he urged nations to be “vigilant” in an uncertain global environment.

“Despite a difficult external environment, we still expect ASEAN growth this year to remain robust at 5.2 percent, above last year’s rate of 4.6 percent,” Haruhiko Kuroda told finance ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during a meeting in the Cambodian capital.

Thailand and the Philippines are likely to show “vibrant growth” after a drop in exports last year, he said, while Singapore, and to a certain extent Malaysia, will see “some slowdown” as they are more affected by external financial turmoil.

Looking ahead to 2013, the Manila-based bank expects ASEAN Gross Domestic Product to expand above 5.5 percent on the back of improved domestic demand and exports, as worries about the US and eurozone economies look set to ease.

“The region is doing well,” the ADB president said, but ASEAN nations — which also include Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar — should be on guard for “sudden shocks”.

In the short-term, the countries face high oil prices, volatile capital inflows which could hurt exporters, and the “serious risks” still posed by Europe’s woes, Kuroda said.

“Should financial panic happen, contagion could spread and liquidity tighten,” he added.

“Given today’s uncertain environment, it is extremely important to remain vigilant in monitoring global events.”

Kuroda said ASEAN nations should consolidate growth momentum by pushing for greater cooperation and financial integration and reducing their reliance on the US and Europe to drive exports.

- AFP

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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Phl growth story no fluke - BSP chief

MANILA, Philippines - Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said yesterday the economic growth story of the Philippines is not a fluke as a series of reforms helped the country survive the uncertainties in advanced economies led by the US and the debt crisis in the Europe.

Tetangco told participants of the two-day Philippine Investment Forum titled “The New Beginning” sponsored by Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC that the Philippine economy is on an upward growth trajectory underpinned by stable macroeconomic conditions.

 “This is not a false start, the Philippines has indeed come on its own. The growth story is not a fluke, it is the result of a series of reforms, reforms that were critically thought of and well executed,” Tetangco said.

Amid negative external developments led by the economic uncertainties in the US and the debt crisis in Europe, the Philippines managed to post a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.7 percent last year or slower than the 7.6 percent expansion recorded in 2010.

The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) sees the country’s GDP expanding between five percent and six percent this year.

The BSP chief stated in his keynote address that emerging market economies including the Philippines would continue to fuel global economic growth amid the projected slowdown in advanced economies led by the US and Europe.

 “Global growth remains relatively unsteady and fragile. In fact, the global economic growth outlook for 2012 is expected to be tilting towards a further slowdown but emerging and developing countries will continue to outpace advanced economies in terms of economic growth,” he added.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated in its January 2012 World Economic Outlook (WEO) that the US would book a GDP growth of 1.8 percent or the same as last year while the Eurozone would experience a contraction of 0.5 percent after expanding by 1.6 percent last year.

Furthermore, the multilateral lender sees the GDP growth of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN-5) including the Philippines to expand by 5.2 percent this year from 4.8 percent last year while that of China would slowdown to 8.2 percent from 9.2 percent.

Tetangco said the Philippines would benefit from the country’s strong external payments position with its gross international reserves (GIR) hitting record levels and balance of payments (BOP) posting a surplus as well as demographic dividends.

 “While some countries are facing problems relating to their aging population, the Philippines is set to enter its demographic sweet spot. Studies have shown that extended periods of accelerated economic growth have coincided with the countries entering this period,” he explained.

According to the United Nations (UN), the Philippines is the last major Asian economy to benefit from this demographic dividend by 2015 as the median age of the country is only 22.2 years well below other young countries in Asia.

 “On the basis of this potential to capitalize on these demographic dividends, the Philippines is well placed to ramp up its growth trajectory,” he said.

The BSP chief explained that the higher economic growth trajectory would be achieved amid a benign inflation environment and appropriate monetary policy supportive of growth.

 “We will continue to provide a sound monetary policy framework one that is finely calibrated, appropriately flexible, and well communicated to stakeholders so that inflation target is well guarded,” he said.

By Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star) 

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Everyday is a Holiday
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Life's Simple Joys are Always Within Reach
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For inquiries please call 09065549505 or 09229452718 and look for Ray.
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=========================


Best Regards, 

Raymund B. Baroy
Account Manager
Robinsons Land Corp. - Cebu Sales Force
Call/SMS:
Local: 09065549505 / 09229452718
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Philippine economy entering ‘sweet spot’

The governor of the country's central bank has a bold and positive outlook for the Philippine economy. Buoyed by the positive image of its leader, Pres Benigno Aquino III, the stock exchange has eclipsed the 5000 stock market mark and tourists have arrived in the country in record numbers. We have a long way to go but at least we start slowly but surely. 
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‘Big part of population nearing working age’
Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Wednesday wooed foreign investors to do business in the Philippines, claiming that the country was to enter a sweet spot where enterprises could reap “demographic dividends” resulting from the rising proportion of young, consumption-driven workforce.
In a speech during an investment forum Wednesday, the BSP chief said the Philippines was set to follow the lead of neighbors like Malaysia and Thailand in experiencing the economic benefits of a significant proportion of working individuals who fuel consumption to the advantage of businesses.
Consumption is a key driver of economic growth for the Philippines, but Tetangco said the contributions of consumption would be even more pronounced in the next few years as more young and educated Filipinos enter the workforce.
“The ‘demographic window’ is that period in an economy’s history where a prominent portion of the population is of working age. These people have the purchasing power that can drive consumption, encourage investments, and thus accelerate growth of the economy,” Tetangco said before members of the business community, including representatives from foreign firms.
“We [the Philippines] will have reached that window by 2015,” the central bank governor stressed in his speech delivered during the forum, which was held in Makati City and organized by Euromoney, an international business publication.
Citing official statistics, Tetangco said the current average age of Filipinos was 22.2 years, indicating a significant portion of the country’s population with the capacity to improve household incomes and increase the economy’s overall productivity over the next few years.

By: Michelle V. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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Everyday is a Holiday
Beach Resort Condominium at Punta Engano Mactan
Units Available include RFO and Preselling
Life's Simple Joys are Always Within Reach
Convenient Business and Leisure Living at the Heart of Cebu
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Quality Projects of One of the Pioneering Developers in the Country


Flexible payment terms available!
For inquiries please call 09065549505 or 09229452718 and look for Ray.
You can also email at raymund.baroy@yahoo.com

=========================


Best Regards, 

Raymund B. Baroy
Account Manager
Robinsons Land Corp. - Cebu Sales Force
Call/SMS:
Local: 09065549505 / 09229452718
International :  +639065549505 / +639229452718      
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Monday, March 26, 2012

JG Summit to ramp up spending this year for expansions

LISTED CONGLOMERATE JG Summit Holdings, Inc. is ramping up capital spending this year in line with expansion plans in place for its real estate and aviation units, an official said.

The Gokongwei-led firm has pegged capital expenditure at P52.87 billion for 2012, up 79.89% from the P29.39 billion spent in 2011, Bach Johann M. Sebastian, JG Summit senior vice-president and corporate planning head, told BusinessWorldin an e-mail.
A bulk of JG Summit’s will be accounted for by the company’s real estate arm Robinsons Land Corp. and low-cost airline operator Cebu Air, Inc., Mr. Sebastian said.
Robinsons Land will be spending P19.25 billion this year, a 73.74% increase from the P11.08 billion spent last year, the e-mailed data showed.
Robinsons Land, which hiked its full-year net profits by 10% to P3.97 billion last year, earlier said it will be sourcing its capex from cash operations and debt, with more than 60% of the funding going to malls, office buildings, and hotels, and the remainder for condominiums and other housing units.
Cebu Air, for its part, nearly tripled its budget to P12.50 billion this year versus only P4.22 billion last year.
“Funding for Cebu Air will contribute to the growth of its fleet acquisitions this year,” Mr. Sebastian said in a separate telephone interview.
Cebu Air, which operates budget carrier Cebu Pacific, aims to expand its fleet to 47 aircraft by the end of 2014 in line with plans to embark on long-haul flights within the year.
Other JG Summit units, particularly its unlisted petroleum and banking firms, will also ramp up spending this year.
JG Summit Petrochemical Corp., the unlisted petroleum subsidiary of JG Summit, has pegged its 2012 budget at P15.54 billion, up by 88.82% from P8.23 billion in 2011.
JG Summit Petrochemical aims to open the country’s first naphtha cracker raw material factory in Batangas City in the third quarter next year, in a bid to drive down raw material production costs according to earlier reports.
Robinsons Bank Corp., for its part, will be spending P390 million this year, more than double the P190 million figure earmarked in 2011.
Listed food and beverage firm Universal Robina Corp. will be spending P4.56 billion this year, unchanged from its last year’s capex.
JG Summit, established in 1990, is the Gokongwei family’s holding company for various interests. JG Summit shares were traded unchanged on Friday at P28 apiece. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente, Business World Online

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Everyday is a Holiday
Beach Resort Condominium at Punta Engano Mactan
Units Available include RFO and Preselling
Life's Simple Joys are Always Within Reach
Convenient Business and Leisure Living at the Heart of Cebu
Currently Preselling!


Quality Projects of One of the Pioneering Developers in the Country


Flexible payment terms available!
For inquiries please call 09065549505 or 09229452718 and look for Ray.
You can also email at raymund.baroy@yahoo.com

=========================


Best Regards, 

Raymund B. Baroy
Account Manager
Robinsons Land Corp. - Cebu Sales Force
Call/SMS:
Local: 09065549505 / 09229452718
International :  +639065549505 / +639229452718      
Azalea Place: Azalea Place