Filipino Brands

As a marketing man, I know the power of a brand.

I once have a small store and I have observed how people are hooked with powerful brands. They come to the store and the first thing they utter if you ask them what they want ro buy if the brand name of a particular product. If I don't have that brand in my store, some of them will just head to the next store!

Think of colgate, tide, milo, coke and many other popular brands. These brands are so ingrained in the buying public that they have become part of their daily lives.

And yet these brands are owned by foreign companies!

Of course there are some Filipino-owned brands that are also becoming powerful. Yet they are limited only to food and other household products and they are not popular abroad. Why can't we not have Filipino brands in electronics and cars?

I just hope that more and more Filipino companies will wake up to the need to have  powerful brands that is also known worldwide.

First Post for the New Year

Due to some unavoidable circumstances, no new posts were made in this blogsite. Yet I do not wish to close it for no reason at all. I just hope this new year is really new - with lots of free time to spare infront of the monitor.

The year 2009 was not really very memorable for me personally. For the country, 2009 saw the death of former President Corazon C. Aquino. Perhaps the greatest impact of her demise is the rise of her only son, Noynoy Aquino, to political stardom. According to the latest surveys, he is the frontrunner in the upcoming presidential election. There are of course other notable personalities who passed away in 2009. 

It can also be said that 2009 was a year of calamities. Most notable of them were the destruction brought about by Typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng. It is good Mayon Volcano did not make a powerful eruption or else the communities surrounding it would have suffered enormously.

And then there was the Maguindanao Massacre which catapulted the Philippines to its infamous ranking as the most dangerous place for journalist. Although this brutal incident happened due to many reasons, I am most aghast at the thought that the national government through its armed forces failed to prevent such earnage to happen.

Yet 2009 is also a year of rejoicing, courtesy of some individuals who made us Filipinos very proud of our country. Let the tribes of Manny Pacquiao, Efren Penaflorida, Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda, Wesley So and other Filipinos whose star shone brightest in 2009 increase a hundred or thousand fold!

So, what to expect in 2010? It is an election year. Let us hope there will be fewer political violence but above all, let us pray for a peaceful turn over of power come noon of June 30, 2010.

Blaming Others Except Ourselves

Ondoy is gone. Pepeng is going. Let us hope Melor does not come. Typhoons visit our country every now and then with increasing fury. Calamities happen everywhere not only in our country but around the world. Whose fault is it?

We read in the papers that some people are quick to point an accusing finger at others except themselves. There is this archbishop that insinuated God must be angry with GMA due to the corruption scandals she is involved in. I think this kind of thinking is so myopic. What about the earthquake that hit northern Luzon  in 1990 and the Mt. Pinatubo Eruption in 1991? Could it be said that God was angry at Cory Aquino who was the president at that time?

Let me make it clear that I am no fan of GMA. But to blame her entirely for the calamities is very unfair. For me, we are all responsible for the things that happen to us. Take for example the garbage that we irresponsibly throw everywhere. They surely clog the pathways of rain water. Or the subdivision developers who have cleared the hillsides of Rizal province. And the illegal loggers who have felled with impunity thousands of trees in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Think of the buildings, factories and power plants that contributed to climate change.

You may excuse yourself and say "Oh I did not throw any garbage irresponsibly. I am not an illegal logger. I do not own any factory." Oh yes, but what did you do to help clean the environment?

See? Somehow we can blame ourselves for either the sin of commission or the sin of omission. Instead of playing the game of blaming others, let us start rebuilding. There is a big task ahead of everyone especially government officials. Perhaps the task of preparing a plan for the next "Ondoy" should be a priority aside of course from the job of helping the victims start a new life.

Why Siling Labuyo?

capsicum frutescens. This is the scientific name of Siling Labuyo which is known as chili pepper in English.
The fruit is used as a condiment while the leaves are cooked as vegetable. It is claimed to be an excellent source of calcium and iron and a good source of phosphorus, vitamins A and B and citric acid. It is also believe to have medicinal values for the cure of arthritis, rheumatism, toothache, scalp ringworm, cough, and sore throat. For more information about siling labuyo, visit

stuartxchange

or read some comments at

gardenweb.com
 
Eh bakit naman ito ang napili kong titulo ng aking blog?. Kasi mahilig ako nito, lalo na sa bicol express. Ung laing na may maraming sili pero masarap. Pampasarap naman talaga ang sili lalo na sa pulutang karne. (Oy, hindi ako lasenggo ah. Umiinom ako pero paminsan minsan.)
 
Gusto ko sa blog na ito pagusapan ang maiinit na isyu sa ating bansa. Medyo opinionated kasi ako pero I know how to listen to others naman. And I respect others opinion also. Kung baga open minded ako.
 
O sya, next time uli...masakit na kasi ang mata ko eh.

In The Hot Seat

Now the beans are spilled. Hot Senator Ping Lacson fulfilled his promise to reveal the true side of former President Erap Estrada. Perhaps his revelation will help solve the decades old Dacer-Corbito double murder case. Whatever his motivations are is beside the point. What is important is the uncovering of the truth of who the real master mind is. On why it is only now that the senator is talking, he alone knows. Anyway, it is better to be late than never.

Senator Lacson should know. He was the chief of the Philippine National Police and the head of the defunct PAOCTF when the murder happened. It is very sad, very disgusting, very nauseating that the very anti-crime office that is created to solve crimes is the one being implicated in the commission of a crime. Hopefully, it will be the turn of ex-convict president Estrada to talk. It is not enough for him to just give a blanket denial. He wants to be president again but he must first clear his name or else he might just be hauled to prison once again.

There are still many unsolved murder cases in the country involving high civilian and military officials. May the Dacer-Corbito murder case be solved swiftly if only to prove that there is justice in this country.