Increased savings

The recent world financial crisis may have done some good as far as savings mobilization in the Philippines is concerned.

Banking officials have revealed that deposits have been up, which they believe is due to a large extent to the fact that overseas Filipino workers or OFWs are opening bank accounts here rather than abroad.

Increased savings however would mean that people would be consuming less. One of the sectors that have been hit by this is the telecommunications sector.

Smart Communications for instance expects third quarter 2009 income to still be better this year compared to last year but they are not rejoicing about this since earnings could have been much better.

Globe Telecom on the other hand projects that both revenues and income for the third quarter of this year to be lower compared to last year.

In a recent lunch I had with Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu, he revealed that the reason could be because we are still experiencing the tail end of the crisis or because more people would rather save their money than spend it.

In the case of both Smart and Globe, another culprit is the fact that the cellular industry SIM penetration rate or the percentage of the population that owns mobile SIMs has already exceeded 80 percent. In the “A” and “B” market, the penetration rate could have reached 100 percent so that now, if they want to attract new subscribers, they have to start looking for them in the “D” market.

The 80-percent SIM penetration rate could even be 90 percent if one considers the fact that a part of our population is located in far-flung areas that could not be reached by mobile technology or is simply too young or too old to be using mobile phones.

Letter from the readers

Typhoon Ondoy may have been the worse calamity to hit the country over the last 40 years but it also united Filipinos and brought out the best in them.

People from all walks of life, young and old alike, are doing the best they can to help the victims, either in the form of donating relief goods or of volunteer work.

Here’s a letter from volunteers from the Ateneo de Manila University on what they have been doing in connection with the relief efforts:

“As of Sept. 28, 2009 there were about 5,000 volunteers to be found in the Ateneo College Covered courts.

“The rains began to gain intensity late Saturday morning. People had no idea that they would be in for a long, tiring weekend, not knowing that in a matter of hours, they would be stranded on campus. That evening, buildings such as Kostka, MVP, and Leong Halls were opened to students, faculty, staff and guests for lodging. At around midnight, the OSA, OSCI and ADSA began receiving calls for help from members of the Ateneo community who had been affected by the storm.

“Come 8:30 Sunday morning, the Office of Student Affairs held a general assembly, with members of the community such as the elements of the OSCI, Sanggu, school admin and other volunteers. Some volunteers had been on campus since Saturday morning, such as the officers of Ateneo ROTC. Some of those present at the meeting were the VP for the Loyola School Assunta C. Cuyegkeng, the ADAA Mr. Eduardo Calasanz, Sanggu top 4 Gio Tingson, Kacci Morales, Rob Roque and Jauro Castro, OSA director Chris Castillo and OSCI director Mary Ann Manapat and CMO personnel

“Marikina and Katipunan were decided upon as the first two general areas for response, and social networking sites such as Facebook, Plurk, Twitter and Multiply were used to spread the call for volunteers and goods. Later that day the Grade School department of Ateneo got organized and linked up with Loyola Schools and consolidated efforts. The importance of having food on hand was recognized, especially for rice, and the Cervini, Eliazo and University dorms, as well as the GS Canteen and AMPC began cooking this week’s stores.

“The council and dream team decided that student volunteers would stay on campus to receive and sort the incoming goods, while the OSCI and Ateneo ROTC personnel were to form part of the Renegade group, coined by sir Chris, which would take care of Area needs assessment, Delivery, as well as order and discipline. Relief goods and volunteers began to arrive at the MVP lobby, and the volunteers already present helped with the reception and sorting.

“Barangka and Nangka, both of which are beneficiaries of the High School departments Tulong Dunong program, were decided as the areas which needed the most help, and so teams were deployed to said areas. Two teams were formed, both composed of faculty, staff, and student volunteers, such as the Sanggu and AROTC. The team bound for Nangka left at around 3 p.m. to facilitate clean up and assessment. The team bound for Barangka left later at around 6pm, bringing food for distribution. In either case, darkness, mud and a sense of despair prevailed, as people converged on the teams respective convoys.

“Meanwhile, on campus, the hearts of community opened up as a seemingly endless stream of relief goods and volunteers arrived to help. By 5 p.m., the amount of goods and volunteers exceeded the capacity of the Colayco Pavilion, and so the center of operations was moved to the college covered courts. Endless human chains were formed to unload vehicles, unpack and organize relief goods, and finally to repack and load the relief packages onto volunteer vehicles bound for areas.

“By Monday, things were less frantic, with most of the Ateneo community members who had called for help now safe. The college covered courts, now managed primarily by Kacci Morales, Jauro Castro, Rob Roque, Gio Tingson and Dr. Marquez of the Health Sciences department, was a sight to behold, with literally hundreds of people arriving to volunteer or to donate goods. Some noticeable groups helping out were the Blue Babble Battalion and Band (constantly called on by Gio Tingson), varsity basketball players (easily picked out by their height) and the AROTC corps of officers and cadets (easily picked out by their uniforms)

“Still, more help is needed. Relief Operations are ongoing and will continue for the following days. The Ateneo is accepting donations, both in kind or in cash/check. The center of relief operations is the Ateneo College Covered Courts. Most needed are ready-to-eat food, canned goods, drinking water, clothes, mats, and blankets. Those who wish to donate or volunteer for Ateneo Task Force Ondoy are welcome to go to the College Covered Courts, where they will be directed, assisted, and briefed. In coordination with the Ateneo DREAM TEAM, donations will be sent to the following areas: Ateneo Ville — Nangka, Ateneo GK Villages, Marikina (Upper Barangka), Park 7 at Pentecost Parish.”

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