How to make money in Philippine Bank-aquired Assets

Although the non-performing housing loans held by Philippine banks is on a downward trend, based on the data from bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), but the total value of these repossessed properties by the banks is still worth P9.7B to date form P12.97B as of Dec. 31 last year, a shard decrease by more than 25%, which is good news to the industry.

However, this P9.7B inventory is still huge, and it is presents a lot of opportunities to investors who want to make money in disposing these bank-acquired assets. Banks, by nature of their business, in most cases are always motivated to sell these assets because they Non-Performing Loans (NPL) become a liability to them, and banks are usually required by the BSP to spare the same amount of liquidity (money) equal to the amount of their NPL as reserve money, meaning they can't loan that out to their borrowers, thereby decreasing their ability to make money out of their own money! That's why they want to dispose of these assets (liability is the more appropriate term because these properties are depreciating over time and the banks absorb the depreciation cost).

STARTING FROM THE BASICS 
Just like in any honest-to-goodness business, you need to find your target customers and make them aware that you have a nice product that will better address their need. That's Marketing & Selling! I always believe that any business should deal first with the Customers in mind.

You also need to have a good grasp of pricing your goods in such a way that your target market will race against each other to get hold of your product while you make money in the process. That's Value Engineering! Designing a good cash flow pattern is also crucial in maximing the value that you can get out of the product (will expound on this later).

And once you have the interested buyer of your product, and now writes the check and signs the Sales Documents, then that's it.

Foreclosed Assets and bank-acquired assets are two different types of assets. Foreclosed assets are those house & lots that were recently foreclosed or repossessed by banks in either a year past or less. If you are going to invest on these assets you may have to wait until the mandatory 1-year redemption period is over. This will tie up your money because the title cannot be transferred from the borrower's name to the bank's name until that period has lapsed with no pending court cases.

You can however still make a lot of money from Foreclosed Assets but I will discuss it separately because it's totally a different route. I would suggest that you focus on Bank-Acquired Assets because you can make a fast turnaround with it.

HOW TO DO IT
Let me just share here the simple steps how to make good money from bank-acquired assets:

1. Find your potential customers by dropping a visit to established brokers. Active selling brokers usually advertise their services all over town. Find out what their buyer exactly wants (floor and lot size, number of bedrooms, toilets, parking space, amenities, price range and location, among others); establish a good rapport with them by discussing the desired commission rate and schedule of release(s); and get their commitment to help you dispose of your potential inventory.
2. See the Manager of the Asset Management Group of the target banks and ask for a complete list of their acquired assets. They will usually give it to you in printed form but it helps to have a handy, virus-free USB for easy downloading. The list usually includes the description of the property, the location, and bank's selling price.
3. Find out from among the list which properties come close to what your prospect buyers want, and ask the Manager to schedule an ocular inspection. While on the trip, squeeze as much insider information from the bank representative as to how much discount does his boss approve in terms of price percentage.
4. When on location, take as much pictures of the house, in and out, and zoom on those leaking roof, worn-out ceilings, peeled-off paint and wall papers, etc so that you can capitalize on these issues when you ask for a discount. And this will also help your memory is estimating the cost of the needed repairs.
5. Always ask the neighbors their inputs on the peace and security of the area, flood history, availability of public transport, water supply, proximity to hospital, market, schools, malls, etc; selling price of the latest house sold in the area, etc.This info will definitely help your judgment.
6. Assuming that you eyed some of these properties, start working with your numbers by answering the following questions: (a) How much is the fair market value of the property after the repairs? You can easily answer this question by taking the shoes of the buyer.; (b) How much is the estimated cost of repairs? You might need to seek assistance here if you are not familiar with this part; (c) How much money will I gain out of it?; net of the cost of the house, the repairs, commission and income tax?
7. If you are comfortable with your estimated net gain, discuss the matter with your broker, show her the pictures (just the nicer ones!) and describe to her the repairs you will undertake to make the house like new, how much you are selling it, etc.
8. Then make a formal offer to the Bank, usually discounted at 30-40%, pay a reservation fee of P10-50T, and the 10-20% down payment spread over 6-12 months, depending on how you designed your target cash flow.

DESIGN YOUR CASHFLOW
You can actually do this with almost no cost to you if you happen to be lucky. Here's the scenario: Say the bank's list price for the house is P750T and the approved discount is only 30%, so that's P750T - 25% = P525T. Assuming that the cost of the repairs is P200T, so that's P525T + P200T = P 725T. And assuming that the prevailing selling price in the area for the same house & lot is at P1.7M, just be content by selling it lower than that, say at P1.5M; and your agreed sales commission rate is 8%, so that's 8% x P1.5M = P120T commission.

Based on the above, your net gain would be P1.5M - P525T acquisition cost - P200T repair cost - P120T comm = P655T or a profit rate of 43%.

But if you require the Buyer to pay P50T non-refundable reservation fee, this will already cover the reservation fee you paid to the bank; and if  the Buyer agrees to pay you the required 20% down payment (10% cash down = P150T upfront, remaining 10% over 3 months = P50T/month cash inflow) so that means you will have P150T cash on hand which covers for your P200T worth of repairs. But why spend that money if you can get the needed materials on 30-60 days credit from the hardware store. So practically your repairs and monthly downpayment to the bank, which is 20% of P525T = P105T is actually funded by your Buyer and the hardware store.

Once the house is ready and your Buyer got a pre-approval for bank loan to cover the 80% balance (80% x P1.5M = P1.2M), then you can now execute a deed of assignment of the contract in favor of the bank and once the loan is released, the Bank will retain the P420T which is the 80% balance of the P525T after your full DP, and release to you the remaining P780T (that's P1.2M - P420T = P780T).

YOUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Going back to our numbers again: Your total expenses paid is P425T (that's P105T DP to the bank, P200T repairs, and P120T sales commission to your broker); while your total receipts is P1.08M (that's P300T as DP from Buyer, and P780T from Buyer's net housing loan proceeds).

You now have P1.08M total revenue - P425T total expenses = P655T. But because your cash outflow was financed by your Buyer and the hardware store, so practically you made P655T and spent practically nothing for it (or should I say your minimal expenses were immediately reimbursed by the Buyer's reservation fee and downpayment).

In finance parlance, your Return On Investment (ROI) is P655T divided by zero for investment = infinity.

So how is that for a start? You might as well decide to head home from your high paying and very demanding overseas employment and do this very rewarding business. Making P655T from nothing is equivalent to receiving a monthly salary of P55T overseas.

What if you were able to have this kind of transaction repeated every quarter, so that's like receiving a salary of P218,000 a month overseas, or an equivalent of US$5,070 monthly. You will be definitely better off than OFW ship captain who risks his life away from the family!

There are a lot of opportunities here in the Philippines. One just have to grab them.


OTHER RELATED ARTICLES:

• Make Big Money in Downstream Energy Business
• Available Start-up Capital for OFWs 

Can the common Filipino help improve the Quality of Education in the Phils?

High school class under the tree (photo from Philstar)

We have seen in the news, carried by both local and foreign media, that there are many of our poor students in many of our poor barangays, and even in several places in the Metro Manila, where Filipino students either hold their classes under the shed of trees or in dilapidated classrooms with broken desk chairs and worn-out writing boards.

And if they happen to have these classrooms, 70-90 students are cramped in a classroom that is designed for a capacity of 30 students. We have been aghast to see these scenarios every time right before class opening every June.

I wonder how we can change the situation radically. Is there any hope for a better future for these Filipino students whom the future stability and progress of our country rest?

THE CRYING NEED FOR CLASSROOMS, CHAIRS AND TEACHERS

Currently, there are 41,995 barangays all over the country. Many of these barangays have no classrooms even for the elementary graders, while a large number of them have dilapidated classrooms. To put at least 6 classrooms complete with boards and chairs, and fund the salary of the teaching staff, the Philippine government will need the following:

Classroom:  41,995 bgys x 6 classrooms @ P400,000/classroom:
                                                                                               = P100,788,000,000.00

Chairs:  41,995 bgys x 6 classrooms x 30 chairs @ P150/chair:
                                                                                               = P    1,133,865,000.00

                                                                                       Total   P101,921,865,000.00

Teaching Staff:  41,995 bgys x 6 teachers @ P18,000/teacher x 13 months:
                                                                                              = P58,960,980,000.00/yr

THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT APPROACH

If we rely on the government alone, the most possible scenario is they borrow the P101.92 Billion to be able to provide all the 251,970 classrooms and 7,559,100 chairs all in a year. But because it is a borrowed sum it will surely carry an interest rate of at least 3% a year assuming this is a soft loan.

The annual interest cost alone at 3% of P101.92B is P3,057,655,950.00 excluding the payment for the principal loan. This P3.057B annual interest is the equivalent of 7,644 new classrooms. That amount can pay the total annual salary of 13,066 teachers already!

So why waste that amount just to pay for the annual interest when we actually have a better alternative. if only we decide to do it.

THE FILIPINO COMMON FOLK BAYANIHAN APPROACH

I always believe that the Filipino race has the collective economic power that we always fail to harness. That power has been in dormancy for years - and our failure to exercise it has postponed the progress and prosperity of our nation for so many decades already, so much so that Vietnam and Cambodia are now overtaking us.

How can we do it? Our current population is now at 94,013,200 living Filipino souls, rich and poor. Let me help you see how the numbers work to our collective advantage, if each one of us take ownership of this dream and contribute our share:

251,970 rooms worth P100,788,000,000.00 ÷ 94,013,200 Pinoys = P1,072.00 per head

7,559,100 chairs worth P1,133,865,000.00 ÷ 94,013,200 Pinoys   = P     12.06 per head

                                                                                             Total     P1,084.06 per head

This P1,084.06 per head is just P90.33 per month, or P3.01 per day! If each one of us, rich and poor, do it dutifully, we will have built all of these classrooms in just a year!

Now, the next concern to tackle is the salary of the teaching staff which is P58.96 Billion a year for all these new classrooms. Well, we now know how to do the math.

The salary of 251,970 new teachers is P58,960,980,000.00 per year is just P627.15 per Filipino per year, or just P52.26/month or P1.74 per day.

So para maitayo po ang mga classroom at mga silyang ito kailangan lang mag-alay ang bawat Pilipino ng tig P3.01 bawat araw sa loob ng isang taon. Mas mahal pa po ang stick ng sigarilyo na kung saan si Mr. Lucio Tan lamang ang nakikinabang.

At para tuloy-tuloy na ganadong magturo ang mga bagong guro sa bawat classroom na ito, kailangan natin mag-ambag ng tig-P1.74 kada araw taon-taon para tuloy-tuloy ang kanilang mabuting serbisyo bilang mga ulirang guro sa ating mga anak.

Sa pamamagitan ng simpleng paliwanag na ito, hindi na siguro tanong kung kaya ba natin ito. Ang dapat na tanong siguro ay, KAILAN BA NATIN SISIMULAN ITO?

Can we still allow the modern world to pass us by? Can we still afford to postpone the properous destiny of our nation?

Just contact me thru email for any reaction.

A window of opportunity for OFWs in the Energy Business

OFWs who are aspiring to be entrepreneurs can now take advantage of the economic benefits of the country’s Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Law.

Aspiring OFW entrepreneurs can now apply for low-cost loans from the Department of Energy, through its Gasoline Station Lending and Financial Assistance Program, up to P10 Million or 80% of the total business cost, the remaining 20% being the venture capital equity.

This increase is designed to make it more accessible and affordable to our OFWs who want to venture into putting up a gasoline outlet or an auto LPG station. The loanable amount was increased from the original P5M payable in seven years.

This business loan program offers a fixed rate of 6% per annum and payable within a maximum of 10 years, with a grace period of 6 months that is enough to build the necessary infrastructure or store outlet and marketing. After this 6-months grace period, the first monthly installment becomes due.

OFW individuals or groups who qualify for this program are required to complete the training program run by the Department of Energy to prepare the aspiring OFW entrepreneurs for the rigors of owning this type of business to ensure their success and ultimate active contribution to our local economy.

I would encourage everyone who is interested to avail of this Program to apply as a cooperative because you can maximize your economic benefits through income tax exemptions being a cooperative as provided for in Republic Act 9520 known as the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008. Inquire from the Cooperative Development Authority how to qualify for such incentives and download related information and forms to be filled up.

For further details of this Lending and Financial Assistance Program, please check DOE’s Department Circular No. DC2011-03-0005 of March 2011.


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• The P1B Loan Program for Returning OFWs 
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The P1B Loan Program for Returning OFWs

A website that invites Pinoys abroad to seriously explore job opportunities at home. The Government has also offered an initial outlay of P1B available credit for OFWs who want to put up a business back home either as an individual or group borrower as a partnership, corporation or cooperative.

I wonder how many have taken advantage already of this available capital for business at a highly subsidized interest rates

Several opportunities for business-minded OFWs await at home, more so because the Philippine Economy is already picking up as evidenced by the recent credit ratings upgrade given to the Philippines by Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings after almost eight years while the big economies of the US and Europe are experiencing a sustained downturn, with the US and Greece contemplating on declaring a default on their sovereign credit obligations.

The Philippine economy is seen by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to grow at around 4.6%-5% this year and up to 5.3% in 2012, while the US economy long-term credit outlook is being downgraded by Standard and Poor's Ratings Services from "stable" to "negative". This should tell us that windows of opportunities for business are now opening up here while the opposite is happening in the usually progressive economies in the West, including Italy.

How about giving a serious thought on these things and invest back in our country?

Website invites Pinoys Abroad to Explore job opportunities at home

Monster Philippines launched its ‘Return2Home’ program to encourage Filipinos residing overseas to explore available job opportunities in the country. The initiative is to target and connect with Pinoy jobseekers all over the globe and connect them with the foreign companies and employers doing businesses in the Philippines who are looking for skilled workers and professionals.

Potential opportunities in fields of mastery are the following: in OIL & GAS - recently, the Philippine Government has awarded offshore oil drilling contracts to several oil drilling companies off Palawan, Romblon, Masbate; MEDICAL SERVICES - several high-end medical institutions like St. Luke’s, Asian Hospital, Makati Medical, etc are expanding to serve foreign clients as well with the entry of big investors like Manny Pangilinan into this industry; and RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT in several key industries, especially in IT and microchip design; and EDUCATION because International Schools are now expanding to cater to both Pinoy and expat enrollees.

Because based on 2010 data, the Alien Employment Permits issued by the Philippine government through the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to foreign nationals have increased by 47%, and this gave birth to the big question: Why not take advantage of this opportunities if you have the same skill and qualification?

‘Return2Home’ Program is aimed to attract the right candidates with relevant global experience in their field of expertise, capitalizing on their advantage of being culturally attuned to the Philippines.

The Philippine economy is now dynamic and expanding, proving its resilience against the backdrop of the worst global economic recession, economic restructuring and downsizing witnessed around the globe.

The ‘Return2Home’ Program might just be the perfect window of opportunity for Pinoy expats who are hit hard by the economic downturn abroad.

Former OFW In Saudi Arabia Now Earns Twice More With Her Home-Based Business

A former OFW who worked for 14 years as a midwife at the Saudi Arabia Naval Base Hospital now earns more than twice her original income as an OFW when she established a modern birthing home in her hometown in General Santos City.

Dolores Batchanicha put to good use the advanced training she received from the British midwives while working in that Naval Base Hospital in Saudi, on top of her previous local midwifery experience at a local hospital in Davao City to make a difference in their province by offering them modern pregnancy-related services.

She received further technical and financial assistance and business skills from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the referral of her colleagues in the Integrated Midwives’ Association of the Philippines (IMAP).

Her modern birthing home facility is a better alternative to the traditional “hilot” or home-assisted birthing by traditional attendants. Established in early 2006 in Calumpang, General Santos City, the modern birthing facility has already earned the accreditation of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), and it is also one of the recipients of the PhilHealth Awards for Excellence in Health Services last year 2010.

Dolores Batchanicha was also honored by USAID for such an accomplishment during the celebration of the International Women’s Day held recently. She is not only earning more than twice as much what she used to earn working abroad, but more importantly she is now reunited with her family and regaining those precious moments she missed for the last 14 years.

All these she gained by her humble creativity in making the modern health care for mothers accessible to her local community. May this be an encouragement to our OFWs to save as much money while working abroad, rather than buying all those modern conveniences and excellent food around, and learn as much modern techniques of your trade, and later come home to our beloved beautiful country to put up your own businesses here.

There are a lot of business opportunities awaiting for you here, just identify specific needs of the community, local and foreign, and you will surely reap financial rewards. OFWs can even realize their huge economic influence by grouping together and pooling their resources to come up with several businesses and services like what is being incubated and propounded here, such as:

1) Setting up an OFW BANK financed through the financial contributions as investments of the OFWs to this bank. Common shares will be issued to the contributing OFWs. Go to this page for suggestions on how to fund the project.

2) Putting up Retirement Village(s) for foreign retirees, owned and operated by OFWs and the fees shall be in Dollars, Euros, Yen similar to what they pay in their home countries. The facility shall be applied for PEZA (Philippine Export Zone Authority) accreditation being export-oriented services. Tax exemptions can be availed for the first 5 years if this project is accredited with the BOI (Board of Investments) because it is part of the Investment Priority Plan (IPP) of the Government. The IPP for 2011 will be published soon.

This project can also enjoy free marketing and promotion abroad if this is accredited by the PRA (Philippine Retirement Authority) because this is one of the sunrise industries that is being vigorously encouraged by the Philippine Government. These privileges are now being enjoyed by foreign investors, why should not we take advantage of these tax privileges too! In fact, they are now scheduling the first ever Philippine Retirement & Healthcare Summit in collaboration with the Philippine Retirement Authority and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) and the American, Japanese & Korean Chambers of Commerce in the country.

3) Organize OFWs into several cooperatives to be involved in real estate development where other OFW members will be its own clients, be operated as a cooperative and be accredited under the CDA (Cooperative Development Authority) to enjoy full tax exemption as a cooperative.

Spend some time browsing the government websites through the links provided above to know of the awesome privileges that are open to you being a Filipino businessman. Foreign investors are also enjoying the said privileges.

You may not be able to do it by yourself, unlike Dolores Batchanicha, but we can pool together our talents and resources and become even more competitive. That is what the spirit of EDSA is for.

You will surely earn more than you would think of by simply addressing the needs of our countrymen, because people will always be willing to pay you when you have addressed their needs. And I tell you, the market is so huge, and also the local employment we can generate.

The country needs you!

Local Job Vacancies our OFWs From Libya Can Fill In

Here’s one good news for OFWs returning from Libya. Labor officials at home advised the returning OWFs from Libya to keep their mobile phones on for possible job offers at home as there are over 6,000 job vacancies for Philippine-based US firms and local mining companies that Filipino skilled and professional workers can readily fill in.

Labor officials said the profiles and job records of our returning OFWs gathered by the Labor Department will be turned over for possible job matching to more than 30 Philippine-based companies in need for professional and highly-skilled and experienced workers.

The US Embassy will in fact hold a 3-day job fair on March 18-20, 2011 at SM North Edsa, also intended for this job matching. Other job vacancies for the mining industry such as field nurses, engineers, chemists, geologists, accountants, safety engineers and managers, riggers, electricians, welders, surveyors, research specialists, secretaries and construction workers were also identified during the Mining Industry Tripartite Council Forum last Wednesday.

The Labor Department will also solicit and identify more job vacancies during their meeting with the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ECCI) and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCCI). This is part of the government’s reintegration program for returning OFWs not only from Libya but also for those who worked in other countries who wants to return home for good.

Our repatriated OFWs who stay home for good can also avail of the government’s financial grants and loans to start up a business of their own and grow them.

MORE HELPFUL ARTICLES:

• How To Rise and Come Out Stronger From The Libyan Crisis

• The Business-Minded OFW 

How To Rise and Come Out Stronger From The Libyan Crisis

Per latest reports, around 11,000 OFWs have been evacuated out of Libya while there are still about 34,000 Filipino workers who need to be evacuated to safer territories. The Philippine authorities and representatives in Libya and nearby states are hard pressed to move these number as quickly as possible inspite of the great risk that they have to go through because both the pro and anti Gaddafi forces are spread along these possible escape routes.

To be diplomatically correct, it is best to defer my personal comments about the embattled Libyan leader and how he managed the petroleum dollars which evidently did not become a blessing to his country and his people that's why they have this widespread revolt.

But by reflecting on this current event, it only underlines the necessity for our OFWs to save as much money during good times because you can never tell what would happen next, because who would have thought that Libya would go down in history with this bloody revolt. In fact from what I have gathered, some OFWs have stayed in Libya for more than 10 years and they raised their family there because they found that country to be safe and peaceful. But that was before.

Saving as much money as possible during good times will determine one's welfare and survival when the bad times come. Even the Book of Proverbs tell us to "Go to the ant and consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest." (source: Prov 6:6-8, NIV 2011)

The storing of provisions in summer and gathering of food at harvest have become so natural to the ants. No need for any commander, supervisor or ruler or nagging wife to pressure them to save as much, they just did it naturally, day in and day out, considering the fact that the ants are creatures of little strength. But what made these ants do that? It's because they are wise in their ways.

Your wisdom, your mind will make you do that. When a person is convinced that saving money during good times will benefit him much more than spending that hard earned money because he deserves it anyway - that person will surely reap the rewards in due time in its perfect season of plentiful harvest.

The number of OFWs in Libya alone has reached around 45,000 or maybe more, and assuming that each one of them saved P5,000 a month for the last 12 months they would have collectively raised P2.7 Billion thereafter. That P2.7B is enough to put up a big bank like an OFW Bank. And that's only from the OFWs in Libya, and just imagine if the other OFWs will join them.

But this is now water under the bridge because the bad times have come. The laptops and sleek TV set and the nice and overpriced house back home and the branded shoes and jackets and sunglasses and pricey electronic gadgets of the kids won't matter anymore when one does not have a source of income anymore. Just turning on the arm's length wide LED TV set and the 2-door stainless refrigerator is an added expense because of the high cost of electricity.

But one should not feel condemned because it's not the end of the road for you. Don't worry if you are left out empty after the last harvest season, just remember that after the harvest season where the fields turn into golden yellow, there always comes the planting season!

During the planting season, what you see is mud everywhere and the terrain is gloomy and it's not enjoyable to walk around, and the rainwater on the ground becomes smelly and just dirty. Life, after losing some golden opportunity for growth, may have much semblance and may feel like the muddy ground after the harvest time when the sky looks dark and dim all day long with no sunshine at all for several months.

But realize my friend that the absence of the bright sunshine and the heavy rain is just perfect to redistribute the nutrients on the ground and fertilize again the farmlands and make it perfectly ready to receive and germinate the seeds to make them sprout and grow them to become your next bountiful harvest in due season.

Therefore, do not fret when God allowed you to miss the last harvest season because what comes next is the planting season for you. And whatever and however you plant will always determine your next harvest. whatever seed you invest into this muddy soil is the seed that will soon give you your next bountiful harvest.

So every season, be it sunshiny or rainy, is an opportunity for you. The planting season is your opportunity to invest. And that investment may not be necessarily setting aside some money, but maybe it's more about making a firm decision as to how much and in what way can you save money on your next opportunity. And that next opportunity is coming.

To those of you who are not directly affected by these recent crisis in the Middle East, don't wait for such turmoil to come before you make up your mind to save some amount and make it your seed money when the next investment opportunity comes.

Just imagine if 500,000 OFWs around the globe decide to save an average of P5,000 per month for 12 months. That one year effort will raise some P30 Billion! Just imagine the huge business that our OFWs can collectively put up with that amount!

Doing it for the next 5 years, our OFWs can raise some P150 Billion! That amount can already create a business empire employing thousands. Just assuming that the P150 Billion will earn at least 9% a year, that's P13.5 Billion annual income.

But if the OFWs won't make up their mind and pursue these things, these will remain a dream, an imagined business, an imaginary income, a potential job and income generator by the thousands. Without any purposeful action on the part of the OFWs, these dreams will remain just an untapped potential even 5 years from now.

And our children will be left condemning the government again for being unable to provide them the jobs they needed at home, and they will again be separated from their families to work abroad - thereby repeating your life's story again in theirs -- simply because we refused to do what is within our means during our our time.

But today is never too late. Tomorrow is still an open opportunity. Let's make up our mind while the opportunity is still great. Kelan pa ba tayo magsimulang kumilos? Kung nasa US$180/barrel na ang petroleum? Pag nagkataon, tig P3,500 na ang isang sakong bigas noon.

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OWWA & POEA Boards Now Open For OFW Nominations

May mga magagandang balita po ngayon para sa ating mga makabayang OFW! Sa wakas, our OWWA and POEA, for the first time, are now accepting nominations for OFWs or OFW representatives to become part of their respective Board of Trustees, in compliance with the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act.

At least 3 representatives of OFWs shall sit as part of the respective governing board of OWWA and POEA, and these representatives shall come from the land-based sector, sea-based sector, and the women OFW sector.

Suriin niyo land po ng maigi na hindi mga dummy ng mga politiko ang maiupo dahil baka gamitin lang po ang kanilang pwesto para maikampanya ang politiko overseas pagdating ng 2016! I encourage our OFWs na makialam po kayo dahil ginawa ang batas at hakbang na ito para lang po sa kapakanan ng OFWs at nawa maging ganoon nga po dapat ang maisakatuparan. I am not imputting anything on anybody here, I am just encouraging everyone to be wise, be vigilant and be cautious to ensure that indeed this time POEA and OWWA will indeed serve to promote, enhance and protect the welfare of the OFWs. Dahil dati inubos po halos ang $25 contribution po ninyo sa OWWA noong ginamit ng nakaraang nakaupo para pondohan ang libreng Philhealth na pinamudmod sa mga bayan-bayan upang maisulong ang kanyang kandidatura.

The Nominee must be at least 25 years old, able to read and write, and a real migrant worker at the time of nomination OR with at least 3 years actual experience as a migrant worker. Representatives for the 3 sectors may be nominated only by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) which have an outstanding history in the protection and promotion of the welfare of our OFWs.

To qualify, these nominating NGOs must be registered with the appropriate government agency and should be certified by that agency as "of good standing" and these NGOs must represent either the land-based, sea-based, and women sectors for at least 3 years prior to the submission of their nominee.

The OWWA and POEA shall separately come up with a final list of nominees, with 3 nominees for each sector (land-based, sea-based and women sectors) and the same shall be submitted to the President for consideration and the same shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation.

Once the names are published I encourage our OFWs to voice their opinions about the nominees through the President's website and other popular online discussion boards just to make sure that we are heard by the President, and he will be guided with his choice because the President will have to select and appoint 1 representative for each 3 sectors to become part of the governing boards of OWWA and POEA 30 days after the submission of the list of nominees. The appointed new members of the Boards shall have a term of 3 years, and will be eligible for reappointment for another 3 years if their records serves the OFWs.

So mga mahal kong mga makabayang OFWs I encourage you to actively participate in this process, bago po ito, and this is now your most opportune time to shine and be heard and be well-represented. Mabuhay po Kayo and God bless you!

For further reference, please see the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations here and also the related news. For further reference, please check the POEA and OWWA websites.

OTHER RELATED TOPICS:

• OFW Remittances Have Soared Past The $17B Mark As of Nov 2010 - BSP 

• The OFWs Now Becoming An Economic Powerhouse

• Creative Business Ideas Of OFWs

OFW Remittances Have Soared Past The $17B Mark As of Nov 2010 - BSP

The $17B OFW remittance from Jan-Nov 2010 is around P748-B! It's a very big amount infused to our local economy. (See Source).

If only our OFWs can make it a habit to save just one percent (1%) of whatever money they earn abroad, which is equivalent to P7.48B, they can very easily put up a big OFW BANK (commercial bank) just from their 1% savings! The minimum required cash capital to put up a commercial bank is only around P3-B compared to their 1% savings of P7.48B!

Halimbawa lang po: Kung ang karamihan ng OFW ay kumikita ng average of P30,000 a month, ang 1% savings po ay halagang P300 lamang o kaya P150 sa akinse at P150 sa katapusan. Mas malaki pa po ang ginagastos ng kanilang mga anak sa Pinas sa load ng celfon o kaya panglaro sa online games na iba ang nakikinabang, yung mga dati nang mayayamang malalaking negosyante. Bakit hindi po natin gamitin yun para sa inyong kapakanan this time which will bring long-term economic & financial benefits to you and your loved ones.

Pag 2% ng kanilang kinikita ay itatabi aba that's around P15-B in just one year. E ang BDO ang CASH ASSET po nila noong end of 2009 ay nasa P32 Billion lang po, ibig sabihin kung magtabi lang ang OFWs ng 4% ng kanilang kinita sa buong taon that's P30 Billion at katapat niyo na po kaagad ang BDO, sa isang taong pagtitipid lang po yan. E lalo na po pag ginawa nyo pong regular habit na yan taon-taon naku po mauungusan na po ninyo ang BDO. See http://www.bdo.com.ph/aboutus-... for reference.

Tunay na maging dakila ang mga OFW po natin kapag nagmamay-ari na po sila ng OFW BANK. Ganito po ang layunin ng mga kababayang OFW po natin na nagtutulungang paitaguyod ang pagtayo ng OFW BANK. Patuloy po nating itaguyod ang ganito pong layunin upang mapaangat ang kalagayan at kapakanan ng mga OFW. Mabuhay po kayo.

Maaaring may mga nagdududa po at nag-iisip na baka raket lang po ito, kaya yun po ang iniiwasan natin na maging kaisipan ng mga kababayan natin kaya po we don't encourage any collection or contribution of anything, we do everything voluntarily because I believe that if God has blessed this idea, God will use many people, events and circumstances to make this dream a reality.What we encourage here is for our OFWs to start make saving money a habit. 

Never dream for an OFW BANK if you cannot even learn to save just 1%, 2% or 5% of your income. It takes some kind of self-discipline and determination. Kailangan po minsan marunong tayong tumangging pondohan ang luho ng ating mga anak kung tayo po ay seryoso sa ating pagnanais na mapaunlad ang kanilang buhay at kinabukasan, at upang mas maagang makauwi "for good" ang ating OFWs.

Mabuhay po ang ating OFWs!

RELEVANT ARTICLES HERE:

• Save Money By Watching Out Your Spending Habit First! 

• How Can We Put Up The P3B Fund For An OFW Bank?

• How To Make The OFWs An Economic Powerhouse?

• Creative Business Ideas And Reactions Generated By The GMA News About The P1-billion Loan Program For OFWs

• OWWA & POEA Boards Now Open For OFW Nominations

Recent Emails Received Through The OFW BANK Incubator Blog

Over the week, may mga natanggap po akong mga email sa pamamagitan po ng ating blogsite using the email address "makabayangpilipino143@yahoo.com", and let me publish them here to keep you abreast of these developments.

I have tried to "hide" their personal details to keep their privacy, unless they will advise me to the contrary. Their emails are as follows:

From DONVERCAS, an electrical/instrumentation instructor and Oil & Gas Operation/maintenance Consultant:

“I was deeply touched with the makabayan ideas of yours and I hope this will happen soonest the better to have OFWBank that all over the world OFW will contribute mabuhay ka makabayangpilipino.

To be exact 30 years na akong OFW and I had a lot of ideas want to share with as well for the benefit of mankind. Regards and thank you.”

From DARYL of qdvc.com:

“sali ako dyan when do we start”

From Michelle Stone of pho_art:

“Hi there!!! Just want to register to receive “newsletters” if possible…Thanks a lot & God bless!!!”

From Andy P. of a known bank in New Zealand:

“Manigong Bagong Taon sa iyo, sa iyong pamilya at sa wider community na iyong kinapapalooban!

I’ll focus on clarifying your requirements.  Basically, the site would be some sort of a forum/blog website with a touch of a social-media network engine (ala facebook).    Some of the system/applications that would be built unto the site resembles that of a “virtual bank” where members would make deposit and withdrawal so as to mimic the updates on their actual savings or pledged capitals.   All updates by its members are gathered real-time by the system and then publish the updates on a graphical form (something like a stakeholder report or financial statement).   I could see the big picture and we could come up with that kind of web application.   Though, there may be some technical limitations if hosted on a free site domain such as blogspot or twitter.   A work-around is to host the other applications in some other domain sites and integrate it via URL on the main forum site and blog site.   I’ve now started to integrate a forum unto a blog site in one of the free domains and hopefully be able to present it to you in the coming weeks.

As for my suggestions on the site building, we could also incorporate an auto-email subscription facility such that all members will be sent an email on regular updates, monthly report and forum topics.   This will somehow encourage the members to get involved in the process and promote the site to their friends and relatives.   The forum application could facilitate posting from its members either via online or via email since replying via email would be an easier way to voice their opinion.  In addition, we could promote the site further by adding facilities for integration unto the wider social media networks such as facebook, twitter, linkedin, Friendster, etc…  I think most of the OFWs would have an account on at least one of these social media channels.   Please let me know your thoughts on this.

As for the blog site, since you are teaching financial literacy, I would also suggest if

Save Money By Watching Out Your Spending Habit First!

The following article about saving money is a very sensitive topic and this is not for the faint of heart and onion skinned, more so when we touch about the common spending habit of most. At least I have warned you. But keep on reading as it might just also wake up your senses. This will also help us save money to be invested later for the OFW Bank that we are pushing to realize.

SAVING MONEY IS AN OLD IDEA

Saving money is not new to us because since the time when we were little kids our parents have already taught us how to save money. And now that we are grown ups and have become fathers and mothers to our kids, we have been urging our children to save money too.

But have we become good at saving money? If we are good at it, then how come we have not saved much? Well, one might argue that how can we save money if our income is very limited.

SAVING MONEY....PANG-MAYAMAN LANG BA?

But do you know that saving money is not only for those who are earning much? In fact, saving money is more necessary for those who earn little! 

Ang pag-iimpok ng pera ay hindi para lamang sa mga may malaking kinikita. Kundi sa katunayan, mas lalong kinakailangan na mag-impok ang mga manggagawang mas kakaunti ang kinikita.

Ngunit paano? Papaanong makapag-impok ang isang manggagawang maliit ang kinikita, na kadalasan ay kulang pa ang kinikita kaysa kanyang mga gastusin at iba pang pangangailangan? 

CAN THE LOW-INCOME EARNER STILL SAVE MONEY?

Is saving money still possible for people with low income? For people whose income is not even enough to cover their expenses?

An Emotional Blog From A Son Whose Dad Is An OFW

I am posting here an exact copy of an emotional blog from a son whose Dad is an OFW who works in Libya, and I have also posted my 1 kilometer comment, long as it is but please read on because it might also help you guide your kids.

The name of the blogger-child is Jeffrey Francis who is very appreciative of what his Dad is doing for their sake, and he has this big question: "How can we repay them for their hard work?". I have tried to give him my thoughts below, through this article. Quoting now from Jeffrey Francis' blog:

"Parents......Our Real Inspiration  

 It was July 5 at 7:30 in the evening we go to the airport.....Our father will go back to Libya for another one year contract. All of us were sad because we will be missing him again. Almost everyday we go to church to ask God for his safe flight and for his good health......Thanks God because of internet we survived.....We cried but we have to sacrifice because it is for our own good, especially for us, his children, in order for us to finish our studies....

Parents......They serve as the life and inspiration of  the children like us, because they are the one who gives us tender love and care.. Not only that but they also give us enough protection. They comforts, gives advice and help us in times of problems and troubles. When you wake up in the morning the first person you can see is your parents... Your  mother cooking your breakfast, and your father preparing his self for his work. How thankful we are in their industriousness,but how we can repay them for those hardworks?

Could It Be That..?

For so many years, the Philippines has been sending out skilled, talented, excellent and well-experienced workers and professionals to work abroad. For a long time, our kababayang OFWs have worked in different corners of the earth to be able to send home financial support for their families. Pero ganito lang po ba talaga ang tunay na layunin at dahilan kung bakit mayroon tayong milyon-milyong OFWs ngayon.

I can sense that there is more to it. Could it be that the real and bigger purpose is to gather the dollars, the euros, the dirhams, the rials, the yens, etc. of other nations and put up a big bank owned by OFWs with big foreign currency deposits? So that this big bank will become the source of sustenance for the future generations - the sons and daughters of OFWs? And that will be used by God to end your sufferings of working away from home, and be finally united with their family and put up profitable businesses here thereby increasing the gross national product of the country, and providing more job opportunities to Filipinos here on top of making money through their dividends from this big OFW BANK?

Could the OFW BANK the best way for you to end the routine of waking up very early on Monday mornings (against your will and physical strength) to report to work making somebody else rich while you are forced to be content with what you receive every 15th and 30th?

Please take time to view the following videos and these might just help you redirect your lives, your purpose for living, and your visions for your life - as it did to me.

Starting 2011 Right!

Happy New Year! With an expectant heart, let us welcome the new year 2011 knowing and believing full well that God is with us, and He will never leave us nor forsake us, that He came to give us life and have it to the full.

Mga mahal kong kababayang OFWs baka hindi lang po ninyo alam na matagal na pong sinabi ng Panginoon ang plano Niya para sa atin, we may have become so busy working for a living and failed to get a life, but God said this to us, and I quote:

"¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. "

Talagang mayroong napakagandang plano ang Panginoon para po sa ating lahat - TO PROSPER YOU, TO GIVE YOU HOPE AN A FUTURE! If you want to check, go to Jeremiah 29:11-13 and see it for yourself.

There may be times in our lives that we are down and discouraged, and maybe a few of you are in that situation, pero huwag po kayong pumayag na panghinaan ng loob dahil dakila po sa lahat ang ating Panginoon. Let me quote here the strong encouraging words of the prophet Isaiah. He said in Isaiah 40:27-31:

"²⁷ Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”? ²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Get on with life! Get on with God! Remember that it is He, the LORD, who has given you the ability, the skill and the power to gather, produce and make wealth!