Haay Naku

Doooooollaaaaaaaaaaaar

For a couple of weeks now the Philippine Peso has been gaining ground against the Greenback. A surprising turn out considering we just came out of another so called coup attempt, natural disaster and declaration of state of emergency. Indeed a refreshing news and a good one at that. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the declining value of the dollar was also influenced by more and more overseas based Filipinos remitting and releasing their dollar accounts to the Philippines since it will be foolish to hold to it much longer when its value has been steadily dropping. Better cash it in before it even dives below the P50 surface.

The economy needs all the break it can get and the appreciation of the Peso definitely deserves a big welcome especially for an import dependent country like the Philippines. But then, the now lower US dollar is not a good news for families subsisting on remittances by the overseas Filipino workforce. It's understandable.

What's pathetic is that a lower dollar is not a good proposition for depositors keeping dollar accounts who hope that it will continue to rise and profit from it. Same goes for foreign based Filipinos and locals who keep their dollars with same intentions.

Thou it is just a simple case of demand and supply and earn from it while you can, these people don't realize the impact of intentionally keeping and holding the dollar off the market. By keeping the greenback resulting to a lesser volume of dollars in local circulation in contrast to a high demand for it to keep the economy going, the price of the dollar will definitely rise. And this will hurt the economy even more. As such, prices of commodities will increase as well. Thou the families of these dollar 'holders' may not be affected much, which I doubt, majority of the Filipino people will be eating less.

I'm not saying that our overseas Filipinos as well as exporters should dispose their dollars as soon as they get hold of it. What I despise is the intention of my fellow Filipinos to try to gain from it by speculation. True, one needs all the income one can get especially when you have dependents in P.I. But we don't realize that by intentionally hoarding the dollar for a higher price will hurt the local economy more. They may profit from it when they eventually exchange it at a higher amount, but in the end, their dependents will still be buying food and paying for gasoline, water and electricity locally at higher prices than ever due to a higher dollar exchange rate.

I hate to think that Filipinos don't think about the long term effect of what they are doing. Thou he or she may think they are just one person, the cumulative effect can not be simply ignored. Like we Filipinos don't think at all.

There is nothing wrong in keeping savings in foreign currency. We all need something stable that we can depend on later especially in an uncertain nation like ours. But in the end, after they have mentally enjoyed their financial gains when the dollar was breaking unprecedented and really dizzying figures, now they are disposing their greenbacks avoiding it like a plague with the intention of cutting their losses instead of helping the economy. For now it is good news for the government. But indeed how selfish. How pathetic we Filipinos can be.

posted by Mr Juan dela Cruz Jr @ 7:38 PM 3 comments

Wawawaweeee

We Filipinos are so emotional that we sometimes express our feelings without batting an eyelash sans thinking if we really mean what we say. We just get carried by the moment and make promises and declarations we won't be able to keep.

Case in point is Willie Revillame's statement a month ago saying he'd be resigning (or so) from hosting the ill-fated television show following the aftermath of the murderous stampede that took place in February 4, 2006. Point is, he said he cannot bear the thought or so of hosting the show again after the tragedy.

Guess what? He's on the front page of a Sunday paper as an emcee (still) of the television show announcing the come back of the program on tv. I wondered actually whether he was sincere or not when he said he will be retiring from hosting it - that's what I remember actually. Don't tell me, the fans demanded his return? But then again, he should have not given such premature statement if he's not that sure or firm in his decision.

Similar to that years back was a woman politician who said she won't return to politics anymore. This she declared at her son's funeral, on television. But guess what? She's active in the government still, perhaps even more active. But it is worth noting that these people gave such statements in the midst of high emotional stress or tension. I hope this is not a common trait of us Filipinos. But actually I've seen several people give out 'emotional promises' or statements only to retract, forget or violate later on when they've become emotionally sober. I guess Filipinos are emotional so to as speak, hence the prolifieraton of tv soap operas and heavy dramas.

It's like promising something while we are in a state of drunkeness and then forget what we said the moment we sober up. The Filipinos has clearly lost its 'palabra de honor' - the word of honor.

posted by Mr Juan dela Cruz Jr @ 7:43 PM 1 comments