Power. Not the political kind. Nor the kind associated with professional athletes. Not even the awesome power mother nature can unleash. This week's topic for the Small Business File is simply about power of the electrical kind. This past week I needed to get a temporary electrical permit. It is for a project I have been working on and is at a new site different to where I live and have a business. When I went to the local electrical cooperative, we were told that the permit would not be processed until the account of the previous occupant was settled. Now, imagine how I felt when I was told we'd have to pay P17,000.00 Pesos, because that is … [Read more...]
Nuclear Energy in The Philippines
May 24, 2009 By 37 Comments
I must confess, I was never a friend of nuclear energy. I really got keen of hearing, when Philippine Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes admitted that tapping nuclear energy as a possible source of power is an option that the Department of Energie (DOE) wants to take. Now I really like to use the term "however". Yes, thanks God! "However", Reyes said, "let's not get into nuclear power until we are dead sure (?) that we are ready. And, we are ready if we have stakeholder support." Well said, Sir. It was also very good, that Reyes mentioned the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was built and then eventually mothballed. It is indeed the most expensive … [Read more...]
Blackout again and again!
March 26, 2009 By 36 Comments
Whats going on with Davao lately? Ever since Thursday until yesterday blackout (we call it here brownout) twice a day. It's early Wednesday here so maybe later it will have another blackout again. I am also wondering if its in Davao and a little bit in GenSan only. I spoke with my sister when we had our first blackout and she said they also had blackout. It's really annoying. I never heard any advisory on TV or radio about it. I don't know if they did and we just didn't see and hear it. Before they usually give an announcement and the details even on TV and radio AM/FM and newspaper too, but this time I didn't see one. The thing also in our … [Read more...]
The Philippines as an Energy Tiger
January 1, 2009 By 45 Comments
One of the ‘downers’ about living in the Philippines is the continual nay saying and horrible self image of most Filipinos toward their own country. Even people in the position top know better seem to be addicted to the theme of couching everything they say in the “Oh poor us, we’re a third-world country that can’t get anything done” mode. Government routinely trumpets the “heroism” of OFW’s (Overseas Filipino Workers) exporting the country’s precious education and talent resources to other countries who didn’t make the investment, but reap the benefits. Anyone who wants to work as an OFW should certainly have the right … [Read more...]
There's oil in them there islands!
October 22, 2008 By 77 Comments
Did you know that they have struck oil in the Philippines? It's true, it happened 11 days ago, in an area west of Palawan Island. Currently, they are pumping between 18-20,000 barrels per day of what they are calling Palawan Light Crude. As far as I know, this was the first attempt at oil exploration in the Philippines, and it's a success! Twenty thousand barrels per day is not a huge amount of oil, based on worldwide standards, but this is the first attempt at pumping oil in the Philippines, and that amount is nothing to sneeze at either! Over the years, there has always been speculation that the Spratley Islands has oil reserves, but … [Read more...]
How Much Government Is Enough Government?
July 21, 2008 By 12 Comments
I was casting about thinking over several things I might write about this morning when my friend Bob kind of made my decision for me. Bob wrote a post about the advantages of free market versus government managed economy and some of the comments he received absolutely blew me away. I'm a bit older rhan most around here ... I can clearly remember sitting with my mom and a map and the radio listening to the news from Korea every night. I particularly remember one night when the news came over the air that Joseph Stalin had died. I cheered and my mom scolded me for being un-Christian and rejoicing in the death of a fellow human. One of the reasons … [Read more...]
Gasoline is expensive in the Philippines
January 31, 2007 By Leave a Comment
The cost of Gasoline here in the Philippines is still very expensive! I saw a news report that the average cost for a gallon of gas in the USA is now down to $2.09 per gallon. Let's see what the equivalent cost is here in the Philippines. Here are the formula's we will use: 1 Gallon = 3.785 Liters $1 = P49 So, one gallon of gasoline costs $2.09 in the United States. Gas here in the Philippines is averaging P38 per liter. So, gas in the Philippines costs $2.94 per gallon! Wow, it is way more expensive than in the USA. As a matter of fact, the price here is about 30% higher than customers pay in the United States. … [Read more...]
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