Mutual Funds

Investing in mutual fund is easy but the Filipino investor should read the fine print first before any money is parked in mutual fund. It is a common mistake for those without background in Finance that they think Mutual Fund is only for the rich but the reality is it is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity in diversified securities at a lower cost.

A mutual fund is an investment company that pools the funds of individual investors to form a massive asset base and the money is invested by a professional fund manager.

The income earned through these investments are shared by its share holders in proportion to the number of shares owned.

There are many advantages of mutual funds but the foremost are liquidity, diversification and tax exemption benefits.

My tip is to parked your money for 7 years since it grows over time.

Mutual fund is the best medium for retirement and college education.

Since mutual funds qualify as securities and not deposits, they are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated

However, fund managers and the funds themselves operate under strict securities regulations. For example, mutual funds are owned by the shareholders and are separate legal entities from the companies that operate them.

In the Philippines there are only few kinds of mutual funds namely:

1. Stock or equity fund
2. balanced fund
3. fixed income
4. money market

Those who are in their 20's and late 30's I advised that you invest in stock or equity mutual funds because time is on your side.
For the 40's and 50's balanced funds are the best and for the near retirement fixed or money market.

Browse www.icap.com.ph and choose mutual funds that fit your taste. In my case, I am inclined to First Metro Save and Learn equity and ATR KIM ENG equity.

You can invest online therefore take advantage of it and you can monitor your investment by checking the Net Asset Value (NAV) at Business World Newspaper or the website of your chosen mutual fund company.

Remember, mutual Fund will make you earn provided you have the patience.

Good luck.

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

next topic: The equity mutual fund

Pag-IBIG Fund as Retirement Savings

I worked in Pag-IBIG Fund for 3 years right after graduation. During that time the Fund was voluntary because of the backlashed that the Fund was a creation of Marcos. I have an open mind being a neophyte that a job in the government is better than not earning a single cent.

Im an activist during my college days but being with Pag-IBIG Fund for 3 years convinced me that the Fund was one of the good legacy of Mr. Marcos.

The idea is simple, Pag-IBIG will be provident savings program that is fast, easy and affordable way to save for future needs.

Since we as a people are slackers when it comes to savings, the government forced us to save thru salary deduction. The process is proven correct because the contributions I made as a member makes together with my employer counterpart are credited to my Total Accumulated Value (TAV).

This means double savings immediately with the addition of the employer counterpart contribution.

Aside from being fully guaranteed by the national government, members’ contributions are deducted from the gross income prior to computation of the income tax.

Members’ savings earn annual dividends that are also tax-free. The dividend rate varies depending on the net income of the Fund at yearend.

I bought my house thru Pag-IBIG Fund Housing program and I now have around P100,000 total accumulated savings since I started to be a member in 1989.

The vision of Pag-IBIG Fund is to promote and integrate a nationwide sound and viable tax exempt mutual provident savings system suitable to the needs of the employed and other earning groups, and to motivate them to better plan and provide for their housing needs by membership in the Home Development Mutual Fund, with mandatory contributory support of the employers in the spirit of social justice and the pursuit of national development.

My Pag-IBIG savings will be my supplementary retirement pay and because of this I am convinced that Pag-IBIG Fund is doing a good job and deserve a praise.

My friends at Pag-IBIG Fund, specially in Lucena Regional Office, I salute you!

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

next topic: Investing in Mutual Fund

The 3 months cash reserve for Emergency

Before we begin to invest, many financial advisers plead, ask and urge us to have a 3 months cash reserve fund for emergency. It is a very wise advise because if we have none we will be force to use our credit card or even worse withdraw our retirement savings to pay for hospital bills, funeral or home repairs.

It is therefore a priority for a Filipino Investor to build a 3 months cash of living expenses as an emergency fund that you can withdraw anytime. This can be in a savings account, time deposit or money market fund.

The amount to be saved differs for everybody but the rule of thumb is how much you need to survive in a month and then multiply it by three.

Be careful though in determining the amount by distinguishing what are your wants and what are your needs. You will be amazed how easy it is easy to build a 3 months cash reserve.

My best wishes, always.

nelcadelina.blogpsot.com

next topic: Pag-IBIG Fund as Retirement Savings

Insurance, why we need it

Majority of Filipinos are not taking advantage of life insurance. It is their least priority resulting to the low penetration of insurance in the country. The less or no exposure in personal finance, the complex requirements and the pushy insurance salespeople aiming only for commission contributed to slow investment in insurance policy.

But life insurance is a must for a Filipino investor. The death benefit that a beneficiary or dependents can collect can make the family of the Filipino investor start all over again. Life insurance is designed to protect the survivors of the insured.

The Filipino Investor should study the companies offering insurance. In the Philippines, I recommend you focus on the top 6 namely:
1. Philam Life
2. Sunlife
3. Insular Life
4. Philippine AXA
5. Manulife
6. Pru Life
source: Business World Top 1000 Corporation Year 2010

In my case, I opted to Insular Life because it is a mutual fund Filipino company which gives dividends every year to all policy holder. It is up to you however to decide which is the best insurance company for you.

As a rule you will need significant amount of insurance if you are:
1. working spouse married to a non-working spouse with or without children.
2. You are a single parent
3. You are a business owner

You will need NO or LITTLE insurance if you are:
1. single person with no children
2. nonworking spouse with no children
3. young child

In the Philippines there are different kinds of insurance such as term, whole life and variable.

In my case, I only need term insurance because it is ideal to be covered for a specific period of time.

Study well what will fit your requirements. just remember as a Filipino Investor you need a death benefit protection in order to provide money to your loved ones who will be left behind.

Again, my best wishes to you.

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

next topic: The 3 months cash reserve

Stay Healthy and Pay your Debt

How can we invest if we are frequently sick due to unhealthy living and vices?.If we are always visiting our old good doctors and paying his hefty fee, what will be left to our pocket will not last for the next pay day.

Same , if we are addicted to debt just to buy the latest gadgets and the latest shoes by our favorite brand will leave us spending our savings to finance these expenses.

Truly the enemy of investing are many but nothing beats the twin evil of being unhealthy and consistently in debt.

The best way to be a good Filipino investor is to start to do things we supposed to do:

1. Exercise
2. Eat Right
3. Get Preventive health care
4. Pay our debts

Again, stay healthy and pay your steal-tomorrow debt.

Cheers!

Next topic: Insurance, why we need it.?

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

Preparation before Investing

Filipinos now are not anymore ignorant on investing. They read business newspapers, blogs and browse finance websites.

But what is available in the print or new media are mostly written for western investors and the investing instruments they offer are mostly not available or applicable to the average Filipinos.

To close the gap and promote investing for the Filipinos, this blog is now aligned to the goal of propagating awareness of the Philippine Capital Market.

As a start, Filipinos are encouraged to follow the following eternal virtues BEFORE investing:

1. Live within your means or below them.

2. Shun credit card debt.

3. Don't borrow money except for education or a house.

4. Don't start investing unless you have a 3 months reserve fund.

5. Don't borrow money to buy stocks.

6. Don't use eating money or next year's college tuition to buy stocks or equity mutual funds.

7. Invest only money you you can afford to tie up for years if not decades and that money you can afford to lose.

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

Blog for Investing.

I received 25 e-mail from my blog readers requesting more articles on investment. For the past several days, there are signs everywhere that I should proceed.
Thank you for your trust and beginning this week this blog will focus on investing, personal finance and wealth accumulation strategies.

Arnel L. Cadeliña
nelcadelina.blogspot.com

China is the next Superpower

Brushed up your Mandarin.

China will be the economic and military superpower power in the next ten years.

Yesterday, China rolled out its fastest train yet on Tuesday and announced that the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric project, is now generating electricity at maximum capacity.

They are building more nuclear power plants and the Beijing-to-Shanghai high-speed railway will be open in 2012.China's average economic growth rates of more than 9 percent per year over the past two decades have laid the foundation for rapid progress.

The dizzying upward economic speed of China made her the center of gravity. Physics 101 says that those who are near the center will experience gravitational pull.

Countries such as the Philippines will be pulled towards China.

Leaders who will go against this gravity will float in the atmosphere of stagnation.

Philippines, can't you feel the predictable force that China is creating?

Lucena: A Nowhere City

The Business Process Outsourcing of the Philippines, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology and the Department of Trade and Industry announce the TOP 10 NEXT WAVE CITIES 2010. The cities are as follows:
Top 1. Davao City
2. Sta, Rosa, Laguna
3. Bacolod City
4. Iloilo City
5. Metro cavite
6. Lipa City
7. Cagayan De Oro City
8. Malolos City
9. Baguio City
10. Dumaguete City

The General Criteria of the 2010 NEXT WAVE CITIES are the availability of graduates and workers, infrastructure, cost, and business environment.
(Source: Computer World August 2010 issue page 6}
Nowhere in the list is my beloved city of Lucena. The leaders of our city need to focus on the following:

1. Make a strategic plans to absorb new employment requirements.
2. Improve the quality of roads.
3. Identify an area within the city as a property site for IT and BPO. Possibly tying up with PEZA.
4. Reduce regulatory fees and taxes for IT and BPO investors.
5. Market Lucena as a viable investor site because of less vulnerability to natural disaster (very true!), and reliability of water and electric utilities.
6. Improve the peace and order situation.
7. Create an ICT council for the city.
8. Partner with colleges and universities in the City to promote ICT.

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

Gutter Politics

I voted yesterday because it is my civic duty. But the sights were ugly. There were fistfights and shouting matches outside my voting precint.

Democracy in the Philippines is chaotic. While other countries and people are willing to risk their lives in order to be allowed to vote , here we are cutting each other throat for just a barangay post.

Our democarcy is not mature where the voters vote based on family ties and political relationships. Those who are more qualified refused to be a candidate because they don't have the money nor means to win convincingly in this erratic electoral process of ours.

Yesterday was ugly. Neighbors against neighbors, friends against friends and families against families. Added to that the delay of COMELEC election paraphernalia and you will have a powder keg for fistfights and shouting matches.

With the culture of the country that family first at all costs, those who will lose in this barangay election will not be on speaking terms with their neighbors for a long time. This is gutter politics at its best.

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

Positive Energy

I am a believer of positive energy. Persons who possessed strong vortex of positive energies influenced me in creating juices of creativity. They made me develop my natural strength.

Discouragement and insecurities are absent because I a have leeway for my creative expansion.

I also discovered that the antidote for prejudices and personal interest is the development of my natural strength. This results to inspiration caused by the positive energy that permeates the air.

Friends, May you be blessed by meeting people with positive energies!

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

Letter to the People of Burma(Myanmar) (re-blog)

Myanmar (Burma) will not allow international monitors to oversee its elections on November 7, 2010. The country ruled by their military SINCE 1962 has a constitution requiring more than 100 military nominees in their parliament.A reflection on how the junta will tighten their power grip. I wrote a blog 2 years ago about Burma and I am re-blogging it in solidarity with the people of Burma.

Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Your country is experiencing a decade long repression that as a people you are not only given scarce but misleading information. You can not communicate outside of your country whether mobile or internet because the junta cut it off. Do not be intimidated my dear brothers. What is happening to your beautiful country , we experienced 20 years ago when the Philippines was under a dictatorship.

Hold on to your belief. We know that the junta raided your sacred monasteries, beat up monks and shooting unarmed students. These acts are desperate attempt to salvage their decaying regime. Remember my dear brothers that everytime they hurt you, their morale were attacked in return.

We are praying for your country. May you find consolation in our EDSA revolution 20 years ago when we marched unafraid. We were students who at that time were not thinking to oust a regime but to express our outrage to the assasination of Ninoy Aquino. But our outrage was rewarded by ending a 20 year dictatorship.

The Burmese people will also be rewarded and the Junta knows it. That is the reason my brothers why they are using violence. They inflict fear but deep inside their heart they are the one afraid.

I pray for you courageous Burma and may the faith continue to guide you. One day when the darkness is defeated (because it will surely come), I am the first Filipino to salute you.Even though we are ocean apart my heart is with you. Because once I stood up with more than a million Filipinos in 1986 against a regime quite similar as yours.

At the end you will be triumphant just like us. Just hold on!.

Arnel L. Cadeliña

The songs of Paolo Santos

Last night I fell in love again with my wife Nanette. The songs of Paolo Santos in his Back to Basic album bring back a lot of good feelings and memories. The lyrics and the melody in the songs Kanlungan, Gaya ng Dati, Walang hanggang paalam, Moonlight in Paris, Photograph, Naglalambing, Million miles away and yakap are enough for us to reminiscence our teen years.
To my friends and blog readers, try to hear the songs of Paolo Santos, you may get the loving feeling again.

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

Loyalty

In my Principles of Management subject, I required my students to submit a business plan. One group shared to me that she has complaints against one of her member. The leader of the group, eager to win sympathy of her classmates immediately took a strong action by eliminating the person as member of his group.

I asked the leader of the group that the wise and truly loyal thing to do is to ask first what are the charges and to work quietly with the member to correct her fault. This is respect for human dignity.

But by pleasing the other students at the expense of one, the leader showed an action of strong disloyalty. Without thinking that the leader and her member were after all belong to one group.

If the leader treated the member right , this loyalty may turn into lasting friendship and friendship lasts long than the business plan.

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

Feelings

A manager need to realize that the organization is made up of people and these people are made up of feelings.
These feelings should be taken into consideration ALWAYS because this will make the organization worth fighting for.

As a true human, we should keep open to the feelings of others. If we refuses to consider any feelings at all then we are transforming the organization into an army of cold hearted people.

If everybody feels that everybody has genuine feelings for each other, that compassionate concern is always the first move in an organization, support to each other will always be present even without somebody asking for it.

Jesus was a prime example of a leader who has genuine feeling for his disciples. Who can forget the washing of his apostle’s feet?. With his loving gesture, he made everybody willing to die for the cause. Even to be crucified upside down.

Have you experience meeting somebody who expresses genuine feeling for you? Heaven isn’t it?.

nelcadelina.blogspot.com

Excellence in School = Excellence in Work

The beauty of teaching can be enhanced if a teacher experienced the theories he is preaching. No wonder that business schools nowadays put a premium on hiring people with actual experience in the corporate or business world. They paid them more than the newbies because of their wealth of experience.

The one lecturing on the podium who knows the feeling on how to lose customers or to be ecstatic when company became profitable are more plausible to the eyes of the would-be commerce people.

Really, companies hire people who failed in their business endeavors because they have more stories to tell where people can learn.

Here are the reasons why students will appreciate the connection of the world of school (in italics) and the world of work (in bold letters):

School Rules and policies/Student Handbook =
Officeprocedures/decorum/employment contract

Teachers and deans = Boss, Manager, President
Extra-curricular activities = Professional organizations, clubs
Medals, awards = Promotion, Bonus
Exams, Tests = Results, output
Grades, Transcript of Records = Performance Appraisal
Allowance from parents or guardians = Salary
Assignments = To-Do-Lists
Long hours of study = Overtime
Course syllabus = Job description
Entrance Exam and interview = Employment exam and interview
Interpersonal relationship with classmates = Interpersonal relationship
with diverse people

There is a correlation that those who performed better in the world of school will also perform better in the world of work.

I remember my marketing professor who shared to us that those who are in the corporation or academe will experience losing their market share.
No one can escape it.
But the solution can be traced to what we learned from school. The formula:

MIND SHARE + HEART SHARE = MARKET SHARE

Have a nice weekend to all of you. God bless!

Arnel L. Cadeliña

Yes to Grade 12 but...

The class picture in this blog was my 4th year high-school taken decades ago. We were 49, all came from lower class families with big dreams. I considered myself lucky to be with them, first because they were studious and second because other classes were rowdy due to their number which were more than 50.

We had classes IN the grandstand, UNDER the grandstand and SIDE of the grandstand. We were exposed to the elements that combination of odors caused somebody to faint. It was tough, literally.

Oh yes we have a library. But the books you can count. If there was one available, it was either worn-out or the pages you need were missing. It's survival of the fastest. There was no incentive to read because THERE WAS NOTHING available to read. When the government finally issued books to us, we need to share it to one another because it was only good for 20 students. The solution was to share it because our parents did not have the means to buy these "discretionary" expenses.

To me, and I believed with the rest of my classmates, this experienced transformed most of us to achieved and read more than the norm.

Now here comes the suggestion of having Grade 11 and 12 added to our high school. My personal experienced 20 years ago is still happening in public school in the country but this time much worst.There is no doubt we need two more years of high school, but my argument however is that the government should strengthen the existing basic education first. Build more classrooms,distribute more books and train more good teachers.

Last time I visited my old high school, they are still using the grandstand for their classes but now they divided the gym by installing partitions to convert it for additional classrooms. This is truly not moving forward.

Solve the existing problems first before we add two more years.

It's like putting the cart before the horse and the students sitting on the cart are still thinking "survival of the fastest". The difference? The mode is fiercer.

WHY I AM A TEACHER ( a re-blog)

This article was written 3 years ago and was re-blogged in celebration of "International Teachers day"

By: Arnel L. Cadeliña

Dear Alyssa and Amiel:

Both of you asked me several times why I am teaching and why I left the corporate world. The frequency of your query is getting higher as you get older and you see your classmates riding in their shiny cars while both of you literally squeezed in the tricycle. I even remember a prayer of yours requesting the heaven and the saints to send me in far away places in order to earn the mighty dollars. Amiel even whisper to me that almost half of his classmates were boasting that their parents are OFWs and I should be one. How can I blame both of you? Your generation is bombarded daily of thousand advertisements tempting you to buy anything and everything. The TV, radio,cellphones and internet are part of your life that these so called technology helped you and your peers to have a blurred distinction between needs and wants. Sometimes when I hear you and your friends talking about the latest Nokia cell phone, I started to ponder that materialism already won the battle and my children are being groomed by the environment to be the next disciples.

My dear Alyssa and Amiel, you are very much correct that I earn less than the parents of your classmates. The OFW’s who are breaking their backs to feed, clothed and send their children to school are earning more than I. You should remember though that your classmates are enjoying the benefits in replacement of having the physical present of their parent. I know several OFW friends suffering homesickness, toiling from sunset to dawn and missing the important events of their growing up children in return for earning more. But remember though, majority of your classmates OFW parents were not provided good job opportunities in our country and going abroad for them is not an option but a necessity. Every time you kneel for a prayer, include prayers for them.

In your case, I am there when your tears are flowing when you fell in the bicycle; you hear my voice every night while I read stories; we watched wrestlemania together with both our feet up in the chair and sharing Gatorade and spit it loudly every time John Cena loses; we are both teary-eyed when we watched Superman dying ; we pillow fight in the wee hours of the morning; we play soccer until we can not stand anymore; we go to church together and held each other hands while singing the Lord’s Prayer. Would you believe I eagerly await the first time you will be in love?

There are other million things that we did together which you may vividly remember ten years down the road. The memories imprinted on you are irreplaceable. I can not earn dollars but I am with you while you are growing up. For me that’s the best thing in life.

Before I forgot, I am teaching because I am happy doing it. I worked for 14 years in the corporate world which help me build the house we call home. Lord even blessed you in having funds for your college education because of my incessant savings. However, working in a corporation and teaching are like Mars and Venus. In teaching, I found out that I can shape the future, that I am standing on the shoulders of the teachers before me who find teaching noble: Christ, Buddha, Confucious, Gandhi, Franklin, Rizal and million others. Your generation may call as nerds, geeks and weirdos but we are not treating it as a blasphemy but notice our passion. You must remember that a lot of people are successful because of being passionate and I am a passionate teacher at the same time a passionate parent. While I make sure that my students learned, I always find time to be with you.

When will we scale Mount Banahaw?

Very Short But Amazing Speech by Coca Cola CEO Bryan Dyson

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the Air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

But the other four Balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.”

WORK EFFICIENTLY DURING OFFICE HOURS AND LEAVE ON TIME. GIVE THE REQUIRED TIME TO YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS & HAVE PROPER REST.

Value has a value only if its value is valued.

Time to Buy Stock Mutual Fund

There are a lot of good news that favors all those who are interested to buy stock mutual funds. For the past 6 months, here are the reasons why we are looking North:

1. Gains in electricity sales and employment
2. Rebound in exports
3. Strength on construction spending.
4. Downward trend in crude oil prices.
5. Limited pressure on inflation.
6. OFW remittance still growing.
7. Cash positions of banks and investors remaining very high.
8. Stable fiscal situation.
9. Peso continue to appreciate.
10. Pag-ibig Fund is reviving its Biglang Bahay funds by selling zero-coupon bonds.
11. Aboitz Power Corp. (AP) is eyeing P5 B retail corporate bonds.
12. Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) is also proceeding to sell its third tranche of home-starter bonds.
13. Ayala Corp. (AC) plans to issue P10 B worth of 7-year bonds, with a put opton on the 5th year.

We have not yet reach the peak of the recovery hence there are lot of potential to earn.
Good luck!.

Note: this is personal opinion of the writer and any investment you made will be at your own risk.

Rank 12 and counting......

Five years from now, the population of the Philippines will hit more than 100 million.According to the latest CIA report we are the 12th most populous country.


RANK COUNTRY POPULATION DATE OF INFORMATION
1 China 1,338,612,968 July 2010 est.
2 India 1,156,897,766 July 2010 est.
3 United States 307,212,123 July 2010 est.
4 Indonesia 240,271,522 July 2010 est.
5 Brazil 198,739,269 July 2010 est.
6 Pakistan 174,578,558 July 2010 est.
7 Bangladesh 156,050,883 July 2010 est.
8 Nigeria 149,229,090 July 2010 est.
9 Russia 140,041,247 July 2010 est.
10 Japan 127,078,679 July 2010 est.
11 Mexico 111,211,789 July 2010 est.
12 Philippines 97,976,603 July 2010 est.
13 Vietnam 88,576,758 July 2010 est.
Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html)

Many of our young graduates will fight for limited jobs and they need skills because the workplace of tomorrow will be complex and highly-demanding.

To succeed, the graduates of 2010 and beyond should have solid foundation and should possess the following skills:

1. Having the ability to communicate, i.e., read, write, speak and
listen. Very basic but very necessary skills.
2. Ability to reason, think creatively, make decisions,and solve problems.
3. Ability to be responsible,sociable and to take responsibility.
4. Ability to use talent, time , money and materials wisely.
5. Ability to work in teams and to work well with people of different backgrounds.
6. Ability to use information without being overwhelmed. Skills in computer is
necessary.
7. Ability to create, revise and improve the system.
8. Ability to adapt to the latest technology.

The jobs of tomorrow belong to those who possess the necessary skills.

We are all middle class now?

This year, the Asian Development Bank classified the new Filipino middle class as the following:
1. The lower middle class, numbering 27.43Million people, who consume P86–P172 per person per day.
2. The 17.11 million “middle-middle” class—consumes at P172–P430.
3. The 3.31 million upper-middle class consumes P430–P860 per day.

The ADB key indicators for the Asia and the Pacific also indicate the following profile of the Asian middle class:
A. They have preference for fewer children.
B. They are regionally concentrated where Manila got 22% of the share.
C. They are better educated.
D. They are more likely to invest in the schooling of their children.
E. They spend a larger share of their budget on health and education.
F. They run businesses, usualy small, undercapitalized, have low resource commitments, and are often unprofitable.
G. They are much more likely to work in government and corporations in particular.
H. They have greater support for market competition and perceiving significant
prospects for upward mobility.
I. They create incentives for entrepreneurship and increased productivity through hard work.
J. They have the greatest participation in political activities.

SOUL SEARCHING PROFESSOR

The semester is ending and the 220 students who enrolled in my class will face new subjects and new professors next semester.

The grief of a teacher is when he felt he contributed nothing to the advancement of knowledge and to see his students to be potential liabilities of our society. When this is felt and seen the agony is unexplainable.

The joy however of hearing and seeing my previous students working in banks, corporations or setting up their own businesses gave me enough fulfillment that I will bring up to my last breath.

The grief and the joy are intertwined and to prevent the former to rule my world, I gave myself the following rubrics to ask myself at the end of every semester if I am effective:

1. Did I develop the skills needed by my students in relation to the subject I taught?
2. Did I contributed in the development of their character particularly in inculcating to
them that they should give preferential treatment to the poor?
3. Did I encourage them to explore the future career that they will face?

If I am satisfied with the answers these fuel me to go on despite the cruelty of this world.

MBA FOR EVERYONE

My students are asking what is the best Philippine MBA school ?. I always said that the school that will force you to think creatively and make that idea a reality is the best one. But not everyone is blessed with money to spend close to P300,000 to obtain an MBA, nor the opportunity because of distance, work and family problems.

Those who are facing the above constraints, take heart because for only an investment of P10,000 or less you can be like a newly minted MBA graduate.

How? By borrowing, renting or buying the 20 business books written by the best minds of our lifetime. I am recommending these 20 books because it covers economics, management, sales and marketing, small business, investing, personal finance and careers. Enough for a person to think like a newly minted MBA graduate.

The books are:

1. Good to Great by Jim Collins
2. Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
3. Now, discover your strengths by Marcus Buckingham
4. Who Moved my cheese? Spencer Johnson
5. Freakonomics by Stephen Levitt
6. The Total Money Makeover by David Ramsey
7. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
8. Rich dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
9. Gettings Things Done by David Allen
10. Good to Great and the Social Sectors by Jim Collins
11. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
12. The 7- Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
13. A Guide to project Management Body of Knowledge by the Project management
Institute.
14. Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher.
15. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
16. Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
17. The money book for the young, Fabulous and broke by Suze Orman
18. Leadership and Self Deception by the Arbinger Institute
19. The Goal by Elihayu M. Goldratt
20. What got you here won’t get you there by Marshall Goldsmith

Read , employ and live it out.

If you are still not satisfied after reading the 20 books, go ahead and enroll in an MBA program. They will add the mind numbing Accounting, the money laden operations & logistics and the brainwashing business ethics.

The advantage of the classroom setting MBA programs is that you can physically collaborate with your best professors who will train you to questions idea from every angle. They will train you to be Primus Inter Pares.

Repression on tertiary private school

The repression on tertiary private schools is very evident in the Philippine setting. The government demands quality faculty (MS,MA,MBA), library, laboratories, and facilities but subsidies they did not provide. When private schools raised their tuition fees, the government always imposed the idea that it should not be above inflation rate.

If you are working in a private school, you will be frustrated when the government demands,never give subsidies and restrained you to raise tuition fees. Then you will read from the newspapers that the same demands are also given to state colleges/universities but the difference is the government shoulder all the costs.

Where's the equity then?.

I am subsidizing the tuition fee of a student studying in a state college through the monthly income tax I paid but I am not receiving any subsidy for my daughter studying in private school.

Where's the equity then?.

Teamwork?

In every organization it is always the desire of the people to work in teams to accomplish the assigned tasks faster. It is nature to a person to mingle because human by nature need to connect to one another.

Why is it then that teamwork is difficult to attain?. Is it because we came from different upbringings that it is inevitable that there will be clash of personalities and beliefs?.

But we are the only species capable of building friendship and this human value is the root of an effective teamwork.

Friendship with sincere attention and devoid of deceit.
Friendship with sincere affirmation and devoid of hypocrisy.
Friendship with sincere appreciation and devoid of manipulation.

Need teamwork?. Cultivate Sincere friendship first.

Letter to Agriculture Secretary Prospero Alcala

Our beloved Quezon Province now has a population of 1.82 M.With a low rank of no. 17 on Human development index ( a perennial laggard compared to other CALABARZON Provinces),and an unemployment rate of 7.3% we are facing the worst nightmare of economists:population explosion and widespread unemployment.

As your provincemate who believed that our people deserved a better future, please allow me to propose one project that will create positive maximum domino effect to our Quezon Province Economy.

As our agriculture secretary, kindly spearhead the creation of QUEZON PACKAGING SERVICES AND PACKING CENTER. This center will make generic packaging materials for micro, small and medium enterprises of the province. Packaging in boxes, bottles and vacuum packaging will make the product of Quezon Province available nationwide and can be exported with your full support.

Your provincemate will help you in the following ways:

1. The Quezon Chamber of Commerce and industry can identify what products can be included for packaging. They can help also on the marketing.

2. The colleges/universities can contribute like Sacred Heart College for the feasibility Study, Enverga University for design ,CEFI for marketing, and QNAS for food technology.

3. The Provincial Government of Quezon can look for financing of the QUEZON PACKAGING SERVICES AND PACKING CENTER since this entity will be government owned.

4. The DOST Quezon will train people for the packaging and will handle the initial operation.

5. The QUEZON PACKAGING SERVICES AND PACKING CENTER to maximize profit will be offered also to other SME in CALABARZON.

You see my dear Secretary Alcala, if we can combine the bright minds of Quezon Province, we can do a lot of things to make the lives of our provincemate better.

Very truly yours,

Arnel L. Cadeliña

How to make the Philippines prosperous?

Skilled workers are leaving the country to find work in foreign lands. Many of them were treated as slaves and thousands toiled in back breaking jobs. You can find them as household servants in palaces and homes of rich people.

With the myriad problems besetting the country, they lost their sense of dignity and just trying to survive in the midst of their powerful neighboring countries.

The Philippines?. NO. It was Israel during the time of prophet Isaiah.

The time when their race was looked down upon as inferior, incompetent and powerless.
In the midst of these heart-wrenching problems , Isaiah wrote an effective solution which after following it made Israel a prosperous nation.

The Solution?. Let us read, Isaiah 58:

" Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear.
Then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water. Like a spring of water that never runs dry. Your people will rebuild what has long been in ruins, building again on the old foundations" .

The letter of Isaiah was proven and any country, organization or family can be prosperous if we will just listen and follow the prescribe solution

UPCAT,ACET,USTET:Letter to CHED

It's the time of the year when parents of high school students and their 3rd year HS daughter/son are busy preparing for entrance exams.
Of all entrance tests, the mothers of them all are the tests of the four universities: ADMU, UP, UST and DLSU. The exams are tough and getting in are tougher because usually they admit only whose scores are the top 20%.
Why the fixation on the four?. How about the "2nd tier" colleges/universities that also offer quality education?.
It is about time for CHED to help strengthen the colleges and universities in the provinces in order for them to earned the Center of Excellence (COE) or Center of Development(COD) seal. This seal will serve as quality assurance that will serve as guide for the parents of choosing a college based in the province. This will erase the fixation to the four universities in Manila and erase the belief that quality education is based only in the NCR.
Further, the CHED should regularly published the list of COE and COD in leading newspapers and provide also copies to the top 1000 corporation for awareness purposes.
If CHED will not act on this, they are perpetuating education for the elite that will eventually result on the slow motion demise of the middle class. The class who economists believed are the true backbone of democracy

Top Universities in RP

Top Universities in the Philippines for 2010, according to Times Higher Education-Quacquarelli Symonds or THE-QS are:

1. Ateneo de Manila ( No. 58th in Asia)
2. University of the Philippines (78th in Asia).
3. UST (101 in Asia)
4. De La Salle University (106 in Asia).

Congratulations! (especially to the Thomasians who surpassed the green archers!).
May other Philippine colleges and universities aspire to be included in the 2011 THE-QS survey

Leadership 101

A student of mine asked how he will select a leader in his college organization. I asked, why is he interested when being a leader means that the number of concerns will jump and criticisms will multiply.
But I remember my old professor who said to me “"For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48 . Well , then it is second nature for us to seek leadership.
From working in the academe and in the corporate, I found out that there is no single "best" style of leadership. There is no set of characteristics that can describe the most “effective” leadership styles.
I also believed that leaders do not require a formal position and I as grow older it is very clear to me that leadership begins when the person start to love himself/herself and how this love is experienced by people around him/her.
This leader who emanates love is always tapping into other peoples' passion—and create an environment for innovation. This results in a world/organization/club to which people want to belong

Choosing wisely

A recent graduate is very lucky that he was offered 2 jobs from 2 corporations belonging to top 1000. In an era of joblessness, he is indeed in a very lucky situation.
His question to me is which company he will choose?. I remember an article from Fortune magazine on how to rate a company. If my memory serves me right, the following are the criteria. He need only to say yes or no:

The company is Innovative...........................
The company believes in quality
Of management ....................................

The company values long-term
Investment........................................

The company has the ability to
Attract & keep talented people....................

The products or services of the
Company is sound .................................

The financial condition is sound .................
The company is using wisely their
Corporate assets..................................

From the above scale, he can rank the 2 companies and decide wisely. Good luck to him!.
Arnel L.

Make people a priority. A Tribute to AER.

At a point where I feel that I mastered a particular job or task I always try to share this expertise with others. This is a product of my experience with my late mentor Mr. Antonio E. Ramirez whom we fondly call AER. He was our HRD Director and my boss in my 11 years stay at PILTEL Makati.
In him I learned that individuals thrive in an environment where he is recognized and supported. The weekly “To Do List”, the monthly meetings and the occasional karaoke singing were done without coercion but a passion to do things excellently. The singing included.
AER was a real mentor.
During my first month at PILTEL, I noticed he has a heart for probinsyano like me. I, coming from far away Quezon Province and Noel Dacanay from Cebu were treated by him as his surrogate sons. Maybe his UP education influenced him or maybe the three of us are kulay kayumanggi in the land of PILTEL where mestizos abound.
He never forgot my birthdays and he even handed me a gift during my wedding day.
He was a father to me. Ready to send you to training, encourage you to speak up, train you to write corporate policies, edit our letters (yes he is doing it!) and most especially to hold on to your principle.
After all of us said good bye to each other in 2001, I haven’t seen him since then. His son Ian, now based in Ireland, informed me that he passed away in 2002. My heart weeps because I can never find another one like him.
God bless your soul AER!. You may be gone but you will not be forgotten.
Arnel L. Cadeliña

Insular Life

My daughter, Alyssa, is now enjoying the college plan of Insular Life which I religiously paid for 5 years when I was working in Makati. I am very much thankful that I listened to my MBA professors that insurance companies handled by the Insurance Commission are stable compared to the pre-need firms handled by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Truly, knowledge on personal finance pays-off in the long run.

Letter to Commissioner MELO of COMELEC

Sir:
First of all, congratulations for pushing through our first automated election. Your resolved results in the first real QUICK RESULT in the history of Philippine election. May I suggest the following for our next election to be more efficient:

1. The PCOS machine should be distributed to the local COMELEC branches two-weeks before election. They can utilized monasteries, seminaries, churches, mosques as temporary warehouse guarded by PNP or by the Military.

2. The memory card should be distributed one-week before election to the local COMELEC for testing. Representatives from SMARTMATIC, accredited election watchers, political parties should be present as witnesses. The memory card should be sealed again and the boxes signed by the witnesses. Any defective memory card or PCOS machine should replaced immediately.

3. The Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) should be properly trained on the function of the PCOS machine, the system of voting and trained on time-motion techniques.

4. The PCOS machines and memory cards should be distributed to the precints 3-days before election and guarded by the PNP or military.

5. The list of voters should be posted in the precint two-days before election.

6. There should be express voting lane for senior people and physically-challenged.

7. Watchers of political parties and watchdogs should not be allowed inside the precint when voting is on-going. The BEI should be given power to expel them when needed. They will be allowed only when it it is time to print the precint result for them to act as witnesses.

8. The voters should show an ID when voting since the voters list contain no picture for proper identification. This should be checked by the BEI.

9. Setting up of PCOS and other election paraphernalia in the voting precint should be done a day before election.

10. On election day start at 6:00Am and end at 8PM. You may designate a special time for the elderly (6:00-8:00AM) and a special time for first-time voters (6:00-8:00PM).

Again congratulations.

Arnel L. Cadeliña

The battle for clean water. A call for action.

Our rivers are drying up quickly.Climate change and diminishing water supply are now wreaking havoc to millions of people around the world. In Lucena City, the huge and growing population will cause water to be dirty and unsafe to drink. Several years from now, if we will not help LUPATA amd DENR, turning on the faucet and having water pours abundantly will be a distant memory in Lucena.
Our action should be decisive this year because bringing clean water to every home is key to break the cycle of misery and poverty. We should not allow the time our children will devout hours to fetch water because this will kill their interest in developing their skills and thinking of establishing their own business. Fetching water is some kind of slavery and it is already happening in Africa where females are tasked to haul water as far as 3 km from their home. They can not go to school and choose a better occupation. We should not allow this to happen.
For those who are based in Lucena, Pagbilao, Tayabas and Lucban I am challenging you to be part of an advocacy to protect our source of water.Call me 0919-278-9171, email lenra1967@yahoo.com. Let us make the first step.

Choosing a City Mayor

I am asked by a Knights of Columbus friend who will I vote for Lucena City Mayor. I did not answer quickly knowing that the present candidates never campaigned based on platforms (the usual thing in Lucena Politics)and we never experienced (never ever!) hearing them debating on critical issues. However I drafted my own criteria to elect one:

[ ] The true public servant (mayor) stands out because he has no personal agenda.
[ ] He lives for no reason other than to fulfill the will of the people – to serve the
public interest.
[ ] He wields no power other than the strength of his principles and the influencing
force of his character.

If nobody will pass the above criteria (woe to Lucena City!), I will rather abstain voting for Mayor.

Winners vs Losers

Winners seek answers to problems , losers see problems in every answers.
Winners are people who have plans, losers are people who have excuses.
Winners are those who see the difficult as possible, losers are those who see the possible as too difficult.
Winners tend to say “ What can I do for you?, losers tend to say “That is not my job”.
Winners make mistakes and say “ I was wrong”, losers make mistakes and say, “ It’s not my fault”.
Winners say “ This is good, but there must be something better”, losers say “ This is good because it’s the way it’s done before”.
My friend the tribe of winners are waiting for you, join the bandwagon!