Everyone has the right to education,

and this is preserved in the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights. As a

matter of fact, one of the eight United

Nations Development Programme‘s

Millennium Development Goals is to

achieve universal primary education.

The Millennium Declaration that was

adopted by 189 nations, including the

Philippines and signed by 147 heads of

state and governments during the UN

Millennium Summit in September

2000. In this goal, countries must en-

sure that by 2015, children everywhere

boys and girls alike, will be able to

complete a full course of primary

schooling. Primary and secondary edu-

cation has to be a priority to take the

fact that there is a constraint in re-

sources. Primary and secondary educa-

tion in the Philippines is free as guar-

anteed by the Constitution. The Consti-

tution states that everyone has a right

to education. Article IV, Section 1 of

the Constitution states: ―The State

shall protect and promote the right of

all citizens to qualify education at all

levels and shall take appropriate steps

to make such, education accessible to

all.‖ Furthermore, Section 2 of Article

IV asserts the following: ―Establish

and maintain a system of free public

education in the elementary and high

school levels. Without limiting the

natural right of parents to rear their

children, elementary education is com-

pulsory for all children of school age.‖

Definitely free and compulsory educa-

tion at the basic level will lead to a

relatively high enrolment rates in the

Philippines. Although, data showed

that net enrolment ratio at elementary

and high school level exhibited mini-

mal changes and remains far from the

2010 target.

The Economics Society stands for the Right to Education

J U N E - S E P T E M B E R 0 9 - 1 0

EQUiLiBRiUM The Official Publication of the UST Economics Society

Cont. on page 3

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

P A G E 2

President’s Message Cara Myrrh Santos

Editor’s Note Lucette Grace O. Gotinga

―!‖ OR ―SOS‖.

That would best describe

Equilibrium‘s very first

issue for school year 2009-2010. First and foremost,

the reason behind ―!‖ is that

the whole staff has an in-

tense mix emotions regard-

ing the publishing of this

issue. We all got the feeling

of the ―Big E‘s‖: excite-

ment, edginess, and exhila-

ration towards the outcome

of our first issue. The next

reason is that this issue

would like to make the

whole Economics Society

or rather I could say Family to get familiarized with the

ECOSOC‘s advocacy re-

garding its stand for the

right to education. Resem-

bling the punctuation mark

―!‖ which symbolizes the

sense of importance and

urgency, the Economics

Society‘s advocacy reveals

the fact that education is a

right and not merely as a

privilege to a few. We are

fortunate enough to be

given a chance to experi-ence the gift of education.

Along with this, we urge

you to support the Econom-

ics Society‘s advocacy cam-

paign because sometimes

it‘s the smallest acts that

can change a life forever. I

hope that you can spend a

few minutes of your time to

enjoy reading this issue.

pesos membership fee. The

problem did not end with

these trimmed down budget

policies, confusion regard-ing the new process of re-

serving venues was a very

controversial issue. In order

to have a venue for your

activity, you need to travel

numerous offices and wait

for the very important sig-

natures of different admin-

istrators. Before, only 3

days are needed for the

process of your in-campus activity and only 7 days for

off-campus. Now, it will

take you about a week to

finish the process of your in

-campus activity and around

10 days for off-campus. The

burden of student organiza-

tions to push through with

their activities was incom-

parable. Despite all these

constraints, Economics So-

ciety managed to survived and still provide its mem-

bers quality activities. Jun-

iors‘ Orientation and Inter-

Class debate were permitted

amidst the problem in

schedule and venues. The

much awaited General As-sembly was a huge victory.

Though the organization‘s

fund was very limited, that

didn‘t stop us to give our

members what they truly

deserve, a well prepared

and organized event. It was

really a complete package,

from the creative perform-

ances of each section up to

the distribution of member-ship kit. The event was fur-

ther highlighted by the per-

formance of the Economics

Professors with Sir

Macaraig.

First Semester was not

enough but expect that our

Second Semester will be

jam-packed with different

events and activities. No-

vember is fast approaching

and as we all know it is the

Economics Month. Various

activities that can satisfy

The start of the year

for the Economics Society

was unexpected. We are

welcomed by lots of chal-lenges that needed to be

faced immediately. The

completion of requirements

for the organization‘s rec-

ognition was mind blowing;

it was further heightened by

the accreditation of the Col-

lege of Commerce. Addi-

tional requirements were

asked to submit by the or-

ganizations of the College for documentation pur-

poses. The officers were

clueless on where to start.

The agony did not end

there; student organizations

all over the University were

stunned with the new poli-

cies and procedures that

will be implemented by the

Office of the Student Af-

fairs at the start of the Aca-

demic Year 2009-2010. From the no college based

organization t-shirt policy

to the cut down of the 200

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

UST Economics Department

Faculty

Almario-Miguel, Alma Aileen, M.A.

Economics Department Chairperson

Quijano-Arsenio, Jodylyn, Ph. D

UST Economics Society Adviser

Baluyot, Mary Hildence, M.A.

Cabauatan, Ronaldo, M.A.

Cabral, Cristina, Ph.D.

Dinio, Rosemary, Ph. D

Estadilla, Leandro, MBA

Lao, Robert, MBA

Paguta, Ronald, M.A.

Quesada, Francis Ian, MSF Candidate

Quijano-Arsenio, Jodylyn, Ph. D

Racho, Clarissa Ruth, MDE

Rosete, Marie Antoinette, MDE

Valdez, Karen Grace, MBA

Villasis, George, M.A.

Calalo-Atienza, Gherrose, M.A.

The Administration

Prof. Helena Ma. F. Cabrera, Ph. D., DBA

College Dean

Fr. Joseto N. Bernadas Jr., O.P.

Acting College Regent

Prof. Ma. Socorro P. Calara, Ph. D

Assistant Dean

Asst. Prof. Marie Antoinette L. Rosete, MDE

College Secretary

Another fact is that at least 5 million chil-

dren, mostly in rural areas, do not have a

chance to acquire primary education, in

spite of the fact that it is universal and

free. The primary cause of the inadequate

as well as unsustainable access to educa-

tion is poverty. The lack of schooling in

turn denies these children life skills value

formation, and job opportunities, hence

impoverishing and disempowering them.

Several factors affect the poor‘s difficulty

to access quality education at the basic

level. First, because of poverty, children

suffer from poor health and nutrition.

Early childhood impairment is henceforth

impaired. Second, the quality of

education in public elementary and

high schools is generally inferior to

that of private schools. Third, albeit

that public schools are not charging

fees, poor families still have to

shoulder the explicit expenses such

as transportation costs, school sup-

plies, food, etc.. Lastly, poor chil-

dren have to help their parents in

shouldering some of their family‘s

expenses. Some children are left

with no choice but to sacrifice

schooling for work. For this year,

the Economics Society stands up

and takes an action to send a louder

message that everyone has the right

to education. For this year, many

Economics Society activities have

been planned in line with the

education advocacy. As a matter of

fact the Economics Society has

launched its advocacy last August 1 at

the Albertus Magnus Auditorium. The

advocacy audiovisual presentation

features the facts regarding the status

of education. Different kinds of people

such as professors, school administra-

tors, and students have showed their

support for the Economics Society‘s

―Education as a Right‖ advocacy.

Economics Society stands.Cont. of Page 1

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Young people who have completed primary educa-

tion are less than half as

likely to contract HIV as

those missing an education. Universal primary education

would prevent 700,000 cases

of HIV each year – about 30% all new infections in

t h i s a g e g r o u p .

(Source:Oxfam)

3. One in four adults in the

developing world – 872 mil-

lion people – is illiterate.

(Oxfam UK – Education

Now Campaign)

6. Universal primary educa-tion would cost $10 billion a

year – that's half what

Americans spend on ice

cream. (Source:Action Aid) 5. More than 1 in 4 adults cannot read or write: 2/3 are

women. (Source:Action

Aid)

4. More than 100 million children remain out of

school. (Source:UNFPA)

2. 46% of girls in the world's poorest countries have no

access to primary education.

(Source:Action Aid)

SOURCES:

http://

www.undp.org/mdg/

basics.shtml

http://

www.nscb.gov.ph

http://

endpoverty2015.org/

goals/universal-

education

Co E., Fernan R.,

and Sta. Ana F.

(2007) Philippine

Democracy Assess-

ment: Economic and

Social Rights. Anvil

Publishing, Inc.

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1 P A G E 3

Economics Society‘s annual Lead-

ership Training Seminar which will

be on the last week of October.

Nothing can really stop the EcoSoc

from providing its members excep-

tional activities. Let us continu-

our members‘ different interests are al-

ready scheduled. Ecolympics, Ecoknow-

mics, Documentary Film Festival, Photo

Ex- hibit and the much anticipated Mem-

ber‘s Night are some of the events that

should be watched out. There is also the

ously support the upcoming events

of the Economics Society and ex-

perience the true essence of being

EKONOMISTAS.

P A G E 4

The Economics Society Welcomes the New

Batch of Ekonomistas

July 17, 2009-The Eco-nomics Society held its first

activity for School Year 2009

-2010 by welcoming its new-est batch of ekonomistas. Dr.

Jodylyn Quijano–Arsenio

delivered the opening remarks

that signaled the start of the program. She reminisced the

time when she was still in

college at the same course in the same school; shared her

hardships and pleasures when

she was the secretary in Eco-nomic Society; encouraged

the juniors to do their best in

everything in order to develop

their potentials; reminded them not to just listen but to

explain what really is happen-

ing in the economy. She also said that the economics stu-

dents should not just wait for

things to happen, but instead they are the ones who should

make things happen.

After Dr. Arsenio‘s in-

spirational message, Mr. Paolo Roberto C. Roces,

ECOSOC‘s Vice President

for Exter-

nal Affairs, explained the Mission and Vision of Eco-

nomic Society and pre-

sented the calendar of ac-tivities for the A.Y. 2009 –

2010.

The chairperson of

Economic Society, Asst. Prof. Alma Aileen Almario

– Miguel, started the main

event of the program. She discussed a brief overview

of the new Bachelor of Sci-

ence in Business Admini-stration and its mission and

vision; envisioned the Eco-

nomics Major as a Center

of Excellence with research orientation that solves the

socio-economic issues in

the context of Christian val-ues; ensured that the stu-

dents of economics are so-

cially responsible and com-petent graduates, and re-

sponsive to the needs of

Philippines society. She

also added that the Eco-nomic Department supports

faculty development with

emphasis on research to

maintain high academic stan-dards through seminars.

Aside from that was presen-

tation of the newly imple-mented curriculum for the

junior batch of economics

students. Compared to old

curriculum, it was focused more on the enhancement of

course program offered and

the practicum requirement for the juniors.

Asst. Prof. Almario-

Miguel also explained John Maynard Keynes‘ definition

of economist, which was the

Economics Department ma-

jor, is trying to achieve. Keynes defined an econo-

mist as a person who pos-

sesses rare combination of gifts; reaches for a high stan-

dard in several different di-

rections; a Mathematician, Historian, Statesman, Phi-

losopher; understands sym-

bols and speak it in words;

contemplates the general and touches the abstract.

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

up. These young economists

by day can be the life of a

party at night. You might have

wrong impressions, but they can definitely show you how

the right way to parteeey!!

The UST Economics Society

celebrated with the Junior

Philippine Economics Society

with their annual acquaintance

party held last July 18, 2009 at

Most

of the time,

Econ majors

worry about how the demand

and supply curve would

shift, how to derive an

equation or who really

bears the burden but

sometimes they need to

take a break and loosen

Prince of Jaipur, Taguig

City. Each Thomasian

economist says no to inhibi-

tions as they let go and in-dulge to the Vegas themed

party. There were games

inspired by casino, fortune

telling, photo op booth and

good party music.

INDULGE TO JPES PARTY by Sandra Osoteo

Cont. on Page 6

By Mia Makasiar

Yuan in International Trade

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Last August 22, the Phil-

ippine Council of Economics

Students (PhilCes) recently held

a seminar at the TARC entitled

NEDA-PhilCes Allegiance:

Roadmap 2020 whose guest

speaker was Director Dennis Arroyo of NEDA. As almost all

countries depend on US dollars,

he informed that China is en-

couraging to adopt Yuan as a

globally accepted standard of

unit. Yes, it is trying to dethrone

the position of dollar in the

world market by 2012 which

could reduce the role of US dol-

lars and affect the trade signifi-

cantly.

It is widely known that

Yuan is the China‘s currency but

it is more officially known as

“renminbi” which means peo-

ple‘s money or people‘s cur-

rency and is also referred as

“RMB”. Dollar for them is “mei

jin” which means ‗American

Gold‘. China is aiming to make

Yuan a convertible one just like

dollar, yen and euro whose

value is dictated by the market,

traders, and investors. However,

this would also mean a decrease

in the financial trade barriers

which would allow an easier

foreign access to Chinese secu-

rities. Another verity is that

China is also known as a major

buyer of gold shares in the Gold

Exchange Traded Funds. In fact

it is the 5th largest holder of gold

and thus, it is struggling to

make it as well as oil priced as

Yuan.

Beijing holds a reserve

amounting to $2 trillion (13.6

trillion Yuan) in dollar assets

accumulated through exports

and purchases of Treasuries by

the Chinese government.

China‘s fund is so massive that

no other countries could absorb

all the liquidity. China continue

to buy dollars for the reason that

if they stop, the value of their

assets will fall.

Officials of Russia and

India supported China in declar-

ing that they want to end dol-

lar‘s dominance in international

monetary system. Mr. Zhou

Xiaochuan, Chinese Central

Bank Governor of the People‘s

Bank of China proposed that the

world should change the global

reserve currency, the SDR or

Special Drawing Rights man-

aged by the International Mone-

tary Fund. With the use of this,

dollar reserves could be ex-

changed. It only means that

countries could trim down their

dollar exposure without pushing

down the dollar. In addition,

China is cautious with regards

to its actions to widely integrate

Yuan in the global economy.

They wanted to make Yuan

move freely outside China. For

an instance, Beijing signed 70

billion Renminbi for Argentina

and 650 billion Renminbi ($95

billion) as ‗currency swaps‘

providing Yuan to other central

banks for trading purposes like

in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ma-

laysia, South Korea and Bela-

rus. These importing countries

will able to purchase goods in

Yuan instead of dollars. Chinese

government permitted its five

trading cities namely, Shanghai,

Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dong-

guan and Zhuhai to use the

Yuan in overseas trade settle-

ment. Dollar remains world‘s

mostly held-reserve currency

and a standard unit of exchange

in most international transac-

tions. On the other hand, China

feared and at risk as US prints

more and more money due to

financial crisis. It is a threat

because it debases the value of

dollar including their holdings.

Consequently, there are

some Chinese businessmen who

lost lots of money due to ex-

change rate changes between

dollar and Yuan. If China will

elevate the global prominence

of its own currency, it would be

helpful to reduce the risk. As we

have seen, China and U.S. needs

each other to boost the value of

their currencies and this issue

would still be debatable.

— Hazel Allam

P A G E 6

Thesis 101

various schools such as De

La Salle, UP, Ateneo,

UA&P, UE, PLM, and

many more. The aim of the

annual event as always is to

promote camaraderie among

JPES is an interschool

affiliation of UST EcoSoc.

It is also the junior arm of

the Philippine Economics

Society and serves as the

umbrella organization to the

members and to be more fa-

miliar about the other member

schools. It also served as a

kick-off party as they present

their upcoming activities for

this school year like the debate

TOPIC. The topic must be

the interests of the whole

group not just you alone. Let

each member suggests there

preferred one. Consider this

topic as your partner whom

you need to defend and which you could devote your full

attention. Avoid having a

―What if‖ thesis topic, choose

a topic with social relevance

and as much as possible

choose a topic which incites

curiosity to you and your the-

sis mates.

READ! READ! READ!.

Nothing beats the habit of

reading. You are ought to read

for at least 40 journals. It is

not exaggerated. You should

have back-up for every input

you utilize in your thesis. Re-

member to avoid plagiarism.

If you want to employ a stun-

ning introduction and litera-

ture review, start as early as

possible. Reading has a cost.

It‘s the opportunity cost you gain instead of playing Dota

or Facebook.

CONSULT OFTEN. Seek

and you shall find the answer.

Don‘t be hesitant to ask ques-

tions from your thesis adviser.

He/she may not answer all

your queries but their com-

ments and suggestions are big

help to enhance your thesis.

ECONOMETRICS AND

EVIEWS. Appreciate these

two fundamental too for

thesis. If you have heard

from your seniors such

question as “nakapag-run

na kayo?” Don‘t be sur-prised, we‘re just doing our

Eviews or running a regres-

sion model. Listen carefully

to your metrics lecture pro-

fessor and to every detail

given by your Computer

laboratory professor be-

cause for sure

„mangangapa ka‟ if you

don‘t master it.

Research is fun.

Don‘t take it as burden be-

cause you are able to visit

various government agen-

cies and institutions as well

as meet hundred of people.

The best part is the ‗bond‘

you create with your thesis

mates and the sleepless

nights together. Research

may be just another 3-unit

subject but undeniably it would eat a lot of your time

and even decrease your

leisure level. Get ready,

creating something substan-

tial which could be useful

in the near future is what

you can be proud of.

Thesis or ECON32 is what

senior life is all about. All

Econ-major students are re-

quired to submit a thesis

before the end of the senior

year. Yes, it‘s a grueling task

that one must face. If you are

currently in your junior year,

we advise you to cherish

every moment of it because

the next two semesters will

be more intoxicating. Here

are some pieces of advice for

coping with your forthcom-

ing thesis days.

THESISMATES. You are

allowed to choose your own

thesis mates so don‘t be too

problematic. It might be a

minimum of two and a maxi-

mum of three depending on

the number of your class.

Choose someone whom you

know you can depend on,

has initiative, and a person

you can enjoy his/her com-

pany for the rest of the two

semesters. He may not be the

most brilliant one in your

class but at least responsible

and analytical. Be sure to

avoid arguments because

these petty fights might dis-

tort your relationship as a

thesis group.

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

Indulge...Cont. of Page 4

Korean Diaspora by Hazel Allam

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

My Sassy Girl, Wind-

struck, A Moment to Remember,

200 Pounds Beauty, A Million-

aire‘s First Love, She‘s on

Duty…few of the Korean movies

I have watched. Aren‘t surprised?

Sounds familiar right? Maybe

because you have been hooked

with Koreans since the two giant

stations televised dubbed

―Koreanovelas‖ like Endless

Love, Lovers in Paris. We can‘t

deny the fact that we‘re seeing

Koreans just around the corner.

Even here in our college, we have

number of Korean enrollees just

like when I was in high school.

How could I forget this Korean

schoolmate when there was a

time, he slept in a certain class

because the subject was Filipino.

Funny though, but several days

have passed he began to appreci-

ate every activity in the class. He

is just one of the few Koreans

who outnumbered other tourist

visiting Philippines. According

to the Ministry of Foreign Af-

fairs and Trade, approximately

115,400 Koreans are living here

which is 151% increase since

2005. They are mostly found in

provinces of Bacolod, Cagayan

de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Ilo-ilo

and of course in Metro Manila.

Korea is just four hours plane

that‘s why no wonder Koreans

frequently visit and can easily

access to Philippines. Also the

promotion of Department of

Tourism was a great influence.

Through its budget, promotion

was made through advertise-

ment in Korean newspapers and

television. Their influx has

brought booming industry in

schools teaching English. This

is one of the reasons why they

stay here apart from the low

cost of living. Additionally, we

have many schools and univer-

sities who cater for exemplary

quality in teaching English.

Undeniably, our food taste,

fashion sense and culture have

been greatly influenced by Ko-

reans. Also the phenomenal

―Nobody‖ by Wonder girls has

just gained popularity in a span

of weeks since it was launched

here.

Koreans are not just

tourists or visitors but as well as

young professionals, traders,

investors and even missionaries

serving social activities in some

rural areas. There has been posi-

tive externality since through

Foreign Direct Investment; em-

ployment is given among our

laborers a developmental assis-

tance to our economy. It only

shows an exchange of resources

like capital and labor as Korean

Companies outsource their op-

erations here in the Philippines.

Boys Over Flowers

Wonder Girls

P A G E 8

BUILDING WEALTH WITH STOCKS: Investing in the Philippine Stock Market

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

WHY INVEST?

“Investing is the most effective way to build your personal wealth and secure your financial

future.”

There are many reasons why you should invest your money. Investments are made to generate future purchasing power that will keep ahead of inflation and provide investors a sense

of financial security. You can achieve your financial goals for your different financial needs

over different time horizons like buying a house, paying for your child‘s college education, and

setting aside for your own retirement.

The first and best way to start investing is by saving money. Always pay yourself first. Every time you receive your sal-

ary or profits from your business, set aside or keep some of that money, and invest it or put it in a bank. Rather than wait for the

end of the month to see what is left for savings, at the beginning of the month write a check to your investment account.

You should start a monthly savings plan so you can have your income work hard for you. Over time, small amount of

savings become substantial.

Investing is the ability to make your savings grow or appreciate to achieve your long-term finan-

cial goals. Investing is the most effective way to build your personal wealth and secure your financial

future.

WHY INVEST IN THE STOCK MARKET?

“Over the long-term, stocks provides greater returns and protection against inflation.”

History has proven that investing in stocks over the long-term provides greater returns and protec-

tion against inflation than other fixed-income instruments, such as saving rate, time deposits, government

securities, and bonds.

Stocks are shares of ownership in a corporation. When you buy stocks of a publicly listed com-

pany, you become a stockholder or shareholder of a company. In other words, you become part-owner of

that company. As an owner, you participate in that company‘s growth and future profits. Conversely, you may also lose if the

company suffers a loss or performs below market expectations.

A stock market is a place where stocks are bought and sold. The Philippine stock

market is the place where people can invest in ‗publicly listed‘ companies in the Philippine

Stock Exchange (PSE).

HOW DO I MAKE MY MONEY GROW IN THE STOCK MARKET?

“Through capital appreciation or when there an increase in the market price of your

stock and through dividends issued by the company you invested in.”

There are two ways to make your money grow in the stock market:

1. Through an increase in stock price or capital appreciation

Capital appreciation is an increase in the market price of your stock. It is the difference between the amount you paid when buy-

ing shares and the current market price of the stock. However, if the company doesn‘t perform as expected, the stock‘s price

may go down below your purchase price.

For example, if you buy a share of stock at Php100.00, and it rises to Php110.00, your capital appreciation or gain is Php10.00.

Keep in mind, though, that you only realize your gain of Php10.00, if you sell at Php110.00. If you choose to hold it and it fur-

ther increases to Php150.00, your capital gain would be Php50.00. However, if your stock decreases to Php100.00 then sell it at

that price, your capital gain is zero.

TURN TO PAGE 14

P A G E 9 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Isa sa mga nakakagulat na balitang

ibinida ni Pangulong Arroyo sa kanyang

huling State on the Nation Address (SONA)

noong Hulyo 27, ay ang record breaking na

1.5% inflation rate, o ang porsyento ng pag-

babago sa presyo ng mga bilihin, nitong

Hulyo. Mas mababa ito kung ikukumpara sa

3.3% na naitala noong Mayo, at siyang it-

inuturing na pinakamamaba simula Abril

1987, na kung saan ang implasyon ay 1%

lamang.

Itinuturing na malaking kontribusyon

sa pagbaba ng implasyon ay ang negatibong

paggalaw ng index ng gasolina, kuryente at

tubig (o fuel, light and water ―FLW‖ index),

kasabay ang pagbaba rin ng presyo ng iba

pang mga bilihin. Kung tutuusin, lahat nga

ng commodity groups na nasa talaan ng

National Statistics Office (NSO) ay kinaki-

taan ng pagbaba ng porsyento sa taunang

implasyon, kung ikukumpara noong Mayo.

Samantala, nagtamo ng negatibong por-

syento ng taunang implasyon ang National

Capital Region (NCR) kung ikukumpara sa

pinagsama-samang implasyon ng iba pang

mga rehiyon ng bansa. Nitong nakaraang

Hunyo, ang NCR ay nakapagtala ng -0.1%

kumpara noong Mayo na 0.8%. Kung titig-

nan naman ang pinagsamang implasyon ng

ibang mga rehiyon, bumaba din ito mula

4.2% noong Mayo hanggang 2.2% na la-

mang.

Tulad ng mga nabanggit na datos

ukol sa headline inflation rates ng bansa, ay

makikita ring bumaba ang core inflation

rate (hindi kabilang ang petrolyo at ibang

pagkain) mula 4.4% noong Mayo, na naging

3.9% naman pagdating ng Hunyo. Ngunit

kung ikukumpara ito sa nauna, kapuna-

punang mas malaki ang ibinaba ng headline

inflation rate kaysa dito sa huli.

Ngunit bago natin ipagdiwang ang

bagay na ito, mas maiging tignan muna

natin kung gaano kalaki ang epekto nito sa

atin bilang mga mamimili, at maging ang

mga implikasyon ng pangyayaring ito sa

pangkalahatan

Naniniwala ang mga ekonomista na

ang mababang porsyento ng implasyon na

naitala nitong Hunyo ay dulot lamang ng

base-effect na sanhi ng 11.4% na implasyon

sa pareho ring buwan noong nakaraang taon.

Malaki rin ang naging kontribusyon ng

sunod-sunod na pagbagsak ng presyo ng

krudo nitong mga nakaraang buwan, at mag-

ing ang pagbaba ng presyo ng ilang pan-

gunahing pagkain tulad ng bigas upang

lalong bumaba ang porsyento ng implasyon.

Kung tutuusin, masasabing

maraming mamimili rin ang nakikinabang

sa tuwing bumababa ang presyo ng mga

pangunahing bilihin. . Magandang balita

rin ito para sa mga namumuhunan sapag-

kat ayon sa gobernador ng Bangko Sen-

tral ng Pilipinas (BSP) na si Amando

Tetangco, ang implasyon ay nagbigay ng

pagkakataon na mas mapababa pa ang

interest rates ng gastos sa paghiram ng

pera o borrowing costs. Sa katunayan,

BSP ay bababaan pa ang kanilang mone-

tary settings ng hindi bababa sa 25 na

puntos na siyang magbababa naman sa

kanilang overnight borrowing rate ng 6%

at lending rate ng 4%.

Subalit, ang sobrang babang

implasyon ay hindi rin masyadong naka-

bubuti para sa bansa. Sang-ayon ito sa

pahayag ni Cielito Habito, dating Na-

tional Economic and Development Au-

thority (NEDA) director general at kasa-

lukuyang direktor ng Ateneo Center for

Economic Research and Development, na

sinabing ang pangyayaring ito ay indikas-

yon ng pagbaba ng demand sa pagkon-

sumo ng maraming Pilipino. Nakikini-

kinita rin ni Habito na sa mga susunod na

mga buwan ay muling tataas ang implas-

yon lalo pa‘t unti-unti na namang tu-

mataas ang presyo ng petrolyo sa pan-

daigdigang merkado at malapit na rin ang

lean months para sa agrikultura, lalo na sa

produktong bigas.

Sang-ayon din sa bagay na ito si Benja-

min Diokno, dating Budget Secretary at

ekonomista mula sa University of the

Philippines. Ayon sa kanya, tataas muli

ang implasyon matapos maka-ahon sa

pagkalugmok ang pandaigdigang ekono-

miya. At isa rin sa mga nakikita niyang

dahilan nito ay ang pagtaas ng mga pro-

duktong petrolyo. Nakikita rin niyang

maaaring magkaroon muli ng krisis sa

pagkain sa panahong iyon.

Sa puntong ito, kung tata-

nungin mo naman sa partidong Kilusang

Mayo Uno (KMU) ukol sa epekto ng

pagbaba ng implasyon sa ordinaryong

Pilipino, masasabing ang datos ng NSO

ay nakakalinlang. Ayon kay Roger Soluta,

deputy secretary-general ng KMU, wala

namang pagbaba sa pangkalahatang pre-

syo ng mga bilihin sa mga nagdaang taon.

Inilahad din niya na lumabas sa IBON

Foundation survey na karamihan sa mga

kababayan natin ay hirap bumili ng sapat

na pagkain at serbisyo ng tranportasyon.

Nananatili rin diumano, ang presyo ng

isang kilo ng bigas na nagkakahalagang

P35 hanggang P40, sa kabilang banda,

ang presyo naman ng baboy at gulay ay

walang pagbabago. Isa pang punto ni Soluta

ay ang hindi pagkumpara ng NSO sa antas

ng sweldo ng mga mamamayan at sa porsi-

yento ng implasyon sa buwanang report

nito.

Ang mga pahayag na ito ng KMU ay suma-

salamin din sa bagong sarbey ng Social

Weather Stations (SWS) na inilabas noong

ika-4 ng Agosto. Ayon dito, ang median

poverty threshold (o ang buwanang badyet

na kailangan ng mga mahihirap na pamilya

upang masabing hindi sila mahirap) ng mga

mahihirap na pamilya sa Metro Manila ay

nanatili sa P10,000, na hindi nagbago simula

Setyembre ng 2007, at tila hindi naapektu-

han ng pagbaba ng implasyon. Indikasyon

na mas bumaba pa ang antas ng pamumuhay

ng mga Pilipino. Sa kabuuan, lumabas sa

naturang sarbey na patuloy na naghihigpit

ng sinturon ang karamihan sa mga Pinoy sa

kabila nang patuloy na pagbaba ng mga

bilihin.

Sa yugtong ito, masasabing

maraming nakikinabang sa pagbabang ito ng

implasyon sa bansa lalo na sa ating lahat na

mga mamimili. Sinasabing maganda rin ito

para sa ekonomiya ng bansa, sapagkat mas

maraming maeengganyong mamuhunan

dulot ng mabababang interest rates na ib-

inibigay ng mga bangko. Ngunit, ang maba-

bang presyong ating tinatamasa sa ngayon

ay nagbabadya rin naman ng masamang

ibubunga sa ating ekonomiya sa kalaunan.

Isa na rito ay ang mas lalong pagtaas pa ng

mga bilihin sa mga susunod na buwan dulot

ng paglakas ng pandaigdigang ekonomiya at

pagtaas ng presyo ng langis, na isa sa mga

pangunahing raw materials ng karamihan sa

mga produkto. Ang napipintong pagtaas

porsiyento ng implasyon sa mga susunod na

buwan ay maaari ring sanhi ng pagdami ng

perang imiikot sa loob ng bansa dulot ng

labis ng pagpapa-utang ng mga bangko.

Kung iisipin, maaaring ang pag-

baba ng presyo ng mga bilihin ay indikas-

yon pala ng pagtamlay ng ekonomiya dulot

ng sobrang konti ng demand, sanhi ng labis

na pagtitipid ng mga Pinoy, na kasabay na-

man ng pagdami ng suplay ng mga bilihing

ito. At sa panig naman ng mga prodyuser,

mas pinipili na lamang nilang bawasan ang

presyo ng kanilang mga produkto upang

maging mabili ito.

Kung ang mga ito lang din pala

ang mapapala nating mga mamamayan sa

sobrang babang inflation rate na ating tina-

tamasa sa ngayon, ikagagalak ba natin ito?

At kung bumaba nga ang presyo ng ating

mga bilihin, naramdaman naman kaya natin

ito? -Ronamil Portes

Pinakamababa sa Loob ng 22 Taon: 1.5% Inflation Rate, Ramdam nga ba ng Pinoy?

P A G E 1 0

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

Ma. Cara Myrrh F. Santos

Dec 1, 1989

President If you were a term used

in economics, what

would it be and why?

Pareto Improvement. I try to make myself better off

without making other people worse off. I can

achieve my goals and be

successful without step-ping into other people‘s

dream.

Paolo Roces

June 26, 1987

VP for External Affairs

If you were a term

used in economics,

what would it be and

why?

Tax because I generate

what is needed

Inna Camille V.

Villanueva

Oct 14 1989

VP for Promotions &

Communications

Elastic. As a modern day

economist, I could mas-

ter the art of balancing my academics & extra-

curricular activities

Sandra G. Osoteo

Nov. 4, 1989

VP for Internal Affairs

If you were a term used

in economics, what

would it be and why?

Economics because as an

individual, I try to allo-

cate my scarce resources in an efficient way.

Caroline Mae C. Uy

Sept. 2, 1989 VP for Treasury

Public good because I

serve my fellow ECOSOC members non-

exclusively and I view things evenly. Every one

can approach me if they

need my help when ever

they need me.

evenly.

Judith Ann M. Esguerra

Jan. 13, 1989

Wits Circle Directress

AUTOCORRELA-TION, my accomplish-

ments, failures are esca-

lated through my con-

nections of the people

around me. I like to

influence others.

Ara Mae S. Sandoval

May 11, 1989

VP for Administrative Affairs

Marginal utility because

I derived additional

satisfaction or make

sure that my well-being

increases in all my ac-

tivities.

Jayson C. Rupa

Apr. 13, 1989

VP for Internal Audit

Subsidy. Being a sub-

sidy is somewhat re-

lated to charity for I am

willing to give and

share what I have in

excess without asking for something in return.

Fidez Angelica T. Men-

doza

Oct. 29, 1989 Socio Apostolate Direc-

tress

Invisible be and because even without government

intervention, the market still manage to operate.

Furthermore, I can help

people without them knowing it and I do it

without asking for any-thing in return.

Ma. Aufel S. Geronimo

July 19, 1989

Socio Apostolate Direc-

tress

Intermediate good, be-

cause I am the type of

person who always

makes use of my good

values as a means of

bringing out the best out

of my relatives &

friends.

P A G E 1 1 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Ma. Fides Gamit

Aug. 16, 1989

Social Events Directress

Elastic because I could

easily adjust to a differ-

ent situations that are

coming in my life. Many

difficult challenges could

occur yet I know that I

can surpass that trials.

Monique Temarie D.

Policarpio

Dec. 1, 1989 Powertalks Directress

Autarky because I can

survive or continue ac-

tivities without external

assistance. I‘m independ-

ent and can accomplish

things without the help

of others.

Sherilyn L. Lui

Feb. 9, 1989

Wits Circle Directress

Equilibrium because I

want to balance all

things, especially now

that I‘m a student

leader, I want to bal-

ance my academics and

organization.

Sheila Mae Naghisa L.

Amorsolo

October 23, 1988

Socio-Cultural

Economies of scale- I‘m a hardworking person

and I always look for

excellence. Whenever I work, I always make sure

that the output of my work will surpass the

effort I exert.

Jeffrey S. Gelie

Sept. 14, 1989 Sports Director

Positive externalities

because by being a role

model I can affect oth-

ers by being a good

influence.

S

Steven Josh Unite

January 27, 1990

Social Events Director

Comlementary Good

because I hate being

lone and I am more

efficient when working

as a team.

Jolan M. Magbojos October, 28, 1989

Socio Cultural Director

Equilibrium. I‘m an

extreme believer of

balance.

Angelo B. Meija

March 1, 1989

Sports Director

Elasticity. I am very

responsive to changes. I

tend to adapt to these

changes fast. School

works, peers and extra-

curricular activities?

Bring it on!

Luigi Anton E. Gavino

March 1, 1990 Ways and means di

rector

Giffen good because as

my price increases, my

demand increases. I am

an exemption to the

rule.

Lorezze B. Antenor

Mar. 1, 1989

Powertalks Directress

Inelastic because it‘s

really difficult for me to

adjust or adapt to

changes, particularly

environmental changes

and even when attitudes

of people around me

change.

TURN ON PAGE 14

P A G E 1 2

Hazel Allam: On Commuter’s odyssey

Lucy Philosophy: On Equity and Fairness

Equity and Fairness.

That is two of the countless

terms that revolves around on

our so-called ―econ world‖.

But do we really perceive the

true essence of equity and

fairness today? Recently, the

Philippines was struck by the

news that Her Excellency

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

and her entourage dined out

at an expensive restaurants;

Le Cirque and Bobby Van‘s

Steakhouse. The said dinner

amounted to a whopping

$20,000 and $15,000, respec-

tively! This news initiated

the Filipinos‘ outrage. I see

that there is no reason to

blame the people for having

this reaction. We all have the

right to be mad if the money

used to pay the lavish dinner

was from the money of the

Filipino people. Imagine, the

amount of money paid for the

said dinner could be into pro-

jects that would benefit more

people. Funny it may seems

that conscience did not even

bother the hearts of the presi-

dent and the other govern-

ment officials during their fes-

tive dinner or maybe it is evi-

dence that they do not have

one: Conscience and a heart.

They did not even care to think

of their constituents, the people

who voted for them to be in

there present position, the peo-

ple who worked hard to earn

money for the sake of having

something to eat. Even if Pres.

Arroyo and her entourage paid

for the dinner out of their own

pocket, a little delicadeza

would have been called for in

these times of economic woes.

This is one of the few things

that made me wonder and look

for the quintessence of equity

and fairness. Because of the

fact that I‘m sharing my opin-

ion regarding equity and fair-

ness then let me be fair of tell-

ing the other side of story. Ac-

cording to Press Secretary

Cerge Remonde, all the news

regarding the dinner was a

―gross exaggeration‖ only. He

also stressed that ―not a single

centavo of taxpayers‘ money‖

was used to pay for the dinner.

He said Leyte Rep. Ferdinand

Martin Romualdez was the one

who hosted and paid for it. Af-

ter taking both sides of the

story, do we the Filipinos de-

serve the truth? Yes. Definitely,

we all deserve a straightforward

answer from Her Excellency

and her government officials.

We all deserve the truth, or else

we would be all left out in

search for what is the truth and

then another issue would come

out and then the PGMA‘s mil-

lion dollar dinner would be

erase in the Philippine history.

It is given, an exogenous fact

that politics cannot be equated

with equity and fairness. Re-

gardlesss of this issue, I still do

believe that there is still equity

and fairness in this world it is

just that there is something that

hinders it: greed, greed for

money, greed for power and all

sorts of greed.

***It is not the liability of the

masses that they are in the dark;

it is for the reason that the

enlightened ones didn't care

enough to share the light.

nately caught for violation

which I am not familiar of.

Disgusted by the congestion

on road but more disap-

pointed with the cops or

traffic enforcer dispersed on

streets. These individuals

were trying to pretend that

they are doing their as-

signed task but actually,

exercising distortion or

more popularly known as

‗kotong‘ (no offense meant

to those who have parents

or relatives of such, I am

not generalizing all). This

event is part of the lives of

people and throbbing most

specially to drivers, opera-

tors and owners of

Early morning, as I

am off to road, I noticed

some disruption. There are

men in gray talking to some

drivers of private and public

vehicles. I guess they are

caught for traffic violation.

In everyday that I commute

along Marcos Highway, I

observed that there are a

number of times, the FX or

jeep I rode in was unfortu-

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

Equilibrium Editorial Staff

Lucette Grace O. Gotinga

Editor-in-Chief

Hazel Allam

Associate Editor

Monette T. Gan

Managing Editor

Ronamil Portes

Sandra G. Osoteo

Features Editors

Joanna Therese Lopez

Kai Lyndel Rabang

Literary Editors

Stacy Jane Baldovino

Layout Artist

Marvin Reglos

Head Photographer

Isabelle Louise Burac

Karen Vidar

Kristine April B. Vergara

Photographers

Christian Joseph Lacia

Marinelle Marron

Artists

Jason Kristopher Comia

Shalom S. Makasiar

Kristine Distor

Writers

James Raymond Ngo

Rolando R. Santos Jr.

Contributors

P A G E 1 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

public utility vehicles. After the driver

conversed with the „kotong cop‟, a pas-

senger asked how much he has given and

the dismayed driver answered with bad

mouthing. Another passenger would

say,”pang meryenda n‟ya lang yun”. I

can‘t blame the driver for he earns

enough or sometimes insufficient to feed

his family and then a greedy enforcer

would just take away such amount. It‘s

like being a thief but in a more mannered

way, taking your money without your

consent. In situation like this, we can‘t

do anything right? How poor. Reporting

to police or exposing it to media may be

helpful but after several days, back to the

same old thing. Even the so called

‗barkers‘ are sometimes pain in the neck to

drivers and have causal relationship with

this scenario. I pity the drivers who are

dying to get passengers and driving hard

on the road and eventually a barker, would

just reduce their boundary. The small

amount mean a lot even if it‘s “barya

lang‖. Being a barker is a noble work but

their image is continuously tarnished by

some who took advantage of it. A few even

ask for large amount where in fact their job

is to get the attention of passengers, a mere

less intensive work compared to driver.

This only shows how poor our system is

and that it is hard for us to eradicate such

problems. The plight of every Filipino

like higher unemployment, poverty, and

malnutrition is undeniably still unre-

solved. We may not be in politics to pro-

pose a reform or pass a bill but discipline

on our selves is what we need. Let‘s all

be vigilant and look for probable solu-

tion to ensure the public‘s safety. We all

live under the same roof. Be involved.

Be a solution, not an additional problem.

of education, affordability of education

and government budget for education.

Every year, there is a rampant

increase on the number of students that

are forced to transfer from private school

into a public school due to financial cri-

sis that most people are experiencing

especially because of the yearly increase

in tuition fees. About 95 percent of all

elementary students are attending in pub-

lic schools. The educational crisis in the

Philippines is basically a crisis of quality

of education in public schools. How

could a public education system provide

a quality education to their students if

the ratio of teacher to student is 1:60 but

the ideal ratio is one (1) teacher is to

twenty-five (25) students?

The Department of

Education (DepEd) receives the highest

proportion of the budget from the gov-

ernment for them to provide a good edu-

cation and to guarantee that teaching will

attract and retain its rightful share of the

best available talents through sufficient

compensation and other means of job

satisfaction and fulfillment. Still, why is

it that students from public schools are

experiencing of the lack of rooms, chairs,

tables and books? Due to lack of rooms,

many classes are held at a multi-purpose

covered court with partitions where four to

five classes are ongoing. With this incom-

petency, the result is that children cannot

cope up with their lesson and being left

behind which should not be the case be-

cause our government should do something

about this.

The economic development of a

nation is a function of the quality of its

education. In which, the more and better

educated a person is, the higher the

chances for a country to achieve an eco-

nomic development. In addition to that,

with proper education, it will serves as the

means to bring about the desired change in

society, to develop a generation of upright

individuals and thus contribute to the de-

velopment of good human beings. Having

many skilled laborers in our country, it will

be a great help for us to achieve an eco-

nomic growth as well and surpass the eco-

nomic crisis that our country is facing up.

“Education is important for the

youths, as youth is the hope of our

nation.”

Education is very important for us to gain knowledge, inculcate the

forms of right conduct and obtain

technical skills. This serves as our way

to develop oneself physically, psycho-

logically and socially. Attaining a

quality education is a custom design

that addresses the unique abilities of

each student and has a positive emo-

tional experience.

According to the Constitution, the

State should protect and promote the

right of all citizens to quality educa-

tion at all levels and to take every

means to make possible that education

is available to all. However, our coun-

try cannot suffice both the quantity

and quality of education that is why

quality of education is being compro-

mised for quantity. Today, according

to the education statistics, for every

ten (10) children who start their pri-

mary education, only six (6) are fortu-

nate enough to continue with their

secondary education and only four (4)

can manage to pursue into college. I

think the most important issues that

our government must give more atten-

tion into are the following: the quality

Monette Gan: On Quantity VS. Quality for Education

P A G E 1 4

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

Rose Z. Cruz

March 19, 1989

Promotions and Ad-vertising Directress

Sin Tax. I‘ll always be

a barrier against alco-

hol and cigarette

Lucette O. Gotinga Dec. 13, 1988

Equilibrium Editor-in-Chief

Homoskedastic which means constant variance.

I homoskedastic in a sense that I firmly be-

lieve on what is right.

In every task that I do, I always commit my full-

est effort on it “parang kung ano ang sinimulan

ko, tatapusin ko”.

Ma. Fee Kristine S.

Hung

Nov. 23, 1987

JPES Internal Direc-tress

Trade Bloc because

interaction with differ-

ent personalities is one

of my interests. I prefer

to work in a team for

it's more fun

Irish Rosanne M.

Pullante

Philces Directress

Structural Instability

because there are many

significant changes that

always happen in my

life.

Abby Cabatay

June 7, 1990

JPES-Executive Vice

President

Optimal because I‘m

the type of person who

strives to seek the

most desirable and

favorable outcome in

every situation.

Through dividends declared by the company

Dividends are paid out to shareholders, representing earnings of the company that is not going to be reinvested in their busi-

ness. There are two types of dividends that can be given by companies: cash and stock dividends.

Cash dividend is the earnings for every share of stock declared by the company. So, if the company declares a dividend of 25 centavos per share, a stockholder with 10,000 shares will receive a cash dividend of Php2,500.00 (Php0.25 x 10,000) in

cash.

Stock dividends are additional shares given to shareholders at no cost. If the company declares a 25 percent stock divi-

dend, a stockholder with 10,000 shares will be entitled to an additional 2,500 shares of stock. These shares can also be sold

anytime after the shares have been issued.

HOW CAN I CONTACT THE PSE?

If you would like to know more about the stock market and the Philippine Stock Exchange, you may visit or

call the PSE Public and Investor Relations Section at the G/F PSE Centre, Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig

City or through the PSE trunkline (632) 688-7600.

You may also fax your queries at (632) 637-8818 or email to pirs@pse.com.ph.

Orientation tours, free seminars, and visits to the PSE may be arranged by calling the Market Education Department at (632)

688-7537 to 39 or email marketeducation@pse.com.ph. Exchange visits are accommodated daily with prior arrangements.

BUILDING WEALTH, CONT. of PAGE 8

CHIZMISAN: An Economic Forum on Social Transformation

P A G E 1 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

In the midst of the coun-

try‘s political disturbance, one

prominent person stood up and voice

-out the youth‘s participation for our

country‘s betterment. This is none

other than Sen. Francis ―Chiz‖ Es-

cudero.

It was on the 8th of July when he held his forum at his Alma mater, U.P

Diliman.

As regards to this, he tackled out the

9-point agenda concerning not only

the political issue but also the social

and environmental issues. These are

corruption, investments, education,

health services, social safety nets,

environmental sustainability, job

opportunities & competitive advan-

tage, and Nationalism.

To give you some ideas

about these, here are some points that

have been discussed.

Corruption:

According to Sen. Escudero, this is

the byproduct of bad governance. As

a matter of fact, there‘s an estimated

value of Php 400 Billion gone in our

national budget on account of cor-

ruption. Half of which came from the BIR, a quarter from the Bureau of

Customs, and the rest is from the

other government sectors.

How can we erase this?

Here some solutions as suggested by

Sen. Escudero:

First, Increase the salaries of the

government officials. People in pub-

lic service will tend to be less cor-

rupt if they are satisfied with what

they gain.

Second, put first the public offi-

cials that are corrupt. We should

never give special privileges to our

officials once they‘re proven

guilty. This could become a warn-ing to those who wants to follow

their footsteps.

Third, Increase of accountability

and transparency. Whoever is in

the position, his projects must be

observed by the public and not just

mere promises alone.

Fourth, know the functions of the

agency that has discretions. We

should know the core of problem

so the rest won‘t be taken for

granted as the like.

And lastly, establish a corrupt-

free area in the government. If

each district here in our country

will be like this, then Philippines

as-a-whole would be a corrupt-free

country.

Investments:

Government neglect to invest in

some necessary assets of ours.

Amidst of this is the education. It‘s even written in our own constitu-

tion that education should have the

biggest allocation of our national

budget. If you‘ll ask, why do we

still have poor quality education

knowing this fact? It simply be-

cause the government includes

some what-they-call education-

related investments that really must

be under to other expenses.

Another one will be the agrarian

sector. Looking back, Philippines

was one of the major exporters of

rice. But now, we‘re one of the ma-

jor importers. The government

tends to invest more on road pro-jects rather than the irrigation

needed. Our senator said, ―Ang

magsasaka, sa bawat tubig na du-

madaan sa kanyang irigasyon, ay

nagbabayad ng mahal. Pero ang

isang mayamang tao kapag guma-

mit ng kalsada, wala siyang bina-

bayaran.‖ This shows the irony of

it.

Nationalism:

Jose Rizal once said, ―Ang ka-

bataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.‖ But

to our dear senator, this is not the

way it should be. Because if we say

the word ―pag-asa‖, we are refer-

ring to a future time, a specific

place, an individual who‘s still

needed to be honed.

Rather than saying this, we should

say that ―Ang Kabataan dapat

maaasahan ng bayan.‖

Our role as youth should be played not tomorrow but rather now. We

play an important role to the soci-

ety. As future movers of this coun-

try, we have the task to build a bet-

ter nation as a gift for next genera-

tion to be.—Kris Comia

P A G E 1 6

Breakaway: Take the Chance. Dare to Stand Out. The 2009

Mr.and Ms. Ideal Thomasian Economist Pageant Hazel Allam, Monette Gan, Lucette Gotinga

Last September 3, 2009, the eco-

nomics students have witnessed

the true epitome of beauty,

brains and talents in the recently

held Mr. and Ms. Ideal Thoma-

sian Economist. This year‘s pag-

eant theme is ―Breakaway:

Take a Chance. Dare to Stand

Out‖. The contestants aston-

ished the crowd with their

dazzling casual and corporate

attire. They also showcased

their exemplary talents. Mr.

Franz Erik Mangalindan of

3E1 and Ms. Jansennia Marie

Mecayer of 3E1 were awarded

as the Mr. and Ms. Talent. The

Best in Casual Wear title goes to

Ms. Jezzelene Ferrer of 3E3 and

Mr. John Martin Villarama of

3E4. Mr. John Martin Villarama

of 3E4 and Ms. Djana Kashmere

Herrero of 4E2 were crowned as

the 2009 Mr. and Ms. Ideal

Thomasian Economist. Mr. Luigi

Gavino of 4E3 and Ms. Joanne

Paula Laguna of 3E4 took the

first runners-up position. Mr.

Aldrin Atienza of 4E4 and Ms.

Jansennia Marie Mecayer of 3E1

were proclaimed as the second

runners-up. The winners of the

Mr. and Ms. Ideal Thomasian

Economist would represent the

Economics Department for the

2009 Mr. and Ms. Commerce

Personality. Let‘s get to know

more of our newly-crowned Mr.

and Ms. Ideal Thomasian Econo-

mist.

1. What were your preparations for

the Mr. and Ms. Ideal Thomasian

Economist?

DJANA: I had lots of practice

para di mapahiya and also I was

busy looking for clothes to wear

JOHN: Practice, particularly for

talent portion and also avoiding

‗pagpupuyat‟

2. Did you expect that you are

going to win the Mr. and Ms. Ideal Thomasian Economist title?

D: No! No! I never expect it.

Seryoso. But it was a fun experi-

ence. Fourth year na rin eh, so

when I was voted by my class, I

agreed.

J: I also didn‘t expect it kasi I was

chosen so di na ako tumanggi.

Ayun, I was there to enjoy and in-

deed, I was very happy.

3. Now that you were crowned as

Mr. and Ms. Economics, how

could you prove to others that you

deserve the title?

D: I guess, kung may makakaki ta

sa „kin or tatanungin ako about

Eco, I could explain it in layman‘s

term. Parang di lang pang-

pageant… kundi nasa ‟yo ang

Econ spirit.

J: Knowing Eco mahirap na

major, parang nakuha pang ila-

gay sa priorities. Biglaan kasi yung pagkapili so saglit lang

kaya todo prepare. parang andun

yung fact na despite the busy

sched e kaya pa ding magpar-

ticipate sa mga extra-

curricular activities.

4. As the Mr. and Ms. Eco-

nomics, how will you set as a

good example to your fellow

ekonomistas?

D: By being balanced in eve-

rything and by applying in life

what I have learned. Di naman

kailangang sobrang active

basta isapuso yung pagiging eco.

J: Through my actions, yung

mentality na positive lagi and

grabbing the opportunity ‗cause

you‘re learning something new

that you benefit or that will pay-

off in the long run.

5. What are your preparations for

the Mr. and Ms. Commerce Per-

sonality?

D: By trying to prepare emotion-

ally and financially. I devote my

time rehearsing and also re-searching some questions, proper

posture and techniques used in

pageants.

J: Practice din because this is a

bigger stage kasi MMCP na yung

pinag-lalabanan e and time ta-

laga for the pageant..

*In the recently held Mr. Ms.

Commerce Personality Pageant,

Ms. Herrero was rowned as the

new Ms. Commerce Personality

while Mr. Villarama won as the

Mr. Commerce 1st Runner-up

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

4E2 hailed as the Interclass Debate Champion!

P A G E 1 7 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

The Economics Society

held its interclass debate entitled

―Pros E-Cons: The Interclass

Tournament 2009‖. Different

teams vied for the prestigious

title for being the best debate

team. Among the debate teams,

the 4E2 team emerges as the

tournament champion followed

by teams from 4e4 and 4e3. The

4E2 debate team members are

Mr. Joseph Daniel Quinitio as

the Prime Minister, Mr. Rich-

mond Lawrence Yu as the Dep-

uty and Ms. Marianne Eguia as

the Whip.

Mr. Quinitio was a first-

time debater in the team. He

underwent training with Ms.

Erika Nicolas, the Commerce

Parliament Intermediate Past

Prime Minister. He‘s usual

preparation for debate is by stay-

ing cool and just doing normal

stuff that he does. He admitted

that he feels jitters and his hands

get cold at the start of the debate

but very relieved after the event.

The chemistry of argument-

supplemented by each other is

their edge over the other team, as

what he believes. Perhaps, being

a first-timer, he‘s really amazed

the way their team handles the

debate.

Ms. Eguia is the current

Auditor of the Commerce Parlia-

ment. She‘s also a participant in

last year‘s Eco inter-class debate

together with Mr. Yu and bagged

2nd place. Ms. Eguia whose

ideas are continuously flowing

once the floor is given to her, is

an asset in their team according

to one of her co-member. Her

being goal-oriented and competi-

tive boosts the team‘s confi-

dence. She advises aspiring de-

baters to be informed of the cur-

rent news, be trained and also to

―join COMPAR!‖

On the other hand, Mr.

Yu is very persevering since he

want to do his best compared to

his last year‘s performance.

According to him, their strategy

is that the first speaker co-

integrates with the second

speaker, intensive brainstorming,

coordination and organization of

thoughts.

Their strength as a team is that

Mr. Yu and Ms. Eguia is very

well experienced in debate while

Mr. Quinitio is a promising de-

bater.

Best Debate Speakers

Albert Gozon (4E1)

Marianne Eguia (4E2)

Richmond Yu (4E2)

Andrea Aguilar (4E3) Monsour Saguimo (4E3)

Jennifer Young (4E4)

Bianca Balajoro (3E1)

April Maligayo (3E4)

Lenard Sumalde (3E4)

Daniel King (3E5)

Debate Team Winners

Champion: 4E2

1st Runner-Up: 4E4

2nd Runner-Up: 4E3

CONGRATULATIONS

P A G E 1 8

THE IMPACT OF MIGRANT

REMITTANCES ON CONSUMPTION, INVESTMENTS AND IMPORTS: A PHILIPPINE PERSPECTIVE

Don Pietro Azurin, Vanessa Jacob,

Primo Bernardo, MBA

Abstract

Philippine labor migration has been saving

the country‘s economy for

many years. Consequent to

a continuous outflow of migrants was the rising tide

of remittances, which

reached historic highs in 2006. To date, Overseas

Filipino Worker (OFW)

Remittances have surpassed levels of Official Develop-

ment Assistance and For-

eign Direct Investment to

the Philippines. Compensa-tion from aboard believed

to boost income of the re-

ceiving household, there-fore a potential tool for de-

velopment. The re-

searcher‘s primary objec-tive was to determine if re-

mittances were significant

in explaining movements in

domestic consumption, in-vestments and imports.

Supporting this objective

was the extraction of Short-Run Marginal Propensity to

Consume (MPC), Marginal

Propensity to Invest (MPI)

and Marginal Propensity to Import (MPM). These three

figures quantitatively meas-

ured the potential increase in the three dependent vari-

ables, resulting from a unit

increase in remittances.

From these results the re-searchers were able to sug-

gest policies aimed at maxi-

mizing the use of remit-tances for the welfare of

migrants and their families.

The separate mod-els for consumption, invest-

ments, and imports were

employed for this study. The research work by Glyt-

sos (2005), in which remit-

tance behaviors of five Mediterranean countries

were evaluated, served as

our main reference. The

study drew theoretical foun-dations from the consump-

tion theory of Keynes, trade

cycle theory of Duesen-berry, and the life cycle

hypothesis of Ando and

Modigliani.

Regression analysis

revealed that all of the mod-

els performed according to the theoretical assumptions

and migrant remittances

indeed play a significant part in explaining the

changes in domestic con-

sumption, investments and

imports. This conclusion was supported by the t-test

of each explanatory vari-

able. Furthermore, the re-sults by the F-test for each

model showed that the three

models are indeed signifi-

cant. The high coefficients of the multiple determina-

tion confirmed that vari-

ances in consumption, in-vestments, and imports can

be explained by the set of

explanatory variables per

model having 24 observa-tions. The original regres-

sion outputs contained auto-

correlation and multicollin-earity problems. These were

cleared after adding vari-

able AR (-1).

The researchers

were also able to arrive at

the conclusion that most remittances were utilized

for importation. Though

importation boosted domes-tic consumption, this remit-

tance spending behavior

had resulted to a relatively small impact to the domes-

tic economy, as indicated

by a multiplier of 1.005.

Keywords: Migrant Remit-

tances, Consumption, In-

vestments, Imports *Awarded as The Best Thesis

for Academic Year 2007-2008

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

T H E S I S

A B S T R A C T

P A G E 1 9

Economizing love By: Kristine Distor

Some forefathers of Econom-

ics once said that humans are in-

herently pleasure seeking beings.

Humans are in constant search of

satisfaction. They always looked

for things that could somehow re-

dress their present needs and wants. Ceteris paribus, can we also

say that, aside from God‘s, humans

aren‘t capable of unconditional

love?

Economics is a social science. It is

a study of ‗people‘. If so, theories,

models, principles and laws of eco-

nomics are therefore mere reflec-

tions of human behavior.

For instance, the Law of Diminish-

ing Marginal Utility states that, in

a specific time period, each buyer of a product will drive less satis-

faction from each successive unit

of the product consumed. Could

this law also be a justification why

people, to some extent or to some

point in time, be polygamous? Can

this explain why a husband can

sometime tend to look for other

viand other than what is laid in the

table? Or can it be just the same

with when you keep on having the

same response from a person over

and over again, after you‘ve done

everything from him or her?

Consumers will buy additional units, if and only if, the price of

those units is progressively re-

duced. Can this explain why there

are ‗martyr‘ wives or husbands?

To some extent, can you really

blame them? If yes, why so? Isn‘t

it human nature?

Just like the demand curve, price is

just one factor; there are also non-

price factors or determinants of

demands that affect the position of the curve. It is just the same as

there are other factors that affect

the behavior of a person regarding

the matters of the heart. As cos-

tumer tastes and preference and

income affects the demand curve,

so as morality and culture affects

human nature. These create the

―police effect‖.

So, are humans capable of uncon-

ditional love? I‘d say, YES. Each

of us is intended and designed for another being. Just like demand

wouldn‘t have something to de-

mand for if there‘s no supply. And

that, somewhere, somehow along

the curve and man‘s journey is

equilibrium.

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0

Mga batang pagod sa pagtatra-

baho, Tila sawa na sa kanilang estado. Nais sanang baguhin ang kapala-

ran, Ngunit pinipigilan ng kapalaran.

Ito ang sakit na hindi magagamot kung ang tao‘y patuloy na maka-

lilimot sa masamang bunga ng pangun-

gurakot.

Hangga‘t pansariling kaligaya-han ang inuuna,

Hindi makababangon ang ating

ekonomiya.

Gulong

Sa aking pagbaybay sa kalsada ng

Tayuman, Ako‘y nakakita ng mga batang

nag-uunahan. Sa una‘y aakalain mong nagtatak-

buhan, Iyon pala‘y naghahanap ng pag-

kakakitaan.

Sa aking pagsakay sa dyip papun-

tang España, Ako‘y nasabik sa pagpasok sa

eskuwela. Ngunit kasabika‘y unti-unting

naglaho, Imahe sa aking isipa‘y biglang

nagbago.

Worn out

Joanna Therese R. Lopez

I am the only one

Whom you will love

Through eternity

It is not meant to be

Plans were made

All gone, swept away

Who made this happen?

It is hard to say

Time is never enough

To heal the wounds

You let me go

I move along

Sorry, we said

Still we accept

Pain is what we feel

Everything is surreal

Letting hearts go

Is never easy

You love more

Quite before

It is time to go

I will let go

Hard I know

I have to do so

TO THINK THE WHITE DOESN’T FADE By Kai Rabang To think the white doesn't fade,

the purest and the brightest

And everything else lessens--

everything else, except these memories of you

To think the stars shine forever,

hanging up there, out there, highlighting the universe

And everything else become inferior of the night--

everything else, but your tantalized eyes

To think these winds untiringly dance around me,

bumping into my shoulders, whirling around my hair

Carefree, almost

And everything else becomes numb of me--

everything else, but your stinging glances.

To think the gods care about my being,

showering blessings over my head,

granting finite pages of my so-called life

Everything else is non-sense to me apart from your existence

To think these steady drops of rain make my lips frozen

And everything else share their warmth with me, but you

P A G E 2 0

E Q U I L I B R I U M 0 9 1 0