Moody's Report

Moody's has released a report on Philippine power sector reform.

Durians Are IN Season

Let's all head down to Magsaysay Park in Davao.

Journalism

"Journalism is not a thing, it is an act," says Jeff Jarvis in this piece.

Its component pieces are, he says:

• Witnessing
• Asking
• Editing
• Commenting
• Distributing

Hey! Sounds familiar to me.

USAID Country Strategy Moro-moro

With all the dancing around and mumbo-jumbo here, it all boils down to this (Angelo de la Cruz).

USAID dollars are not predicated on need. USAID's Philippines Strategy document is just moro-moro.

Indonesia Quake

Eyeballing the Indonesia Earthquake 29Mar05.

Whoa

Less than 24 hours after my paean to Manuel Quezon III, he's outed as an editorial writer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Blok M

Via FriscoDude. Jakarta's Blok M on the southside. Here's a little insight into part of the nightlife in the the capitol city of the worlds most populous Muslim nation.

Just How Cool is This?

Via John Robb, regarding use of corporate weblogging by the Commander US Strategic Command, USMC:

“The metric is what the person has to contribute, not the person’s rank, age, or level of experience. If they have the answer, I want the answer.

When I post a question on my blog, I expect the person with the answer to post back. I do not expect the person with the answer to run it through you, your OIC, the branch chief, the exec, the Division Chief and then get the garbled answer back before he or she posts it for me.

The Napoleonic Code and Netcentric Collaboration cannot exist in the same space and time.

It’s YOUR job to make sure I get my answers and then if they get it wrong or they could have got it righter, then you guide them toward a better way…but do not get in their way.”

JAMES E. CARTWRIGHT
General, USMC
Commander, USSTRATCOM

The Philippines are or is?

Manolo Quezon is quite simply a national treasure. I remember listening to his TV color commentary during Gloria's inaugural in Cebu and thinking "no one else has the capacity to bring these observations to light."

The combination of his sense of history and access to history and passion about history produces timeless commentary.

Exempla gratis.

Folley and Tokenism

The U.P. Eleven boldly cut through the crap, reminding us that a simple increase in VAT rate, althought not social engineering will stave off a fiscal crisis. See Economy on the Cusp. Excellent paper.

But my anarchist proclivities keep whispering in my ear that such a fiscal crisis has the potential of disrupting the current treadmill where the rich get richer and poor get poorer. Guess who has the most at stake in staving off such a crisis?

One Heck of a Rant

over on Slashdot...

"Personally, I don't have a problem with the security thing. It's just for the police, and I personally don't have anything to hide from them."

A responder slips into an ad hominem attack with

"I won't sugar-coat it: you're an ignorant idiot"

but does include a justifiable

"read the fucking history of your own fucking country."

Two USAID Consultants in a Bar

Ok, Ok, Hugh calls them "advertising folk" ...
Hey!

The State of US Intelligence

Here is the "secret report" that Stephen Young, US Ambassador to Kyrgyz Republic, sent from Bishkek on December 30, 2004.

My biggest surprise is his atrocious proclivity towards improper sentence construction. I understand we can't teach all kids to write properly - but how they reach Ambassador level without that skill amazes me.

The empire is indeed stretched thin.

Warp Factor 9

The Energy Regulatory Commission is moving at Warp speed toward institutionalizing the restructuring strong-armed by the ADB and WB with USAID complicity collaboration (including to a small extent yours truly).

A tip of the hat to all the Philippine nationals in the trenches that are trying to keep up and contribute to vetting the massive changes being proposed. At least I hope there's a credible vetting process going on.

Wobbly Night Table

New (and unfinished) books on the nightable:

• Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
• The Reformation: A History
• The Naked Corporation - How the Age of Transparency Will Revolutionize Business
  

Sili Labuyo

Check out the totally excellent food blog at Market Manila. Here he talks about preparing sili suka but first you've got to read his diatribe on sili labuyo!

My Leica and System Planning

I'm no professional photographer; barely qualify as an amateur. But I shoot with a Leica M6 ttl 0.58. It's mechanical and uses film. But I like the hands-on physical/mental "feel" of playing with the tradeoffs of aperture, shutter speed, film speed and hearing that curtain open and close over the aperture at different speeds.

It puts me in touch with what I'm doing.

Forecasting electric power system pricing, for me, is similar. I need to have seen that 15 year old power plant, how rickety are the lines coming out of it, see the fuel supply terrain and challenges, the people operating it, get a sense of the vitality of industrial users in the area; I need to see the new technologies up close, how big are those solar installations and wind turbines.

Only then do my mathematical models hold much credibility to myself.

Abu Sayyaf, prostitutes, and a few enterprising cops

Boy have I had my share of these experiences - a Westerner in Manila.

If you're not prepared to handle these situations, stay in your favorite five-star hotel and don't get out.

The Provinces are better, actually.

Fiona

Be kind to me or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it
I'm an extraordinary machine

DOE To Offer Wind Sites

WT/UPI Officials from the Philippines Department of Energy announced on Mar. 11 that the country will launch the first Philippine wind power contracting round which is aimed at offering investment sites for development.

Outgoing Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said that the wind power program will garner strong interest from local and foreign investors, adding, "With great wind potential as confirmed in numerous studies, the country aims to become the leading wind energy producer in Southeast Asia."

Not so fast. Major issues yet to be addressed:

(1) You can't bid wind into the WESM hour-ahead spot market since you don't know if the wind will be blowing the next hour. This has been practically an unsurmountable problem in California. The solution in California has been to sell the wind energy to a third party that bundles it with firming capability to deliver firm bi-lateral power. Result: average cost of wind power goes up.

(2) You'll need additional transmission which is typically uneconomic if it is used solely for wind. This too is a huge problem that California is still wrestling with. Result: average cost of wind power goes up.

Extraordinary Machine

I listened to Fiona Apple's new album, Extraordinary Machine, on the drive into work this morning and was blown away by several cuts.

Only once in a while does a truly talented, insightful singer/songwriter come along that gets the words/music/expression just right for the times. Bob Dylan was one.

You can't buy this album - I would have if I could have. It was cut a couple of years ago and Sony, for some reason, put it on the shelf. But I found a BitTorrent in about 10 seconds. It deserves to be heard.

If you don't yet know what a BitTorrent file is, find out - it's the predominant technology for file transfers on the internet today. Its unique characteristic is that the more intensely a file is downloaded, the faster it downloads (you've got to understand the distributed nature of this technology to see why). An extraordinary machine in it's own right.

Philippine Power Industry Situationer

A new Power Industry Situationer from the Freedom from Debt Coalition.

How did I know? They have an RSS feed.

USAID Philippines Strategy

USAID released the "public" version of its 2005-2009 Philippines Strategy last week.

(the link, alas, is a document encoded in a proprietary Microsoft format)

I'm, uh, at a loss for words to comment! They'll come me eventually.

Ragnarok

If you're a manager in the Philippines, or anywhere, and the term Ragnanok doesn't mean anything to you, you're slipping behind.

Go listen to Moira Gunn's interview with Dr. Henry Jenkins of MIT.

Management style of our youth is being highley refined and developed through their participation in computer games and "massivly multiplayer online games" (MMOG) in ways that are very interesting to understand - very strategic and collaborative styles.

Why Do I Blog?

I think, perhaps, it's captured in these lines, that rarely fail to bring a tear to this old man's eyes:

I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end,
But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.

- Walt Whitman

Corporate Blogging

Sun Microsystems has a corporate blogging policy. It looks really simple and sensible.

Sun is a public corporation, like Navigant Consulting is.

Sun gets it. On blogging, anyway.

$57 a Barrel Oil

John Robb:

Where does $57 a barrel hit hardest? Developing, energy inefficient economies. The net result will be more debt (and the restrictions that entails) for weak governments struggling with global guerrilla insurgencies.

Ah, that's the idea, of course. The U.S. (or rather the current Administration) "likes" $57 oil. It puts those countries right where it wants them.

Asian Dietary Rules

The Accordian Guy's Asian Dietary Rules:

If it's got four legs and isn't the table
Cook it and eat as long as you're able

Actually, I don't think the number of legs matters so much.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

The book that the folks at ADB and the World Bank over in Ortigas probably don't want me to read.

It shipped yesterday from Amazon - should be interesting.

Treasury Sector Blogging

Nina Lasala, former Treasurer of the Philippines, is blogging about the inner-workings over at the Bangko Sentral.

Now we're getting some transparency. We need a whole lot more bloggers in the various sectors.

The FDC Gets It

The Philippine Freedom from Debt Coalition has lots of RSS feeds.

Bing. Now I can easily keep up with what they're discussing.

What's Up Here?

[INQ7] President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has offered to get the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to reduce electricity rates in the central Philippines province of Negros Oriental.

The President said the Cabinet energy committee could review the "one grid, one rate" policy of the Napocor when it meets in Malacañang.

Very interesting policy and regulatory implications.

Dabawenyos and IT

Interesting stats from a survey that the ICT Council of Davao has in their hands:

[SunStar] Based on the latest report, only five percent of the total number of applicants from Manila is able to make it in the call center field, 15 percent from Cebu, and 30 to 40 percent from Davao-based applicants.

California Summer Outlook

The CEC has realeased their Draft "Summer 2005 Electricity Supply and Demand Outlook."

This is an instructive framework for Philippine DOE to adaptively use in communicating the outlook for the various grids there.

It's Pi Day!

Today (well it's Monday somewhere) is Pi Day!

Bad Taste Cinema!!

I don't think John Watter's film Pink Flamingos delighted U.P. student Victor Villenueva .

I’m telling you, I have never seen a feature length movie this utterly sick, filthy, stupid, disgusting, downright weird and outrageously repulsive!! Phew, it was all that and more! If you haven’t seen the movie yourself, you will have no idea what I’m talking about. You cannot be prepared well enough to see this! We were so caught unprepared in our Film 100 class this afternoon.

As Daniel Reitz of Salon once put it:

Generation after generation of us has delighted in being grossed out by the ultimate gross-out flick, the "Citizen Kane" of crap, "Pink Flamingos."

Filipino Character

The Sassy Lawyer comes through with a fine post exhibiting the characteristic reactions I had been expecting to see to Nicdao, Bunye, and Adan.

How all this plays out is hugely important for the country. Important to me. I care. It impacts me.

HVDC to Catanduanes

Joe Joson has a nice discussion on HVDCV to Catanduanes over on the Catanduanes Economic Forum.

Market-Based Rates

I keep hearing from Philippine Secretaries of Energy and especially from foreign advisors (like ADB) that electricity prices in Philippines need to move toward market-based rates.

But here in the good ole USA - no way, Jose.

ERC Shoves P10 Billion Under the Rug

Last November 26th, the five ERC Commissioners signed an Order allowing NPC to pass on certain costs related to San Roque Hydroelectric Project to electric consumers.

It appears they allowed P3.8299/kWh on San Roque's annual output (about 1,000 GWh) or about P3.8 billion per year.

Looking at the San Roque-NPC Contract costs, as stated in the Decision, NPC's payments to San Roque will be in the range of P15-20 billion. The balance, P11 billion plus, was swept under the rug as ballooning NCP debts (i.e. payments to San Roque not covered by ratepayers).

Do the people really understand what's going on here? Am I misreading something? or is he ERC doing a diservice to transparency by not noting this in the Decision.

Is Anybody Watching the Till?

Hmmm ... I was just reading the ERC's Jan. 25th Decision on Meralco's request to adjust rates to recover P4.7 billion for undercollected power costs during June-October 2004. Case 2004-466

The ERC decided to give them P5.1 billion instead. Go figure.

But the kicker is that there was no mention in the Decision about the position of any intervenor in this matter.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004

Philippines

The U.S. State Department seems to report on almost every country but one.

Central Mindanao Most Bombed Region in Country?

MN. An average of six bombings a year rocked Central Mindanao (Region 12) in the last five years

They clearly didn't count the bombings the AFP carried out by air.

With the latest bombings being carried out in Jolo by the AFP, I'm not even sure Central Mindanao holds the record any longer.

U.S. In Mindanao

Let's start putting 2 & 2 together:

MN. US Ambassador to Manila and Papua New Guinea Francis Ricciardone, 53, has made history as the most frequent visitor to Mindanao among the US ambassadors who have served this country. He also made history as the only US ambassador who has visited Basilan four times in three years.

NCM. The Philippines is one of five countries targeted for a new, clandestine U.S. espionage arm set up to uproot cells of international terrorism and to ensure homeland security.

NCM. The U.S. embassy in Manila confirmed Monday (Sunday, U.S. time) that American forces are indeed in Sulu

MN. "What I am saying is we have about 70 soldiers temporarily in Zamboanga. Sometimes they venture out.. but their main mission is Ops-Intel fusion." - Ricciardone

Oh, and let's not forget our old friend and prior U.S. Ambassodor to Philippines, John Negroponte, has just been appointed National Intelligence Chief.

WaPo. Negroponte also would oversee the new National Counterterrorism Center, which will be central to the war on terrorism, though its director, also a presidential appointee, will report directly to Bush on counterterrorist operations.

Is the U.S. covertly crawling all over Mindanao? You think there's not more overt military presence to come? Want to bet your bippie?

Muslim Mindanao Violence?

Just trying to keep the journalists honest here .

[Update: Bobo ako. This is Agence France-Presse] First, what is with the "AFP" at the end of this story? Was this provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, verbatim?

Second, (this is a bit subtle) the description of Mindanao as "troubled by separtist rebelion" is very dependent on your point of view.

Third, (the misleading part):

Twenty percent of ARMM residents suffered violence due to the decades-old separatist insurgencies, but only 5 percent suffered as a result of conflict between the Muslim majority and the minority Christians in these areas.

So it's not the local Christians creating the bulk of the violence - not surprising; they're local. What's left unsaid is what portion of the twenty percent was instigated by the AFP?

Fourth,

The rival Moro National Liberation Front signed a peace treaty in 1996, but a renegade faction launched a fresh rebellion on Jolo Island on February 7, leaving more than 100 people dead, according to military estimates.

"Launched fresh rebellion"? No mention of what instigated that. It has been asserted that it was a fresh attack by the AFP. Where is the discussion on that?

Oh Puleeze!

Q and A with US Ambassador
Francis Ricciardone: Why Mindanao?
Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews / 27 February 2005
1st of five parts

You know, we do have interests in stability and growth in the Philippines and that’s all we care. The Philippines is a friend of the United States.

Think of your own friendships. Would you rather have a poor friend or rich friend? Would you rather your friend be sick or healthy? Would you rather your friend be strong or weak? Usually when your friend is strong, you’re strong, when your friend is well-to-do, prosperous, you’re well to do and prosperous, right? If the Philippines makes more money and incomes go up, you’ll buy more American goods and services. And if you are poor, you buy less American goods and services.

So we like you to be rich. It’s enlightened self-interest…. But the left here does not seem to admit at the possibility of enlightened self-interest. It’s sad.

How dismissive of Filipino intelligence can one American get? Even I'm embarrased for us.