Maria Flor De Luna's Demise and the ABS-CBN stock price increase

What a sad way to end a telenovela, the star of the show passes away. To use my daughter’s fave expression “This is the worst day ever!” Everybody was expecting the evil troika of General Gary Alvarado, Dona Brigida and General Torres to die but all three were just side swiped by bullets. I have to hand it to ABS-CBN, I reckon more than half of the Philippine population was watching the show last Friday (including us) and half of that half was sobbing to death (excluding us).

The show ran for 2 hours and was a heyday for advertisers. It seems like there were more commercials than the actual TV show run time. The TV station probably raked millions that day and it was definitely a spike in their cash flow. I should monitor these types of telenovela endings in the future and probably invest in stocks the day before. Maybe, just maybe, these scenarios may have an impact on their stock price and I can do a Jesse Livermore and make money overnight.

Footnote: Jesse Livermore is considered to be the world's greatest stock broker. In 1907, he made $3M in one day.

Top Ten Credit Card Tips

According to HSBC’s ad, life is a matter of perspectives and I couldn’t agree more. A credit card may be a boon or a bane to every individual. It used to be a bane for me especially when I had difficulty paying the bills but nowadays a credit card is becoming my best friend. I’ve been a credit card user since I was 18 years old when BANKARD gave us free credit cards with a P5,000 credit limit and all you have to do was be a DLSU student and give your ID number. Here are tips coming from an almost 2 decade old credit card user.

1- Non believer. Yes, there is still a good chunk of the (Philippine) population that don’t own a credit card and it is a choice. The practically rule is: don't get one if you don't need one. If you’re a farmer who buys everything in cash then what do you need a credit card for?
2- Stick to one. If you already have one, just maintain one card at a time. If you have two cards, try disposing the other one. The practical arrangement is that you have a credit card and a cash card like Smart Money (http://www.smart.com.ph/SMART/Value+Added+Services/Smart+Money/)
3- Info Load. The most important information that a card holder must know are the following: credit limit, monthly interest rate and cut off dates. Having high credit limit translates to confidence in spending hence request for a limit that is within your means. The monthly interest rate is the ultimate budget killer hence you should know this figure. The cut off date tells you when to pay your bills to avoid paying interests.
4- That’s nice. The nice to have information include: amount to earn loyalty points, target points per item and their hotline number (and if they operate 24 hours a day).
5- Gun-less society. You should be a transactor, not a revolver. A transactor is a card user who pays the whole amount due or a big part of it and a revolver is the one who pays the minimum amount due. The revolver is the money making engines of credit card companies.
6- For me? What’s in it for me? What benefits do the card company give you. If your card company gives one point for every P50 and you use P4000 a week on groceries, would a electric griller worth P2000 be a reasonable remuneration?
7- Promotions. For every $10 spent abroad entitles you an electronic ticket where you get a chance to win a free trip to Hong Kong. Cool! What have you got to lose? You’re going to spend anyway since you’re out of the country so why not use your credit card. It makes sense.
8- The Annual Fee. “Sir/Ma’am, we’ll give you the credit card FOR FREE. And you don’t have to worry about paying the annual fee because it’s eternally free.” Oh, by the way, we charge 3.5% interest every month. Don’t be easily lured by free stuff. You might not like what’s at the end of the line.
9- Then what? You should know about the company’s after sales services like procedures on how to deactivate your card in case of loss, disputed purchase complaints, how to claim loyalty points and where to pay my bills.
10- Link it. The beauty of technology. You can now check your balance inquiry ANYTIME (although not yet real time) using your cellular phone. And eventually (some of the cash card companies are already doing this), credit card companies may offer push text message service for every transaction. That would be a great way to monitor your transactions.

B5 for President, again

Our son B5 was elected grade 4 section 3 class president recently. He said it was a tight contest because he got 15 votes (out of 45 pupils) and there were 7 students nominated. The runner up had 12 votes and eventually became class VP.

When he was in grade 3, he was class secretary and in grade 2, he was class president. His being elected class president the first time in DB came as a surprise to us. Though we didn’t doubt his competence, the fact that he was a new student (who transferred from Bright Woods School, Angeles City) that year, he was the least “best candidate” for the position. He won via landslide against the previous year’s class president so that seem to suggest that his classmates finds something positive in him despite being the new kid on the block.

My Father's a Knockout

I'm not Eric Morales' son.

My father is much older but more handsome.

He is not a boxer but a farmer.

Thou he may not have made millions, he may have made a million people laugh.

He is ToyLac to my son and Papa Boy to my daughter.

Happy Father's day to my one and only father, BoyLac.

PS: Happy Father's Day to every Dad who's reading my blog.

Of The Tipping Point and Maria Flor de Luna

“Maria Flor de Huya” says MC while her Kuya B5 says “Maria Flor de Taypee.” My family is currently fixated with the tele novella Maria Flor De Luna. Flor de Luna is a re-make of a late 70s Flor de Luna TV show of which the child actors and actresses are about my age, Herbert Bautista (now the Vice Mayor of Quezon City) as Reneboy and Janice de Belen as Flor. Their step mother was Laurice Guillen as Jo Espero - Alicante. Just writing this blog makes me quiver and shout “Ang baduy ko!” but I’ll continue to watch it anyway. It’s our family bonding time.

Now about The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I’m currently reading three good books and one of them is this one. I’m about 1/3 into the book and this gets parked often because of the other equally good books am reading. In his book, M. Gladwell mentioned about the Laws of Connectors and I will be attempting to put his theory into application using Maria Flor de Luna as an example.

The star of the show, Flor de Luna was first played by Janice de Belen whose estranged husband is John Estrada. J. Estrada is now General Gary Alvarado in the remake. Estrada was de Belen’s “tormentor” in real life while he is the “tormentor” in the reel life of the current Flor. His father is General Alvarado played by Johnny Delgado who is married in real life to Laurice Giullen who played Jo Espero – Alicante in the original version.

Whoa! That was a challenge. But wait, there’s more! Dona Brigida is played by Liza Lorena whose son Tonton Gutierrez lives in the same condominium that we’re staying in Makati. At least we’re living in the same building with the son, not the Dona Brigida herself. She won’t be bothering me while I finish reading The Tipping Point book.

The Enchanted Rizal Adventure

Isn’t it a bit odd that you’re a Filipino based in the Philippines and you haven’t visited our national hero Jose Protacio Rizal’s shrine in Calamba, Laguna? It is even worse if you live in Laguna and you haven’t seen it. And Jose Rizal IS still our national hero and not Ninoy Aquino. Speaking about my kababayan Ninoy Aquino, funny, but I haven’t visited the Ninoy Aquino museum in Tarlac.

Last weekend, the game plan was to go to Corregidor. I’ve been yearning to go to that historical place since college but couldn’t find the time and the money. My family’s grand plan was to go to a thrift but fun adventure every quarter instead of logging hours in a boring and costly mall. My recollection brings me to a weekend in Tagaytay, a weekend in Lucena, a weekend in Subic, a weekend in Baguio and watching a UAAP basketball game.

This weekend, we went to Jose Rizal’s shrine in Calamba, Laguna. The travel time from Makati is about 1 hour sans traffic, twice the travel time if with the horrendous traffic. Personally, it was my 4th visit but t’was the first for my family so that’s what matters. The entrance was free. My realization was J.R. belongs to a buena familia. Imagine, in the 1860s, the Rizal family already had a two story house, a sprawling garden, a mechanical elevator and relatively high end furniture and fixtures.

Afterwards, we went to Enchanted Kingdom for more fun. E.K. is located just about 2 exits from Calamba exit via the South Luzon Expressway. This is my Nth visit and the same goes for JML. T’was the second time for B5 while it was the first for MC. The family had fun, a bit. Or at least the kids did. Probably, the wrong mix came from the fact that: 1- we were subconsciously (or consciously) comparing it to Disneyland HK which paled in comparison, 2- we’ve seen the amusement park quite a number of times and 3- it was so hot! The kids enjoyed the carousel which they rode 3 times, the choo choo train times two and the prehistoric looking playground.

The future plan for the quarterly escapades include: finally seeing Corregidor, check out Intramuros, a nature trip to La Mesa Dam, a weekend getaway in Laiya, Batangas, a long weekend Ilocos region trip, a drive to Bicol region (to see Mayon Volcano), museum hops like in National and Ayala museum, watch basketball games like UAAP (go La Salle!), NCAA, PBL and PBA. This beats going to the mall.

Two Reunions in Twelve Hours

Ah reunions. Time to reminisce. Catch up on old friends. Enhance your network. Unwind. I attended two reunions last weekend.

Last Friday (May 26), around 800PM, I met with some high school classmates in Dencio's Paseo Makati branch. We had dinner and a few drinks then moved to McDo near Makati Med for some coffee. In attendance were Eric Flores, Rommel Eser, Manny Orallo, Dax Kanapi and myself. The fave topic was without a doubt, our classmates.

At 700AM the following day, had a reunion ride with some members of the Pampanga Trail Riders, a mt bike group in Pampanga which I helped form. The pack contains about 15 riders but only knew about 30%. The rendezvous was Clark Parade ground and the 30 kilometer trail was called Radar which sits on top of a hill with a magnificent view of Clark Air Base from north side. I was supposed to ride again the ff. day but we had a pre-arranged plan.

Let’s have more reunions please!

My Daughter's First School Day

My daughter who turned 3 years old last January is now officially a school girl. In her lingo, she’s a “stool dirl.” She's attending toddler school at a pre-school about a block from where we live. She's enrolled as a senior toddler and goes to school 3 times a week. Indeed time flies and our peso flies with it (devaluates).

I remember my parents telling me that my first day in school was a bit of a challenge for them because I didn't want them off my sight. Things are a bit different with my daughter because she cheerfully played with her new classmates who are mostly foreigners, probably children of expats and proudly displayed her new Disney backpack to her teacher and didn't stop until they acknowledged it. We slowly slipped off her sight and she didn’t notice a bit. And she calls her teacher “my boss.” It’s a bit too early preparing for the corporate world.

When I was in college more than a decade ago, my semester tuition fee was less than P10,000 and since the university was a tri sem, my annual tuition fee was P30,000. Well, my tuition fee is just a third of my 3 year old daughter’s annual tuition fee. Sheesh! And she’ll be in college in 13 years time so how much would the annual tuition fee be P1 million?!?!

Jatropha, the wonder tree

Do you know what a Jatropha tree is? About two month ago, I didn't give a hoot what it was and what it does but I am now coming into terms with this plant that may-just-save-the-world. Too ideal you say? Think global warming, oil reserves and bio fuel law.

So what's the connection? It's a long story and this blog entry will be insufficient for me to detail it plus the fact that it will bore you to death. I just want to highlight these quick facts: 1- global warming is a big chunk caused by pollution, 2- oil reserves is concentrated in the Middle East countries and none in our beloved Pinas and 3- bio fuel law is already in effect.

Finally I met Mr. Jatropha last Saturday. It's a tree that grows about 8 feet and the fruit is processed to make the 2% mix in today's bio fuel. Today, the mix is currently at 2% but who knows the figure may increase in the next decade and maybe, just maybe, the tables may turn and it could be 98% bio fuel. That would probably happen but not in my lifetime.

Race for Space in 2010

Countdown 3 years to go before our second lady president in Phil history GMA steps down and turns over the reigns to the 15th prexy of the republic. This early, there are a handful of presidentiables jockeying for the position. Some are qualified and some may even win out of sheer popularity even if they are not qualified. Let's review them:

Loren Legarda - The newly proclaimed senator who topped the race is back with a vengeance. In 2004, after failing to get the endorsement of GMA to be her running mate and eventually allying with the late FPJ, she bitterly lost the VP race to fellow broadcaster Noli De Castro.

Mar Roxas - Mr Palengke's term as senator ends in 2010. He topped the senatorial race in 2004. I reckon he is one of the senators with a high degree of initiative and competence. That he belongs to the Araneta clan just proves how deep his pocket is. Will Korina Sanchez be eventually the first lady?

VP Noli de Castro - The housing czar didn't need to cheat in 2004 to beat Loren, she should accept this fact. Noli is just way too popular for her. Kabayan's popularity is just a few shades below Erap’s albeit his competence is better than the deposed president. I reckon he will be GMA's anointed one in 2010.

Jinggoy Estrada - I like the car that he drives, a cool Chrysler PT Cruiser. That's about it. If I were to be objective about it, he is a good candidate having served as mayor of San Juan for 3 terms and currently a senator. However, he is Erap's offspring so we can't be too sure if he will be "clean." Then again, is there really such a thing as a clean politician?

Ping Lacson – “Si Ping, ang kinabukasan.” This no non sense senator who recently won a fresh mandate has his eyes set on the presidency. He had a failed attempt in 2004 to snatch the presidency from GMA. He would have been a good president or could be, potentially the likes of Lee Kwan Yew.

The race has started and we'll know in 3 years who will be the victor. We should watch every wannabees action since this will tell if they are actually doing what they pledged to do in their current functions or just showing off in preparation for 2010.

Recto bids goodbye to his presidential dream

Officially an ex-senator, Ralph G. Recto threw in the towel yesterday (June 4) during an upper house privilege speech. When he was a newbie senator, he expressed interest of eventually running for the highest position in the land. He wanted to surpass his grandfather Claro M. Recto’s achievement who served as a senator from the 30s through the 50s. Obviously, his Lolo didn't become president.

Co-Recto's downfall seem to be the e-vat. He was coerced by Malacanan to pass the controversial law which sparked radical street protests and that probably sealed his defeat. For co-Recto, who has 16 years of legislative experience under his belt, his contributions in congress was eclipsed by the debilitating four letter called e-vat and was a victim of right minus wrong. Obviously, he has to bid goodbye to his Y2010 dream to become the Philippine president.

The Honda CR-V Survey

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Dub shot

Dub shop was borne out of double two or a street name for twenty two inch wheels (22in diameter). Read Bling! Bling! These fancy car accessories actually doesn't impress me. Here's a 22 year old that's pretty impressive. Yesterday (May 31), Lebron "King" James led his Cleveland Cavaliers to a 107 - 106 win over the motor city boys, Detroit Pistons. He poured in 48 points or nearly 50% of the team's points and almost a triple double. The Cavs now lead the Eastern Conference finals 3 - 2.

The San Antonio Spurs are just waiting for the outcome of the east finals as they annihilated the Utah Jazz 4 - 1 days ago. It was a mismatch from day one. The east finals is a match made in heaven. I'd say this is better than the actual NBA finals as my guess is San Antonio Spurs will just roll over whoever wins in the east.

I'm rooting for Cleveland Cavs. From among the three "active" NBA teams, only Cavs is without a ring. They suffered so much during the Jordan-era. Remember "the shot on Ehlo" referring to the poor soul who had the unfortunate role to guard the Air Jordan.

King James has a lot of mileage in his 22 year old legs. His game last Friday was described to be one of the best in NBA history. In basketball TV, he owned the top 5 highlight plays off the week. Easily, he could have provided highlight for the top ten plays. The question is, if this 22 year old can handle the pressure. A lot rests on his shoulders.

Double you money in 5 years scheme

The double your money scheme usually given by rural banks is a dying breed. When I was younger, I recall accompanying my mother in Land Bank of the Philippines Tarlac branch to avail of this scheme. For a minimum of P100,000, you may entrust this amount to LBP, wait for 5 years and they’ll give you P200,000. No sweat. It actually is a good deal if you’re the type of person who is a risk taker yet conservative. Sounds contradicting? Allow me to expound a bit.

You are considered a RISK TAKER because investing your hard earned doe in a rural bank is not the wisest decision there is but if calculated properly, both quantitative and qualitative factors, there’s a very high probability you’d get your money back. Then again I may be wrong. That’s why it’s called a risk.

It is considered CONSERVATIVE because some brave soul would borrow P100,000 from a lending institution, pay an interest of 18% per annum and invest the money in a food franchise worth P60,000.00, cross his fingers and hope that he choose the right location and product. If his gamble proves to be right, then he’d have return of investment by 6 months, pay off his debt in a year and in a year or two more, he would have either more outlets or bought a second hand car.

Life is all about taking risks, that is calculated ones. Trusting your gut feel is applicable but should be exercised with extreme care in an investment.