Reaction Entry (May 18, 2011)

Jobless nurses urged to serve provinces

May 16, 2011 20:26:00

Desiree Caluza Vincent Cabreza

Philippine Daily Inquirer

BAGUIO CITY—-Now that jobs abroad have become scarce for Filipino nurses, their next option is to bring that “tender loving care,” for which they have become cherished in foreign hospitals, back to the provinces where they are most needed.

Senior nurses and health workers celebrated this year’s International Nurses Day on May 12 by exploring why health practitioners in the last 10 years have lost the passion for rural service, having set their sights on high-paying jobs abroad.

Erlinda Caster Palaganas, a senior adviser to the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), said new health workers could regain that passion for service by working in remote villages in the country.

“Tender loving care is ‘tatak nurse’ (nurse’s trademark). It is something you may not find in other professions. Care is the most abstract [task] of the nursingprofession because they are able to provide psychological, spiritual and emotional [service] to their patients,” Palaganas told reporters here on Friday.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona, during a May 9 news conference here, advised incoming college students to momentarily avoid taking nursing courses because the unstable world economy has left 200,000 Filipino nurses without jobs.

The demand may resume once the economic and political situations in different parts of the world stabilize, Ona said.

He gave assurances that the government was looking for ways to increase its budget for hiring more nurses. The 2011 budget, he said, had provisions for hiring 10,000 nurses for deployment to the provinces.

Officials of the PNA said work in the provinces will always be available for nurses.

“We need to produce doctors and nurses who are [dedicated]. We have observed that health workers now are impatient and not compassionate [when attending to patients in local hospitals]. There is no more ‘tender loving care’ because most of them think about going abroad,” said Lily Bimuyag, senior nurse of the Department of Health (DOH) in the Cordillera.

According to Palaganas, health workers are confronted by poor working conditions and low salaries in the country.

Senior health workers in the Cordillera said “care” is a value so complex that it can not be broken down into lesson plans by nursing and medical schools.

But Palaganas said schools could provide future nurses and health workers proper role models whom they can emulate when they treat or attend to patients.

Assigning young health workers to poor communities could also inspire them once they see the condition of health care in remote areas.

“When you work in the barrios, you will develop that caring, that passion because you see reality,” Palaganas said.

But young nurses who decide to take this option must be prepared for a hard journey.

Caridad Binwag, head of the DOH Cordillera human resource management and development service, said doctors who are assigned to the barrios are provided enough information about their places of assignment.

“Even fresh graduates would undergo community immersion and we monitor them. We tell them the mission and the vision of serving communities. But after a while, [they] would drop out [of the program] because they would be assigned to [remote villages],” she said.

Assistant Secretary Elmer Punzalan said the DOH’s other option to provide employment to nurses and other health workers is to market the quality of Philippine health care.

Punzalan handles the department’s international medical travel and wellness projects. He told the Inquirer that Filipino nurses had earned a good reputation overseas for their empathy, manners and skills. Thus, advertising to foreign patients that they can come and seek medical attention in the Philippines, may help boost medical tourism.

“In many of my speeches, I always say that nurses in the Philippines should be drawing people who need to be cured,” Punzalan said.

However, coordinating an advertising program with the Department of Tourism will take time, he said.

Copyright 2011 INQUIRER.net and content partners. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Reaction:

More than five years ago, an impressionable high-school graduate enrolled in the nursing program of Davao Doctors College. The nursing trend was high and almost everyone also took up nursing mainly because of the promise of landing a job abroad. The prospect of earning dollars is certainly the main reason why many enrolled in the course. But after years of trying to like the course, the high-school graduate dropped out. That drop-out was me.

During the early parts of the 21st century, universities had produced countless nursing professionals. Many successfully landed a job abroad, others locally. But the surge of nursing graduates quickly created a surplus leaving some them either jobless or call center agents. I know many nurses who are now agents in Manila. Other countries place quota on the number of potential slots. This is sensible considering the fact that not all jobs abroad are nursing or medically related jobs. Unfortunately, this bred a competitive atmosphere in the nursing industry and many are left to the curb without a single alternative. Now that nursing is on a downtrend, it is only expected for many would-be nurses to find themselves in the unemployed sector of society. Although they still have a choice of working locally, the wage for nurses in the country cannot compensate for the high-cost of studying it.

The article argued that nursing is rooted in the virtue of care. Certainly, there is no doubt that nursing is about care—Nursing Care is even a subject. However, I learned in my Economics class that people respond to incentives. Their actions are dictated by the prospect of reward and punishment. With the scarcity of money, I cannot expect unemployed nurses to take a job in the country for a meager wage. Virtue is often worth nothing without food on the table. I am not generalizing, though, for there might still be others willing to work on far-flung areas motivated by the virtue of care. I still believe in passion and no work is tiring if one puts his heart into it. But I am a realist. I fail to notice the advantage of working in the provinces for these nurses whose dreams of employment abroad had been crushed by the surplus they themselves also caused. The 10,000 promised nursing jobs, although optimistic, can hardly breathe life into the industry; that’s a mere 5-percent of the total number of out-of-job nurses. The wage alone is not the only issue for nurses encourage to work in parts of the country but living conditions as well. I fear that the combination of low-earning jobs and terrible working conditions would only hinder productivity, making the nursing virtue of care, in this instance, self-defeating. There are simply lesser opportunities for nurses in the country than other countries. 

The only rational advice I got from the article is to stop enrolling in nursing for the meantime. I certainly believe that the hiring slump will only last for a short while. Other countries might still need nurses in the future and we produce some of the best ones. I also agree with the mentioned advice. Since there are already several nurses in the country, the industry had become quite congested and saturated. Adding more fresh nursing graduates would only fuel the unemployment rate. But one thing I would suggest, though, is more career awareness. I hope the government can help in providing proper guidance in effective career choices. Since many of the country’s youths are easily persuaded by society’s current fashion, it is only logical for the government to be involved in giving awareness campaigns, which might even be used to promote other business sectors in need of professionals. Of course, I say this with personal interest in mind but I believe that this can further promote the youth in choosing their future careers wisely.

Macro and Micro

Here are my digital copies of Principles of Macro and Microeconomics


Macroeconomics
Microeconomics

ECON 111: Synthesis

Synthesis

      to bring separate units into one cohesive whole

A play is something one should not take lightly. There are far more elements  needed to make a play successful than the average AVP. In contrast to audiovisual presentation, plays are far less flexible due to the lack of editing. Nevertheless, the challenge of translating the concepts involved in The Market Forces of Supply and Demand proved to be quite an exhilarating process for everybody in the group. Although I also participated during the actual enactment of such concepts, I too am responsible in bringing you not a simple summary but an extensive view of the things that went underway both in front of and behind the velvet curtain.

Before we go further, let me first explain my role: I am a Synthesizer. That's pretty cool-sounding in my opinion. I am a diarist of sorts, tasked with the not-so-simple job of retelling (or typing, if you prefer) every event that took place during the planning stage as well as a convenient explanation of the actual play itself. Thus, my job is to collect every piece of event haphazardly strewn in my memory (and my nifty little notebook) and arrange them chronologically to achieve utmost cohesion and understanding not only of the play but of the members as well. Further, keep in mind that the magic of the narrative is in the delivery. The synthesis will shift greatly into the technical side of economics on the later part, and so to keep an intimate and amicable mood, allow me to sprinkle some vitalizing humor along the way. 


With that out of the way, let's get moving, shall we?

The Group

Our group is composed of eleven members each tasked with a specific role both in and out of the play.

Bottom center: Beth Daryl Ocer; From left center: Odyssa Edig, Letiedane Pama, Louisse Tapiz, Anjenette Lacson, Jemaris Billones, Sir James Daigdigan, Nilea Louise Morales; From top left: Mark Michael Ferrer, Mark Jay Damos, Roy Angelo Tumbaga, Jose Martin Evangelista

And to give you a summary of our roles in the group and the play, here is a matrix for reference.

     

The Planning Phase

Day 1: Crickets an Tumbleweeds

This day was probably the shortest and most silent meeting. Since not many seemed willing to prolong the first meeting, I was fast in providing the sheet of paper on which to write our names. Nobody was eager to rush in to the role of the leader. Fortunately , Anjanette was kind enough to fill in the secretary shoes. During this day, many names were written and not many words were spoken.

Day 2: Concept Confidential

The second day of meeting was also pretty silent and disconnected, initially. Except for Beth, who tried her best to put some energy into the group, all of us were tightlipped except for the occasional obligatory friendly smile. Although most of the students in the class knew each other, still many in the group are new faces. Yours truly, for instance, knew not one of the members of the group so I kept taciturn but eagerly listened to Beth.

True to form, Anjanette quickly whipped up a pen and paper and passed it around for us to write are names on. Still, nobody except for Beth spoke. But when Beth mentioned that she wanted the play to break out of the conventional and turn it into a musical mottled with commercial and television parodies, everybody was suddenly filled with energy.  Although I admit I'm not much of a dancer and I rarely participate during plays for I have an irrational fear of performing in front of people, I was deeply engrossed in the concept. All of us decided to go in this direction, and to make sure that the other groups won't follow suit, we kept the concept to ourselves.

Day 3: Strike-a-pose

On the third day, everyone started getting really chatty with each other. We were feeling more comfortable although the concept still seemed a little vague. As a remedy, we brainstormed on the possible scenes we can add to the play, of course without any disregard for the important core concepts of the forces of supply and demand. With those factors in mind, we managed to concoct a medley of technical economic concepts and fun scenarios.


Also, Beth had already visualized what the play will turn out: It was going to be a combination of audiovisual and real enactment. The audiovisual parts will have two: the opening and the ending credits. Aside from merging the ideas behind the play into a comprehensible unit, Beth also took pictures of us to include in the ending credits. One by one, our pictures were taken (the instructions were to give our best irate look). I don't know about the others' but mine was less incensed and more indignant. Nevertheless, the day was wrapped up pretty productively.


Day 4: A Glance, A Wave, A Goodbye


Day four was again another short meeting. Since I assumed not everyone was up for a practice, including yours truly, and since it was a Saturday, we decided instead to reserve the following day for our practice.


Day 5: Absentees and Attendees


By Sunday the fifth day, the group was divided into two: Absentees and Attendees. Unfortunately, not everyone was able to practice. On the bright side, Beth and the others who came to school that day managed to turn it into something productive.


Day 6: Dance Until The Break of Dawn


Just kidding, we did not practice until the break of dawn. We did practice until...twilight. Yes, I love puns but moving on. The choreography was set and all the scenes, props to be used, and roles were finalized. First, we videotaped the opening credits. Since Beth had a class, we were left to tend for ourselves. Fret not because all was finished smoothly as you will see later on. After Beth's class, we headed to her dormitory and practiced in full view of people around. We were courageous, nonetheless, to finish everything and memorize all the dance steps until to the point of excessive sweating...at least on my part. By around 7:30 we wrapped things up.


Day 7: The Groove Before the Storm


Tuesday was fortunate. Since Beth has a class after four, there was no way for us to practice after our Economics class. Fortunately, however, Sir James allowed us to use his time to practice for the play. So we did. We polished everything, captured it in video and refined the necessary details, including the final shoot for the ending credits. 

So without further adieu, let us move on to something more technical--the raison d'être for this blog entry. Allow me to present the combined effort of all the members of the group.


The Play

The opening credits of the play introduced you to some of the FAQs about the Market Forces of Supply and Demand. Here are some of them:

• Normal goods and Inferior goods. Depending on the behavior of the income, a good can be normal or inferior. Once income falls, the demand for normal goods also fall while increases for inferior goods.
• Taste. It is only natural for the demand of a certain good to increase if people like it better.
• Expectations. People who expect a windfall in the near future can increase the demand of goods in the present.
• Number of Buyers. Naturally, the demand of a good depends on the number of buyers willing and able to purchase it.
• Price increase. Another case of expectation is when people foresee an increase in the price of a good in the future causes them to buy more of the product at the current price therefore increasing its demand in the present.
• Complements. Complements are goods whose price and demand are positively related: A fall in the price of one good, increases the demand of another.

First Scene:

The play opens with a dance routine to keep the energy of the members and the group up.

Second Scene:

In this scene, Clara asks Mara to buy her soap. But with a paltry sum, Mara cannot expect to buy the soap let alone ride a cab to the store. Since taxi fare and fare in general depend on the price of oil, an oil price hike will normally cause an increase in the price of fare as well. In Davao today, for instance, fifty-pesos would not take one that far because of the new forty-peso flatdown rate and a 2.50 per kilometer fare. Mara's reason was grounded on the fact that riding a taxi is expensive. Using taste as the primary shifter in this scene, it is deducible then that Mara's demand for a taxi is high. Fortunately for her, Christian is there to give extra coins for her coffer.

Third Scene:

While in the store, Mara is accosted by overly eager sales representatives of different soap brands. The offers and promos are good, but once again, the buyer's preference remains the victor. As seen in the video, Mara chooses her heart when it comes to choosing the right soap. Hence, regardless of how enticing the other soaps may be, she still preferred the one her heart longs for. And as an added comic relief, me and my two left feet enters or rather twirls into the scene.

Fourth Scene:

In this scene, we see a market for juice and hotdogs. The hotdog vendor has a monopoly over his market while the juice vendor also has one for his. While buyers walk around checking out the goods, a spy energetically moves with them, seeking out potential competitors and learning what she can about the market. After doing so, she sets up a hotdog stand of her own but with a slightly lower price than the original hotdog vendor. This resulted in a flurry of overzealous hotdog enthusiasts eager to get a piece of those hotdogs. In a short while, some of them felt thirsty--choked even--so they turn to the remaining original vendor. For some people in this particular market, hotdogs and juice are like ice cream and cake--they complement each other. Insofar as this market is concerned, the increased demand for the hotdogs also caused them to buy juice. The resulting frenzy quickly turns into a dance routine as ecstatic hotdog lovers jump, shake and nearly convulsed out of sheer joy.

As the buyers slowly dispersed a lone hotdog aficionado, despondent over the lack of hotdogs, asks if there is some left. The successful vendor swiftly whipped up a batch of hotdogs much to the amusement of Jemaris, our hotdog uber-lover. Once again, her joy transformed the stage into a dance floor.

Conclusion

There are several forces that affect supply and demand. Our goal was to show some of them using the stage as a medium. We depicted the importance of the buyer's behavior particularly his or her preference or taste in determining which product to buy as well as the seller's in shifting the demand for a certain good. More importantly, we showed how price impacts the demand of a particular product. By lowering the price of the hotdogs she offers, the new vendor was quick in attracting more buyers, therefore increasing the demand for hotdogs. In the end, it is the interaction of the buyers and sellers that serves as a major force in determining both supply and demand--our mission was to make those forces easier and fun to understand.

My E-Book Copy

Here is my copy of the e-book (Principles of Economics 2nd ed.)


PPT 1-11
PPT 12-21
Principles of Economics 2nd Ed.


If you encounter any problems with the download comment and I will be with you in a jiff.

Reaction Entry (April 30, 2011)

Outsourcing sales growth slows in 2009 --  BSP survey

THE COUNTRY'S business process outsourcing sector managed to post strong growth in 2009 amid the start of recovery from the global economic slump, though it continued the slowdown that began the previous ear, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.

A summary of the results of the 2009 Survey of Information Technology-Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) Services which the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) conducted last year showed total revenues rising 30.6% to 8.3 billion in 2009 from $6.3 billion in 2008, which in turn saw growth slow down to 44.8% from 50.3% in 2007.

Still good

In comparison, growth of the country's gross domestic product slowed to 1.06% in 2009 from 3.69% in 2008.

All IT-BPO subsectors--contact center, transcription, animation, software development and "other BPOs"--posted double-digit growth rates in revenues in 2009:

• Contact center sales, which accounted for half (50.9%) of industry receipts, grew by an annual 48.2% to 4.207 billion;
• Software development sales, which accounted for 20.3%, rose 18.4% to $1.672 billion;
• Transcription sales, which made up 0.7%, posted the biggest increase of 66.8% to $57 million; and
• Animation, which made up 0.6%, rose 44.2% to $52 million. Sales in the "other BPOs" category grew 13.3% to $2.27 billion.

Increase in sales accelerated in most categories from 2008 to 2009, except for software development which saw growth slow down to 18.4% from 28.6% and other "other BPOs," 13.3% from 73.2%.

Export-driven

Industry exports, totaling $7.7 billion in 2009, accounted fro 93.4% of total revenues.

The US remained the top export market for the industry in 2009, accounting for 73.1% of total export receipts at $5.6 billion, followed by Japan ($1.1 billion for 14.3%), Europe ($531 million or 6.9%), Australia and New Zealand ($258 million or 3.3%) and "other Asia" ($110 million or 1.4%).

Equity investments in the industry grew 32.2% to $2.6 billion in 2009, of which 91.8% consisted of foreign equity. That growth, however, was much slower than the 109.5% in 2008.

Industry employment grew by an annual 25.3% to 444,811 workers in 2009, with contact centers accounting fro 57.5% of the total.

Reaction:

Before going back to school last year, my 3 to 4-year academic hiatus was spent working for an offsourcing company, mainly as an online content writer. I wrote articles with topics spanning the spectrum of interests, often even antipodean in nature (think real estate and health articles). I can personally say that for a job that doesn't require any commutes, it pays very well. I know many who make jokes about call center jobs and agents, but I must admit that working for an offsourcing company, although rewarding, is exhausting. I find it peculiar to read about a slowdown in the BPO industry despite its popularity. This may be because, in my opinion, the country is still not completely embracing the tech industry. 

To wit: the minimal share of animation and software development sectors in the market shows dismal realities for my planned career. Although there is no way of saying whether this recent numbers would linger on in the future to come, with the current pace of the local tech market, that number may in fact remain its sluggish course. On the other side of the coin, however, this small number may be from the fact that many IT graduates either prefer working abroad or are siphoned off by foreign tech companies. Though the latter seems inevitable, the former can still be remedied by, in my opinion, promoting further an embrace toward the importance of technology. The world has gone past the Information Technology Age and the country is barely keeping up speed, and this slowdown may be an evidence of that. There is an unbalanced nature in the way the country lionizes its choice of employment. By choosing to succumb to trend rather than spreading out the focus to include other potential profitable sectors, I fear that the country may not reach a point when it can evenly compete with other BPO giants, like India.

In addition, the popular preference of working abroad is another challenge. What with the unending workforce diaspora that traverses crucial professions (from nursing to IT), this slowdown might hinder the growth of the country's BPO industry through the constant decrease of potential BPO employees. Even with the US holding the highest share in industry exports, without the sufficient number of able-bodied employees, established BPOs and start-ups alike would only find themselves up a stump. I, myself, even prefer to work abroad, mainly because of the money. There are far more opportunities in other countries and most of them are even better than what I can find here. Although I admit that I may become an instrument to the slowdown of the BPO industry in the future, I cannot root myself to this slow-growing industry. Unfortunately, this slowdown is another evidence of the country's reluctance to welcome the imminent confluence of tradition and progression.

While I find it appealing to work abroad, my heart still yearns for a future employment in the country. Yet these numbers are portents of what will be for my chosen career. I know that the Philippines mainly depends on its agricultural market. I, however, cannot live on rice alone. Everyday I am reminded of how much the country is missing out on the advantages of information technology while it places health practitioners to a much higher pedestal. While we produce high-quality health professionals, the same cannot be said for our local IT experts. Without enough focus on my side of the market, I may be forced to look elsewhere. Selfish as it may sound, the reality is that my chosen career remains a minority in the country's sea of industries.

Reaction Entry (April 16, 2011)

*This article was printed on the Economy section of the April issue of TIME Magazine I have at home. I could not find an online copy but this is the entire article, retyped.


Helping Hands? Donations to Japan are lagging behind previous relief efforts. 


As Japan digs out from its devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, international donors have been hesitant to commit large sums of money to the relief effort. According to figures compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, U.S. donors gave $105 million to Japan in the first week, compared with $275 million for Haiti after its earthquake last year. (Hurricane Katrina got $500 million in the first week.) Other countries don't appear to be eager to give either. Why? "It's largely because Japan is a well-developed country with an established relief system," says Chronicle editor Stacy Palmer. Even though the World Bank estimate of $235 billion in damage dwarfs the figures for more recent natural disasters, there's a perception that wealthy Japan can handle it. And with uprisings in the Middle East dominating the news cycle, fundraising is likely to continue at its sluggish place. -JOSH SANBURN

Recreation of the inforgraph from the original article.

Source: TIME Magazine, April 11, 2011


Reaction:


Natural disasters are any man's bane. Sufficient preparations, although substantially cut losses in terms of damages, still have a palpable impact on any business firm. Now imagine a country, which is composed of several businesses and households, hit by a major catastrophe. This would easily multiply the effect a hundredfold--millions even.


As someone who has a parent living and working in Japan, I can personally attest to the financial repercussion of the recent disaster. A few weeks after the earthquake, my mother's job was cut drastically to only three hours each day. Without much productivity, a business cannot achieve its goal. Regardless if it's a major company, forced cuts on work hours due to non-conducive working environment has a major impact on the company's output. Efficiency will drop and the wasted resources will pile up, and unfortunately these resources may not be useful once things begin to work in tip-top shape again. Translating this scenario nationally can result in a downward trend in economic wellbeing. Regardless of Japan's wealth, she is still in need of financial aid from other countries. Using its position in the economic hierarchy of the globe as an excuse seems a tad bit unreasonable. Yes, there are a lot of other current issues, including the unrest in the Arab Springs, but Japan had always been there for others in times of trouble. They may have a lot of money now to cover some of the costs of rehabilitation but the long-term effects of this disaster to their economy will not only affect their shores but others as well. 


The natural disaster that happened in the country not only affected the native citizens but foreign workforce as well. Consider my mother, she has been working in the country for eleven years and this is the only time that she felt a considerable lag in personal financial progress. Because of the substantial cut in work hours, she also had to cut expenses, which means that we, her children living in the Philippines, should also adjust dramatically. The budget adjustment has reduced the household's economic pie and we have to determine how to promote equity as much as possible by trimming our expenses here and there. Unfortunately, finding another job poses a difficulty because not every business in Tokyo is hiring. Why aren't they hiring? Aside from the natural disaster that rendered most of the equipments out of commission, the majority of the city is in disarray. In addition, because of the dismal conditions of the Fukushima nuclear plants, the country had to impose a mandatory four-hour blackouts. This, in my opinion, is one of the causes of the disaster that has the largest impact in the economy. Four hours of blackout can severely attenuate the productivity of a business. Imagine how much output they can produce in those four hours. Aside from the blackout, the tsunami hit a major agricultural site of the country. Rice, one of Japan's major produce, was severely affected. And now due to the increasing fear of radiation leaking out of the nuclear plants, many turned to other food sources, mainly processed ones. The only problem here, though, is that these goods are also distributed among families in evacuation centers. Naturally, a quota was placed on the purchase of these goods. For instance, stores cannot allow a buyer to buy cup ramens in bulk; there is a limit to how many they can purchase. Why? This is simply because of the food shortage the country is facing.


On the bright side, this natural disaster also produced more jobs. Sendai, for instance, the most hard-hit area of the country, has been recruiting able-bodied personnel for reconstruction jobs. This is a good opportunity to increase the employment rate of the country. Of course, workers should not expect excellent living conditions because most of Sendai was wrecked by the tsunami and earthquake. But that is not much of a trade-off considering the opportunity of earning a modest income.


On a final note, I just want to say that we should not belittle these problems because they have long-term economic impacts. It is extremely unfortunate that other countries are reluctant to send assistance to Japan, especially now when the country needs aid the most. Even I, who have been living in the Philippines all my life, am experiencing the financial impact of the recent natural disaster that hit Japan. I dearly wish for Japan to recover fully from their misfortune. Unfortunately, I know now that will take more time since Japan is rehabilitating itself alone. Any country, regardless of wealth, will require help after a major natural disaster. But because the world today is plagued with war and unrest, it may be long before Japan can receive the sufficient help it needs to rise from ruin.