Pinoy swordsmith has Hollywood touch

by Cecil Morella, Agence France-Presse
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/02/12/12/pinoy-swordsmith-has-hollywood-touch

POZORRUBIO, Philippines -- Filomeno de Guzman does not know Sparta from medieval Scotland, but the Philippine swordsmith is an expert at replicating ancient warriors' tools for killing each other.

A stubby ex-military sergeant who has never set foot abroad, de Guzman and 15 rice farmer-neighbors who moonlight as blacksmiths craft old truck leaf springs into things of terrible beauty.

The business feeds an overseas market for replica swords of Roman gladiators, Greek infantry and Japanese samurais, as well as movie-inspired weapons from "Braveheart", "Conan the Barbarian", and "Rambo".

"Swords are enjoying a renaissance in Hollywood. That means the storied weapon remains popular, and that works in our favor," de Guzman, 63, told AFP during a visit to his workshop in a farming area of Pangasian, in northern Philippines.

De Guzman never went to university and confesses he does not know much about ancient history, although he does enjoy learning from movies.

"Hollywood, yes, I love Hollywood movies. I watched 'Braveheart', 'Gladiator', 'Lord of the Rings', 'Conan the Barbarian', 'Rambo', and 'Samurai', all on DVD," he said.

De Guzman's unlikely export business had its origins in him deciding to quit the Philippine security forces in 1980 and taking free government lessons in metalworks.

He began producing kitchen knives using a wood-fired forge in his backyard, set amid vast rice fields in the farming town of Pozorrubio, 180 kilometers north of Manila.

"It's a good, non-perishable product. All households need blacksmiths and their knives," de Guzman explained of his career choice.

However US soldiers deployed at two nearby US military bases soon noticed his craftsmanship and they also began commissioning him to make knives.

Later on the soldiers started ordering swords and, as the demand for more elaborate designs grew, he started delving into books on ancient weaponry.

When a friend took some of his swords to an exhibition in the United States in the 1990s, de Guzman was connected with an American distributor and his international business was cemented.

A few other Philippine smithies also craft swords for export, though de Guzman believes he is the biggest exporter.

The majority of his work now caters for the overseas market, although he still makes some knives and machetes for local housewives and farmers.

De Guzman describes his overseas clientele as medieval warfare and history buffs with a lot of disposable income.

"I was told these are people who dress up with Renaissance costumes and bring swords to annual festivals," he said.

More than 100 models hang on pegs on his office wall, including copies of short Roman empire infantry swords and a massive broadsword like those used by Spartans against Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

De Guzman said he had sold more than 1,000 Excalibur swords from the Arthurian legend.

He has also exported a similar number of the Sir William Wallace sword, popularized by the 1995 Mel Gibson "Braveheart" film of the 13th-century Scot who fought English rule.

The two-handed sword, with a 28-inch long blade, weighs 11 pounds and sells for $600 abroad, according to de Guzman.

While declining to talk in detail about how much money he had made exporting the weapons, de Guzman said his profession had allowed him to send his four children to university.

His home is also clearly middle class, no small achievement in the Philippines where roughly one quarter of the country's 100 million people live on a dollar a day or less.

De Guzman has also provided extra employment for his rice farming neighbors, who gather in his backyard in their basketball shorts and sandals to work the forge and mould metal when orders come in.

"Like me, they are also unschooled. If there are orders we all work together, but since they are farmers, the crops get first priority and the shop orders just have to wait. My distributor understands," he said.

However lawyers in Hollywood have occasionally been less understanding of his profession.

"I named one of my knives 'Rambo III'," de Guzman said of a 46-centimeter Bowie blade. "I got a letter from the Rambo producers, telling me, 'Don't use our name Rambo or we will sue you.'"

Nevertheless, after renaming it 'The Stallone', after the movie's star, there had been no more threatening letters.

De Guzman also insists his popular "Braveheart" Wallace sword was not a movie rip-off, but made from specifications his distributor gave him of the original, which is stored at a museum in Scotland.

After his distributor recently broke into Germany's sword market, de Guzman is looking to explore more deeply the blood-soaked history of medieval Europe.

"I am already developing a prototype Teutonic great sword," he said, referring to two-handed blades used by Germanic knights in the 11th-13th Century Crusades in Muslim lands.

The new world order

JOHN MANGUN
OUTSIDE THE BOX  
Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/opinion/23233-the-new-world-order

AS the world plunges headlong into one economic and political crisis after another, there is constant talk about the realigning of the concentration of global power.
Fifty years ago, it was simple. The US and the Soviet Union were the global powers. Each gained power through the old combination of guns and gold. The rest of the world marched into one of the camps, either by force or self-interest. Those so-called non-aligned nations merely used that designation to extract what they could from each side by diplomatically playing one against the other.

The 19th century political economist Frederic Bastiat is reported to have said that, “If goods don’t cross borders, armies will.” However, the truth is that the armies crossed first in the conquest of other nations primarily for the purpose of trade. Spain took the Philippines to establish a trading facility in Asia and in part as a way to counter the other European nations’ trade expansion in the region.

However, history shows two things. Economic power based on military force never lasts. Also, global, and to a lesser extent regional power, depends on the “power” nation being relatively self-sufficient in order to first establish that power and then to keep it.

The USSR was able to be relatively self-sufficient by keeping a low standard of living for its citizens. The US was and is a net exporter of food and has nearly a boundless supply of raw materials.

Over the last decades, the US gave up its self-sufficiency first to Japan and now to China and lost much of its power. A map of “power” countries would now include the US, the European Union, China, Brazil, India and Russia.

But none of those nations are economically independent as they all desperately need each other and the rest of the world for both raw materials and as an export market.

American ingenuity depends on China to manufacture the products it develops. Russia depends on the European Union to buy its oil and natural gas. China cannot survive without both the global consumer market and oil. Brazil must have foreign investment to fuel its economy. India imports nearly all it energy requirements.

You cannot be a super power if you are seriously dependent on other countries. We have a new world order.

The above list of power nations is certainly not complete. However, the key component of this new order is countries like the Philippines, if their leaders have learned from history.

While no nation that is growing economically can be completely self-sufficient, it appears that small countries like the Philippines can increase power by having other nations economically dependent on them while not being as dependant on others. Further if you are small, it helps to be specialized.

Any country can replace PHL as an assembler, with low value-added, of electronic products. China already did that with Christmas ornaments, clothes and athletic shoes.

However, PHL owns the global call-center business. We are exporting customer service, which is high value-added. You cannot easily replace competent, English-speaking, and Western-familiarized Filipinos by simply moving a call center to another country.

Outsourcing employs more people than the electronic-export sector and brings in more net revenue to the country.

Do we need them, the foreign clients, more than they need us? No. For example, US telecoms companies cannot afford to pay Americans $15 to $18 per hour when they can pay more highly educated Filipinos the same amount for a day’s work.

We have witnessed a massive diffusion of economic power in the last 10 years and it has only accelerated since 2008. The new global powers are scrambling to preserve and consolidate their gains. But that is difficult when they actually are feeding off each other and the net economic pie in those countries is not growing very much.

Enter the dragons and I do not mean China. Remember dragons are specialized creatures, associated with breathing fire or poison and guarding or taking the treasure.

Thailand is in the top 10 of car exporters. Who expected that a decade ago? Malaysia exports a wide variety of tropical agricultural products. Vietnam is the largest exporter of pepper.

Power will be more decentralized and diffused in the years to come. However, that does not mean that nations like the Philippines cannot be powerful.

On a personal note, I invite you to visit the new MangunOnMarkets.com web site. The old one was so terrible in so many ways that I have “impeached” my former web developer. If you would like a complimentary copy of my “PSE Strategy Guide,” please e-mail me at john@mangunonmarkets.com. And don’t forget my upcoming seminar in Cebu on March 3rd.


E-mail to mangun@gmail.com and Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by CitisecOnline.com Inc.

PH: Top Investment Site in Southeast Asia

JETRO Competitiveness Survey In Asia
Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/351185/philippines-tops-as-investment-site

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has emerged as the most competitive country among seven Asian economies as an investment destination and doing business whether in manufacturing or services sectors, the latest survey conducted by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) revealed.

Trade and Industry Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio said that JETRO came out with this Philippine Competitiveness survey by comparing the Philippines with six other Asian countries wherein the Philippines bested China, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar in most categories. Competitiveness indicators included in the survey are financial costs, sufficient labor supply and reasonable salary (for manufacturing and non-manufacturing personnel).

The survey was conducted by JETRO on Japanese-affiliated Firms in Asia and Oceania for the period August-September 2011.

“We are the cheapest in almost all categories of doing business,” Panlilio said.

The Philippines garnered favorable ratings in terms of competitiveness advantage on business environment in comparison to other Asian countries, the report said.

Based on the survey results, the Philippines has the cheapest rates when it comes to labor, rentals and land prices. The Philippines also has the least problem on the competency of its labor pool.

In terms of sufficiency of labor supply, the Philippines emerged to have the most plentiful number of workers and second to Malaysia when it comes to the availability of executives.

“In terms of employment retention, we have the best loyalty record. In terms of problems of workers competency, we have the least problem,” Panlilio said. .

“The implication of this project is that even in Asia, we are now very competitive. In fact, we are the most competitive when it comes to those factors of business or investment decision making,” Panlilio said.

Specifically, the JETRO survey showed that when it comes to problems on increasing financial costs in the Philippines, the country had the lowest percentage rating of 4.6 percent while China had 64.1 percent. Comparatively, ratings of Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Thailand and Malaysia ranged from 51.9 to 61.5 percent.

In terms of problems in shortage of land/offices, rising land prices/rental, the survey results showed this is not a major problem in the Philippines considering that the 5.8 percent rating is way far lower than the 32 percent rating of India, which is the highest. Ratings of Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam ranged from 9.8 percent-18 percent for this particular indicator.

On problems in skyrockettng payroll costs, again the Philippines had the lowest rating of 18.2 percent with Vietnam having the highest 61.3 percent. Malaysia was second lowest with 27.5 percent while ratings of Indonesia, India and Thailand ranged from 40.8 to 48.1 percent.

On sufficiency of labor supply, the survey showed the Philippines had the lowest rating of 3.2 percent followed by India, 4.2 percent and Indonesia, 4.4 percent respectively, in terms of difficulty in recruiting general staff.

This particular rating means there is a large pool of general staff which MNCs can recruit or hire. Ratings of China, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam ranged from 28.6 percent to 36.7 percent with Vietnam having the highest rating when it comes to difficulty in recruiting general staff.

On the difficulty in recruiting executives, Malaysia had the lowest rating of 37.9 percent followed by the Philippines 39 percent. Myanmar had the highest rating of 64.3 percent while the ratings of Thailand, China, Indonesia, India and Vietnam ranged from 40 to 52.8 percent.

Another indicator is low rate of worker’s employment retention where the Philippines had a rating of 30.6 percent, the lowest among ratings of other Asian countries. Vietnam had 48.7 percent rating so far the highest, while ratings of Thailand, China, India and Malaysia ranged from 33.6 percent to 42.5 percent.

The Philippines boasts of highly competent and English-proficient labor force. Thus the rating of 37.9 percent the lowest which means our country does not have a major problem when it comes to worker’s competency compared to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, China, Vietnam and Myanmar, with ratings from 40.9 percent to 56.3 percent with Myanmar having their highest percentage when it comes to problems on worker’s competency.

For the manufacturing sector only, when it comes to difficulty in quality control Philippine ratings of 26.7 percent, the lowest so far among other Asian countries in the report, proved that manufacturing firms had minimal problems on quality control compared to India with the highest rating of 45.5 percent. Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and China with rating of 28.7 to 43.4 percent.

Reasonable salary, another competitiveness indicator, showed that the Philippines had 5.3 percent rating salary base-up rate for 2011-2012. Malaysia followed with 4.5 percent. Vietnam had the highest rating of 17.1 percent for said indicator while Thailand’s rating was third from the lowest at 6 percent, followed by Indonesia, 9 percent; China, 11.4 percent and India,, 12.8 percent

For the annual salary (including bonuses, allowances, benefits like SSS, Pag-Ibig etc) of the manufacturing staff, the Philippines ranked third from the lowest giving an annual salary of $4,048.

The lowest was Vietnam with annual salary of $2,196 followed by Indonesia, $3,980. Annual salary ranges of India, Thailand, China and Malaysia were from $4,495 to $6,340 with Malaysia giving the highest annual salary for its manufacturing staff.

0n annual salary (including bonuses, allowances, SSS, etc) for manufacturing engineers, again, Vietnam’s annual salary of $4,793 was the lowest, followed by the Philippines, $6,494.

Malaysia had the highest annual salary for manufacturing engineers at $16,092 while annual salaries of Indonesia, China, India, and Thailand ranged from $9,937 to $11,464.

On annual salary (including onuses, allowances, SSS, Etc) for mfg managers, still Vietnam’s annual salary of $11,526 was the lowest annual salary of $5,199 again followed by Indonesia and the Philippines at $6,852 and $7,324, respectively. Malaysia had the highest annual salary for non-mfg staff at $14,554 while annual salaries of India, Thailand and China ranged from 10,088 to $12,334.

On annual salary (including bonuses, allowances, SSS, etc) for non-manufacturing manages, again Vietnam continued to be giving the lowest annual salary of $14,977 for non-mfg managers, followed by the Philippines and Indonesia at $19,187 and $23,068, respectively.

Consistent for annual salaries, all categories, Malaysia had the highest annual salary at $35,117 while annual salaries of India, Thailand and China ranged from $25,179 to $27,610.

Opening of new A380 hangar at Lufthansa Technik Philippines

Third widebody hangar in Manila
http://www.lufthansa-technik.com/applications/portal/lhtportal/lhtportal.portal?requestednode=395&_pageLabel=Template7_8&_nfpb=true&webcacheURL=TV_I/Media-Relations-new/Press-Releases/LTP_A380_hangar_opening_US.xml

Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP), one of the largest providers of aircraft maintenance services in Asia, has opened a third hangar in Manila for work on widebody aircraft. With this step, the company is preparing for the technical support of the world’s largest commercial aircraft.

Lufthansa Technik Philippines, a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik (51%) and the Philippine MacroAsia Corporation (49%), invested USD 30 million in the construction of the new hangar, which is 8,500 square meters large and 35 meters in height. The new hangar offers space to work simultaneously on one widebody and two narrowbody aircraft.

"With the new hangar, we will be able to keep up with the increasing demand for technical services for long-haul aircraft, particularly in the Asian market," said Lufthansa Technik Chairman of the Executive Board, August Wilhelm Henningsen. "By adding A380 capability, it underscores Lufthansa Technik Philippines’ role as global aircraft overhaul center."

"The continuous growth of the company leads to up to 400 new highly-technology and high-skills jobs in addition to the existing 2,700 jobs," explained Gerald Frielinghaus, President and CEO of LTP.

Eleven years after its founding, Lufthansa Technik Philippines, located at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport, offers comprehensive technical services including lease return checks and cabin modification for the Airbus A330/A340 and A320 families and now also for the Airbus A380.

LTP has 30 overhaul customers including Philippine Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Virgin Atlantic, LAN Chile and AirAsia X. It has about 20 approvals from aviation authorities including the American FAA and the European EASA.

PH Military build-up

US Congress okays transfer of 2nd warship to Philippines
AP, with Florante Solmerin
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=//2012/february/11/news7.isx&d=/2012/february/11
See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p40hQzZmXwA
And: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtg19oO-vpE

THE US Congress has approved the transfer of a second Coast Guard ship to the Philippines, an official said Friday, as Washington shifts its military ties with Manila that has been engaged in a territorial dispute with China.

Assistant US State Secretary Andrew Shapiro told reporters he would consider a Philippine request to have the warship turned over with as much military equipment as possible.

That drew a sharp reaction from the Communist Party of the Philippines which on Friday said the US military was preparing the Philippine Navy as its front-line orce against China in connection with the brewing conflict over the Spratly Islands.

“The transfer of another cutter from the US government serves the purpose of US military buildup in the South China Sea,” the group said in a statement.

“Through such, the US is able to employ the Philippine Navy as an augmentation force in the course of its operations to permanently project its military presence and power in the area and secure the trade routes and Asian markets in the interest of US monopoly capitalist companies.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin on Monday confirmed there had been talks about the Philippines acquiring another Hamilton-class cutter.

The Philippine Navy acquired its first cutter from the US Coast Guard last year and renamed the 1967-commissioned ship BRP Gregorio del Pilar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFGKDwSAPNU). The Navy then deployed the ship to the West Philippine Sea to patrol the area.

The CPP said the transfer of a second cutter to the Navy would further heighten the tension in the disputed Spratlys and provke China.

On Thursday, officials of the US congress announced that its Foreign Relations Committee was about to wrap up its decision to transfer the US naval cutter Dallas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Dallas_(WHEC-716)) by the end of the week and planned to sail it to the Philippines soon thereafter, the group said.

But defense and military officials have said the acquisition of war equipment is part of the Armed Forces’ long-stalled modernization program, and that it has nothing to do with the dispute over the Spratly Islands.

The government had earlier announced it was also negotiating with the US government the acquisition of several F-16 fighters.

Last week, Gazmin and other officials went to Italy to sign a five-year contract to acquire fighter-bomber jets, frigates and destroyers and unmanned surveillance aircraft.

Saudi Investing $1.2B

By ALI G. MACABALANG
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/350948/saudi-investing-12b

BULUAN, Maguindanao, Philippines – A Saudi Arabian agro-industrial firm is investing $1.2 billion to cultivate an initial 2,000 hectares of idle lands in Maguindanao for the production of banana and root crops that are highly in demand in their oil-rich nation.

Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu announced this “good news” at a press conference in prelude to the launching here Friday of the 1st Sagayan Festival, which he and organizers have crafted extensively to showcase the bright side of the province, and create a situation conducive to peace and productivity.

Mangudadato said he and President Aquino had already made initial talks with the Arabian investors, whom he described as very keen to jump off the preparatsion of pilot areas involving 2,000 hectares before the end of this month or early next month.

He said the prospected areas are located here, and in Ampatuan, Abdulllah Sangki, Datu Odin Sinsuat, and other towns in Maguindanao.

The governor said the landowners of the prospected areas have already agreed to lend their lands in the joint farming venture that would allow their family members to work and earn an equitable share.

Initially, he said, the 2,000-hectare pilot area will generate employment for some 2,000 workers, each of them will tend one hectare.

Another incentive, Magudadatu said, is the provision of scholarships to the children of farm workers in any secondary or tertiary schools of their choice in Mindanao.

“In a nutshell, the farming venture will directly address poverty, illiteracy problem, and the inutility of huge lands in Maguindanao at the same time,” he said.

Citing government statistics, Mangudadatu said Maguindanao has some 324,000 hectares of idle lands and is saddled by high poverty and illiteracy incidents.