Category Archives: Economy

Business, Economy

WORLD RECORD FOR MANILA: CITY WITH MOST NUMBER OF SHOPPING MALLS

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Uptown Place: new mega mall opening in Manila later this year
Uptown Place: new mega mall opening in Manila later this year

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – The Philippines has added a new feather to its cap by claiming yet another world record: its capital, Manila (and surrounding areas), has just been declared the city with the most number of shopping malls per capita.

Metro Manila (which is about the size of Arizona) is home to about 12 Million people.  With its 153 existing shopping malls, there’s one mall per 78,000 people.

And there’s no stopping Metro Manila from building more and bigger shopping malls.

Property leasing giant Megaworld Corporation is opening 21 more malls and commercial spaces in the next five years to more than triple its gross floor area from the current 304,000 square meters to 1.4 Million square meters by 2020.

Two of these malls will open in the last quarter of 2015.  They have a combined value of 4 Billion pesos.

So when in Manila, shop till you drop!

 

Economy, Government, International, Politics

PRESIDENT AQUINO: “PHILIPPINES IS NOW OFFICIALLY A RICH COUNTRY”

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – President NoyNoy Aquino will have a lasting legacy to leave behind when his term as president expires in 2016.

Today, Aquino announced that the Philippines is now officially a “rich country,” thanks to his administration’s economic and social programs over the last five years. “We’re now at par with first world countries in the West,” he said.

Aquino made the announcement after receiving a report from the Japanese Cooperation Agency (JICA) confirming that the Philippines is losing 2.4 Billion pesos daily because of the traffic situation in Metro Manila.

The JICA report noted that because of daily congested traffic, workers report late to work, business meetings are cancelled, commercial transactions are  jeopardized, and delivery of goods and services come to a stand still. In other words, productivity is cut by more than half, which is costing both government and private enterprises huge revenue losses.

But Aquino and his technocrat advisers are looking at the positive side to this loss of revenue. The president said that the fact that “our country can afford to lose billions of pesos every single day means we have the money to spare, and only rich  countries have that capability.”

Is it any wonder then that the government seems disinterested in solving the nightmarish transportation and traffic problems of the country, especially in Metro Manila?

Business, Economy, Local News

AS PESO LOSES VALUE, PHILIPPINE CITY REINSTATES BARTER SYSTEM

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imageBAGUIO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Baguio City, with its San Francisco-like weather, is known as the summer capital of the Philippines. Soon it will also be named “Barter Capital.” Yes, barter as in exchanging goods for goods.

Already, one can go into a boutique shop and pay for a nice blue dress with a leather handbag. Parking tickets can now be paid with a basket of fresh strawberries. Live chicken can now  be used to bribe politicians. No money for your jeepney fare? No worries, just hand the driver a fresh banana.

The city is leading the way for the return of the centuries-old barter system, the method of commerce before currency was invented.

Other cities throughout the country are now also looking to follow in Baguio’s footsteps, especially with recent developments in which the Philippine peso is losing value against the U.S dollar.

Even some members of congress are proposing that school education be provided free to all Filipino citizens in exchange for an unpaid employment in one of the call centers after they graduate.

Dollar remittances from overseas Filipinos are rapidly declining, while shipment of goods via balikbayan boxes are on the rise.

So who needs money when you have goods and services that you can use to maintain a happy, stress-free and comfortable lifestyle?

Thank you, Baguio City!