Category: Business

No small deal: The contribution of POGOs to the Philippine economy

June 6, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 2 Comments

Much has been written about Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) but no one has actually ever been in one I think. I got a glimpse into how they operate last Friday. They are literally self-contained communities complete with their own grocery store, salon and barber shop, restaurant, laundry and whatever else the Chinese employees will…

Business, Money Talks

Hyper-politicised energy sector dooms Filipinos to chronic energy shortage

June 4, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 4 Comments

Interesting that Boo Chanco makes no mention of the elephant in the room; the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). This, considering how, in his PhilSTAR piece today “Power failure” he writes about what he calls “the big elephant in the room” which comes in the form of the question, “how much energy capacity do we…

Business, Economy, Environment

Digitization of Ph’s nightmarish bureaucracy should be made a major election issue

June 1, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 1 Comment

As the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte comes to an end, one of its unfulfilled campaign promises coming to light is the improvement in the delivery of government services to the citizenry. At the onset, the support base of Duterte rallied behind him because of this promise translated into action during the first months of…

Business, Economy, Tech Talk

Doubtfully Legal Takeover of Dampa sa Greenhills

May 31, 2021May 31, 2021 P. Farol 3 Comments

Over the course of the past two years, I’ve become somewhat of a regular customer of Dampa sa Greenhills, an Ilonggo restaurant and bar just across the corner of Col. Bonny Serrano and Jose Abad Stantos Street in San Juan City, Metro Manila. It’s an airy, sunlit place where the food is good and the…

Business, Politics

Opposition horse-trading shaped by energy oligarchs vying for control over oil and gas in West Philippine Sea

May 28, 2021May 28, 2021 Ramon Ortoll No Comments

So now journalists have to get their stories from Facebook posts. In her Inquirer report “Control of West PH Sea oil seen in takeover of Malampaya project”, Frances Mangosing uses a statement from a certain “security expert” named Jay Batongbacal as reference to highlight how a takeover of the Malampaya gas project by Dennis Uy’s…

Business, Politics, Society

A confluence of Islamic extremists’ and Mindanao drug lords’ interests led to the Marawi City siege

May 25, 2021 Ramon Ortoll No Comments

My Professor in Communication Arts Marian Pastor Roces is at it again. Mass media and society was the course I took under her back then. As one who is deeply involved in showcasing Muslim-Filipino culture to the world, Roces takes it upon herself to carry the cudgels for the bakwit of Marawi. She writes in…

Business, Crime, Culture

The Politics of Business: an account of political persecution by Herminio Disini

May 20, 2021May 28, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 3 Comments

If you want to have an idea of how the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) was weaponized against the Marcos “cronies” you should read this book, The Politics of Business: How the Government Tried My Case Without Me, by none other than Herminio T. Disini. Disini begins with his origins in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur…

Business, Development

When did the dispute between the Philippines and China REALLY begin?

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021 Ramon Ortoll No Comments

Here we go again. Retired former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio writes yet again in his latest piece “China does not possess the [West Philippine Sea]” published on the Inquirer. He continues to assert ad nauseum that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is “sending a message to oil and gas companies with Service Contracts from the…

Business, Development