Andrew E's Song 'Alabang Girls' Can Teach Us a Thing or Two About Economics

[BratPAQ]

Free sms ba siya or parang 150 per month na you need to line up and pay extra? Hindi ko na maalala. Or maybe it was free at first then nagkaroon na ng charge for unlimited text and mostly it was several "good mornings" when you wake up and "goodnights" before sleeping. Yung number of greetings depende na lang on the capacity of the sim to store contacts.

Texting was an added value back then. Feature lang sya basta may load. Then napansin siguro ng telco na wala gumagamit ng calls puro free text lang kaya they started charging ng ₱1 per text. I remember dami nag rereklamo when they started charging text. I'm not sure about line, prepaid lang ako noon. ₱1k pa dati ang prepaid sim card noon. Dati magka kasunod pa numbers pag bumili ka. Magka sunod number namin mag asawa since sabay kami bumili.

[ice15]

Globe lang noon ang may text... if I remember correctly, PhP 148/month sya.

Unlimited pero those old enough will remember na minsan sobrang delayed na ng text messages.

Later, Smart released it's "digital" with SMS na din, pero 1 peso/message sila. They kept advertising na kahit 1peso/message, on-time naman.

Later, nung naayos na interconnection between Smart and Globe, 1 peso/message na...

Then dumating yung Sun, 250 unli SMS per month, 350 unli SMS & Calls pero Sun to Sun lang... kaya lahat tayo nagkaroon ng 2 phones! Isang Smart/Globe tapos isang Sun (0922)

[viper888]

yeah, paying P1 per text was annoying as a kid and Sun forced the other two telcos to provide unlimited services.

At theres Viber/Whatsapp/Line and etc., free calls and free messages as long as there is an internet connection

Anyone else noticed that globe calls are starting to take longer to connect? Im waiting a minute before it rings.

[thephantom]

Texting was an added value back then. Feature lang sya basta may load. Then napansin siguro ng telco na wala gumagamit ng calls puro free text lang kaya they started charging ng ₱1 per text. I remember dami nag rereklamo when they started charging text. I'm not sure about line, prepaid lang ako noon. ₱1k pa dati ang prepaid sim card noon. Dati magka kasunod pa numbers pag bumili ka. Magka sunod number namin mag asawa since sabay kami bumili.

You're correct I remember it now. Free nga tapos like what ice mentioned naging 148 or 150 as I remember it monthly as an add on. Naalala ko tuloy ang phone ko that time. Nokia 2010. The pangkaskas ng yelo. So proud kasi may option to choose from 6 ringtones! 6! Ang dami na noon nyan. LOL

[boybi]

May mga plans noon ang Smart (not sure sa Globe) na unlimited texts.

[ice15]

ang pinakamasakit nung 90's...

yung naghihintay ka ng friend mo na naka-pager tapos wala syang way para sabihan ka nya ng ETA nya.

page ka ng page sa kanya pero di sya makasagot

tapos (for guys as old as me). tititig ka sa phone mo... walang games, walang internet (yung phone ko, kahit clock wala!)

nakatitig ka sa kawalan, naghihintay.

[dr. d]

i think noong nag umpisa ang BPO industry diyan talaga nag grow ang middle class

when you said, "nag grow ang middle class",
did you mean
the number of people there increased?
or did you mean, the people there had more disposable money than before ?

[uls]

when you said, "nag grow ang middle class",
did you mean
the number of people there increased?
or did you mean, the people there had more disposable money than before ?

people at or below poverty line moved up the socioeconomic ladder

nabawasan ang mga mahirap dahil nagkaroon ng disenteng hanapbuhay -- dumami ang tao nag join ng middle class

[_Cathy_]

when you said, "nag grow ang middle class",
did you mean
the number of people there increased?
or did you mean, the people there had more disposable money than before ?

PRE BPO, kapag hindi ka graduate ng "top school" you practically have zero chances getting in a multinational corporation. Since BPOs hindi na masyado barrier ng school. Even age hindi na rin (which is good for me) I've seen some start out sa BPO ng isang MNC and transfer to the HQ, for example call center ng bank na transfer sa branch.

I also know several na children ng mga helper, driver, tauhan etc that are in call centers. I am friends with some on FB and they are living middle class lifestyles na like travelling, nice restaurants, branded clothes/shoes kaya tingin ko millennials are the last to have helpers that stay for several generations.

I am 101% sure this happened early 2000s, so whoever was responsible for the BPO industry in PH changes a lot of Filipino's lives.

Bihira na din mga companies that do NOT hire non top schools, I guess they realized na there's a lot of talent beyond those 3 schools, where I worked it started like that, but not anymore. Diverse na sa schools and background.

[uls]

more pinoys umaasenso

Pinoy multi-millionaires to triple by 2030 ? HSBC | Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — British banking giant HSBC said the number of adults holding wealth of at least $250,000 would triple by 2030 amid the deepening pool of local savings providing a measure of resilience against external financial headwinds.

In a report titled “The Rise of Asian Wealth: Building Depth and Resilience,” HSBC chief Asia economist Frederic Neumann said economies that are growing more rapidly such as the Philippines tend to accumulate wealth faster.

“Economies that grow faster naturally accumulate wealth at a quicker pace,” Neumann said.

However, HSBC pointed out that faster growing economies often also tend to be poorer, thus starting off from a lower base.

It added that the Philippines, Vietnam, and India are expected to see more than double the number of adults holding wealth of at least $250,000.

“In these economies, in short, the middle class continues to expand rapidly. While this is often talked about in the context of growing consumer markets, where a rising share of household spending is deemed ‘discretionary’ (powering demand for things like cosmetics, cars, and computers), when it comes to wealth, this signifies growing demand for more sophisticated financial services, such as wealth and pension planning, and demand for insurance products,” the bank added.

The report showed that the number of adults with wealth of at least $250,000 would hit five million by 2030 and 8.1 million by 2035 from about 1.6 million last year.

The number is higher compared to Singapore’s 3.5 million but lower than Indonesia’s 16.8 million, Taiwan’s 11.4 million, Malaysia’s 9.9 million, Thailand’s 9.7 million, and Vietnam’s 6.4 million.

In terms of percentage share of population, HSBC said the number of adults in the Philippines with wealth of at least $250,000 would more than double to 6.2 percent by 2030 and 9.2 percent by 2035 from the current 2.4 percent.

On the other hand, the number of Filipino adults with wealth of at least $1 million is seen to quadruple to 400,000 by 2030 and 700,000 by 2035 from the current 100,000.

In terms of share of population, it is projected to increase to 0.6 percent by 2030 and 0.8 percent by 2035 from the current 0.2 percent.

HSBC said that the Philippines would book the sixth fastest projected growth in aggregated financial wealth between 2022 and 2030, after Vietnam India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and China.

The country is projected to grow its gross domestic product (GDP) by 6.5 to 7.5 percent this year after emerging from the pandemic-induced recession with a 5.7 percent expansion last year that reversed the 9.6 percent contraction in 2020.

GDP expanded by 7.8 percent in the first half of the year despite the disappointing 7.4 percent growth in the second quarter that was slower than the 8.2 percent recorded in the first quarter of the year.