Financial Crisis: The Philippine Version

[uls]

baka may Christmas decor sila sa entrance na "HAPPY HOLIDAYS"

tapos natakpan ng word "BANK" ung word "HAPPY"

[uls]

hey, talk about the big 3 US automakers having problems

may effect na dito:

Ford cuts Philippine office staff by 15 percent
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/busi...Ford.html?_r=1

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ford Motor Co. has cut its office staff in the Philippines by 15 percent in a restructuring program, a company official said Monday.

Some 29 employees, including six managers, out of total of 200 office-based staff accepted separation packages under a redundancy program that took effect Nov. 30, Ford Philippines Vice President for Human Resources Emmanuel dela Paz said.

Dela Paz said Ford is doing better in the Philippines this year compared to last year, but the restructuring was in line with a region-wide directive to cut operating costs and make operations more efficient. In the Philippines, the goal is to bring down fixed costs by 20 percent, he said.

[tidus1203]

Ford is also very aggressive in giving out deals. Maybe HQ has told them to increase their sales

[uls]

ya...

just be patient

hang on to your Christmas bonus

stay on the sidelines muna

magiging mas desperate ang mga car dealers next year

madami mga businesses magiging mas desperate makabenta next year

[tidus1203]

LOCAL CAR COMPANIES TURNING CAUTIOUS

MANILA, Philippines - Local car makers are enforcing stiff cost-cutting measures to fend off job cuts and keep profits, amid threats of slowing demand as a result of a slowing global economy.

But officials said they were ready to "make tough decisions," including layoffs, once economic conditions worsen.

"[Despite] the downturn, we are [doing well] as of this time. But we need to trim the fat if there is any," Universal Motors Corp. Executive Vice-President Elizabeth H. Lee said in an interview Tuesday.

Universal Motors, a local unit of Japanese auto giant Nissan, sells light commercial vehicles that include models like the Navara and Urvan.

Ms. Lee, who is also the head of the Chamber of Auto Manufacturers in the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), noted that while the business environment remained tough, job cuts could still be avoided.

"Of course, it is going to be more challenging, that’s for sure," she added.

The Ford Motor Co. Philippines, Inc. recently gave 28 employees, including 18 assistant vice-presidents, early retirement packages to help the company cut expenses in light of the global economic downturn.

"These were offered way back in September," Glen Dasig, the Ford Group’s assistant vice-president for passenger cars, told BusinessWorld.

He insists Ford was not about to fire people in response to the economic slowdown. He added that Ford would have still turned a profit even without letting any employees go.

"The measure [was done] to cement our financial position," he added.

Mr. Dasig said among the other measures the company has adopted is making service operations more efficient, which reduces expenses and improves customer satisfaction, as well as making employees work more.

He said the Ford Group Philippines, whose parent in the US is one of the big three car manufacturers seeking a bailout from the US government, expects to hike profits by a fifth this year.

Next year, Ford plans to become more aggressive, with plans to grow its local market share to 5% from 4.6% this year. This is equivalent to an increase in sales of around a tenth.

Ford sold 594 units here in November, 16% lower than the 707 cars it sold in November last year, CAMPI said in a report on Monday.

Universal Motors, which expects to post double-digit sales growth this year, said it would be more conservative next year.

"We cannot discount the fact that there will be a spillover from the crisis next year," Ms. Lee said. But local car makers would not be affected as much as their US counterparts, she pointed out.

The company sold 382 cars in November, more than three-quarters higher than a year earlier.

Meanwhile, local market leader Toyota said it would adopt a cost-cutting scheme in line with the spending cut of as much as 40 planned by its Japanese parent next year.

"We have also been instructed to adopt a policy of [being] cost-conscious," said Rommel R. Gutierrez, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. vice-president of corporate affairs.

The CAMPI report showed a 0.7% decline in Toyota sales in November to 4,137 units, from 4,168 in November last year.

"We want to cut costs where we can cut, [but] we have no plans [to lay off employees] as of this time," he said. But he did not ruled out job cuts if conditions worsen.

Ford noted that while it had no plans to lay off workers, the decision would ultimately depend on the economy.

He said the company expects the slowdown in sales to last only until the first half of next year.

Universal Motors’ Ms. Lee said they had no plans to cut jobs, adding that their operations are lean enough.

Total car sales went up by 8.3% to 114,365 units in January to November from a year earlier.

The industry hopes to sell 125,500 cars by the end of the year. Next year, however, CAMPI is projecting flat sales growth due to sluggish demand.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/138496/A...ough-decisions

[uls]

Iba ito dun sa nag bank holiday right?

Bacolod bank closed, bankruptcy rumors rife
http://abs-cbnnews.com/nation/region...cy-rumors-rife

Residents of Bacolod City urged authorities on Wednesday to explain the sudden closure of Nation Bank along Hernaez-Lopez Jaena Street Tuesday morning, fueling rumors that the bank has gone bankrupt.

Bank officials earlier said they closed the bank after three employees including the bank manager were allegedly threatened by one of their depositors.

"They were reportedly defamed by a foreigner who hapened to be one of their depositors. They said the foreigner would kill them if they won't release his money," said SPO1 Jerry Senoro, Police Station 6 case investigator.

Reports received by ABS-CBN said the foreigner berated the bank employees after the bank failed to release his deposit amounting to P400,000.

A representative from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the BSP is investigating Nation Bank's solvency.

[tidus1203]

Sorry wrong post on the wrong thread...

[kinyo]

mukhang nauuso na bank holiday? who's next?

napa-aga yata epekto ng crisis ... may mga nagpa-panic na

[Zeus]

Dami nga ang nagdedeclare ng bank holiday

Two more rural banks in Cebu declare holiday

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 12/11/2008 12:14 PM

Two more rural banks in Cebu province have declared bank holidays, spreading panic among bank depositors in the province.

A radio dzMM report said the Bank of East Asia in Minglanilla town and Rural Bank of Bais, also known as the Supreme Rural Bank, in Mandaue City have shut down operations on Wednesday.

The report said the two rural banks are members of the Legacy Group of Companies, the same parent company of the two rural banks -- Philippine Countryside Rural Bank and Pilipino Rural Bank in Mandaue City -- that also declared bank holidays on Wednesday.

Radio reporter Jun Perez of dyAB-Cebu said that because of the sudden declaration of bank holidays, other banks in the province have experienced "heavy withdrawals."

The report said one of the affected banks was the Rural Bank of Subangdako, also in Mandaue City.

Meanwhile, members of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas were expected to arrive in Cebu on Thursday to investigate the sudden declaration of bank holidays of the four rural banks. With a report from dzMM

as of 12/11/2008 3:34 PM

[tidus1203]

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos’ interest in economic terms like “recession" and “financial crisis" surged this year, a study from online search tool Google Zeitgest showed.

The search volume for “recession" registered a whopping increase of 2,600 percent while the term “financial crisis" booked a 333 percent rise when the global financial market started falling in September and October.

Consumer-related searches also rose, with the search volume fot the keywords “sale" and “tipid" rising 36 percent.

The volume of searches for the word “free" climbed ten percent.

“There were large increases in the number of searches... reflecting Filipinos searching more often online to find the best deals to save money," Google said in a statement.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/138840/F...erms-on-Google

The signs of the times....