THE BETTER SIDE OF THE PHILIPPINES *


The following was written by INTEL General Manager Robin Martin about the
Philippines :

Filipinos (including the press, business people and myself) tend to dwell
too much on the negative side, and this affects the perception of
foreigners, even the ones who have lived here for a while. The negative
perception of the Philippines is way disproportionate to reality when
compared to countries like Columbia , Egypt , Middle East, Africa , etc.

Let us all help our country by balancing the negative with the positive
especially when we talk to foreigners, whether based here or abroad. Looking
back and comparing the Philippines today and 1995 (the year I came back), I
was struck by how much our country has progressed physically.

Consider the following:

1. The great telecom infrastructure that we have now did not exist in 1995.
1995 was the year the telecom industry was deregulated. Since then billions
of dollars have been invested in both fixed line and cellular networks
producing a system with over 5,000 kms of fiber optic backbone at a world
competitive cost. From a fixed line capacity of about 900,000 in 1995 we now
have over 7 million. Cellular phones practically did not exist in 1995; now
we have over 11 million line capacity.

2. The MRT, many of the EDSA flyovers (including the Ayala Avenue flyover),
the SKYWAY, Rockwell and Glorietta 4, the Fort, NAIA terminal 2 and most of the new skyscrapers were not yet built in 1995.

3. If you drive to the provinces, you will notice that national roads are
now of good quality (international quality asphalt roads). I just went to
Iba, Zambales last week and I was impressed that even a not so frequently
travelled road was of very good quality.

4. Philippine exports have increased by 600% over the past eight years.
There are many, many more examples of progress over the last eight years.
Philippine mangoes are now exported to the US and Europe .

Additional tidbits to make our people prouder:

1. INTEL has been in the Philippines for 28 years. The Philippines plant is
where Intel's most advanced products are launched, including the Pentium IV.
By the end of 2002, Philippine operations became Intel's biggest assembly
and testing operations worldwide.

2. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS has been operating in Baguio for over 20 years. The
Baguio plant is the largest producer of DSP chips in the world. DSP chips
are the brains behind cellphones. TI's Baguio plant produces the chip that
powers 100% of all NOKIA cellphones and 80% of Erickson cellphones in the
world.

3. TOSHIBA laptops are produced in Santa Rosa , Laguna.

4. If you drive a BENZ, BMW, or a VOLVO, there is a good chance that the ABS
system in your car was made in the Philippines .

5. TREND-MICRO, makers of one of the top anti virus software PC-Cillin (I
may have mispelled this) develops its "cures" for viruses' right here in
Eastwood Libis, Quezon City . When a virus breaks in any computer system in
the world, they try to find a solution within 45 minutes of finding the
virus. 6. Today a majority of the top ten U.S. Call Center firms in the U.S. have
set up operations in the Philippines . This is one area in which I believe we
are the best in the world in terms of value for money.

7. America Online (AOL) has 1,000 people in Clark answering 90% of AOL's
global e-mail inquiries.

8. PROCTOR & GAMBLE has over 400 people right here in Makati (average age 23
years) doing back-up office work to their Asian operations including
finance, accounting, Human Resources and payments processing.

9. Among many other things it does for its regional operations network in
the Asia-Pacific region here in Manila , CITIBANK also does its global ATM
programming locally.

10. This is the first year ever that the Philippines will be exporting cars
in quantity courtesy of FORD Philippines. (I have an idea this article was
written between 2001 - 2002, so this operation should have been on-going for
the last 3 years or so. CYN)

11. The government is shedding off graft and corruption slowly but surely.
This is the first time in our history that a former president is in jail and
facing charges of plunder. Despite all odds, we are still pursuing the
ill-gotten wealth of Marcos now enjoyed by his unrepentant heirs.

Next time you travel abroad and meet business associates tell them the good
news. A big part of our problem is perception and one of the biggest battles
can be won simply by believing and by making others believe. This message is
shared by good citizens of the Philippines who persevere to hope and work
for our country.