$2,000 a month for drivers and electricians

Did you know 1: The distributor of the last of the Star Wars trilogy, "Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith" wants the movie premiere to be in a new cinema. There’s one that’s being currently rushed to meet the mid-May deadline.

Should that not be completed on time, there’s always good old SM.

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Did you know 2: Filipino drivers and electricians working in Iraq are earning as much as $2,000 a month, the result of aggressive pirating among international companies which are short on people willing to work there.

The normal way to get to Iraq is through Dubai, which has seen the weekly number of Filipino arrivals – as tourists flying Emirates, of course – shoot up.

Oh yes, Dubai itself has become a major workplace for Filipinos, who can easily find jobs by just reading the classified ads. Once he/she finds a job, the Filipino can then easily change his/her tourist visa to a working visa.

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In the seven months that he has headed the Department of Tourism, Joseph Durano’s foreign travels has been limited to North Asia where close to half of the country’s tourists come from. As of April 2005, the Koreans have surpassed the Japanese as the country’s number one tourists.

A big part of Ace Durano’s strategy involves personally talking to travel agents and tour operators, a personal touch that North Asians appreciate, and further segmenting the market to give tourists what they want.

For example, the Japanese come to the Philippines for a specific reason, say, to play golf or to go scuba diving. Koreans and the Chinese, many of whom will be traveling abroad for the first time, like to cram as many different activities into their schedule as possible so they can talk about these activities when they get home.

On the average, Japanese tourists spend about three days in the Philippines; Koreans, eight days; and Chinese, two weeks.

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Ayala Land, Inc. chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala couldn’t be prouder if his own daughter graduated.

You see, the school that ALI and Ayala Foundation Inc. put up – this is the Center for Excellence in Public Elementary Education – has just graduated its first batch, all 71 boys and girls from Centex’s first campus in Tondo.

And get this, Ayala Foundation head Victoria Garchitorena and Centex director Carol Atacador have so far worked out a deal with Sr. Mila Sandoval, SSpS, of the College of Holy Spirit Manila so that the girls will be able continue their education as full scholars on their freshmen year when school opens this June.

Ayala Foundation and Centex are still looking for a similar deal that they could forge with a boy’s school.