To the new heroes

OFWs are really the new generation Filipino heroes. Macroeconomic indicators all point to their contribution as the single biggest factor for our country’s improving numbers. And their contribution is expected to grow even further in 2007. Because of this, all the telcos have started to focus on OFWs as a market and it is interesting to see how they have attacked this segment.

In the landline business, PLDT led the way last year when they launched the highly successful PLDT Budget card. PLDT’s retail business head took a gamble and dropped the price and the currency from 40 cents a minute to P5 a minute to various destinations. The risk paid off when the Budget Card revenues grew but more importantly killed VOIP "fly by night" cards that were proliferating in the market. PLDT drove the nail to competition’s head when they dropped the price even further to P3 per minute for calls to the US, HK and Canada. Today, Budget Card is number one in the industry (or is it the only one left standing?).

Coming off the success of Budget Card, PLDT drew first blood for 2007 when they launched their OFW Bulagaan campaign offering OFW’s a landline for only P115 a month for incoming calls, the Budget Card, and again the lowest rate of P10 per minute for calls to the Middle East via their Pwede Card. They even surprised the market by putting together Tito, Vic and Joey as their endorsers, a perfect fit.

PLDT completes its offer by providing OFWs a chance to build their own internet café business through their PLDT Mydsl Internet Cafe plus product. For only P35,000 downpayment and P4,000 a month amortization, an OFW will be given everything he needs to set up his own Internet Cafe.

Globelines on the other hand followed PLDT’s lead and offered even lower calls to the Middle East and other countries through their Globe One Card. Globe One dropped the rates even lower than PLDT’s to P2.50 per minute for calls to certain key countries. Globelines Broadband again followed PLDT’s lead by duplicating the Internet Cafe program of PLDT and dubbing it the "Globe Negosyo" program but on a lower scale. They are focusing on stand alone computers and offering one Free PC for a bundled monthly fee of P2,500 per month.

The PLDT Group’s Smartbro has been offering a similar single station computer broadband connection for P995 per month to sari-sari stores dubbed as Smartbro Computer Station a few months earlier and to date has over 1,000 sari-sari stores connected.

In the wireless business, Globe clearly has the edge in going after the OFW market. While Smart claims to be the "Nationwidest", Globe now is the "Worldwidest" claiming more partners worldwide and lower rates.

Globe innovated pricing by shifting to the per second paradigm. They first did it for local calls, and then did it for international outgoing calls. Smart has yet to follow this lead and many believe this is a strong differentiator in favor of Globe that the consumers have started to realize.

Globe also did strong tie-ups with worldwide telcos where there is strong OFW presence then launched the Globe Kababayan SIM. They then had special pricing to calls between Globe subscribers and Globe Kababayan subscribers worldwide. This was in answer to Smart’s tie ups in Hong Kong and Singapore that former Smart marketing top man Boy Martirez launched together with PLDT Global’s Al Panlilio two years ago.

Globe now has tied up with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for special projects geared towards the OFWs. They are visible in almost all OWWA events that honor OFWs. PLDT recently also honored OFWs in tandem with GoNegosyo by honoring the top OFW Entrepreneurs of the country. Smart has yet to move aggressively in this area but has launched their Smart OFW services using Epi Quizon and Ruffa Mae as their endorsers. Smart also launched their BigaTen promo that allows 10 low rate calls or texts to various countries for 100 pesos.

Even the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has entered the mix. The NTC has now enjoined all the wireless telcos to offer low rates of 20 cents per minute to the Middle East. But this is just a promo that ends Jan. 31.

Smart’s big idea is to enhance the remittance service "Smart Padala" that Boy Martirez developed. This is where Smart hopes to make a big contribution to OFWs by providing low cost remittance to Filipinos. If coffee shop talk is to be believed, they plan to undercut the whole remittance industry by dropping fees to as low as P1 per remittance.

The OFWs are truly the new heroes, and it’s nice to know the big telcos are treating them that way. Actually, we all should.

Case of harassment?

There’s something very interesting awaiting action before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office and many say it smacks of discrimination and anti-foreign investment.

Industry officials say that in the guise of protecting the public health, the Medical Alliance against Cigarette Hazards (MACH) has filed a criminal case against Philip Morris Philippines for allegedly violating the law on cigarette health warnings. According to the group, larger health warning, comprising 30 percent of the front of cigarette packs, should have been placed on all cigarette products on July 1, 2006 as per the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003. Previously, government health warnings can only be found on the side of the packs.

The crusading MACH hauled Philip Morris to court after finding some of its products in the market after July 1 without the new health warning.

I don’t think you can still find a sane adult, smoker or non-smoker, on this planet who doesn’t know that smoking is bad for one’s health. We don’t need screaming health warnings to remind people that smoking kills.

What caught my curiosity is that fact that MACH singled out Philip Morris when then are other players in the local cigarette industry. Philip Morris holds only a quarter share of the local industry, ranking second. Lucio Tan’s Fortune Tobacco holds around 60 per cent while another industry biggie La Suerte Cigar rounds up the Big 3.

If memory serves me right, Philip Morris came into the Philippines in the early 2000 with a huge $300 million investment for a new factory in Batangas. It was, at the time, one of the single biggest investments attracted by the Arroyo government.

Why Philip Morris was singled out is beyond many. Well, they may be a small player here, but they sure are one of the the world. And for a local NGO to go up against a Goliath, that would definitely make for good copy to big international anti-tobacco NGOs.

But going back to the case, according to the Philippine Tobacco Institute, the association of cigarette manufacturers in the Philippines, they requested for a four-month extension of the July 1 deadline to accommodate other changes in the cigarette pack this time as required by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The request to move the deadline to Nov. 1, 2006 was addressed to the 11-man Inter Agency Committee-Tobacco which was created to oversee the implementation of the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003. Majority of the members of the IAC agreed to the extension.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque, vice-chairman of the IAC-Tobacco, said the DOH opposed the request but conceded that they were overruled by the majority. The Department of Trade and Industry, chairman of the IAC-Tobacco; the Departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Finance as the National Tobacco Administration had no objection to the request. The Departments of Education, Science and Technology and Justice did not submit any comment. Only the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance, Philippines (FCAP) objected together with the DOH.

According to PTI, all its members complied with the new Nov. 1 deadline and expressed surprise why Philip Morris was the one singled out by MACH.

Curiously as well, MACH is headed by Dra. Encarnita Limpin. Dra. Limpin is also the president of the FCAP. It’s surprising that Dra. Limpin, as a member of the IAC-Tobacco, did not know of the PTI request for extension. The MACH complaint made no reference at all to the PTI request.

This case may or may not go to trial but what’s alarming is how the executive department’s efforts to lure much needed foreign capital can easily be undermined by court action. This may send a chilling message to prospective investors wanting to do business in the country.

If a big international company, doing legitimate business in the country, can be hauled to court by a local NGO on the lamest of charges, then be afraid.

Asian LII launching

The Arellano Law Foundation, which has produced many of the brightest legal minds in this country, has added another feather in its cap when its LawPhil Project was chosen to represent the Philippines in the Asian Legal Information Institute (Asian LII), a non-profit and free access website for legal information from all 27 countries and territories in Asia.

The LawPhil Project is one of the most complete and most accessed databank of Philippine laws and jurisprudence, and other legal materials. It is the legal web site project of the ALF, a non-stock, non-profit institution specializing in legal education.

AsianLII was launched for free public access last Dec. 8, 2006 in Sydney with launches in a number of Asian countries taking place in the first half of 2007, beginning with the Philippines. The Philippine launch of Asian LII (www.asianlii.org) is scheduled on Jan. 10 with no less than Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno as the guest of honor.

AsianLII provides for searching and browsing databases of legislation, case-law, law reform reports, law journals and other legal information, where available, from each country in the region.

At launch, it will provide access to nearly 100 databases drawn from almost all 27 Asian countries. Over 140,000 cases from at least 15 countries, and over 15,000 pieces of legislation from at least 18 countries will be searchable. All databases can be searched simultaneously, or searches can be limited to one country’s databases or other combinations. Search results can be ordered by relevance, by date, or by database.

AsianLII is being developed by the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII), a joint facility of the Law Faculties at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), in cooperation with partner institutions in Asian countries and other legal information institutes (LIIs) belonging to the Free Access to Law Movement.

One aim of the AsianLII project is to assist development of the local capacity of its partner organizations to develop and maintain independent local legal information to the standards of world’s best practice, and to integrate them into international free-access law networks such as AsianLII, CommoinLII and WorldLII.

But the benefits of free access to law are limitless. Aside from aiding research, it will also encourage international trade and investment, but more importantly, unification despite differences in laws and customs.

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