Yes, RP is headed for a bull market next year!

Finally, the United Nations (UN) Security Council voted unanimously to impose strict sanctions against North Korea for its underground testing of a nuclear bomb without any military threats. Those sanctions include a ban on military sales of tanks, rockets, munitions and the like, including a ban on luxury goods. In short, for exploding a nuclear bomb... North Korea gets a slap on the wrist. Worse, one of the sanctions is for the inspection of vessels bound for North Korea, which China firmly pointed out that it would not do.

If you ask me, those sanctions won't harm North Korea at all. They already have more than enough war materiel to fight two or three wars with its southern neighbor. As far as the ban of luxury goods are concerned... this ban personally targets Kim Jong-Il who has a fat appetite for those luxury items. But the rest of the North Korean people have never tasted that kind of luxury... they hardly have food on their tables.

Once again, the UN has proven to the world that it is inutile in solving the problems of this world. If there is a new nuclear arms race, thanks to the UN for not being able to stop it. Soon, it will be Iran to join the nuclear bomb. Those seeking to have a nuclear bomb are nothing but a bunch of warmongers who wouldn't hesitate using their nuclear arsenal to destroy their enemies. If the UN can't stop Iran, you can bet that Israel would do a pre-emptive bombing to stop Iran just like what they did to Iraq years ago.

* * *

Last Sept. 21st, our guest speaker in the Rotary Club (Mother) Mr. Antonio B. Herbosa of Punongbayan and Araullo Consulting Services gave our fellow Rotarians an idea why next year will be a "Bull Market" on Philippine Stocks and Property Markets...that the Philippines is headed for that 10-year boom and bust cycle and for next year all indicators are up!

Buoyed by similar reports, our good friend, House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Eddie "Eddigul" Gullas of the 1st District of Cebu said, "The growing profitability of publicly listed companies and the robust stock market would bolster government tax revenues in the months ahead, we are definitely counting on the increasing cash dividends paid by listed firms to shareholders as well as the brisk trading in equities to build up tax revenues."

Rep. Gullas pointed out, "A growing number of listed companies are paying higher dividends. Those previously not paying any dividends are now also distributing cash to shareholders. Dividend tax revenues are really a bonus. This is because dividends are paid out of earnings that have already been subjected to corporate income taxes."

Rep. Eddie Gullas cited the Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), an affiliate of Ayala Land Inc., and owner of the Cebu Business Park and other huge property development projects in Cebu, which this month paid its first-ever dividend to shareholders, worth a total of P96 million. Rep. Gullas also cited Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which earlier vowed to pay shareholders P19.2-billion worth of dividends, or 60 percent of the company's projected P32-billion net income this year. PLDT paid as dividends 40 percent of its net profit last year.

This piece of news means 2007 will be a better one for the Philippines and our being chairman of ASEAN would mean a lot in putting a lot of Filipino concerns on the ASEAN agenda for this year and for most part of next year. Let's hope that we can use the year 2007 as out springboard for getting away from that vicious cycle of poverty that has always plagued the Philippines.

Talking about the cycle of poverty, it was quite comforting to hear that we are not alone in our fight against poverty...as Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus said, "I think it's quite possible to eradicate poverty from this world. I think we can halve the poverty level in Bangladesh by 2015." This comes from a man who created the Grameen Bank that offers micro loans to very poor borrowers to help them become self-employed and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last Friday.

I fully agree with Mr. Yunus... that if a country and its people make it a policy and not just a political statement to eradicate poverty, I would like to believe that we too could eradicate poverty. That can be done if every Filipino put his mind into this noble goal and fight for it. For starters, what we need to do is to first identify what or who are the stumbling blocks to poverty? Offhand, let me point out a few major stumbling blocks to poverty. Political parties that use the name of the "masa" in vain. The Communist insurgency, including Muslim separatists and bad education policies. I believe that if we lick this problems, we can also lick the cycle of poverty.

* * *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit's columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com