Digital Outlier | Orly Ballesteros

Professional is a word given to a person that is licensed in a particular controlled and regulated industry. But beyond this, professional or professionalism carries gravity in terms of acting honorably and with integrity.

Thus if a professional forgets about this then his acquired skills and expertise thus not matter. For in the end what make a professional are not the skills but the character and values that comprise him.

For a skill given to an irresponsible person with no integrity is very dangerous. More so, when the person is entrusted to have authority to regulate his peers to follow and practice what is right.

A stricter penalties and stricter qualifications must be implemented to avoid selecting undeserving professionals hiding in the cloak of their acquired skills. Only when we do this or see these bad eggs punished can we uphold the true meaning of PROFESSIONALISM – a person that is skilled and character that imbues honor and integrity.

We wallop today the United Arab Emirates despite losing two important players due to technicalities. For sure, we will be at the thick of things in this FIBA ASIA qualifying match for London Olympics. For sure, many Filipino Basketball aficionados will be praying (including me) that the door of heaven opens and we catch the blessings so that our team clinched a slot for the Olympics.

However, history is not on our side. The possibilities of heart break are bigger than the possibilities of hubris. I cannot event remember the number of times my heart was broken because of the unmet expectations and what could have been scenarios that did not materialized.

As this FIBA Asia unfolds and the initial results are positive there is a sense of good things to come feelings that envelop me. Regardless of the percentage my positive mind is dominant and will not look on the past as benchmarks for the outcome that we will have in this contest.

The skeptics and those that have given-up will probably sneer at me and the many who are hoping for the impossible. The old cliché “Basketball is for the Giants” will again be thrown at those who believe. But we have adjusted and addressed this concern. Yes, we resorted in naturalizing a foreigner in order for us to compete at the 5 and 4 position, this do not make us a lesser man and team.  Majority of the team are Filipinos and the team carries our flag. They represent us and it is only right that they get our full support.

Basketball is our country’s passion and it still is. Despite the emergence of football, basketball will never leave the hearts of the majority of our countrymen.

The bounce of the ball is music, the cross-over and other acrobatic shots are like a ballet dance number, the swish of the net because of a ringless shot is like a cold water poured in someone’s head, and the dunks and buzzer beaters are like a lotto number drawn where everybody shouts and jumps because they were declared as winners.

I believe in the SMART GILAS and I believe in the Philippine Basketball. Heck I don’t even care if we end up not entering the London Olympics. I just want to see the team fight for every ball possessions and represent the flag with pride and honor.

The announcement that the fares of MRT and LRT will increase as high as P60.00, a 300% increase to its original P15.00 elicited a lot of negative reactions.

I respect and understand the reactions however I agree with the reasoning that the MRT and LRTs are being subsidized by the whole country which should not be the case. Provinces outside Metro Manila need funds to develop and it will be best to share some of the subsidy that will be slash to the MRT and LRTs to these provinces.

If we take the long term view, the development of the provinces will decongest Metro Manila. Developed and progressive provinces will distribute wealth and jobs among all our countrymen. I would rather shoulder the increase if in the near future there will be positive effects in the rural areas.

I am born in Manila, a true blooded Manileno but I cannot be too barriotic in thinking that my city or region should be the only city that must benefit from the help of the government (of course I am exaggerating this line of argument, I know provinces have budget allotment, even if it is paltry).

However, my only requirement is that there must be a concrete and physical proof of the diverted budget. 

Otherwise, it will be a case of another lost opportunity and lost benefit to the detriment of the country and the people.

Also, discounts should be given to students and senior citizens two sectors that need speed and comfort in their daily transportation.

Lastly, I believe that we have one of the lowest fares in Asia. See the MRT or MTR as they call it in Singapore, Hongkong and Japan – we can see that the fares there are high and ours too cheap to compare.

This stand is unpopular but it is what is right therefore it must be implemented. We cannot ignore the long term benefits and the reality that MRT and LRT's are business units of the government that must profit. Profit that can be use to maintain, upgrade and see it operational in a lot of years to come.

I watch his interview with Jessica Soho in the program State of the Nation and read the transcript the GMA NEWS TV online and there are a lot of interesting remarks our Secretary of Tourism made. So here it is and be inspired.

 “Ang magandang slogan ay buod ng isang napakalaking istorya”

I agree and the challenge is to get to the core of the story to serve as our battle cry that will unify us all.

“We have to develop an appetite for competition”

Calling business men and government PPP project creators we need you to create more so we can compete in terms of infrastructures and transportation facilities.

“Because money is only one vehicle for making a campaign work. In fact, it is the least important when you get right down to it. Ang pinakamagagandang kampanya sa buong mundo, hindi naman pera ang nagdala eh. Nasa isipan lang talaga yan eh. If you have less money, you think harder”.

A creative guy knows no boundary and our Secretary of Tourism is one heck of a man that can pull the job with this kind of statement.

“Pag kayo hindi na nag-uusap, lalaki ang problema. Ang lahat ng tao, especially mga Pilipino, kailangan lapitan mo, kailangan kausapin mo. Kailangan makita nila na ang pagkakataon na nasa labas ng bintana ay mas malaki kesa doon sa pinag-aawayan natin dito sa loob ng bahay”.

I guess the tourism congress conflict has a big chance to be solved because of this stance. However, the Secretary must also be cautious that some are in the congress just to grab power and use it to further their self interest.

“Tourism is the people’s business. Ang turismo ay negosyo ng taong bayan. My job will be to make that happen”.

This is the heart of matter and tourism will grow if the government will be serious in living with this dictum. Again, tourism is not a backyard industry. In fact, in a globalized economy it plays a major role in a country’s development. Case in point is Singapore, without tourism its many hotels and conventions center will fold-up and many people will lose their job.

“Ang turismo po ay confidence, kumpetisyon yan eh. ‘Pag halatang duda ka sa sarili mong kagandahan, lalabas yan”.

Indeed, we have to believe first in our country before other countries believe in us. Only by having this mindset can we compete.

Right now, I am all praises with our Secretary and I hope that this feeling remains the same until he finish his term.

So now, let us buckle down and make the vision a reality.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) issued a reminder to students not to enroll on the following courses as this will give them a very small chance of landing a job.

The following courses are:

There are 37,000 plus graduating nursing students this year according to the Department of Labor and Employment. Not to enroll in this course I will bite into.

However, education, information technology and business administration and hotel and restaurant management, I think is very debatable for discouraging students not to enroll in these courses.

First, our education needs a lot of teachers as there are in depth reports that there are overworked and over tasked teachers assigned in our educational system - caused by lack of teachers!

Second, we are into the knowledge economy our information technology graduates can usher a new boom in terms maximizing the internet world to serve our economy. There are a lot of jobs in the net that is still untapped. I know an international company who is in big need of SEO specialists but can't or is hard pressed in finding one. This is just a starter.

Third, business administration and hotel and restaurant management, with the positive outlook of our tourism and boom in entrepreneurship, we will need these graduate to fill the need of business and organizations to perform supervisory tasks.

Market driven approach is the measurement used by TUCP in arriving on the conclusion to dissuade the graduating students to enroll on these four courses I am urging to be given a second look.

My basis is that in an economy where knowledge is the trend information technology experts will play a bigger part. And in a country that needs a fresh injection of talents in our educational system, teachers are very much needed. Lastly, strategically, if we are considering our tourism as a sunshine industry, then HRM and Business Management graduates will play the part to fill-up need in hotels, restaurants, new business establishments that will be opened by investors in our country.

Yes, No to increase nursing enrollment and yes,  a big no to increase call center agents – not that I do not approve of this industry but I feel we need to create more high value industry not just become an outsourcing hub because of our cheap labor. 

I find this video very insightful. Ram Charan author of numerous best sellers is the main feature of this video and he discusses 5 Building Blocks in Running A Successful Business. The building blocks are:

 Cash

Cash is king. In business this principle is very much true we have to have cash and know where in our business do we generate cash. A business model is only effective if all members of the organization know how to generate cash or source cash in this particular business.

 Margin

This is about cash flow. Velocity dictates that the cash that goes in to your company must be faster and greater than the cash that goes out of your company. There are a lot of stories of failed business that show why even if the company has a great product and service if the cash going out is greater that the cash going in then it will eventually fold-up.

Growth

There must be a sustained growth every month and every year. But a caveat it must be a profitable growth, this can only happen if we innovate our products and services. If we become complacent this will spell the END OF OUR COMPANY.

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