Brain Contour

The World Economic Forum’s “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report” 2011 has been released with Switzerland topping the latest global survey among 139 countries. The top 10 countries overall that are considered the most competitive in travel and tourism are Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada and Singapore.

What is the rank of my dear Philippines? It placed 18th out of 26 countries in Asia Pacific. Overall, it slipped to 94th place from 86th in the 2009 rankings. Read how the Philippines fared:

The State of Peace Map

Here is where we stand among the bottom countries (with average scores):

Some people I know have been spreading email that is intended for the Philippine Congress. It is about the campaign to oppose the passage of the Philippine Reproductive Health Bill (HB5043). I read through the seven points cited in the document and then went through the sections and paragraphs of the bill that these “concerned citizens” think are detrimental to the Filipino people.

The email spam says:

We strongly oppose the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill (HB5043) for the following reasons:

1. AS EMPLOYERS, we do not want to be compelled to provide free reproductive health care services, supplies, devices and surgical procedures (including vasectomy and ligation) to our employees, and be subjected to both imprisonment and/or fines, for every time that we fail to comply. (Section 17 states that employers shall provide free delivery of reproductive health care services, supplies and devices to all workers more particularly women workers. – Definition of Reproductive Health and Rights Section 4, paragraph g, Section 21, Paragraph c and Section 22 on Penalties).

If only. Oh if only. If only the criterion in the selection of the World’s Friendliest Countries by Forbes is the “ability to make friends,” the Philippines would have made it to number 1. In December 2009, Forbes released its annual listing of the “World’s Friendliest Countries” and the Philippines, known to have the friendliest of smiles, missed the top 10. What happened? Where were we short of? Thailand and Malaysia placed comfortably in the top 4 and 5 spots, respectively.

According to the research company FreshMinds, there were 23 factors used to rate each country, with more than 3,100 expatriates surveyed between February and April 2009. Each factor was weighted to arrive at a score. Scores were integrated and the final eight measures were selected. The measures were: organizing school for my children, organizing my finances, organizing my health care, finding somewhere to live, making friends, making local friends, setting up utilities, and joining local community groups. Based on these criteria, the top 10 World’s Friendliest Countries were revealed:

Yes, the Philippines has been manually counting election ballots all this time! But this coming 2010 national elections, the Filipinos will be introduced to the Automated Election Machine. For years, automating the election has been the topic of debates among lawmakers. There were many concerns thrown at each side, like questioning the reliability of the counting machines.

After many heated arguments, a bill was passed — Senate Bill No. 2231 (13th Congress) entitled:

Step aside Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Sen. Manuel Villar, former President Joseph Estrada, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, and any other known presidential aspirants for the May 2010 Elections. We need to know the other presidential hopefuls whose aspiration is to become famous, I mean, to become the 15th president of the Philippines.

Who among them will succeed Pres. Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo? Check out the list below, as these people have already filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs). From a masseuse, to a taxi driver, to a computer programmer — who says the highest position of the land is only for the rich and famous?

Not the Philippines — thank God! According to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the Philippines, in fact, improved slightly, moving 2 places up from 141 last year to 139 this 2009. But still this is seen as way down below the ranks when compared to other Asia-Pacific countries. Among the 32 countries/territories in the region, the Philippines ranks 24th, with a score of 2.4 out of 10. The lower the score, the more it reflects perceptions of rampant corruption. The country is still lagging behind Singapore (no. 2 in the region), Brunei (7), Malaysia (11), Thailand (14), Vietnam (22), and Indonesia (19). Singapore is also ranked the no. 3 least corrupt country in the world.

Globally, among 180 countries surveyed, the top 10 most corrupt countries in the world based from the Corruption Perceptions Index 2009 are: