August 21
I can’t think of a better recipient of holiday gifts than these two kids, and kids like them who spend most of the time on the streets. This picture was taken last August 21, by the side of the Quezon Bridge on the Plaza Miranda side. Maybe their parents have been paid to setup these flags and passed the task on to them. Maybe they were hired by whatever political party this was.
If only every flaglet they stuck on the ground would raise their hopes for a better future…
Bakers standardize ‘pan de sal’
Written by Max V. de Leon / Reporter
FRIDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2009 01:08
The big bakery groups in the country will start selling pan de sal in different standardized sizes—from budget to jumbo—in response to nationwide complaints from consumers that the different sizes confuses them in assessing the comparatively cost of the basic bread from different bakeries.
The Philippine Baking Industry Group (Philbaking), Filipino-Chinese Bakery Association, and Philippine Federation of Bakery Association Inc. announced they are now informing all their members on this initiative.
Another measure they have initiated is the selling of hot pan de sal on a set schedule—a couple hours in the morning and another couple of hours in the afternoon. The groups said this will allow them to save in the use of liquefied petroleum gas, whose prices has risen greatly.
Philbaking president Simplicio Umali said each size category will have a range of baked weight, with the regular size from 25 grams to 35 grams, large pan de sal from 35 to 45 grams, and the jumbo pan de sal over 45 grams. Budget-sized pan de sal will weigh less than 25 grams.
With this agreed standards, bakers will be forced to stay within a size range and give consumers the opportunity to compare products of different bakeries and their corresponding prices according to weight, he added.
The price, however, will still depend on the quality of ingredients and method of preparation and other valued-added features like improvers. But average prices would be P1.50 per piece for the budget size and P2 to P3 for regular.
Also, Umali said bakeries should start selling prepacked pan de sal probably in packs of 10 so any price changes due to fluctuations in the cost of flour will be easier to reflect. “We are optimistic that with this initiative, the image of the shrinking pan de sal will be eliminated.”
* * * * *
Will this get the rubber stamp of approval from the average Pinoy?
I overheard this news over the radio in the cab I was riding home last night. When a man on the street was interviewed about this news he said: What if the money I have is not enough to buy a whole pack?
This “per pack” proposition goes contrary to the everyday Pinoy’s “tingi” (per piece) mentality, which has given rise to the popularity of sachets for just about any consumable product today. Buying in bulk, whether it be pandesal or shampoo requires the corresponding spending power, which the average working Pinoy does not.
It would be interesting to observe how this plan will fare.
Sky High
The establishment of college loans in the Philippines may be an alternative answer to rising tuition costs in the country.
A militant student group on Saturday questioned the non-inclusion of private schools in the tuition moratorium announcement of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, saying this has left a greater number of the country’s students to the mercy of “education vultures.”
The League of Filipino Students said tuition in private learning institutions should be regulated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the government.
According to CHEd data, 378 private tertiary schools have implemented a tuition increase this year with a nationwide average of 10 percent.
LFS called for the suspension and investigation of tuition increases with a view to rolling them back if schools were proven to have abused their discretion in raising fees.
According to Crisostomo, there should be no reason to allow increases in tuition in private schools as most of the schools were making millions in profits.
Private student loans can come with a pre-arranged employment plan to pay off the loan in a pre-determined number of years. But since student loans are practically unheard of in this country, nothing short of government intervention is needed to address the problem of rising tuition fees.
But does the government even want to intervene with private schools tuition scheme? It seems they have their hands full already, after state colleges and universities have started selling off their land to meet expenses that have gone sky-high. And now that school has already started, it looks like more and mores students are not going to be students anymore, not this year, and probably not the next.
Nabosesan by Bienvenido Lumbera
I first met Professor Bienvenido Lumbera in 1985, when I attended the UP Writers Workshop in the summer of that year. That was 23 years ago. As with most well-loved teachers, Prof. Lumbera possesses the rare gift of wearing the years well. He looks exactly the same in this video as I remember him then.
This video was taken during a Lecture on Poetry and Politics that he gave on the 17th of May 2008 at the Ateneo de Davao University.
About Me
