It was observed that several small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that incorporate delivering goods as part of their operation — especially for food businesses — have one main concern: peace of mind in terms of cash collection and payment.

Even as consumers are now getting used to a cashless payment system when they go shopping or when they eat out, PLDT-SME Nation is introducing this same concept of cashless transactions for delivered goods, from business bulk deliveries of frozen goods to a simple delivery like ordering pizza.

Work Unplugged or simply put, SWUP, is a card payment system that accepts all credit and debit cards using a single Electronic Fund Transfer-POS (EFT-POS) terminal, and its wireless feature makes it possible to accept payments just about anywhere.

As more and more people use credit or debit cards these days, this new service means greater convenience for card users.

"We are very excited for the SWUP especially for SMEs and businesses as this takes advantage of technology and could really help businesses maximize their profit. It also offers limitless convenience for consumers as it offers some of the first-of-its-kind features in the market," says PLDT-SME Nation vice president and head Kat Luna-Abelarde.

Business owners need not have various card terminals for them to accept different forms and brands of cards; they will only need one terminal for all kinds of card payments.

SWUP accepts major card brands such as Visa, MasterCard, JBC, American Express and Diners Club International as well as Visa Electron, MasterCard Electronic, Megalink, Bancnet and Express Payment System.

"Its all-access is a new feature that we know store owners will greatly benefit from," says PLDT-SME Nation product manager Blue Aldridge.

"There are a lot of different card brands out there and merchants need to cater to all these cards. The problem with that is they need a lot of terminals for each card as shoppers also carry various cards to make transactions," Aldridge added.

Entrepreneurs are given the assurance of safety in making transactions as the system transfers cash from account to account. It also proves convenient for consumers to pay with a card.

Businesses that incorporate delivering goods to customers or buyers are now given assurance that the payment of such transactions are safe and secure.

The SWUP wireless feature makes use of Smart’s 'nationwidest' GPRS network covering 99.57 percent of the country and PLDT Group’s broadest wireline network that allows the flexibility to accept card payments anywhere in the country.

The wireless system also provides a more secure line as it doesn’t make use of the Internet as the unit’s transport medium. It makes use of a private network, keeping it protected from viruses and hackers, which is possible with wired terminals.

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Frequent travelers, who go from one time zone to another, are no strangers to jet lag. Jet lag, medically referred to as desynchronosis, causes our body clock to be out of synch with the destination time.

Jet lag happens when we encounter daylight and darkness contrary to what our body has grown accustomed to. With this, the body’s natural pattern is disturbed. Thus, patterns for eating, sleeping, hormone regulation, even body temperature, no longer agree with the environment.

Jet lag maybe an unavoidable hitch for travelers, but there are ways to cope with it.

Prepare before traveling. Even days before traveling, adjust your sleeping habits bit by bit, according to the time zone of your destination. When already on a plane, control your naps as well.

Drink lots of water. Dehydration can give your body a hard time adjusting to the new time zone so it's best to consume lots of fluid.

Adapt to the new surroundings. Bring along personal objects from home to make you comfortable in the new environment. Your own pillow or blanket, for instance, may help you sleep more comfortably.

For people suffering from extreme cases of sleep deprivation caused by jet lag, sleeping pills are prescribed. However, most of these sleep-inducing soporific drugs can lead to drug dependence and other adverse effects after long-term use. Thus, it's best to opt for sleeping supplements.

Most of these natural sleep enhancers work by regulating the body's melatonin, which is a hormone that is naturally produced in the pineal gland — an endocrine gland located at the base of the brain. This hormone is produced, mainly at night, to regulate our body's sleep-wake cycle.

Studies suggest that melatonin helps hasten sleep and ease jet lag without the hazards or side effects of prescription pills. Other studies suggest that melatonin may have immune or antioxidant functions.

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Agriculture officials are confident that the country’s adoption of the Bt cotton technology from China and India will help boost the local cotton industry and rev up Philippine agriculture in the next few years.

Bt cotton, which has the ability to resist the highly-destructive bollworm, will soon be available for commercial plantation as the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Cotton Development Administration (CODA) steps up plans for the introduction of the genetically-engineered pest-resistant cotton variety in the Philippines soon, Agriculture undersecretary for policy and planning Segfredo Serrano revealed.

He said the CODA has planted transgenic hybrid cotton in one of its screen houses at the agency’s Cotton Research Center located in Batac City, Ilocos Norte as part of a project to commercially introduce Bt cotton varieties in the country.

The introduction of Bt cotton, like the Bt corn, aims to reduce losses because of infestation by pests - in this case the bollworm, which adversely affects cotton production.

"The bollworm infestation of cotton plantations in the Philippines has been severely affecting the local cotton industry. Our biotech solution to this problem is the introduction of a superior variety that resists pests," DA Biotechnology Program Office (DA-BPO) Director Alicia Ilaga said to Philstar.com.

The DA BPO supports various research and development projects for “superior crops” that are disease-free, resistant to pests, and high- yielding crops such as corn, papaya, eggplant and other varieties through genetic engineering. The DA-BPO has been facilitating technology transfer, if not funding local research and development of disease-free and pest-resistant crops.

Under the strict supervision of the Biosafety Committee of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Bureau of Plant Industry- Quarantine Service, together with CODA Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), six commercial transgenic cotton varieties imported from Nath Biogene (India) Ltd. were planted side by side with three locally-developed commercial non-Bt cotton varieties.

The contained experiment will evaluate the efficacy of the six Indian transgenic hy-brid cotton varieties that contains the Chi-na-developed fused Bt genes in controlling bollworm under local environments. Limited field trials will be conducted in CODA’s experiment stations and selected farms in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao within the next one or two cotton seasons.

The transgenic hybrid cotton or Bt cotton in the trial contains the fused Bt-genes cry 1Ab/cry 1Ac that provides the plant a high degree of protection against cotton boll-worm (Helicoverpa armigera Hubn.), the most significant pest of cotton. In Asia, Bt cotton is already planted largely in China and India.

Bollworm is a great threat to local cotton farming. The pest attacks the cotton plant as early as the vegetative stage feeding on the leaf terminals, fruit buds, flowers, and developing bolls.

Current control measure is predominantly through chemical insecticides. Aside from being costly and hazardous to humans and the environment, the pesticide-based management scheme does not guarantee full protection from the target pest. Local farmers spray chemicals 8-10 times, which cost them about 43 percent of the total production cost, yet lose 30-65 percent of their potential yields.

Four years ago, CODA inked a memorandum of agreement with the BioCentury Transgene Co. (China) Ltd. to conduct Bt cotton testing in the country as approved by Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap.

Funds for the project came from the DA Biotech Program Office (BPO), headed by Ilaga.

The project, however, was stalled, according to CODA Administrator Orpia by regulatory procedures at the source country, which is China then later, India.

"Nevertheless, we are finally rolling the very first Bt cotton test in the country after a long wait and we are confident that we shall be commercializing the Bt cotton three seasons later, at the least. Our goal is to provide the local cotton industry a viable alternative cotton variety which provides farmers a higher profit from a technology that requires cheaper cost of producing high quality cotton fiber besides environment-friendly", Orpia reiterated.

The Philippines consumes an average of 40,000 metric tons of lint per annum valued at PhP 3 billion, a volume that is almost entirely – 97 percent – imported, primarily from the USA.

While the country has a favorable soil and climate to grow cotton, the local industry has been enduring a major setback due to various socio-economic and technical factors with the bollworm problem as the most critical.

The commercialization of Bt cotton locally is expected to provide the turning point for the cotton sector to recover and enhance the country’s competitiveness in the global arena.

It will significantly reduce the cost of production while it increases yield. Besides, cotton is a feasible alternative dry season crop grown after rice. It is also adapted to dry and marginal or saline areas where water is a limiting factor.

This agricultural biotechnology product is a feasible import substitute that will save the country from costly cotton importation.

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All New Years always inspire new beginnings and new resolutions to do better. This 2010, why not develop and adopt good habits that could help improve your health and well-being? Here are some tips on how to embrace a healthy lifestyle:

Get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation has a number of bad effects on health. Chronic sleep deprivation may impair memory, increase blood pressure, and even cause weight gain.

Aside from giving your body a rest, sleeping also helps the brain improve memory and learning. Getting enough sleep also enhances alertness and focus. As an adult, try to get seven to eight hours of sleep.

To help you get to sleep well, keep your room dark and take your mind off work or anything that can stimulate your brain. Playing some relaxing music and having a light snack before going to bed can also help in inducing sleep.

Avoid tobacco; moderate alcohol. Improve your health by avoiding tobacco and consuming alcohol in moderate amounts. Smoking weakens the immune system and damages the lungs. Too much alcohol, on the other hand, damages the liver and brain cells.

Manage stress. Learn how to manage your workload and your time properly so that you don’t get more stress than necessary. Set aside time to forget responsibilities and have fun. Get involved in relaxing activities like meditation and yoga classes, or take up a relaxing hobby.

Studies also show that spending time with your loved ones, receiving emotional support, and making positive social connections can lower stress levels as well. These also help regulate insulin and maintain a healthy immune system.

Boost workouts. Studies show that working out helps in increasing the endurance and strength of muscles. It also helps improves one’s health by strengthening the heart muscle, lowering blood pressure, and preventing heart disease.

To avoid straining your muscles, start with simple exercises like walking and jogging. It’s recommended to allot 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic activity at least three times a week to stay fit.

Combining regular exercise and a proper diet will efficiently reduce body fat, improve your body’s ability to use calories, and manage your weight.

Choose healthier foods. The right foods provide for your nutritional needs and help you manage your weight. Eat more whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. Choose lean cuts of meat, or even better, eat more fish or chicken. These foods are low in fat and cholesterol and contain vitamins and minerals that the body needs to function properly.

Proper food portions. Most of us eat more food than what our bodies actually need. The more food we eat, the more calories we gain — and all the extra calories, the ones we don't burn through physical activity and get stored as fat.

We can still enjoy the foods we like but in healthy portions. For example, you could share your burger with a friend, or eat half now and bring home the rest — for you or someone else to enjoy later.

Research on the Internet or better yet, consult a dietitian to establish the right food portion sizes for you.

Snack for health. Instead of three huge meals a day, try eating small meals with light healthy snacks in-between. Examples of healthy snacks include fruits, vegetables, and cereals.

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Trade and Agriculture officials are hopeful that the farmer-scientist's malunggay seedlings propagation technique will be able to address the increasing demand for malunggay planting materials in the country.

Also known as "Moringa" in English, malunggay is a popular tree whose leaves are being used as part of Filipino foods for centuries. It is best known as an excellent source of nutrition and a natural energy booster.

Alicia Ilaga, outgoing Department of Agriculture (DA) director of the Biotechnology Program Office, is endorsing farmer-scientist Terso Rasco's technique to farmers engaged in the massive propagation of seedlings of malunggay, scientifically known as Moringa oleifera.

Rasco developed a rooting method using bioculture technique to propagate malung-gay seedlings, improving the conventional stem cutting technique used by most farmers in propagating malunggay.

Using his technique, farmers could easily double, if not triple, and at a much shorter time the production of planting materials which is usually done also by harvesting the mature malunggay fruits and separating the seeds from the pods from a mature malunggay tree, Ilaga said.

Malunggay used to be a mere backyard tree, although Filipinos are already fond of eating malunggay leaves, and its fruit pods, as ingredients to some favorite Filipino dishes, like 'tinolang manok', ginisang munggo, and ginataang isda. The pods are cooked together with fish in the Ilocos Region.

Since the DA-BPO embarked on a massive information, education and communication about the nutritional value of malunggay, its economic importance was also highlighted.

The moringa seeds are now being eyed for the production of all-purpose oil, while the leaves are not only sold in the market, but are processed as well.

A number of farmers have since started planting malunggay, but the big demand for both the seeds and leaves of malunggay, requires more planting materials. The production of planting materials has become a stumbling block, as there are not enough nurseries to produce the number of seedlings needed to meet the demand, even of a single local investor who has challenged the DA to produce the seeds, as well as leaves, to meet the big market demand abroad.

Another way of producing planting materials is by chopping down a malunggay tree, chopping its trunk or branches, about a feet or 12 inches long. When planted, grows roots and produce new branches. This process, however, results in high mortality of the planting materials.

Harvesting the seeds from the malunggay fruit takes some time, while stem cuttings easily die when planted.

Rasco observed that malunggay has the ability to regrow a branch, or even roots, when cut or chopped down.

"By simply chopping a branch of malunggay and planting it like a malunggay seed, a new malunggay seedling can be grown," Rasco said. "You just have to prepare a good seed bed for the chopped malunggay branch to grow new seedlings," he said.

"This is what we need to produce enough number of planting materials for the commercial cultivation of this miracle tree," Ilaga said.

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Many of us will agree that Christmas is all about sharing. No one knows this more than Sponsored Reviews who sent this author US$ 100 a few months ago to organize an activity for the children who were badly affected by Typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana) late last year. This blog admired the efforts of the people behind the site who graciously donated the amount to give assistance for the less-fortunate children last holiday season.

For some, the amount may be very small, but for the 60 children, 34 boys and 24 girls, aged between 2 to 12, it was enough to provide all of them with a Christmas present and a decent meal. It might not be much, but it still made a difference in their lives. More importantly, the amount made the children feel that somebody still cares for them.

Many of the beneficiary children share the same story: Born into hardship and poverty, they do not stand a fair chance of reaching their full potential. Oftentimes, they are driven to work in the informal sector, beg for some form of assistance and forego dreaming of a better future so they can get by their needs for the day.

The children live in homes where the prevailing atmosphere is not that of a normal and supportive family. Some may have caring and loving parents in their household, but they hardly had time to encourage a child-friendly environment inside those homes because of financial difficulties. In worse situation are the children who had no support system to rely on and had to fend for themselves as well as ensure the welfare of their younger siblings.

This site and a couple of other blogs by the author are trying to advocate for the cause of Filipino children for about two years now. The writer recognized the importance of having a normal upbringing, but because of financial constraints has not really designed a comprehensive structure and programs to respond to the needs of the children.

Hence, the public and other bloggers are invited to take a proactive role in helping vulnerable children have a sense of family, support and love. Everyone can also send their appreciation to Sponsored Reviews by sending them a short message of thanks on behalf of this site.

Sponsored Reviews is a company that created an innovative, albeit sometimes polemic, business model to connect advertisers with bloggers. Advertisers gain publicity, traffic and improve their search engine rankings. Bloggers, on the other hand, receive an extra opportunity to generate revenue from their website.

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Small entrepreneurs will be happy to know that microfinance enjoyed strong growth in financing from a widening pool of donors and investors last year, according to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

CGAP is an independent policy and research center dedicated to advancing financial access for the world's poor. It is supported by over 30 development agencies and private foundations, which share a common mission to alleviate poverty.

Housed at the World Bank, CGAP provides market intelligence, promotes standards, develops innovative solutions and offers advisory services to governments, microfinance providers, donors, and investors.

Data in the survey is from December 2008, when the full effects of the financial crisis had not yet been felt by funding agencies. Two-thirds of respondents reported that the financial crisis did not affect their funding projections-upwards or downwards-for 2009.

Drawing on responses from 61 institutions worldwide, the CGAP microfinance funder survey shows that donors and investors committed US$ 14.8 billion to microfinance as of December 2008, up 24 percent from 2007. Commitments reflect the amount funders have set aside for microfinance in all active projects. Disbursements totaled US$ 3 billion in 2008.

"The report shows that overall confidence in microfinance remains high and that financial inclusion remains an important priority," said CGAP chief executive officer Elizabeth Littlefield in Philstar.com. "The microfinance market is growing and maturing. New investors are joining established investors like development finance institutions who value microfinance as a social investment, and as an investment that can offer solid returns over the long-term."

Investors-development finance institutions (DFIs), and individual and institutional investors - continued to emerge as significant funders of microfinance.

However, the breakdown of total commitments from donor and investors is equal. Donors include regional development banks, United Nations (UN) agencies, foundations and bilateral and multilateral organizations. DFIs, the private sector arms of government-owned bilateral and multilateral development agencies, account for nearly half (45 percent) of total committed funding.

Half of DFIs reported increasing funding for microfinance as a response to the financial crisis, with a projected growth for 2009 of 39 percent. With a clear so-called double-bottom line investment approach, DFIs are bringing in money with a focus on both financial returns and social returns.

The growth in microfinance funding continues to be driven by a small group of funders that together represent 50 percent of total commitments: Germany's KfW, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Finance Corp.

On the other hand, a large proportion of funders — roughly one-third of those surveyed — had less than US$ 50 million each committed to microfinance.

"There is considerable scope for donors and socially-responsible investors to contribute to the expansion of financial access to the world’s poorest people," said Jasmina Glisovic-Mezieres, manager of the survey, in Philstar.com. "Bilateral agencies and foundations, for example, can help build capacity at all levels of the financial system, while development finance institutions can invest in the next generation of microfinance institutions."

According to the survey, debt financing represented 63 percent of total commitments in 2008, with the remainder provided as grants (17 percent), equity (11 percent), and guarantees (five percent).

Bilateral agencies have traditionally been the most important providers of grants, alongside the European Commission. Foundations are quickly emerging as important grant-givers as well, with an increase of 73 percent in total grant commitments over the previous year’s survey.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the second-largest provider of grant financing. Sub-Saharan Africa received the greatest share of grant financing at 33 percent, with South Asia getting 22 percent of grants.

There is also some concentration in the destination of microfinance funding, with two regions in particular — Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia — attracting the largest share. South Asia received the largest amount of funding commitments with US$ 3.65 billion in 2008, growing by 14 percent over the previous year.

Funding for microfinance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia grew by a robust 31 percent to US$ 3.27 billion.

However, very different types of funders contributed to these regions. Donors provide the lion’s share of funding in South Asia, while investors dominate in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

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Philippine investors and traders expect a more productive year in 2010 after the central bank expanded the investment options of unit investment trust funds (UITF) by allowing fund managers to buy and sell, in the short term, government securities that pay better yields.

Under a circular issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on December 2009, UITF investments in so-called repurchase will be limited to those traded on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp., (PDEx).

UITFs — collective investment schemes that pool the funds of small investors and give them access to high-caliber investment outlets that normally require large sums of money — must also be able to sell the debt paper earlier than agreed.

A repurchase deal or repo is a form of short-term borrowing for dealers in government securities. The dealer sells the government securities to investors, usually overnight, and buys these back the following day.

For the party selling the security (and agreeing to repurchase it in the future) it is a repo; for the party on the other end of the transaction, (buying the security and agreeing to sell in the future) it is a reverse repurchase agreement.

Repos are money market instruments used to raise short-term capital.

Latest central bank data showed that funds invested in UITFs as of September stood at PhP 106.35 billion, up by 5.1 percent from June.

Aside from government securities, savings and time deposits, UITFs are also allowed to be invested in foreign government bonds and listed stocks.

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