Dispatch for november 18 , 2013 ( monday ) , 3 pia calabarzon prs , 19 weather watch,

The activity was the third financial literacy program for kids conducted by the regional welfare office in partnership with Pru Life UK. In April and May, children of OFWs from Bataan and Bulacan participated in the same program held in Abucay, Bataan and Norzagaray, Bulacan. |TOP| RWO IV-A trains scholars on leadership, accountability and volunteerism Source: http://www.owwa.gov.ph Forty-five OWWA scholars from Region IV-A received training on enhancement of leadership skills, sense of accountability, volunteerism and camaraderie through peer counselling as part of OWWA‘s Learning Support Mechanism. The two-day activity dubbed ―UP-Shift: Scholars at Work, Leading the Way‖ was held on October 24-25, 2013 at Villa Juliana, Brgy Bucal, Calamba City, Laguna.

RWO IV-A OIC Julia F. Fabian said the scholars under the Education for Development Scholarship Program, Education and Livelihood Assistance Program, and Congressional Migrant Workers Scholarship Program were challenged to give due importance on character development and leadership skills enhancement as these are expected from them, as OFW dependents and beneficiaries of OWWA education program.

RWO IV-A in cooperation with the leaders of the Circle of Scholars prepared activities that would help achieve the abovementioned objectives.

Karl I. Baroro, a professor from Colegio de San Juan de Letran- Calamba presented the importance of leadership while Cleve Kevin Robert Arguelles, a former UP Student Regent talked about accountability. Through a song ―Kumilos Na‖ of Kabataan PartyList, he instilled the importance of having sense of accountability to the scholars as a good way to prove their worth. Another young speaker, Ann Resheir Bayugo tackled the importance of peer counselling. Lastly, OWWA scholar Kimani Lester Z. Comia discussed the essentials and benefits of volunteerism, stressing that learning should not stop within the four corners of the classroom and that all learnings gained in school are more enhanced when they integrate in the community and practice their skills and knowledge outside the university.

A fun night awaited the scholars as the region treated them to a Halloween-themed fellowship party to end the activity. |TOP| Foreign Portfolio Investments yield net inflows in October Source: http://www.bsp.gov.ph Transactions for foreign portfolio investments for the month of October yielded overall net inflows of US$969 million, much higher than the US$683 million recorded in September and US$40 million a year ago. Transactions in PSE-listed securities, Peso GS and Peso time deposits yielded net inflows of US$30 million, US$855 million, and US$84 million respectively.

Registered investments in October slightly declined to US$2.5 billion from the US$2.6 billion last month (or by 4.1 percent) as inflows to PSE-listed shares declined by 28.5 percent (from US$1.8 billion to US$1.3 billion). Year-on-year, however, registered investments rose by 62.3 percent from US$1.5 billion in 2012 due to: (i) the third upgrade of the country‘s credit rating, this time by Moody‘s Investor Service; (ii) improved economic growth outlook for the Philippines by the Asian Development Bank; and (iii) the bill passed in the United States which allowed the reopening of government offices (until 15 January 2014) and increased the US debt ceiling to avert a debt default. Outflows likewise dropped to US$1.5 billion from US$1.9 billion last month.

Investments in October were in PSE-listed securities (52.6 percent), Peso GS (44.0 percent) and Peso time deposits (3.4 percent). For PSE-listed securities, the main beneficiaries were: holding firms, food, beverage and tobacco companies, banks, property firms, and telecommunication companies.

The United Kingdom, Singapore, the United States, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands were the top five (5) investor countries for the month with combined share to total of 81.5 percent. The United States continued to be the main beneficiary of outflows from investments, receiving 78.4 percent of total.

Registration of inward foreign investments with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is voluntary. It entitles the investor or his representative to buy foreign exchange from authorized agent banks and/or their subsidiary/affiliate foreign exchange corporations for repatriation of capital and remittance of earnings that accrue on the registered investment. |TOP| Inflation remains benign in Q3 2013 Source: http://www.bsp.gov.ph The BSP announced today the publication of the 48th issue of the quarterly BSP Inflation Report covering the period July-