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AS you
read this piece, this writer and his partner, Ira
Panganiban of Metroactive and the Manila Times, will be
in the final stage of the Petron Xtra Mile Challenge
Media Edition sponsored by Petron and Honda Cars
Philippines that began on Monday, January 8.
We
started from Pagupud, Ilocos Norte in our Honda City and
we should now be negotiating the roads of the Bicol
Region in the South. 10 teams of media representatives
set out on Monday and we are all on our fifth straight
day on the road in our quest to break the
1,400-kilometer record set by Team Zayco Hermanos last
year.
Whether
we succeed or not will be known this weekend, when we
come to the end of our journey—that is, after all our
cars have used up all the gas—yes, only one full tank of
Xtra Unleaded—in our respective tanks.
More
stories on this backbreaking trip in our next column,
huh!
***
ONE
expatriate who is now the new managing director of
Bosch, Roland Odenthal, had commented on one thing that
is very Filipino in character—Filipino time.
He is a
22-year veteran at Robert Bosch Inc. where he has worked
in various positions in most of its branches worldwide.
He came directly from Bosch in Caracas, Venezuela, where
he also served as the managing director. He also
performed various functions in the company’s Power Tools
division in
Indonesia,
Automotive Headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany, and in
the Bosch headquarters in Stuttgart, also in Germany.
In a
talk with the media during a Christmas gathering at the
Mandarin Hotel early last month, Odenthal first
commented on his experience with Filipino time: “First I
have been introduced to the concept of ‘Filipino time,’
which bewilders me to this day. The local context of
Filipino time may be quite confusing to those who are
relatively new in the country, considering that there is
no central standard time. Suffice it to say that
everyone’s watch may show a different time from everyone
else’s.”
But
being a good leader, Odenthal made something good out of
it. “We’re taking this in stride—and making sure that
the time in our office wall clocks, cell phone clocks
and computers are now synchronized—we continue to charge
P20 per minute to those who are late for meetings. At
the end of the year, this money goes to one of our
charities. Any volunteers for contribution are welcome,”
he said.
In this
regard, Bosch
Philippines
has launched several charitable endeavors. Early this
year, Bosch and Siemens Philippines supported the launch
of the world’s first Plant Oil Stove developed by Bosch
and Siemens Home Appliances along with the Leyte State
University. The stove, which runs primarily on coconut
oil, presents a host of environmental, economic and
social benefits for the Filipino household.
“Making
our 11th Anniversary (Charity) Golf Tournament even more
significant, we launched the Class of 2010—our
educational program for close to 100 underprivileged but
deserving high school scholars. This is a commitment we
wish to sustain until all of them graduate in 2010,”
Odenthal said. “Another program is the Spark of Life—a
project of humanity spearheaded by our Automotive
Group. Through this program, Bosch is able to allocate
P1 per sparkplug sold to medical missions and disaster
relief efforts. To date, Spark of Life has provided
medicines, post-trauma psychology and livelihood for
those orphaned by the tragic landslide in Saint Bernard,
Leyte. It has also provided three months of food
supplies for some 140 families who were displaced by
recent volcanic activities in Mount Mayon.”
Filipino
time is one reason why the country does not move
forward. Filipinos are late all the time. This is also
true with press conferences. A presscon that is set up
at nine in the morning always ends at around two in the
afternoon because the main guests and officials always
arrive late.
This is
the reason why Mr. Odenthal, a true-blue European whose
way of life is always regimented, encourages Filipinos
to be on time. At the end, this is what he said: “May
our timing always be synchronized!”
***
TOYOTA
has surpassed DaimlerChrysler AG for third spot in the
US
market and is now behind the leading General Motors and
Ford Motor Co. With American buyers shying away from
gas-guzzling trucks and sports utility vehicles and
instead turning to Japanese car, analysts and experts
predict that Toyota might surpass Ford with its
continued strong sales especially last December.
Here’s
what a recent reports said: “For the full year,
DaimlerChrysler’s sales were down five percent to more
than 2.39 million compared with 2005. Chrysler was off
seven percent, while Mercedes was up 11 percent. Ford
sold a total of 231,900 light vehicles in December, with
Toyota just behind the Dearborn-based automaker at
228,322. But
Toyota’s
sales for the month continued to increase, up more than
12 percent compared with December 2005. General Motors
Corp., the world’s largest automaker, reported December
sales fell 13 percent to 334,501, and its sales for the
2006 dropped 8.7 percent compared with the previous
year. Its market share was 24.3 percent for the year,
with just over 4 million vehicles sold.
Here in
Manila, the auto industry is keenly awaiting the Campi
report on the local sales of their respective cars and
vehicles. |
