Filipino is Asia's sexiest accent

Filipino hailed as ‘sexiest accent’ in Asia 

Jan Milo Severo

Philstar.com

May 2, 2019

MANILA, Philippines — A travel and food website announced that Filipino is the sexiest accent in Asia and 21st sexiest accent in the world, according to its survey.

Big 7 Travel recently unveiled their survey results, Top 50 Sexiest Accents in the World, based on their readers’ opinion.

“Gentle and soft, the accents you’ll hear when in the Philippines are simply lovely,” the website described the Filipino language. 

New Zealand’s Kiwi was hailed as the world’s sexiest accent, followed by South African, Irish, Italian, Australian, Scottish, French, Spanish, South American and Brazilian Portuguese.

“To a novice ear, the New Zealand accent might sound just like the Australian accent, but Big 7 Travel readers disagree. The ‘Newzild’ dialect is outrageously charming,” Big 7 Travel wrote.

In the Asian ranking, the Philippines is followed by Vietnamese and Indian, placing 25th and 26th respectively. Japanese and Chinese, meanwhile, are in the 42nd and 43rd places respectively.
 

World"s Top Internet User

Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day

South-east Asia has three countries in the top five, while Japan comes in last 

Kate Lamb| The Guardian

01 February 2019

South-east Asia is one of the most internet-addicted regions on the planet, with the Philippines topping the global list with an average 10 hours and 2 minutes of screen time every day.

The Philippines topped the internet usage index, with two other south-east Asian nations in the top five. Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

The country was joined in the top five by Thailand and Indonesia, according to findings in a new report on online habits released by HootSuite and We Are Social.

Ranked third, people in Thailand were found to spend an average 9 hours and 11 minutes online each day, while those in neighbouring Indonesia also devoted more than a third of their day to screen time, clocking in at 8 hours and 36 minutes on average.

Developing nations from south-east Asia and Latin America dominated the internet usage index, with Brazil and Colombia ranked second and fourth, respectively.

Asia also featured at the other end of the spectrum, with people in Japan spending the least amount of time online – at an average of 3 hours and 45 minutes.

The report reveals 57% of the global population is now connected to the internet, spending an average 6.5 hours online each day, leading its author, Simon Kemp, to calculate that the “world’s digital community will spend a combined total of more than 1.2bn years using the internet in 2019”.

The findings from the Digital 2019 report show that most time spent online is done via mobile devices, with the greatest portion of that time spent on social media. It also charts an exponential increase in the number of new internet users.

“The big story in this year’s data is the accelerating growth in internet users,” Kemp wrote, “More than 360 million people came online for the first time in 2018, at an average rate of more than one million new users every day.”

The country that experienced the biggest jump in internet usage in 2018 was India, which also struggled to counter the violent repercussions of viral fake news – with false rumours about child kidnappers spread on the messaging service WhatsApp leading to mob lynching and the murder of more than two dozen people.

The south Asian nation saw the number of internet users jump by almost 100 million last year, nearly doubling the same growth in China, with internet penetration in India now at 41%.

PH to become 18th largest economy by 2037

Philippines to become 18th largest economy by 2037 — report

Philippine Star | 11 December 2018

This Nov. 9, 2018 file photo shows the Mandaluyong-Makati skyline. The Philippines is set to become the 18th largest economy in the world over the next twenty years, Capital Economics reported, citing the Southeast Asian nation’s young workforce.

The STAR/Michael Varcas

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is expected to become the 18th largest economy in the world over the next twenty years, Capital Economics reported, citing the Southeast Asian nation’s young workforce.

In its “Long-Term Global Economic Outlook” report released last week, the London-based economic research consultancy forecasts the Philippines’ nominal gross domestic product to hit $1.414 trillion by 2037.

Thirty economies were tracked in the report. In 2017, the Philippines was ranked 25th in terms of nominal GDP.

According to Capital Economics, the Philippine economy will likely outgrow Turkey, Poland, Thailand, UAE, Egypt, Colombia, South Africa, Argentina, Czech Republic, Angola, Morocco and Kenya two decades from now.

By 2037, Capital Economics sees the US dominating the top 17 economies based on nominal GDP, followed by China, India, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Italy, Indonesia, Russia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, respectively.

“Growth in Emerging Asia is likely to slow over the coming decades due to a combination of less favourable demographics and reduced scope for catch-up,” the consultancy said.

“Meanwhile, working age populations will still grow at a fairly rapid pace in countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and India,” it added.

The Philippines had enjoyed uninterrupted growth in the past quarters, thanks to benign inflation in the previous years that had given the central bank enough room to keep interest rates low.

In the same report, Capital Economics flagged weakening investor appetite in the Philippines due to President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership style.

“There are signs that the election of President Duterte in the Philippines is scaring off foreign investors and the situation is unlikely to improve when he is gone,” it said.

“The country has a poor history when it comes to electing competent governments,” it added. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral

Top Globalization Destination

Philippines is world's second top globalization destination: index

Arianne Merez

Abs-CBN News
20 Oct 2018

Business process outsourcing is an economic lifeline in the Philippines with over 1.15 million Filipinos working in the industry. File photo

MANILA - The Philippines is the second top globalization destination in the world this year, according to global strategic advisory firm Tholons.

The 2018 Services Globalization Index saw the Philippines rising to the second spot of the "Top 50 Digital Nations" after placing third last year.

India continues to dominate the list while Brazil follows the Philippines at third place.

Other countries in the top 10 are the United States, Mexico, Canada, Russia, Vietnam, Colombia, and South Africa.

"Most of the services will get commoditized for the biggest leaders in services globalization like US, UK, Canada, Europe, India, Philippines, East Europe, and Latin America," the index report stated.

Business process outsourcing is an economic lifeline in the Philippines with over 1.15 million Filipinos working in the industry.

The industry, along with remittances from overseas workers, remains one of the top 2 earners of foreign exchange for the Philippines.

SUPER CITIES

Six cities from the Philippines, meanwhile, made it to the "Top 100 Super Cities," with Manila placing second to Bengaluru in India.

The Philippine capital, which ranked fourth in 2017, is followed by the Indian city of Mumbai, which ranked third.

The rest of the Philippine cities included in the list all saw an improvement in their respective rankings.

Close to the top 10 is Cebu City, which ranked 11th from 12th last year, while President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown Davao City went 10 notches higher to the 75th spot from 85th last year.

Santa Rosa City in Laguna rose to the 87th spot from 100th last year while Bacolod City climbed to the 89th spot from 97th in 2017.

The Visayan city of Iloilo, meanwhile, is a newcomer to the list, landing at the 92nd spot.

The index evaluates and ranks countries and cities based on availability and quality of talent in the area, business catalyst or the level of industry-related activity and organizational support, cost of doing business, infrastructure, innovation, and risk and quality of life among others.

Miss Asia-Pacific International 2018

Philippines’ Sharifa Akeel crowned Miss Asia Pacific International 2018

ABS-CBN News

Oct 05 2018

MANILA — The Philippines’ Sharifa Akeel was crowned Miss Asia Pacific International 2018 early Friday, making her the fifth Filipino to win the 50-year-old international pageant.





The Sultan Kudarat beauty bested 49 other candidates at the conclusion of the four-hour finals night held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Pasay Thursday.

Akeel succeeds Francielly Ouriques of Brazil.

Her runners-up, in order, were Gabriela Palma of Brazil, Melania Gonzales of Costa Rica, Misheelt Narmandakh of Mongolia, and Marani Angarita of Venezuela.

Miss Philippines Sharifa Akeel is crowned Miss Asia Pacific International 2018 by Francielly Ouriques of Brazil. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Prior to Akeel, four Filipinos were crowned in past iterations of the international pageant: Maria del Carmen Ines Zaragoza (1982), Gloria Dimayacyac (1983), Lorna Legaspi (1989), and Michelle Aldana (1993).

Established in 1968, Miss Asia Pacific International evolved over the decades to include candidates from more countries, having originally gathered only representatives from Asia and Oceania.