Before recording my views on 2009, I revisited my comments on 2008 and it’s worthy of note that the main theme then was the GFC.  Here we are 12 months down the line and the affects of the crisis still linger like an unwanted smell…or is it….nup, I’m sure it’s the GFC.

Uncross the fingers and uncross the toes and let them breathe just a little coz’ 2009 ended up being our second biggest year on record.  A huge sigh of relief because we were battening down the hatches at the beginning of the year in preparation for some difficult times ahead.  But like the adage so aptly puts it, “it’s an ill wind……”.  and it was a worthwhile and healthy exercise for us to toughen up.  We’re certainly the stronger for it.

The Philippines continued to show little effect from the GFC and grew in stature as a preferred destination for Global Outsourcing.  They were, however, sadly affected, by the enormity of the typhoons that hit.  I saw a statistic that said that 4 times the amount of water that fell on New Orleans was dumped on Manila in less than 12 hours, wow! And with 80% of the Metro area (with a population of 16 – 17 million) underwater, many still suffer and their lives have been permanently changed.

In my 19 years living here, I have grown to respect the Filipinos as being the most resilient people on the Globe and they are.  It may also interest you to know that the Philippines’ biggest export earner is people.  The hundreds of thousands of Filipinos living and working overseas annually send USD12 billion dollars back home and in these times of natural disasters, the inflow of capital hit new record highs to the extent that the Peso strengthened substantially in its own right against the struggling USD….bugger!