Monthly Archives: March 2013

MANILA – Optimism is soaring that the Philippines is finally becoming an Asian tiger economy, but critics caution a tiny elite that has long dominated is amassing most of the new wealth while the poor miss out.

Armed men believed to be NPA guerillas chopped down undetermined number of banana plants 8:00 p.m. Wednesday at Ortiz and Pagaran areas of DOLE STANFILCO, located at Brgy. Anahao Daan, Tago in Surigao del Sur.

Political and economic alliance Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of the Middle East is mulling over creating a unified recruitment system for domestic workers.

The Philippines has just achieved another key milestone — an upgrade to “investment grade” status. Investment grade typically ushers two possible benefits. First, the country’s risk premium (the extra interest rate that international lenders charge for relatively weaker macroeconomic fundamentals like tax collection, debt sustainability and low and stable inflation) could decrease, which means there…

Fitch Ratings on Wednesday gave the Philippines a historic thumbs up, rating the economy “investment grade” for the first time ever. There is no spoiling this development. It is good news. Our leaders deserve credit as well as some basking in the limelight. By leaders though, it’s important to stress that this refers to both…

Early Easter gift for PH “It’s an early Easter for the market,” said a fund manager after Fitch Ratings raised the Philippine credit rating to investment grade on Wednesday, a move expected to boost investments and lift the country’s long-term growth potential.

THE Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) cases recorded in Northern Mindanao have already reached to more than a hundred, an official from the Center for Health Department in Northern Mindanao (CHD-NMR) said.

An association of recruitment agencies in the Philippines lifted on Wednesday its self-imposed ban on the deployment of domestic workers to Hong Kong. According to a report of the South China Morning Post (SCMP) news site, the Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines, Inc. (SHARP) imposed the ban after the Philippine government…

PARIS – Life expectancy in Russia has marked time since the collapse of the Soviet Union but risen in its former eastern-bloc allies, The Lancet reported on Wednesday.

LONDON — Europe’s financial crisis is costing lives, with suicides and infectious diseases on the rise, yet politicians are not addressing the problem, health experts said on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – “Mission Impossible.” This was how President Aquino described the proposed Magna Carta for the Poor that he vetoed, as the government had no means to allocate around P3.3 trillion from the P2-trillion annual national budget to uplift the lives of the poor.

MANILA – (UPDATE 4, 5:19 p.m.) Fitch Ratings has lifted the Philippines’ credit ratings to investment grade, the first time the country has bagged the seal of good fiscal housekeeping. In a statement, the international credit rating firm on Wednesday said it hiked the country’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BB+’.…

MANILA – (UPDATE 3, 5:17 p.m.) The business community on Wednesday welcomed the Philippines’ upgrade from Fitch Ratings, but reminded the government that foreign direct investments (FDI) — the kind that creates jobs — won’t be forthcoming if constraints to doing business in the country remain.

The following statement was released by Fitch Ratings on Wednesday, as it upgraded the Philippines to investment grade:

In their rush to approve the Magna Carta of the Poor, lawmakers put in funding provisions that raised questions from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), President Benigno Aquino III said on Tuesday.

MANILA — The number of Filipinos getting married has continued to decline, the National Statistics Office reported on Wednesday.

Traders urged to strengthen forex sources other than remittances The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas wants an export sector development agenda drawn up to ensure that the country’s foreign exchange reserves remain at a healthy level in the face of worsening global economic conditions.

(CNN) — As leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa convene in Durban, the term “BRICS” used to describe these rapidly growing economies is so last year; today everyone is talking about the “CIVETS.”

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) — The Philippine government admitted Wednesday that it is more difficult to pursue peace talks with the leftist rebels than with the Muslim insurgents.

FOR the first time, the Philippines has attained investment-grade status, courtesy of the UK-based Fitch Ratings, in the first of an expected series of upgrades seen to result in even more foreign inflows to help accelerate the economy down the line.

The Philippines secured its first investment grade credit rating on Wednesday, courtesy of debt watcher Fitch Ratings, along with a stable outlook that is expected to lead to more foreign investments, increased access to credit and reduced borrowing costs.

MANILA (2ND UPDATE) — The Philippines got its first long-coveted investment-grade rating on Wednesday, as Fitch Ratings gave the country a ‘BBB-‘ with a stable outlook. An investment grade status opens up the country to more investments that can lead to additional jobs and funds for infrastructure, and help create sustainable economic growth.

MANILA, Philippines – What it means for Phl: An investment grade rating means the Philippines has a strong ability to meet its financial commitments fully and on time. While credit ratings do not indicate investment merit, credit risk is one of the factors taken into consideration by businessmen. An investment grade sends a message that…

MANILA – After last year’s faster than expected growth, the call center sector has revised upward its targets for 2016 to $15 billion in revenues and 876,000 jobs, a Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) report obtained by InterAksyon.com showed.

MANILA – More households of overseas Filipino workers are saving their remittances and less are spending on medical needs and education, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

When she left the presidency, nearly nine out of 10 Filipinos had access to health insurance, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said in a paper she wrote from October to December 2011.

Now that summer is here, many Filipinos are looking for summer jobs or part-time stints that will help them fund their dream summer vacations. Some simply want to look for opportunities to work from home, but online job sites aren’t always helpful.

MANILA – A month after declaring a moratorium on the deployment of household service workers (HSWs) to Hong Kong, the organization of recruiters sending overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the former British colony said it is lifting the temporary ban starting tomorrow, March 27.

The country continues to rank relatively higher in human development than other Asean member countries and is also making progress in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines ranks “relatively higher” in terms of human development compared with other Asean member-countries and is making progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).