Monthly Archives: July 2008

MANILA, Philippines—Monaco-based designer Josef Crisanto was a sickly child who grew up in a dysfunctional family environment in Davao. Since he was too weak to play outdoors, his mother supplied him with paper, pens and crayons. A Piscean, he lived in his own world of imagination which was reflected in his drawings.

President Gloria Arroyo has the power, strength and ability to address one of the most serious challenges of her presidency—the significant curtailment of human trafficking and sex slavery in the Philippines.

LOS ANGELES, California — Thirteen-year-old Filipino Catherine Loria from Tiaong, Quezon shared honors with senior contestant Andrew Clarke from Jamaica when they were proclaimed Grand Champion Performers of the World in the 2008 World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) or the Hollywood Olympics.

Workers of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) urged the government yesterday to allow the firm to resume its passenger service to prevent employees from getting laid off.

Calamba City — In line with the directives of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to implement pro-poor programs, the Regional Inter-Agency committee (RIAC) on the non-wage benefits spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) recently with 43 companies regionwide aimed at helping workers to cope up with the…

A Philippine Navy reserve officer and former dean of the Mapua Institute of Technology’s School of Mechanical Engineering has led an R & D team in that school in developing an affordable robot to defuse and remove bombs planted by terrorists; its first commercially produced model is set for delivery soon to the Philippine National…

MANILA, Philippines — Around 100 bank employees went to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Friday to protest alleged massive contractualization and “union busting.”

ALTHOUGH a law prohibits the employment of persons below 15 years old, this poverty stricken nation of more than 90 million people is teeming with child workers.

MANILA, Philippines — Seven Filipino students have earned perfect math scores and made the country one of seven overall champions in an international competition, an official from the Philippine team said in a statement to media.

The country’s largest labor organization yesterday expressed concern over the proposed four-day workweek, saying that it could lead to lower take home pay for workers.

MANILA, Philippines — Two boys’ choirs have once again proved to the world the Filipinos’ innate musicality when they bested peers from more than 30 countries at the 5th World Choir Games in Graz City, Austria, according to the Philippine embassy there.

The Swiss-based organization Institute of Management Development (IMD) has ranked the Philippines 40th among a total of 55 countries in its 2008 World Competitiveness Yearbook.

A 14-year-old coed from a school in Dagupan City bested math wizards from other parts of the Asia- Pacific region when she topped the international “sudoku” challenge held in Singapore over the weekend.

Under the Corporation Code (Section 6 © P.D. 902-A as amended by PD 1799), the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) may suspend the proceedings of any collection suit filed before any court by a creditor against a corporation, partnership or association placed under management or receivership. But is this rule applicable to a secured creditor?…

MANILA, Philippines — The United States Trade Representative (USTR) will keep the country under “active scrutiny” for possible violation of international labor standards in its “no union, no strike” policy in special economic zones that has allegedly resulted in the rise of killings of labor leaders between 2001 and 2007, an official from an international…

MANILA, Philippines—It is always a happy occasion when one chances upon a winner, and an even happier occasion when that winner happens to be a Filipino.

ORANI, Bataan — Four persons, including a minor, were arrested by police authorities for allegedly operating a cybersex den Saturday. Supt. Warren F. de Leon, chief of Bataan CIDG, said members of the Bataan CIDG and the Provincial Police Office, accompanied by DSWD personnel, nabbed Omar John Pinili, 22, Lawrence Aquino, 19, Ian Aquino, 19,…

MANILA, Philippines — A team of students from UP Diliman won an award from Sun Microsystems for a Java application that runs on a mobile device and helps doctors treat poisoning cases faster.

A Filipino physicist who pioneered in the Philippines research on cutting-edge photonics won the top prize in an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Science and Technology competition.

The age-old problem of the theory of knowledge has been that of certitude. Are we ever certain? Obviously, it seems we are certain about a number of things—and our universe of certainties is in direct proportion to our credulity. But the question that has nagged philosophers has been “the right” to be certain. Ultimately, what…

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga: The chief of the Pampanga Crime Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) disclosed last week that syndicates proliferating in the city are reportedly using minors to extort money from foreigners.

A Filipino scientist will receive the much-coveted 2008 ASEAN Outstanding Scientist and Technologist (AOST) award tomorrow in Manila for his significant work in photonics and signal processing.

Companies determined to save on cost can adopt subcontracting but have to follow labor laws.

BRUSSELS — Trade unionists and employers associations from developing Asian countries expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of social dialogues with developed European countries in settling industrial disputes and creating decent work for all, saying economic, political and social disparities were the main stumbling blocks.

by Alex Magno from Philippine Star It’s pretty much like tearing off a limb to save one’s life. In the face of galloping inflation driven by unabated oil price increases, most economies have taken defensive measures by choosing to cut growth. The most obvious way of doing that is to raise interest rates. The European…

Asia News Network Inquirer.net KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia — A Philippines government suggestion that its citizens who have been in Sabah for a long time be accorded Malaysian permanent resident status has drawn opposition from state leaders. “Malaysia has its ways of dealing with illegal immigrants and as far as I know, this is not one…

HIGH school students Royce Pacibe and Rafi Dimakuta from the Fountain International School in San Juan, Metro Manila, won two gold and one bronze medals in Physics international competitions in Turkey, Bosnia Herzegovina and Georgia.

I was actually a call center agent. but right now, i’m in a floating status in a company who employed me… i hit the floor and failed the training in the particular account that i handled.. and so while waiting for the company’s call, i decided to apply in other call center. but the overwhelming…

by Bruce Einhorn and Mehul Srivastava from Business Week Trade talks broke down July 29 as India and China refused to bow to U.S. demands on agricultural subsidies It’s not often that China and India find themselves on the same side. They’re the world’s most populous countries and have two of the fastest-growing economies, but…