Monthly Archives: January 2009

With 17 more months to go before the May 2010 presidential elections, coffee shops and board rooms are already debating over next year’s presidential polls, speculating on its possible outcome.

Employees of the Philippine Airlines have lost their bid for a court order to compel the Lucio Tan-owned airline to pay them P600 million in salary differentials for the 15-year period from 1989 to 1995.

A special team from the Department of Labor and Employment will be dispatched in countries where there are large concentration of Filipino workers to determine if they can hold on to their jobs in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

HONDA Cars Philippines remains upbeat over its prospects despite difficult business conditions. It even sees sales growing by 10-percent this year from a decline of 17 percent last year.

THE Environment Department yesterday took over control of Subic following protests over its officials’ plan to cut down 300 mature trees and their alleged violation of environment laws.

The government plans to adopt safety measures that would shield the country’s auto industry from the severe impact of the global financial crisis, according to Board of Investments (BoI) managing head Elmer Hernandez.

The country is vulnerable to a financial shock if cash remittances by masses of Filipinos working abroad dry up due to the global crisis, investment analyst group Moody’s warned yesterday.

A run among Rural Banks (RBs) appear to be spreading after three banks, one in Dumaguete and two in Pampanga, recently declared holidays after experiencing massive withdrawals.

Top and bottom. The SWS senatorial survey conducted Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 shows the following results of senatorial candidates: 1. Mar Roxas 2. Miriam Santiago 3. Jinggoy Estrada 4. Pia Cayetano 5. Bong Revilla 6-7 Franklin Drilon Jamby Madrigal 8. Ralph Recto 9. Koko Pimentel 10. Juan Ponce-Enrile 11. Tito Sotto 12-13. Sergio Osmeña…

The country’s energy officials have confirmed the existence of a “severe” power supply lack in several parts of the archipelago, particularly in Central Visayas in the province of Cebu.

The Court of Appeals (CA) has turned down a suit of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) to compel national flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) to shell out more than P600 million.

At least 2,500 Filipino workers have lost their jobs in Taiwan amid a global economic slowdown, and more are expected to be sent home in the coming months, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said yesterday.

Struggling with a daily meal budget of less than $2 a day for a family of 12, Floriza Bacli said she was happy to spoil her children a bit on New Year’s Eve with something special—half kilo of fried chicken and a quarter kilo of hotdogs.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: President-elect Barack Obama’s plan to haul the US economy out of recession entails a hefty expansion of the US federal government—a prospect that has conservative critics aghast.

Asian nations can work together to get through the global financial crisis ahead of the United States, but Japan and China must take the lead, a leading UN economics adviser said Wednesday.

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) said yesterday they will not suspend local production despite a decision of Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) to suspend production at all of its Japanese plants for 11 days between February and March in response to a slump in sales.

The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of local commercial banks improved to 3.97 percent in October 2008 as banks cleaned up their portfolio and expanded their lending operations.

The nationwide inflation rate fell to its lowest level in nine months at eight percent in December due largely to the sharp drop in fuel prices, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.

The government eyes to create one million jobs in the first half of 2009 as part of its emergency measures against the global economic crisis, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) announced Tuesday.

The local semiconductors and electronics export industry is bracing for an even worse first quarter of 2009, a top player in the sector said Tuesday.

The Philippines’ mobile phone market this year may fall, as Filipino consumers are likely to tighten their belts because of the anticipated economic downturn, a report said.

BEIJING: China has warned exporters they may end up not getting their money as the international financial crisis has eroded foreign banks’ and importers’ ability to pay.

FREE-TRADE AREA ARRANGEMENT ON THE HORIZON   Philippine and US Trade officials have intensified talks on trade and investment relations between the two countries during the recent Trade and Investment Facilitation Agreement (TIFA) meeting held in Washington, D.C., a Trade department report said.

Universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) posted a slight improvement in bad loans ratio in October last year due to lower non-performing loans (NPL) and an increase in loan portfolio, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Tuesday.

Consumer prices rose at a slower pace in December due to lower oil prices, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Tuesday.

Japan’s Sanyo Electric Co. plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs and is choosing which among its semiconductor plants in China, Vietnam and the Philippines to close to revamp its struggling businesses before being bought by Panasonic Corp., a press report said.

The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) announced yesterday that starting next school year, courses such as engineering, architecture, nursing and accounting will be a five-year college course.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) announced yesterday that it paid 12 percent more in claims and benefits to its pensioners in the 10-month period from January to October 2008, and added that it will provide higher monthly pensions to its member retirees this year.

What are the requisites for the filing of an application for registration of title to a parcel of land? This is answered in this case of the spouses Gardo and Luisa.

ILIGAN CITY – President Arroyo has ordered the expansion of the administration’s emergency employment and livelihood program to create at least one million jobs for the poor by July.