Monthly Archives: January 2009

A decree – Letter Of Instruction-1334-a – issued by the late President Ferdinand Marcos during the martial law years is being invoked by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) in approving the petitions for toll hikes of the Star Tollway Corp. for the Southern Luzon Arterial Road (STAR) and PEA Tollways Corp. for the Manila-Cavite Toll…

A new rent control law is needed to protect millions of house and apartment renters from the effects of the global financial crisis, Speaker Prospero Nograles said yesterday.

President Arroyo has allowed the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) to expire by not signing the joint Senate-House resolution extending it, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said yesterday.

The country’s population is projected to hit 91.8 million this year, a family planning advocate said yesterday, underscoring the need to immediately have a strong population management program.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan and Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada are calling on Malacañang and Congress to hold a summit with the business sector to discuss ways and means to create more jobs in the country in the midst of an impending global financial crisis.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will begin tomorrow the gradual implementation of the meter receipt scheme for 33,000 taxi units all over the country.

The House committee on Housing and Urban Development on Friday ignored another round of extension of the Rent Control Act, which expired on December 31, 2008.

The last laugh belonged to the seven Filipino workers in Qatar who filed a complaint against their former employer, the Office of the Vice President reported Friday.

HONG KONG: The world could look forward to peace and harmony in 2009, but Chinese soothsayers warned that the road to economic recovery would be long.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia said Friday it is fast-tracking the deportation of illegal migrants under a pilot project that would see offenders handed a fine and a one-way ticket home—bypassing court and jail.

DOJ argues only funding source was terminated. The implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) would continue even if the budget for a land program under it lapsed on December 31, 2008, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Friday.

The country’s second ethanol plant is expected to start production by next month, just in time to meet the mandated demand of the alternative fuel at the pump.

AMID a tight competition and the economic slowdown, Smart Communications Inc. reported a double-digit growth in subscriber base, boosted by cheap promotional offerings.

Vice President Noli de Castro asked Congress yesterday to extend the rent control law.

Job recruiters expressed optimism yesterday that at least 20,000 jobs await Filipino nurses and other health workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East.

The year 2008 had the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) focused on the fight against Charter change (Cha-cha), the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, and the extended Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program minus reforms.

MANILA- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will launch in the first quarter of the year a project aimed at identifying the country’s poorest families and communities.

MALOLOS CITY – Bulacan’s pyrotechnics industry is feeling the hard times as production costs continue to grow and the government intensifies its drive against the use of powerful firecrackers.

Human rights advocates have reason to both cheer and jeer about the human rights situation in the country.

Plans are being readied to evacuate to Jordan more than a hundred Filipinos in the Gaza Strip as Israel’s military operations against Hamas targets continue.

The government and the private sector will set up a countryside development fund to help those who will be displaced as a result of the slowdown in the global economy, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said.

Despite stiff competition and an economic slowdown, leading wireless services provider Smart Communications Inc. increased its subscriber base to 35 million as of end-2008, up 16 percent from end-2007.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) would reach a record $17 billion in 2008.

The National Council for Commuters’ Protection (NCCP) will file a lawsuit on Monday to stop the increase of toll rates along the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Coastal Road) and the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), which took effect yesterday.   

Unfazed by the raging global economic crisis which has already displaced thousands of workers, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said it would intensify efforts to help more Filipinos find jobs abroad this year.

Secretary Jesli Lapus spearheaded the Department of Education’s thrust to improve the competency of public school students in English, Math and Science in 2008 and the training of school principals, regional directors, division superintendents and academic supervisors to turn them into good managers.

It was a tough year for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as it struggled to deal with a host of diplomatic issues ranging from piracy in Somalia and a territorial spat with Taiwan to defending the country’s human rights record.

The global financial crisis continues to agitate the major economies of the world. It began with the US which has been experiencing a recession since December 2007. The ripple effect of this financial catastrophe has affected the economic growth of emerging economies such as the Philippines. From an outstanding GDP growth of 7.3 percent in…

SINGAPORE: Oil prices ended the year below 40 dollars Wednesday in Asian trade after a tumultuous 2008 which saw prices hit record peaks before plunging to multi-year lows.

The bears ruled the local equities market in 2008, crashing down stocks to new lows as investors headed for the exits following the economic crisis in the United States and other developed countries.