Monthly Archives: January 2009

I’ve known for a long time now that there is a gaping mismatch between what the academe produces and what industry needs. I’ve written about it many times in the past as well.

Anti-life advocates and lobbyists of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman’s contraception bill, euphemistically called the Reproductive Health and Population Management Act of 2008 (an oxymoron and a proposed law which makes the state intrude into your bedroom and tells you what to do in your exercise of marital love, and makes a “national policy” in the…

PRESIDENT Arroyo has approved a 10-percent increase in her administration’s economic stimulus package to create 3 million jobs and to finance an infrastructure buildup this year, bringing the fund total to P330 billion.

Financing for mining projects in the country will likely be more scarce this year as investors and lenders tighten up on credit and capital buildup due to the global economic downturn, the International Finance Corp. said.

Bangko Sental ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M.Tetangco Jr. said yesterday that Japanese investors are still largely optimistic on the Philippines as the country’s economic fundamentals held steady in 2008.

We can keep telling each other until we are blue in the face that the world financial crisis won’t affect us that badly or worse, still to land on our shores. But the facts of the matter are: the economy has already retreated sharply, exports have declined, there are more factory closures and job layoffs…

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque today said some displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Taiwan would soon organize themselves to put up their own business enterprise under the DOLE contingency plan for workers affected by the global financial crisis.

Dear PAO,  My friend was recently terminated from her job without prior notice. He was with the company for almost three years until he was verbally dismissed from his position effective three days after he was told to leave. Can he file any legal case against the company for not giving him longer notice regarding…

More than 80 percent of Filipinos support family planning and almost half believe the government should limit the number of children a couple can have, according to a survey released Monday.

The World Bank said impact of the global slowdown on the country would be felt most in terms of its exports and remittance inflows, prompting the lender to further cut its growth forecast.

Vice President Noli de Castro continued to enjoy a high satisfaction rating among top government officials, results of the latest Social Weather Stations’ survey showed.

The Commission on Elections will use optical mark reader (OMR) machines in the 2010 national and local elections, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said yesterday.

Six out of 10 Filipino adults are in favor of the controversial bill promoting family planning and the use of contraceptives despite opposition from the Church, according to a survey released yesterday.

Sen. Pia Cayetano disclosed yesterday that a United Nations report showed that at least ten Filipino mothers die every day while giving birth, which is the worst maternal mortality rate in Southeast Asia.

ILAGAN, Isabela – Twenty-nine overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) now stranded in Oman have sought the assistance of President Arroyo to help them be repatriated and also collect their unpaid salaries for four years from their Taiwanese employer.

The private sector component of the P100-billion infrastructure fund is nearly complete, with the first project expected to start within the first quarter, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said.

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) expects to complete the feasibility study on the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in 2011.

The country’s balance of payments (BOP) surplus thinned to a four-year-low of $88 million in 2008, a small fraction of the $8.557-billion surplus in 2007 due to the inexorable outflow of foreign exchange from the country.

GFIs to contribute P100B MANILA, Philippines—The Social Security System (SSS) is chipping in P12.5 billion to the P300-billion economic stimulus fund meant to help tide the Philippines over this year when the global downturn is anticipated to worsen.

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said three preneed companies have shut down amid the global financial crisis.

THE average occupancy rate in Metro Manila hotels fell to 70.34 percent in November 2008 from 78.91 percent a year ago, though that was up from 69.76 percent in September, the Tourism Department said over the weekend.

Filipino nurses and caregivers aspiring to work in Japan may now register online.

The United States Department of Labor has awarded a Filipina with the first annual Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor.

Economic growth of 4.7 percent in the Philippines is possible this year as long as the government spends money to get it through the global turmoil, a senior economics minister said Friday.

The agriculture sector managed to post a growth of 3.92 percent last year, with agricultural production value rising by almost 20 percent to P1.16 trillion.

The outgoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative in Manila said yesterday the Philippines is in “a much better position” to confront the challenges posed by the global economic crisis.

Two senior British diplomats yesterday said that the Philippines needs to change the perception that it has “stagnated” and doing business here is difficult compared to other Southeast Asian countries.

Oil companies yesterday implemented another 50-centavo per liter rollback on the pump prices of their products.

A Filipino professor has received the 2008 Rolex Award for Enterprise for developing a new technology that transforms the waste from rice production into clean, affordable cooking fuel.

LONDON (AFP) – People who drink more than seven cups of coffee a day tend to hallucinate more than less caffeine-driven colleagues, according to a study published Wednesday.