Monthly Archives: February 2009

THE massive job cuts being implemented by manufacturers and exporters amid the global economic crisis may lead to an increase in the number of unredeemed pawned items.

MANILA, Philippines — Workers party-list Partido ng Manggagawa on Saturday pointed out the flaws in the action plan drafted at Friday’s Multi-sectoral Conference on the Global Financial Crisis organized by the Department of Labor and Employment.

MANILA, Philippines—Eighteen Chinese nationals purportedly coming to the country to visit were actually workers bound for a construction project at the Cagayan Economic Zone Area (Ceza).

MANILA, Philippines—How will Filipinos get through hard times? They will buy more lotto tickets.

The international air transport industry is forecast to suffer a $2.5-billion loss this year based on a fuel price of $60 per barrel, a decline of three percent in passenger volumes, a drop of five percent in cargo traffic and yield deterioration of three percent.

The economy is likely to grow by 4.1 percent this year or within the government’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the year of 3.7 percent to 4.7 percent, an economist from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said yesterday.

A senior administration lawmaker yesterday called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to provide children of displaced workers access to school grants that can be used to pay their tuition, even if only in part.

Two student groups launched a signature drive against the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) plan to include nursing among the courses it will cover in its two-year pre-university level system, which will effectively turn the four-year nursing program into a five-year course.

By all accounts the freest democracy in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, ironically, has become less and less transparent in its budget and financial processes.

While massive job layoffs could hurt the Social Security System (SSS), its financial muscle is strong enough to make the private pension fund withstand shocks “for the next five to 10 years,” its president and chief executive officer Romulo Neri said yesterday.