Monthly Archives: February 2009

MANILA, Philippines – Groups opposing the proposal to revive the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) formed yesterday a “human banner” to express their protest against the plan and they urged lawmakers to reject the bill that favors the opening of the

“You will know what you love by the things that you hate”. By coincidence or by divine design, I seem to have heard about Domestic Violence so much in the past two weeks that I simply could not ignore the “topic”. I believe that such things happen for a purpose so I now find myself…

Amazing! The Puno Court did it again. Access to justice by our marginalized sectors has been institutionalized in the judicial branch through the Rule on Mandatory Legal Aid Service. The Supreme Court now requires “practicing lawyers” of the country to render 60 hours of free legal aid yearly, effective July 1. Sharing five hours of…

No Filipino is anti women. So a “Magna Carta for Women” would have been an acceptable piece of legislation. The versions of the bill simultaneously passed by the Senate (S.B. 2396) and the Lower House (H.B. 4273) admittedly has some provisions recognizing the dignity and worth of Filipinas and promote all their human rights and…

MANILA, Philippines – The government has started the program to train and create more polite and efficient workers to curb unemployment caused by the global economic crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – The American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (AmCham) urged the government to consider revising its local holiday schemes especially for business process outsourcing (BPO) firms or call centers to help companies save money amidst the global economic crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – A couple was freed from 13 years of conflict after the Supreme Court (SC) relaxed the guidelines for annulling marriages and declared their union void.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Foundation for Crime Prevention has put up “Club 117” that empowers ordinary citizens to report crimes, fires, accidents and other emergencies via text or by calling the police hotline “117.”

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives warned private schools, colleges and universities yesterday that it will freeze tuition for three years if they increase their fees this year.

MANILA, Philippines – The P1-billion fund allotted by the government for various anti-corruption projects has registered financial and economic gains.

MANILA, Philippines – Congressman Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, chairman of the House committee on energy, believes that the development of nuclear energy should be left in private sector hands.

MANILA, Philippines – The government needs to put in place measures that would boost the local economy to lessen the country’s dependence on dollar remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

MANILA, Philippines -The fiscal deficit would increase beyond the government’s original target for this year, but economic managers said the budget gap would be widened by lower revenues and not increased spending for pump-priming.

MANILA, Philippines – Barclays Capital is forecasting a three percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for the Philippines in 2009, the lowest growth rate in the past five years.

We made a link to the SSS Online Inquiry System to help SSS members check on their SSS contributions, work history, and loan eligibility.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) opened a website where unemployed nurses can apply for a job, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque yesterday said.

TOKYO (AFP) – Asia’s developing economies are suffering more than expected from the global slowdown and must take steps to reduce their reliance on exports, the head of the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines – The government has launched new incentive packages for Taiwanese investors, including tax breaks in an attempt to attract more investors especially in the Clark and Subic Freeport zones.

A commonly held belief is that Filipino women are a most privileged sector, enjoying the same rights and opportunities as the men. On the contrary, there are many areas in which women are not so privileged. The recent approval of the Magna Carta for Women in the Senate is thus a milestone piece of legislation.…

PROPERTY developers are likely to post lower profit margins in the near term as they continue to feel the brunt of higher costs absorbed last year, according to Colliers International Research.

The government appears to be moving into high gear to create a million new jobs—its strategy to counter the impact of the global economic crisis on the Philippines.

Two departments have embarked on income-generating projects that will create 242,536 jobs in the countryside.

THE Supreme Court has ordered the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to pay a couple the full value of the 4.7-hectare private property in Lapu-Lapu City that was the subject of expropriation proceedings.

MANILA, Philippines – The telecommunication sector is up for a difficult year if IDC’s latest Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker report is any indication.

THE Securities and Exchange Commission has given ailing pre-need firms four to five years to build up their impaired capital and trust funds as a result of the economic slowdown, its top official said yesterday.

Last week, I warned that government intervention in business was a major deterrent to business. We have a government that professes its wish to attract investors and its desire to do everything necessary to make the Philippines a desirable place to invest, yet its actions too often do the very reverse.

LIMOUSINES roll up to the plate glass storefront in Makati, unloading heirloom jewelry, paintings, and recently even a chamber for divers with the Bends.

JAPANESE company Toshiba will invest P110 million and employ more than 600 workers in Laguna to expand its operation beyond the production of hard disk drives.

THE rent in buildings devoted to business process outsourcing will drop by 15 to 20 percent this year because of too much space for lease and the economic crisis, an analyst said yesterday.

PHOENIX — President Barack Obama marshaled $75 billion on Wednesday to tackle the foreclosure crisis in an effort to prevent up to 9 million Americans from losing their homes.