Monthly Archives: February 2009

GENERAL SANTOS CITY: Global warming and the economic crisis are not far-fetched stories for people here. Tuna industry players in this southern Philippine city have in fact already felt the pinch from the twin problems.

But government looking to hire 60,500 in 2009   The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Friday predicted that between 40,000 and 200,000 Filipinos would be laid off from work this year because of the global economic crisis.

Workers who have been displaced by the global financial crisis may avail themselves of free health services courtesy of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

MANILA, Philippines – It all boils down to semantics. It’s not a cartel, but simply a supply arrangement.

MANILA, Philippines – Local companies have been affected by the downturn in the world economy as an estimated 30 percent of domestic firms have outstanding liabilities to utilities firms, the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo has directed government agencies to set aside a portion of their maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) budget to fund the hiring of about 180,000 contractual workers nationwide to help reduce unemployment caused by the global economic crisis, officials said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Economists see the country’s growth slowing down to 2.5 percent this year, despite the surprisingly strong performance in 2008, weighed down by declining remittances that has consistently funded domestic consumption.

THE American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines has joined the clamor for amendments to the 1987 Constitution, pressing for the scrapping of a provision that bans foreign ownership of land in the Philippines.

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered all government agencies to allocate 1.5 percent of their budget, or close to P7 billion, to hire 180,000 workers temporarily in the face of the global economic slowdown.

THE Philippines may cut its forecasts for this year’s exports and inflation as the global recession deepens, forcing the government to increase spending and threatening to widen the budget deficit, an official said yesterday.

A GROWING number of foreign shipping companies looking to cut costs amid a global slowdown in trade are laying up their ships in Philippine ports, maritime officials said yesterday.

Dear PAO, Good day. I am a Canadian and I read with great interest your answer that was published on January 12, 2009 in The Manila Times about dual citizenship and buying property in the Philippines.

A SENIOR official from the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) on Thursday asked Malacañang to reduce the number of holidays in the country, saying the call center industry at this critical time is hurting and cannot afford the burden of increased holiday pays.

One of the biggest nickel mines in the country has suspended operations and cut more than 600 jobs, while Nissan Motor Philippines retired 15 percent of its workers.

Expansion plans of most local privately held businesses are held back by the shortage of skilled workers, according to an international business report.

MANILA, Philippines – The local automotive industry has created the Philippine Automotive Competitiveness Council Inc. (PACCI) to promote domestic manufacturing as well as ensure overall future competitiveness and to preserve jobs, the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Local industries may find it hard to expand their businesses this year because of lack of skilled workers, high cost of finance and reduced demand, according to a report by Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) released by tax and business advisory firm Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A).

MANILA, Philippines – Moody’s Investors Service affirmed yesterday its positive outlook on the Philippines’ credit ratings, retaining the country on its path towards a possible upgrade in the actual ratings.

MANILA, Philippines – European companies operating in the country announced they will be cutting their working days by 26 percent to cope with the continued slowdown in the global economy, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s debt stock increased by 1.2 percent or P52.1 billion to P4.236 trillion as of end-November 2008 from the end-October 2008 level of P4.184 trillion, the Bureau of the Treasury reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines — Two persons were hurt after a five-hour fire razed a plastics factory in Valenzuela City early this morning.

So the people may know, and consistent with their constitutional right to information on matters of public concern (Section 7, Article III), the highlights of the debate in the Lower House regarding the RH bill also deserve some media attention like those Congressional hearings on government anomalies and corruption. The congressional action on this bill…

Corrupted to the core—and entirely—by a “cartel” of kickback-takers with support from the highest levels of the Philippine government.

MANILA, Philippines – College educators have expressed their support to a bid by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to lay out a two-year pre-university system, but said that there should also be a discussion of the alternative of putting an additional year or years in the 10-year basic education curriculum (BEC).

MANILA, Philippines – Political concerns, particularly the country’s standard on human rights which is different from the European Union’s, will be a contentious issue in the draft of the proposed Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with the EU, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Global research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) has lowered its growth rate forecast for the information technology services market in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) this year to a ‘post-crisis’ forecast of 9.6 percent, from the previous forecast of 11.2 percent.

MANILA, Philippines – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials ruled out the possibility that remittances would decline this year but admitted that inflows would not increase for the first time since the country started deploying workers abroad.

ANGELES CITY, Philippines — President Arroyo said yesterday she is convinced that the country, despite the exports slowdown and rising layoffs, remains outside the scope of the global recession.

It seems that worrying about your next job isn’t just limited to private sector employees anymore. Once Executive Order 366 (E.O. 366) or the Rationalization Plan of the government is implemented around 420,000 government employees, or 30 percent of the workforce in the bureaucracy, will be laid off. The executive order was issued in October…

The global financial crisis has cost 5,400 Filipinos abroad and 34,000 in the country their jobs, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said Wednesday.