Monthly Archives: March 2009

MANILA, Philippines — A senator has urged the Department of Health (DoH) to ensure gender equality in government hospitals and medical facilities after receiving reports of sexual harassment and discrimination against female doctors, interns and nurses.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The world population is projected to top nine billion in 2050, up from 6.8 billion this year and seven billion early in 2012, according to UN estimates released Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP): Troubled banking giant Citigroup had its best profit performance in over a year in the first two months of 2009, company CEO Vikram Pandit told employees in an internal memo made public yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is not insulated from the effects of the global crisis, and moving towards protectionism will just make the situation worse, the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipina overseas workers employed in the Arab region face a high risk of being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, a study conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo met yesterday law enforcement officials and representatives of media organizations at an emergency meeting in Malacañang that came up with fresh measures to prevent more attacks on journalists.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo has signed the law defining Philippine territory, sparking protests from China over control of strategic South China Sea islands, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said yesterday.

CHILDREN of older fathers have lower intelligence scores than those born to younger men, perhaps because of cumulative damage to men’s sperm during their lives, Australian and US researchers have found.

THE Armed Forces vowed yesterday to use conventional military power to defeat communist guerrillas instead of waging an “ideological war” with the rebels, in a major policy shift.

In keeping with the directive of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to make housing programs more affordable, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) reported that it has, so far, condoned some P41.97- million worth of penalties and surcharges from its previous housing loan programs.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – People who get fewer than six hours of sleep at night are prone to abnormal blood sugar levels, possibly putting them at risk for diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Legislation to allow people in Scotland to claim for past exposure to asbestos has been passed by MSPs.

MANILA, Philippines – Eleven Filipino mothers die daily due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth, a recent study by an international child welfare organization revealed yesterday.

AN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines  – Gov. Eddie Panlilio has approved the formal filing of charges against his 50-year-old provincial agriculturist after a special committee found “prima facie evidence” of sexual harassment against him based on the complaints of five women employees.

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines  – A known leader of the Bayan Muna party-list group in Central Mindanao was gunned down on a busy street here on Monday afternoon, police said.

BASEL, Switzerland (AFP) – The global economy is nearing the start of a rebound, top central bankers said yesterday, as Asian stocks reeled from bad news in Japan and amid concern about the future of the world’s banks.Japan, Asia’s biggest economy, announced its first current account deficit for more than a decade and new data…

MANILA, Philippines — Net foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Philippines last year dropped 48 percent to $1.52 billion from $2.92 billion in 2007, the central bank reported Tuesday.

More than 200,000 jobs in the business process outsourcing industry remain to be filled today of the nearly half a million positions in the sector.

The Government Service Insurance System has condoned P41.97 million worth of penalties and surcharges from its previous housing loan programs.

The president and two other officials of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines have questioned the authority of the Commission on Higher Education to enforce a suspension order the Sandiganbayan issued against them in connection with 12 counts of graft.

SINGAPORE—Five of the world’s least expensive cities are in Asia, and these are Manila, Kathmandu, New Delhi, Mumbai and Karachi, a survey shows.

EXPORTS fell the most in 28 years in January, deepening the Philippines’ economic slowdown as demand for Asia’s electronics and other goods plunge amid a global recession.

It is amusing to watch Cebuano Boy Herrera needle fellow Cebuano Winston Garcia on Winnie da Pooh’s pooh performance as funds manager for GSIS pensioners. The former Senator pooh poohed a recent press release claiming GSIS’s assets grew nine percent to P480 billion in ’08.

Financial assets in Asia lost 9.6 trillion dollars in value in 2008, slightly more than a year’s worth of GDP, the Asian Development Bank said on Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the global credit crisis and its impact on most financial systems, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) is still bullish over the growth prospects of the Philippine economy and its financial system.

MANILA, Philippines – Auto sales went up by 2.7 percent to 9,027 units in February from a month ago, a good indication that the industry may grow this year despite the dismal performance of the auto industry in other countries, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – An environmental group advocating alternative energy solutions yesterday re-launched its electric-powered jeepney that it claims could help solve the pollution problem of Metro Manila.

MANILA, Philippines – An official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday that some 3,000 jobs are available in the hotel and restaurant industry as he painted a bright picture for the country’s domestic tourism.

The global crisis wiped a staggering $50 trillion off the value of financial assets last year including $9.6 trillion of losses in developing Asia alone, the Asian Development Bank said Monday.

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to hasten the implementation of its emergency job creation program after only 20 percent or 100,000 of the available 500,000 jobs have been filled up in the past two months.