Monthly Archives: March 2009

MANILA, Philippines – A recent Pulse Asia survey released yesterday revealed that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is perceived by the public as the most corrupt government agency while the Department of Education (DepEd) topped the list of least corrupt agencies.

BALANGA City, Bataan: Provincial Gov. Enrique “Tet” Garcia has openly spoken against the reactivation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) and if he has his way would like the mothballed nuclear structure in the mountain town of Morong dismantled.

TAIPEI: Amid a record-high unemployment rate, Taiwan is resisting pressures to shut out new foreign workers from the island—and laying off more of them—a government official told The Manila Times.

Executives from the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry see further growth in employment opportunities for Filipinos amid the global economic slowdown, results of an industry survey show.

NGOs insist reviving the mothballed BNPP endangers the lives of those who live in Central Luzon   A COALITION of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) on Wednesday divulged the names of 184 legislators endorsing a House Bill that seeks to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

The Philippines’ world ranking on competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry fell five notches this year, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) study released on Wednesday.

The global crisis continued to take its toll on Filipinos, as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Wednesday that as of this week, 40,191 workers have been laid off.

The Philippine government’s recent efforts to intensify intellectual property (IP) protection in the country should be enough for the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to remove the country from its Special 301 report watch list, an Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) official said.

THE 8,000 workers at the Korean-owned Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp. are overworked, unprotected and not getting overtime, health benefits or holiday pay, an investigation by the Labor Department and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority shows.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Tuesday rolled out a much-awaited program aimed at boosting the availability of credit to U.S. consumers and small businesses.

Mobile phone penetration rate in the Philippines hit 75 percent as of end-2008, as the number of subscriber identity module, or SIM cards, sold by the country’s top three operators reached 67.9 million.

New earthquake data Since 1973, many more earthquakes have occurred around and even under Mt. Natib; one on June 24, 1991 with a magnitude of 4.6 occurred directly under Napot Point. Since 1981, six have occurred within 25 kilometers of the BNPP. Note that the largest nuclear complex in the world, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in…

MARIVELES, Bataan: Police rescued three minors and seven others who were allegedly sweet-talked into working at a construction site in Balanga City but ended in Calauag, Quezon Province and reportedly forced to work without proper and just compensation, Mayor Jessie Concepcion of Mariveles announced Tuesday.

Last November 3, Josephine Moulds wrote an article in the UK Daily Telegraph about George Magnus, senior economic adviser to Swiss bank UBS, who is widely acknowledged to have predicted that the US sub-prime mortgage crisis would trigger a global recession.

US-based outsourcing firm Accenture is laying off almost half its workforce in the Philippine because of the effects of the global financial crisis, the Labor department said on Tuesday.

US-based outsourcing firm Accenture is laying off almost half its workforce in the Philippine capital due to the effects of the global financial crisis, the Department of Labor and Employment said yesterday.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the board of directors and consultants of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority are not entitled to year-end benefits.

THE Australian government has decided that it is safe to import Cavendish bananas from the Philippines, opening up a market that Filipino growers have sought to enter since 1995.

MANILA, Philippines – The European Union (EU) has expressed its full support for the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang justified the slow pace of the judiciary in resolving cases involving human rights violations, saying this was deliberate to ensure that only the guilty are punished.

Analysts tell bloc to keep brave face      HUA HIN, Thailand: Southeast Asian leaders called on Sunday for increased cooperation and urgent reform to deal with the global financial crisis. They made the call as they wrapped up a summit here dominated by their economic woes topped by falling exports.

JAPAN’s biggest bathroom and sanitary wares manufacturer expects sales of high-tech toilets in the Philippines to be “better” this year despite the global crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Leila de Lima said yesterday the US State Department’s report on human rights practices in 2008 is “a fair assessment” of the Philippines’ human rights record.

MANILA, Philippines – Fisherfolk organizations opposed yesterday the plan of Maynilad Water Services Inc. to tap Laguna Lake as water source.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The US economy contracted at a staggering 6.2 percent pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, as consumers and businesses ratcheted back spending, plunging the country deeper into recession.

MANILA, Philippines – It may be the worst of times for other industries. But for contact center companies, it is the best of times.

SAYING Catholics can support the reproductive health bill in good conscience, students of the Ateneo de Manila University have endorsed the immediate passage of House Bill 5043 on family planning in defiance of Catholic bishops and university officials.

SOUTHEAST Asian leaders pledged to cut tariffs, lift trade barriers and open more service industries as the bloc struggles to overcome a global recession that has eroded export demand and boosted protectionist sentiment.

AFTER 258 colleges and universities announced they would increase their tuition this coming school year, 143 private elementary and high schools are looking to increase their matriculation charges by as much as 15 percent, according to the Federation of Private Schools and Administrators.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) : Industry trackers on Wednesday slashed projections of global spending on information technology (IT) and said computer chip makers  could be hit with an unprecedented plunge in revenue.