Monthly Archives: April 2009

CEBU, Philippines – The Philippines’ export industry was already suffering from a deteriorating competitiveness long before the global economic crisis has ever begun.

“UNBELIEVABLE,” I shook my head as I listened to stories of these two women. One, a few years older than I, was a financially secure and accomplished businesswoman. Isabel (not her name) took great pains to make it seem that her husband Ralph was doing well himself. She always made sure to praise him, and…

ONCE AGAIN summer is upon us. Typically, companies take advantage of the season to build and renew teams at all levels of the company, executive teams, functional- and cross-functional team building. Then we have all sorts of activities, high ropes, low ropes, indoor and outdoor.

MANILA, Philippines – As the world economy goes into recession resulting in establishment closures, Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque calls for unity among labor and management when he meets with representatives from the Tripartite Industrial Peace Councils (TIPCs) and region-based Industry Tripartite Councils (ITCs) in the National Capital Region. The Department of Labor and Employment…

The $16.43 billion that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent home last year placed the country in the fourth spot in the world’s top recipients of remittances, the World Bank said.

Pope Benedict XVI and the late Pope John Paul II both zealously and untiringly taught the Church’s stand on the dignity of human life.

This is the pastoral statement of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the Reproductive Health bill pending in Congress:

The first and main reason for President Gloria Arroyo’s and her Cabinet’s pro-Life stand in support of the Roman Catholic Church’s position is morals and ethics.

I count myself lucky to have survived two tough years of unemployment with mounting financial problems during the period after 9/11 right up to the SARS epidemic. My family had just returned from overseas as we were away for a year on study purposes. The situation was made worse when we decided to buy a…

First of two parts Traditionally, it was the petty criminals who fall in the hands of the so-called “Davao Death Squad,” a vigilante-style motorcycle-riding group that is believed to have been organized in the mid-90s to cleanse the city of crime.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos remained optimistic in the face of recession and job displacements, according to a recent survey.

MANILA, Philippines – There is a Filipino in every country in the world.

The gross international reserves of the Bangko Sentral dropped to $38.87 billion at the end of March from $38.92 billion at end-February on huge foreign debt payments, the central bank said yesterday.

BERLIN—No more blackouts. No more expensive monthly electric bills. Thanks to the sun.

PATTAYA (AFP) –Sixteen Asian nations will step up investigations into establishing a giant free-trade zone stretching from China to Australia, according to documents obtained by AFP Friday.

‘Tentative’ signs of improvement PARIS (AFP)– The Group of Seven major economies are going deeper into reverse but fragile signs that the slowdown is easing are beginning to emerge in a few countries, the OECD said on Friday.

A virus contracted through oral sex is the cause of some throat cancers, say US scientists. HPV infection was found to be a much stronger risk factor than tobacco or alcohol use, the Johns Hopkins University study of 300 people found.

MANILA, Philippines—The estimated 40,000 overseas Filipino workers in France, mostly caregivers privately employed by families, are keeping their jobs despite the layoffs in many parts of the world caused by global recession, new French Ambassador to the Philippines Thierry Borja De Mozota has said.

The Social Security System (SSS) is inviting its members, both local and overseas contract workers, who lost their jobs due to the global financial crisis to come to a one-stop-shop, multi-agency job fair on May 14 to 16, 2009. It will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the HK Sun Plaza, Financial…

Remember the good old days, way back in 2006, when the streets were paved with credit-gold as far as the eye could see and credit cards rained from the sky? Even the credit-destitute were treated like kings by the credit card companies and courted with lavish offers of unlimited credit.

Since 2007, escalating food prices have created budget turmoil, trade imbalances and inflation and provoked panic and social unrest in some countries. Despite bumper harvests of rice and wheat in 2008 that may have alleviated some of the concern, economies are now grappling with a worsening global economic crisis. Is the evolution of lower prices…

China’s state quality watchdog said baby skin powder manufactured by German housekeeping and healthcare products maker MAPA has been removed from shelves in China for allegedly containing asbestos.

The domestic automotive market improved remarkably in March with industry sales growing by 19 percent to 10,746 units from 9,027 units in February—just 1 percent less than the quarterly showing last year of 28,907 units sold from this quarter’s strong 28,564 units.

MANILA, Philippines – Thirteen people were killed and 12 others were injured when a boiler overheated and exploded in a styrofoam packaging factory in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, police said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines–The desktop and notebook PC market in the Philippines saw a 12.8 percent market share decline in fourth quarter of 2008, research firm International Data Corp. said.

An international human rights group yesterday accused the mayor of Davao City of giving “tacit support” to death squads behind the killing of 800 people over the past decade. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte “continues to deny the undeniable” by refusing to investigate the killings. “The words and…

Traffic pollution was identified as a significant problem. Exposure to traffic pollution could affect the development of babies in the womb, US researchers have warned.

MANILA – AT LEAST a dozen factory workers were killed and five were injured when a boiler overheated and exploded in the northern Philippines, local government officials and police said on Wednesday.

(RTTNews) –  A European Union delegation visiting the Philippines has announced an aid of 10 million euro ($13.4 million) to support agriculture and improve food security in the Southeast Asian country.

MANILA, Philippines – There are five stages of hurt in the healing process: Denial, Bargaining, Anger, Depression and Acceptance.