Monthly Archives: April 2009

The Philippines plans to reduce its energy dependence on coal over the next five years to lessen carbon emissions which contribute to climate change, an energy official said yesterday.

Summer means enjoying your health and basking in your vitality: staying out in the sun, swimming amid waves, trekking through mountains forests, long road trips with friends, drinking under stars and picnics by the beach. Sadly this can also mean a summer ruined by sunburn, dehydration and heat exhaustion, near drowning and jellyfish stings, mosquito…

THE Philippine economic outlook is getting direr by the month. Last week the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued the worst forecast yet for the country.

SINGAPORE: Crude prices continued to decline in Asian trade Tuesday on worries that a global swine flu outbreak would hurt air travel and reduce oil demand, analysts said.

THE Philippine jobs situation remains uncertain amid the global economic slowdown, according to the International Labor Organizations (ILO), even as some employers see joblessness bottoming out soon.

The Philippines, the world’s biggest supplier of merchant sailors, Tuesday called on fellow APEC members to improve the protection of ships against pirate attacks off Somalia.

MANILA, Philippines–True to form, economists can’t agree on the likely shape of the recovery from the current global economic downturn precipitated by the US financial meltdown. The most pessimistic see an L-shaped trend, implying that the world economy will be lingering at the bottom for a long time. The more sanguine see just a year…

MANILA, Philippines – Agriculture will replace electronics as the country’s biggest export if the government will not be able to develop sophisticated infrastructure that will prevent big ticket investors like Texas Instruments from leaving the country in the next five years, an economist said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The government is gearing up for a “rebound mode” following upbeat indicators in the global economy, officials said yesterday.

Brussels, (ITUC OnLine): More than 14 million people are expected to take part in some 10,000 activities across the world today, the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers.  Over 2.2 million workers die each year from work accidents and disease, and some 160 million more are injured or become ill.

Asia’s travel industry, struggling with weak demand because of the weak global economy, is bracing for the fallout from the swine flu. But industry analysts say Asia’s 2003 experience with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome may help the region recover quickly from a travel slump.

A group the government commissioned to look into allegations of overpriced fuel prices in the country absolved local oil firms yesterday of charges of collusion and profiteering on prices of oil products.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said yesterday taxi drivers will start issuing receipts to their passengers starting July.

HELSINKI: While many dream to live like a rock star, a life spent playing to sell-out crowds and chasing that number one album can take a real toll on the body, a group of Finnish scientists have found.

There is more than enough water in the world to quench the thirst of mankind many times over. Yet, an Asia Society report released this April warns an emerging water crisis could trigger security problems in Asia. In other words, war could break out between provinces or regions in one country, or between Asian nations,…

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) recently allowed the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to raise its electricity rates by 25 centavos a kilowatt-hour (kWh). The increase under the company’s performance based regulation will be reflected in its May billing to its customers.

I HAVE said it before. If we are to change the 1987 Constitution, if we are to go through with it at all, the best option is through a constitutional convention. The Constituent Assembly is not an option because people don’t trust the politicians in Congress.

FACTORY output continued to contract for the fourth consecutive month in February as manufacturers in all major sectors cut capacity due to weak demand brought about by the global economic crisis.

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said the Philippines should further develop five strategic sectors that could help the country strengthen its trade relations with the European Union (EU).

THE Asian Development Bank warned that rice yield potential in the Philippines and other Asian countries are likely to decline by half due to the impact of climate change.

Amid worst economic crisis since Great Depression   WASHINGTON: The IMF and World Bank have warned the global economic crisis is turning into a “human calamity” and called on members to speed up pledged aid and give even more to help the most vulnerable.

Morality rate of children under five declining   MORE than half of Filipino married women used some form of contraceptives last year, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Monday. According to the preliminary results of the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), the agency said 51 percent of the married women in the Philippines…

Despite the global financial crisis, more Filipinos are still hopeful that their personal quality of life will improve within a year, results of a nationwide survey released on Monday revealed.

Q. I’ve been having headaches for the past five days. It’s all over my head. It’s tolerable but irritating. I have high blood pressure and I’ve been taking amlodipine 5 mg. daily for five years now. My BP is controlled at 120/85. Should I worry about my headache? — Alvin, 42, Parañaque

MANILA, Philippines – A Manila court granted yesterday a civil society group’s request for the country’s three largest oil firms – Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Corp., and Petron Corp. – to open their books of accounts for examination by the government to determine if they are guilty of monopoly, predatory pricing or cartelization.

There are two commodities that politicians, anxious to improve their popularity ratings, constantly rant about when prices seem to be on the upturn: rice and oil.

EQUALIZER: It is clear from the confusion that followed the Supreme Court decision allowing 32 more Party-List groups to send congressmen to the House of Representatives that the PL system needs revisiting.

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Joker Arroyo yesterday slammed the Supreme Court (SC) over its ruling that the party-list representatives are entitled to 55 seats in the House of Representatives.

MANILA, Philippines – More adult Filipinos are expecting their personal quality of life to improve in the next 12 months, the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

MANILA, Philippines – Oil companies rolled back their pump prices by P1 per liter yesterday in step with last week’s lower crude costs in the world market.