Monthly Archives: April 2009

The impact of the move of US President Barack Obama in trying to clamp down on consumers’ credit card abuses can affect the Philippines. After all, we have here billions of pesos in unpaid credit card bills.

Senator Loren Legarda slammed the deceptive practices employed by certain credit card companies, including the collection of exorbitant or unreasonable punitive interest rates and unjustifiable fees from credit card holders.

SENATORS said yesterday the Supreme Court went beyond its constitutional bounds and engaged in “judicial legislation” when it upheld the validity of the election of 32 more party-list representatives.

The Philippines needs $1.6 billion to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 40 percent and contribute to global efforts in arresting climate change, the Asian Development Bank said in a study released yesterday.

WITH rice harvests cut in half and islands disappearing as sea levels rise, Southeast Asia will be hit hard by global warming, the Asian Development Bank warned in a study released yesterday.

THE number of married Filipinas using contraceptives is increasing while the incidence of infant mortality in the Philippines is declining, the National Statistics reported yesterday.

On the eve of the swearing-in of the 32 new congressmen, the House of Representatives tossed to the Supreme Court the question of who among the 32 party-list nominees should be dropped from the roster of Congress members.

Brussels, (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC welcomed the decision of the World Bank to instruct its staff to stop using the “Employing Workers Indicator” (EWI) of its highest-circulation publication, “Doing Business”.  The ITUC has long criticized the EWI because it gives the best ratings to countries with the lowest level of workers’ protection and has been…

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.

Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) said it has kept a negative medium-term outlook for the Philippine peso amid the widening budget deficit.

State subsidies to non-financial government corporations rose in the first quarter, the Department of Finance said.

MANILA–Remittances from Filipinos working and living overseas, a key pillar of the Philippine economy, are unlikely to decline this year, central bank deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said on Tuesday.

The Philippines has been spared so far from the global crisis, as evidenced by an increase in employment rate of 1.7 percent from January to mid-April, when 500,000 new jobs were created, an official reported Tuesday.

Cuts on ‘non-people-related expenses’ MANILA, Philippines — Local companies are shunning staff cuts as a means of reducing costs and are instead focusing on improving operating efficiencies, according to a survey being conducted by the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

Cheers, boos greet Palparan MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Twenty-five of the 32 new partylist representatives took their oath of office before Speaker Prospero Nograles at the House of Representatives session hall on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the global economic slowdown, the country can expect relatively brighter prospects this year in terms of economic growth and opportunities, according to a senior economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific.

MANILA, Philippines—The government should go slow in its labor export policy amid increasing cases of rights violations, threats, and even deaths of Filipinos working abroad, a member of the House of Representatives said Tuesday.

It is no longer possible to contain the deadly swine flu virus first found in Mexico, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. As a potential pandemic edges closer, governments around the world have been stepping up precautions against its spread.

The government is closely watching the current economic situation and is ready to revise its growth projections again if “hard numbers” come up, the National Economic and Development Authority said.

The Civil Service Commission is being pressed to back the filing of indirect contempt charges against the board of regents of the Technological University of the Philippines sitting on a 90-day suspension order against the school president in a sexual harassment case.

Few of his legislative peers can match his guts and dynamism in fulfilling his duties and delivering results.  He is also in a class of his own in being articulate, accessible and visible to the public. For these sterling qualities, Senator Richard Gordon is widely regarded as an exceptional public servant. But these past several…

How is the financial and economic crisis affecting occupational health and safety standards? First of all, let’s remember that even before the current crisis, globalization had already brought about major changes to workplaces worldwide. Privatization, industrial restructuring, new forms of work organization, the break-up of larger state enterprises and the proliferation of small enterprises –…

The Malaysian government has eased restrictions on foreign investors wanting to buy into the country’s financial sector.

In anticipation of an easing of the global financial crisis, the country’s tourism industry is hoping to be ready to play a major role as the economy of various countries starts to pick up from hibernation and tourists begin to spend for travel and vacation.

MANILA, Philippines – Although still well-capitalized, the Philippine banking industry continued to experience a steady decline in its capital adequacy, with levels going down across all banking groups particularly in the rural and cooperative banking industry.

MANILA, Philippines – A supervisor of a burger chain was stabbed dead Saturday by two workers she suspended for repeatedly reporting to work late in Marikina City.

MANILA, Philippines – The local chapter of London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International staged a rally in Quezon City and Manila yesterday to urge the government to correct the “desperate situation” of witness protection in the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government has vowed to implement proper waste disposal measures in the use of nuclear energy.

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is pushing for a bill that aims to penalize cyber criminals and hackers, including pedophiles who use the Internet to lure victims.

The lowdown on carpal tunnel syndrome   Joy, 35, was baffled that she kept on dropping things accidentally the past few days. She also felt pain and tingling sensations on the fingers of her right hand particularly at night. An accountant used to working till the small hours of the evening, the numbness and the…