Monthly Archives: June 2009

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has slashed its investment target for the mining sector this year to just over $600 million from an earlier goal of up to $1 billion with slow initial inflows, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the country’s economic growth to decline by one percent this year before posting a modest 2.25-percent expansion in 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – Global banking giant Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) said it expects the Philippine currency to weaken to 53 against the dollar by the end of the year as the inflow of overseas workers’ remittances continues to slow down and the US economy remains in recession.

Over 18,000 girls and boys are engaged in mining and quarrying in the Philippines. For many generations, the search for gold in small-scale mining has been a means of survival for poor families. Girls in such work are particularly vulnerable.

More than 100 million girls are involved in child labour worldwide, according to a new ILO report for World Day against Child Labour 2009. The report warns that the global financial crisis could push an increasing number of children, particularly girls, into child labour. ILO Online reports from Moscow where migrant workers and their children…

The bicameral conference committee in a marathon meeting late Tuesday evening approved a joint resolution seeking a five-year extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), increased its fund allocation to P150 billion, and restored its compulsory land acquisition and distribution schemes covering all agricultural lands.

The Department of Education has mobilized its Center for Students and Co-Curricular Affairs (CSCA) to ensure transparency and accountability in the operation of Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs) throughout the country.

Yesterday’s anti-Charter change rally in Makati, preceded by a string of daily rallies all over the metropolis and many parts of the country, hammers home a relevant point: It is not Charter change that we need, but jobs to keep our people from being drowned by the global crisis.

Following the successful Labor Day job fair that placed 10,000 workers nationwide, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will conduct a bigger three-day Mega Job Fair as the main activity during the celebration of the 111th Philippine Independence.

The country continued to suffer from an outflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in March, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday.

The Philippine economy is expected to contract this year because of weak remittance inflows and export earnings despite the increase in government spending and lower interest rates, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is ready to welcome a “high level mission” from the International Labor Organization (ILO) that will investigate the cases of extrajudicial killings, disappearances and harassment of workers’ leaders, unionists and labor rights advocates in the country, an official said.

Canada’s CBC ran a special entilted “Canada’s Ugly Secret” on June 10 about an industrial area in India known as “The Golden Corridor,” where chrysotile asbestos, exported from Canada’s Black Mine, in Quebec, is being processed in factories.

Funds parked at the Bangko Sentral continued to rise in May despite a series of rate cuts aimed at increasing lending to businesses.

Whilst the economic crisis serves as a daily reminder of the importance of social dialogue, many employers and governments in the Asia-Pacific region remain bent on repressing trade union activity. The latest ITUC Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights denounces hundreds of cases of harassment, arrests, attacks and assassinations targeting trade unionists in…

It was once called the “magic mineral” and was touted as Canadian gold — a unique resource that was going to bring our country wealth and prosperity.

Online petition launched MANILA, Philippines — “Tens of thousands” of Australians signed a petition opposing their government’s decision to allow the importation of bananas from the Philippines, Australian media reported Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The business community expressed its strong objection yesterday to the planned establishment of a Philippine Workers’ Compensation Authority (PWCA) to replace the existing Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System.

A consumer group is asking the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to assess and evaluate the privatization of the National Power Corp.’s generation assets by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

OCCIDENTAL MINDORO, Philippines – A 66-year-old broadcaster and former vice governor of this province was shot and stabbed to death by a still unidentified suspect outside his house in San Jose town yesterday morning, police said.

MANILA, Philippines – As the country braces for a rally today against the planned convening of a constituent assembly by the House of Representatives, business groups have joined the chorus of protests against the lawmakers.

NSCB says global crisis trimmed median-income group   A FILIPINO household has to earn close to half a million pesos this year to remain in the middleclass, according to the National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB).Romulo Virola, NSCB secretary-general, said the country’s middle class is likely to have shrunk in light of the global financial crisis.

The town of  Marshall, North Carolina, according to story in the News-Record & Sentinel, has been cited by the state department of labor for several serious violations regarding the removal of asbestos-containing tiles from its city hall.

I’m not one for cliches, but whoever said “You are what you eat” was onto something. Fill up on doughnuts and pizza, and you’re more likely to sport a round shape with a soft center. But if you munch on fresh produce, fish and poultry, chances are you’ll be as lean as what’s on your…

THE country is sending fewer domestics to Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy, where Indonesian women are willing to work for less than the $400 a month that Filipinos charge, Labor officials said yesterday.

111th Anniversary of Philippine Independence Kalayaan 2009 MEGA JOB & LIVELIHOOD FAIR June 12-14, 2009 In 19 cities involving 1,000 employers offering at least 170,000 vacancies.

Diokno, Salceda says 2nd quarter may get worse   The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Monday described the worse-than-expected first quarter economic growth results as “a mild recession.”

MANILA, Philippines—Like breast cancer, abuses against women in the Philippines are as rampant and as deadly if left undetected.

MANILA, Philippines – More decent and high paying jobs await Filipino workers with higher job orders abroad, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

The casualties are increasing around the world and tension has reached fever pitch. Even church authorities have declared a holy war against this modern-day evil. Now, you don’t have to hold hands with the persons next to you when you pray or sing Our Father during Mass.