Monthly Archives: June 2009

Many past actions and events in our legislative chamber aptly called the “Lower House” have jolted and shocked the public because of lack of any sane explanation. But its passage of Resolution 1109 constituting itself as a Constituent Assembly (Con Ass) to amend the Charter is the real shocker. It is by far the most…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government blamed the New People’s Army (NPA) for the number of unexplained killings in the country as it highlighted a report to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that such killings “have fallen dramatically by 70 percent.”

With less than three months until the final registration day for the elections set for May next year, the Commission in Elections (Comelec) and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) are confident of being able to reach the poll body’s pegged target of one million overseas absentee voters (OAV) registrants.

United Nations Special Rapporteur to the Philippines Professor Philip Alston has blasted President Arroyo’s government for failing to put an end to extra-judicial killings.

Dear PAO, I started working for ABC Company as a probationary employee in September 2007. On my sixth month, an opportunity to work as an IT technician in the same company came, so I filed my intention to apply for the position. The management advised me to resign first then apply for the said position.…

An independent group of Dutch lawyers group has scored the Philippine government for its failure to stop extrajudicial killings, particularly those involving judges and lawyers.

Household savings rates of Filipinos have been declining over the years because of the impact of a growing young population on the economy, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reported Thursday.

FARMERS are to be given access to three new varieties of rice that should help the Philippines slash imports and produce more at home, a research group said yesterday.

The House of Representatives extending for five years the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) on Wednesday seemed to have divided militant lawmakers who had all been behind it.

No amount of asbestos is considered safe. Products that contain greater than 1 percent of asbestos minerals are considered to be asbestos-containing.

All of the asbestos diseases have a latency period. The latency period is the gap between the time you breathe asbestos and the time you start to feel sick. The latency period for asbestos diseases is between 10 to 40 years. You will not feel sick during the latency period. If you get an asbestos…

MANILA, Philippines—United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston has noted a 70-percent decrease in the number of unexplained killings in the Philippines, according to the Philippine Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva.

MANILA, Philippines – Sales of medicines and other pharmaceutical products are expected to go up by five to six percent this year, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) said yesterday.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Worldwide precision instruments manufacturer Moog Controls, a locator along the Export Processing Zone in Loakan here, has cut its workforce by 30 percent.

MANILA, Philippines – A survey by a global market research firm Synovate said that 44 percent of Filipinos living in Metro Manila, North and South Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao believe that the economy is weak but will improve soon.

MANILA, Philippines – There will be no additional retrenchment in the electronics industry as local players announced they are heading towards recovery.

WASHINGTON – The Philippines is 114th among 144 countries in the world rated for their state of peace in the face of global recession and growing political instability.

With mounting issues and challenges facing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the government should, as part of its foreign relations policy, actively promote and advance the workers’ rights abroad.

Dear PAO, I have been working for a multinational company in Pasay City for six years. The company recently reorganized, and as a result our job title, positions, duties and responsibilities have changed. Our boss would like us to think that the changes are tantamount to a promotion because our previous positions were dead-end positions,…

MANILA, Philippines—The details of how Filipino nurses and caregivers who graduated from Philippine schools can work in Japan will be the subject of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the Philippines and Japan are scheduled to sign tomorrow, June 5.

MANILA, Philippines – More than three-fourths of Filipinos believe that government efforts to stamp out graft and corruption are “ineffective,” the watchdog group Transparency International (TI) said.

MANILA, Philippines—The business sector emerged as the most perceivably environment-friendly in a recently released international survey, which observers said was a result of efforts of firms in the country to actively pursue projects that promote cleaner and greener surroundings.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite suffering a negative 8 percent industry growth in 2008, the country’s semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industry is expecting a slow recovery by the turn of this year.

MANILA, Philippines – The new management of the Rapu-Rapu polymetallic project in Albay said yesterday that it is putting in place measures to protect the people and the environment.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Fresh signs emerged Monday that the recession is letting up in the United States. Manufacturing’s slide is slowing. Builders are boosting spending on construction projects – including homes. And consumers aren’t cutting back as much as some had feared.

MANILA, Philippines – The proposed Climate Change Act of 2009 was passed by the Senate on third and final reading, along with 11 other bills as Congress holds its last session day today.

The meat processing industry expects to rebound from a flat performance in the first quarter of the year to a full-year growth of up to 10 percent despite the global economic recession.

About P80 billion worth of funds lay idle in the banks in the first quarter of 2009, as news of global economic recession forced families of migrant Filipino workers to save their money instead of spend them, resulting in a dismal 0.4-percent growth in gross domestic product during the period.

Public school teachers and nurses are bound to be shortchanged under the modified compensation and classification system for state workers embodied in Joint Resolution 26 already approved by the bicameral conference committee, Senator Pia Cayetano said yesterday.

The Center for Legislative Development (CLD), an organization that conducts research and engages in policy advocacy, urged the national government to make quality healthcare services in the country accessible, available, affordable and acceptable in a policy discussion.