Monthly Archives: June 2009

This week, governments, workers and employers representing the ILO’s 183 member States begin a two-year process during which they will discuss a ground-breaking draft labour standard on HIV/AIDS in the world of work. ILO Online asked ILO/AIDS Director Dr. Sophia Kisting to explain the significance of this development, and how a new labour standard would…

MANILA, Philippines—American investment banking giant Merrill Lynch has scaled down its economic growth outlook for the Philippines this year to 1.4 percent from 3.1 percent following an anemic first-quarter output.

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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is not attracting as much foreign investments because laws in the country make it difficult for companies to infuse capital, the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) said yesterday.

Nope, we’re not going to talk about sex, lies, and videotape here. It seems everybody’s talking about that, it’s coming out of our ears. We have no Hayden agenda, we simply want to bare the lies, half-truths, and myths that have persisted or been perpetuated through the years.

Sleep is perhaps the most mysterious of all human activities. No one can really define its biological function — that is, why it is restful and necessary — or come up with a foolproof recipe for a good night’s sleep. Soldiers, health care professionals, call center workers, pilots and flight attendants, and many others suffer…

LEAD PACK: It is too early to credit the Korina Sanchez factor, but her prospective bridegroom Mar Roxas has just vaulted five percentage points from way behind to join the lead pack in the May 2010 presidential race.

MANILA, Philippines – Treasury bill (T-bill) rates went up slightly across the board at yesterday’s auction due to poor investor appetite for government debt papers following a disappointing first quarter economic growth of 0.4 percent.

MANILA, Philippines – The Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) is not expecting the economy to slip into a recession this year, thanks to the country’s strong remittance inflows and revenues from the information technology (IT) services sector.

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Noli de Castro has remained the top choice of Filipinos to succeed President Arroyo in 2010, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey that included new names as possible presidential contenders.

IF we want to bring quality back into public education, we must start with the teachers. There was a time in the Philippines when the graduates of the public school system were as good as if not better than those who graduated from the private schools. Public school grads spoke well, wrote well, and were…

The Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) on Monday ticked off supposed failings of the Philippine economy that would make it difficult for the country to recover and grow when the global crisis blew over.

A few days ago, seven female workers returned home from the Middle East, each telling a litany of woes about her cruel and abusive Arabian employer. They were accompanied by Senator Manuel Villar, who paid for their air fare.

SEOUL—The South Korean government is amnestying undocumented Filipino workers here after President Arroyo appealed to President Lee Myung-Bak on their behalf at the weekend.

BY ALL INDICATIONS, the Philippine economy is already in recession. With last week’s announcement of an insignificant 0.4-percent first quarter growth in the economy, government statisticians forthrightly described the economy as “teetering into recession.”

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang condemned yesterday what it said was the increasing atrocities of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) against civilians and communities.

A local migrant worker group yesterday assailed the planned signing of a labor agreement between the Philippines and Korea, saying the pact would put Filipino workers at a disadvantageous situation.

VARIOUS commodity manufacturers, including cement-makers, flour millers and bakers’ groups, trooped to the Tariff Commission last Friday, seeking relief amid the economic slowdown.

PROPERTY firms are shifting focus, with mall developers reinventing themselves and housing construction scraping at the bottom, to keep afloat as the Philippine economy teeters into a recession.

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Interior and Local Government has given local governments until June 30 to craft or “repair” their own Citizen’s Charter, the guide for residents on availing frontline services of government at the shortest possible time.

The Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), chaired by Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao, recently honored 15 companies in the Philippines as 2008’s top-performing organizations based on the 4th Corporate Governance (CG) Scorecard Project. The annual event aims to promote fairness, accountability, and transparency in all publicly listed business operations in the country.

In addition to risky assets such as equities, commodities, oil and gold, high-yielding currencies have performed strongly amid fresh signs that the worst of the global slump is behind us.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – If the friends of David Magan from Moriones, Tondo, can see him now, they are bound to be impressed. Dressed in his white coat tuxedo, David barks a few orders, some in Tagalog, to the waiters in the casual dining restaurant at the top deck of the cruise chip Celebrity Century.…

MANILA, Philippines – The total net earnings of companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) fell 29.4 percent last year to P198.91 billion, from P281.54 billion, in 2007, due to the ill effects of the global financial turmoil.

A worker was sent by his employer to a special school in Makati for a three-day certificate course to enhance his skills.

MANILA, Philippines – The government is re-opening its door for the hiring of new workers despite the planned rationalization program, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – An alliance of organizations against torture appealed yesterday to the government to declare a policy of “total elimination” of acts of torture in the country in the wake of the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT), which pressed for the enactment of the Anti-Torture Bill.

The government is offering strings of incentives to investors in the garments and textile sector who would put up their own business process outsourcing (BPO) operations.

Career officers and personnel from the Civil Avation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) have asked the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to look into the rampant hiring of consultants in the agency at the expense of more senior insiders.

Microsoft Philippines stepped up its campaign against child pornography in the country by holding an IE8 8-Mile Run on Sunday at the Global City The Fort in Taguig.