Monthly Archives: August 2009

Zuellig leads way with planned P7-B Makati HQ MANILA, Philippines – Borrowing a phrase from the fashion world, green is the new black. This goes for energy, transportation, and yes, even buildings.

MANILA, Philippines — The 15,000 up to 20,000 job openings in Guam being eyed by the Philippine government for overseas Filipinos workers are imperiled by a United States legislator who wants most of the jobs given to US citizens, according to a consultant for overseas job recruitment.

MANILA, Philippines—The number of Filipino maids who run away from their Muslim employers swell during the Ramadan, when they are also required to fast, an alliance of overseas Filipino workers’ organizations in the Middle East said Sunday.

MANILA, Philippines — The number of distressed overseas Filipino workers sent home by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in the first seven months of 2009 reached over 5,000, a 23-percent jump from the recorded number of repatriated Filipinos during the same period in 2008.

MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Human Rights (CHR) head Leila de Lima will personally lead an investigative mission this weekend in Surigao del Sur, where 1,700 people, mostly Manobos, have reportedly been displaced by the raging armed conflict between government forces and communist rebels.

MANILA, Philippines – Business-led trade policy think tank Universal Access to Competitiveness and Trade, in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC-Geneva) will release a program that will help people understand trade policies.

TWO Fridays ago, four delegates attending the Tenth Global Consultation on Child Welfare Services requested me to accompany them to places where children under the most difficult circumstances are situated. I brought them to multi-awarded Molave Detention Home in Quezon City that provides the best services for children in conflict with the law relative to…

INTERNATIONAL human rights groups on Friday called on the Philippine government to join other nations in ratifying the treaty that would end enforced disappearances in the country and in the world.

According to the 2009 Forbes Asia Philippines Rich List that ranked 40 of the wealthiest in the Philippines, mall mogul Henry Sy remained to be the country’s wealthiest with a net worth of $3.8 billion. Sy is the chairman and founder of the SM Group of Companies.

MANILA, Philippines – The government yesterday advised overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with abusive employers to seek help, not run away from their employers.

SCIENCE and technology have gifted us with numerous conveniences of daily living, inventions and innovations meant to improve our quality of life, if not actually extend it.

These are some important facts about exposure to asbestos fibers that you should know.

Industry stakeholders are losing ground in the asbestos debate in the Philippines as a result of actions taken by various sectors of civil society. On April 20, 2009, civic officials from Benguet, 348 km north of Manila, launched a lawsuit against the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation for its secret dumping of six truckloads of asbestos-containing…

WASHINGTON – Researchers and students at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a website which allows users to calculate their risk of dying.

Predicting the future is tough enough given the reality that we mere mortals aren’t directly connected to God, deregulation of telecoms not withstanding. But the less uncertainty there is, the easier it is to run a business successfully. The President, by not making a clear categorical statement that she would not try to extend her…

THE Court of Appeals has granted the request of Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas for a writ of protection from any form of harassment from the police and military.

The Environment and Natural Resources Department has ordered the suspension of aerial spraying of pesticides and fungicides in banana plantations in Region 11, which comprises the three Davao provinces and Compostela Valley.

THE economy rebounded in the second quarter from its slowest growth in a decade, boosted by government spending and adding to signs Asian nations are recovering from the global recession.

THE House is gearing for plenary debates on a resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention and the election of 250 delegates to amend the Constitution.

Construction workers at four Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear sites have been exposed to asbestos and other dangerous materials that are putting them at significantly higher risk for mesothelioma, lung disease, and other cancers according to a new report published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

The number of problem US banks rose to the highest level in 15 years between April and June, the industry’s regulator has revealed.

As the UN climate summit in Copenhagen approaches, exhortations that “we must get a deal” and warnings that climate change is “the greatest challenge we face as a species” are to be heard in virtually every political forum.

If you look at the numbers, it is hard to see how many East African communities made it through the long drought of 2005 and 2006.

MANILA, Philippines – With two months left before the Oct. 31 deadline for voter’s registration, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has already recorded more than 2.6 million new voters.

MANILA, Philippines—Amid reports that a large proportion of children around the world experience physical and humiliating or degrading punishment, child rights advocates on Thursday called on parents, guardians, and other authorities to end corporal punishment.

The July 28 to Aug. 10 Pulse Asia survey on senatorial preferences shows the following:

The House of Representatives is pushing for the creation of a Philippine Nuclear Regulatory Commission to unify all nuclear institutions in the country.

THE Philippines’ flag carrier said it would cut its workforce and flight capacity abroad to cope with the global economic slowdown.

THE Philippines’ biggest electricity distributor said its industrial sales are showing signs of a recovery.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy escaped from the threat of recession as it grew 1.5 percent in the second quarter – beating most market estimates – as the government’s stimulus package boosted spending in infrastructure and social services during the period, officials said yesterday.