Monthly Archives: August 2009

THE Philippines and India may be rivals in attracting business process outsourcing (BPO) investments this side of the globe, but the two countries are joining forces to shield the sector from looming protectionism, an official said.

Zambales is not new to mining. Acoje Mining dug for chromite in Santa Cruz for 75 years beginning in the 1930s. In 1934, Benguet Corp. began to extract chromite from the mountains of nearby Masinloc town, and continued doing so for half a century. In San Marcelino town, the Benguet-Dizon firm leveled mountains for gold,…

First of two parts SANTA CRUZ, Zambales: Nickel is not doing too well in the world market these days, but residents here do not seem to mind, even though nickel has become one of this town’s major revenue earners.

Japan’s announcement of a second-quarter growth bolsters the Philippine government’s projection that the local economy will be spared from a recession for the rest of this year.

Director-General Ralph Recto last week triggered much speculation that there must be more than meets the eye behind his unexpected and sudden departure from the Arroyo Cabinet. While he publicly explains that he has decided to leave to explore his political options for next year, the natural object of people’s suspicion has been the recent…

tHE Commission on Elections says it will be stricter in screening all party-list groups before accrediting them to join the 2010 elections, citing a deluge of applications.

Consumers in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions were more predisposed to save up for a rainy day with the proportion of younger consumers below the age of 30 saving more than older consumers, according to a recent MasterCard survey.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Alberto Suansing said as part of the process, they will be acting on Pasang Masda’s petition of the transport group, which filed the petition last Friday. Pasang Masda wanted the minimum fare for jeep reverted to P7.50 for the first four kilometers.

THE Department of Energy and an industry lobby group are moving for a review of the law that has given oil firms a free reign in dictating prices at the pump.

Prices of goods sold in groceries and small supermarkets remain stable, as sales stay strong despite an economic slowdown, according to the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association Inc. (Pasai).

Telecommunication companies, or telcos, are upbeat about the outlook for the mobile-banking business amid the global financial crisis, executives told The Manila Times.

MANILA, Philippines – A leading consumer advocacy group yesterday proposed a return to a regulated oil industry to keep domestic oil prices in check.

MANILA, Philippines – Migrante International yesterday sought the immediate release of 18 Filipinos who were arrested Friday for being in an illegal “mixed gathering” in Saudi Arabia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The Chinese government has been forced to cancel the privatisation of a steel firm following worker protests, the country’s state-run media has reported.

CEBU, Philippines – The seven workers of Sulpicio Lines, Inc. who sued the shipping firm before the National Labor Relations Commission may have to wait longer for the resolution of their complaint.

MANILA, Philippines – Millions of Filipinos working overseas sent home a record high $1.5 billion in June, up 3.3 percent from last year, allaying fears that remittances will dry up amid the global slowdown.

For the first time, a Cabinet official of the Arroyo administration has publicly admitted that the reason why economic benefits are not trickling down to the poor is due to the country’s high population growth. Finance Secretary Gary Teves even used imagery to illustrate his point, correctly pointing out that people will just have to…

Academics do not wait for constitutions and legislatures to declare them free. They have always believed themselves to be free to do what academics do, and have so acted. It is the juridical recognition of academic freedom that is rather belated.

What is particularly significant to reproductive health advocates about the Magna Carta of Women is that it addresses the major causes of women’s mortality and morbidity, including access to maternal care, responsible, ethical, legal, safe and effective methods of family planning. For me, this assures a woman her human right to determine the family planning…

HONG KONG’s Maynilad Water Services Inc., the water concessionaire operating the western zone part of Metro Manila, is not opposed to the development of the Laiban Dam project in Tanay, Rizal but has objected the proposed “take or pay” provision of the agreement.

Failure to remit the compulsory contribution of the employees to the SSS is a violation of the SSS Law (R.A. 1161 as amended by R.A. 8282) that renders the employer criminally liable. Such liability however arises only if there is employer-employee relationship between the complainant and the alleged offender. This is the ruling in this…

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Francis Escudero yesterday said Congress is expected to ratify into law the Anti-Torture Bill after the bicameral conference committee has reconciled the two versions of the bill.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines raised the alarm yesterday over the slow pace of negotiations for the reduction of greenhouse gases that could lead to the failure of nations to forge a new climate change treaty replacing the Kyoto Protocol before the December deadline.

Little has been heard of the proposal to privatize Philpost in recent months, but it would be a mistake for employees to become too complacent. They would be well-advised, in fact, to read a study published by the post and logistics section of the UNI Global Union.

The head of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) yesterday assured that the fund being maintained by the agency to be used to provide for the needs of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is intact even as amounts of it are placed in investments.

Migrant Filipino workers in the United States spend an average of $12 79 to send $500 home to their families in the Philippines, or an average of $11 45 to remit $200

P5-B rural infrastructure plans partly funded by ADB   ATOTAL of P5-billion rural infrastructure projects funded with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that aims to combat poverty in 779 of the country’s poorest municipalities are currently being implemented by the Department of Agriculture, an official said Monday.

The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) this year targets to enroll about a third more foreign retirees, its chairman said.

Remittances continued to post a modest increase in the first six months, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Monday.

A House-Senate conference committee on Monday reconciled after just one meeting the conflicting provisions of their versions of the proposed Anti-Torture Law, the missing link in Philippine observance of human rights.