Monthly Archives: August 2009

MANILA, Philippines – Alarmed over the rising number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) afflicted with HIV, the country’s largest labor group yesterday pushed for additional funding for intensified anti-HIV campaign.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) with the Philippine Desposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) will come up with a rescue package for troubled banks across the country through mergers instead of direct government infusions.

A senator yesterday said she plans to file a Senate resolution to investigate the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to find out how it spends the funds contributed by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) now amounting to $11.4 billion.

Adopting a sustainable lifestyle starts at home. From what habits we can change to what new habits we will develop.  Such changes will benefit our purse, our health and ultimately, the planet.

The proverbial thinking that children are the future of the motherland may already sound like a broken record. However, amid the continuing assault against the basic rights of the young generation, its importance cannot be overemphasized.

Dear PAO, I was hired by a company in Valenzuela City in February 2007. By September, I was a regular employee. As a regular employee, I understand that I am entitled to five days of sick leave and five days of vacation leave. Am I correct? Our company made me sign a document stating that…

DÉJÀ VU describes the financial meltdown’s impact on migrant workers. Repatriation, more border controls, punitive penalties for undocumented migrant workers, and no new or higher levels of employment in host countries will be the same this year as has happened in the Asian financial crisis of 1997, according to Dr. Maruja Asis, Scalabrini Migration Center…

Filipino women now outnumber the men in working and settling abroad.

Low-skilled overseas workers are the country’s top senders of money from abroad.

GENEVA: Rising unemployment as the global recession worsens is damping flows of migrant workers and many are returning to their home countries.

Special Report: OFWs cope with crisis    About two million Filipinos working in the Middle East will not be spared from the global financial crisis by petro dollars as oil-exporting countries post a mere 3.6-percent growth this year.

MANILA, Philippines – In yet another testament to the Filipinos’ world-class skills and ingenuity, nine Philippine projects successfully hurdled the rigorous selection process of the World Bank Group’s 2009 Global Development Marketplace Competition, an international contest aimed at identifying and funding innovative, early-stage projects with high potential for development impact.

Nearly 200 party-list groups are now seeking accreditation to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the coming May 2010 polls.

BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Education should include discussions on labor rights in the curriculum of high schools in the country to boost productivity in the workforce, a University of the Philippines professor said here on Friday.

CEBU, Philippines – Concerned over the health safety of the thousands of call center workers in the city, Councilor Edgardo Labella has asked both the government and non-government research organizations, including the schools, to come up with a statistics of profiles of such employees who allegedly suffered adverse health conditions because of their jobs.

CEBU, Philippines – Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal joins calls with Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo and Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales in questioning the recently approved Magna Carta of Women.

MANILA, Philippines – Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza is seeking a review of forestry policies in order to revitalize the sector and lure investments to boost the economy, even as he called for intensified efforts to help mitigate global warming.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is expecting lower exports of coconut oil this year in the aftermath of the global economic crisis.

THE largest US sugar-growering group disputes an Agriculture Department forecast of an 89-percent drop in Mexican supplies and opposes looser import restrictions.

MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday warned all drug stores and pharmaceutical companies against non-compliance with the medicine price.

MANILA, Philippines – “Water is life,” says Maharlika Water Cooperative member Lorda Feudo, yet more than half of Metro Manilans still don’t have clean water on tap.

MANILA, Philippines – Young Filipino math aces did it again, winning a total of 90 medals in three international math competitions hosted by the People’s Republic of China.

United States – Private system Private sector funded, with more than half from private sources. Private health insurance available through employer, government or private schemes.Volunteers offer free medical services in sponsored event in Los Angeles.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Tax Research Center is supporting a Senate resolution proposing the implementation—although with a very limited scope—of a refund on value-added tax for foreign tourists and balikbayans in an effort to encourage greater tourist arrivals.

MANILA, Philippines–Health inspectors caught some drugstores and private hospitals violating a new executive order lowering prices of essential medicines, on Saturday, when the order took effect.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo has expressed support to the plan of the Senate to amend the Omnibus Election Code, particularly its provisions on the issue of premature campaigning.

Optical Media Board (OMB) Chairman Edu Manzano yesterday said the approval by the House of Representatives of a bill that protects minors from sexual abuse and exploitation is a major boost to the campaign against child pornography.

With economic hardships driving more students to transfer to public schools or stop schooling altogether, Buhay party-list Rep. Irwin Tieng has filed a bill penalizing school officials who withhold school records until students settle their accounts.

India and the 10-country South East Asian bloc Asean have signed a free trade agreement after more than six years of talks.

The US economy lost 247,000 jobs in July, far fewer than analysts had expected, official figures show.