Monthly Archives: September 2009

The teamwork between the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has done wonders for the tourism industry as latest statistics showed the number of foreigners who arrived in the country increased by four percent in August compared to the same month last year despite the global economic crisis.

Sen. Manny Villar yesterday welcomed the high-level fact-finding mission of the United Nations’ (UN) International Labor Organization (ILO) to investigate labor rights abuses, particularly violations of trade union rights in the country.

By December 2011, the Philippines shall be the base for development and transmission of training programs via videoconferencing of policymakers in the Asia-Pacific involved in their countries’ technical and vocational educational training programs. This was according to Dr. Shyamal Hajundar, director general of the Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) for Technician Education, who spoke with…

Three UN agencies—Unesco, WHO, and Unicef—have been working for two years on guidelines on sex education with the aim of improving children’s awareness of sexuality in order to reduce sexually transmitted diseases as well as illegal abortions.

THE biggest pension fund in the US said it has not pulled out its investments in the Philippines despite uncertainties in emerging markets after the fall of Lehman Brothers a year ago.

The Jesuit educator, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, describes government’s neglect of elementary education as “our immense and largely invisible failure.” The fact is that education is not the only basic chore we’ve forgotten to look after. We are a country of immense and largely invisible failures: Our nation is like the proverbial frog inside the kettle…

Violence spawned by the communist insurgent movement in the Philippines has claimed more than 3,000 lives over the last eight years, figures released by the military on Sunday showed.

CEBU, Philippines – The Supreme Court has ordered the officials of a Cebu-based furniture factory to reinstate their former human resource manager after ruling that he was illegally dismissed by the company a few years ago.

CEBU, Philippines – There are currently 73,432 pending drug cases nationwide, according to Dangerous Drugs Board Undersecretary Paul Clarence Oaminal.

MANILA, Philippines – At least P100 million is being lost to bribery in the Philippines yearly, reinforcing the country’s reputation as one of the world’s most corruption-laden economies, the global corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) will not waver on its support for the government’s alternative fuels development program despite initial setbacks, particularly on the compatibility of ethanol-blended fuels on vehicles.

MANILA, Philippines – The Quezon City government has declared several parcels of land occupied by informal settlers as socialized housing areas.

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines – At least seven people were hurt after a refilling station of liquefied petroleum gas in Abucay, Bataan caught fire after an explosion last Friday night.

MANILA, Philippines – In a landmark case, the Supreme Court has been asked to compel the government to improve living conditions in jails in the country.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) assured international and local labor leaders that the Philippines is an ideal place for industrial peace and security.

MANILA, Philippines – Infant mortality in the Philippines continues to decline due to improved immunization and oral rehydration campaigns, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said yesterday.

‘We project to people our own view of ourselves’ HERE ARE the views of prominent women about a man who beats up his wife, girlfriend or partner and how a battered woman can regain her self-esteem.

WHEN PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave the country a day off to pay homage to the passing of the executive minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo, one sector was specifically excluded: the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. This was, according to the President, in recognition of the BPO industry’s importance to “national economic interest.”

MANILA, Philippines—A total of P1.8 billion has been earmarked to reinforce the government’s Pre-School Education Program, Cotabato Representative Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said Sunday.

With its commitment to help uplift the overall health condition of Filipinos, GlaxoSmithKline Philippines (GSK) is sponsoring the deployment of 100 nurses in underserved municipalities under the government’s NARS (Nurses Assigned to Rural Service) Program. In the presence of President Arroyo, GSK president and managing director Roberto Taboada (left) signed the memorandum of agreement with…

TOURIST arrivals to the Philippines increased by 4 percent in August compared to the same month last year, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said.

The Philippine Commission on Women (this is the new name of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, or NCRFW, as mandated by the MCW) gives this answer:

Victims of domestic violence, exploitation and abuse must not hesitate to run to the Women and Children Protection Desks (WCPD) that the Philippine National Police (PNP) has put up in all municipal police stations throughout the country, Interior Secretary Ronnie Puno told The Manila Times.

THE Magna Carta of Women (MCW) seeks to give protection to women from all forms of violence, including those committed by the State. The MCW commands local government units to establish a Violence Against Women Desk in every barangay to address cases of violence against women.

The Magna Carta of Women, which President Gloria Arroyo signed into law on August 14, will promote the economic rights, opportunities and well-being of women, especially those in the marginalized sectors.

CEBU, Philippines – The number of notices of strike filed before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board from January to August this year is lesser compared to the same period last year, data from the NCMB show.

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines – President Arroyo will condone some P5 billion worth of unpaid irrigation service fees (ISFs) and irrigation loan amortizations of farmers as a legacy to the farming sector, it was learned here yesterday.

SPECIAL REPORT: WILL MCW BE ENFORCED? The recent alleged beating of Rachel Tiongson, former live-in partner of Deputy National Security Adviser Luis Chavit Singson, hammers home the gains and gaps in the newly enacted Magna Carta of Women (MCW). Feminists now ask: Will the state really use its legal powers and force to punish the…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines wants the tariff rate of 35 percent on rice maintained until 2015 under the  ASEAN Free Trade Arrangement (AFTA) which would likely go into full implementation next year.

MANILA, Philippines – The private sector has intensified its campaign against smuggling as onion farmers and labor unions have joined forces with the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG).