Monthly Archives: October 2009

MANILA, Philippines – Women’s rights advocates from Asia Pacific have pledged to initiate the fund raising is $1 billion to speed up the creation of an agency under the United Nations that is focused on the protection of women’s rights.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have launched a P3.2-million joint anti-hunger effort to help women in two of the poorest provinces in the country and in slum relocation sites in Metro Manila find affordable ways to augment the diet and livelihood opportunities available to their families.

Hua Hin—Thailand has accepted the country’s proposal for a slower tariff reduction on rice, but in return asked Manila to import more rice from Bangkok, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said.

When I left for Kyrgyzstan last month, a friend of mine, Dan Pinto, gave me a copy of 60zens: Tips on Senior Citizenship. I told Dan he needed the book more than I did, since he’s already at that age where he deserves discounts on the basic necessities of his former wildly (mis)spent life. Nevertheless,…

Victims of forcible abductions and torture speak out xistentialist Friedrich Nietzsche famously observed, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” To Axel Pinpin, an activist once allegedly abducted and tortured, knows all too well that this philosophy holds true. And he learned it the hard way. Nowadays, three years since his abduction, Pinpin…

The faces of wars have changed. According to estimates, almost 90 percent of the casualties of the modern wars are civilians, the majority of whom are women and children, compared to a century ago when 90 percent of those who lost their lives were military personnel.

MANILA, Philippines – Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk is poised to replace about 100 of their Danish captains with Filipinos as the firm expressed its deep satisfaction with the proficiency, skill and discipline of Filipino seafarers, an embassy report said.

MANILA, Philippines – The biggest organization of businessmen has urged President Arroyo to issue an executive order putting together a private-public Energy Program Commission (EPC) tasked to come out with an action program to solve two big problems in the energy sector – high electricity rates and a looming electric power shortage.

Saying despite the implementation of free education among the youth, a lot of deserving students have not been able to gain access to quality education due to the lack of complimentary financial support, a party-list lawmaker is pushing for the creation of a municipal committee on education in every town all over the country.

MANILA, Philippines – From his sickbed, Father James B. Reuter of the Society of Jesus (SJ) expressed his praise and gratitude to the people he has chosen to serve for seven decades.

NASSER Lubay, a 26-year old self-taught painter from Quezon bagged second place honors in the painting category of the prestigious Celeste Prize 2009 in Berlin, Germany.

Vegetarianism as means of saving the planet Want to save the Earth? Think twice about what you put on your plate. The recent devastation brought by Typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana) has pushed the climate change issue once more to the forefront—this time, with added gravity to Filipinos than before. With effects of humanity’s ecological…

MANILA, Philippines—“Women and children are 14 times more likely to be victims of natural disasters than men in societies where gender inequalities exist,” United Nations Undersecretary General Noeleen Heyzer said at ongoing three-day Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing+15.

NEW YORK – People who keep doing some work in their field after they retire may enjoy better physical and mental health than those who stop work completely or switch to another area of work, according to a U.S. study.

Is it possible to have work life balance in the 21st century? Why don’t you take a few seconds and really think about this? And before you give me an answer, maybe you would like to stop banging on your keyboards for a few seconds, take off your fingers from your iphone or Crackberry –…

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s banking sector is urging Congress to reconsider proposed amendments to Presidential Decree 717 or the Agri-Agra Law on mandatory lending.

MANILA, Philippines – Local businessmen are urging President Arroyo to appoint a permanent trade negotiator and create an Industry and Services Advisory Council (ISAC) to institutionalize private sector participation in trade negotiations.

MANILA, Philippines – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has cited the need for the Philippines to have its own specialized disaster management agency with a highly competent “Disaster Czar” to attend to disaster risk mitigation.

CAVITE , Philippines  – Twenty-eight persons were hospitalized after they allegedly get ill due to chemical fumes emitted by a treatment plant in Silang, Cavite yesterday morning.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government’s deployment ban to Lebanon stays since there is still no law in that country to protect foreign workers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), an official said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will padlock some 177 nursing schools for the perennial failure of its graduates to pass the nursing licensure board examinations given by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US experts warn that rules governing biofuel production encourage deforestation and mean the technology is therefore a “false” method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Last week, I had dinner with fellow Reproductive Health (RH) activists Carlos Celdran, Beth Angsioco, and Ryan Tani and got around to talking about our national hero, Jose “Pepe” Rizal.

MANILA, Philippines — As thousands grapple with the devastation wrought by the recent strong storms, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday enacted into law a bill establishing the Climate Change Commission that will draw up an action plan against global warming.

EVEN as we welcome news of our country’s good global standing as a choice destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) investments, we’re concerned that the government is not looking beyond the industry’s short-term prospects. The Department of Trade and Industry and the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) reported today that the country was…

The Philippine economy is likely to grow at a slower pace in the third quarter, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

MANILA, Philippines — The House committee on the revision of laws has recommended the passage of a bill that seeks to replace the crimes of adultery (for women) and concubinage (for men) with the crime of marital infidelity that would apply equally to both sexes.

Dear PAO, I have heard from a friend that employees who resign after September are entitled to receive their 13th month pay—each of them to receive an equivalent to 1/12 of an employee’s salary. I have been trying to locate a document stating this rule but I have not found one. Please help me. Thank…

The government, the Church and the private sector on Friday sign the three-way agreement for joint disaster recovery and reconstruction effort to address the massive task of rebuilding on the damage left by killer typhoons in the country.

A new study conducted by the Department of Education found that about five to six million Filipinos of school age were out of school.