Monthly Archives: November 2009

THE Commission on Higher Education yesterday warned 152 of the 456 nursing schools in the country to improve their students’ passing rates or face closure as more than 95,000 nursing graduates prepared for their licensing exams this weekend.

CEBU, Philippines – Labor unions from at least 42 rural electric cooperatives and consumer groups have launched “Koop ko ‘To” movement which is aimed at advancing the interests of REC workers and consumers in the country.

MANILA, Philippines— The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has asked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to delay the implementation of its new test for foreign nurses seeking work there.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s merchandise imports went down by 25 percent to $3.669 billion in September from $4.891 billion in the same period last year, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday. The latest drop, however, was an improvement from the 28.3- percent decline recorded in August this year.

MANILA, Philippines – Local manufacturers cut back output for the 11th consecutive month in September, underscoring a weak industrial activity as the economy continued to suffer from the effects of the global economic slowdown, analysts said.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) adjusted upwards the country’s economic growth forecast for this year and next year despite the damages caused by tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng.

MANILA, Philippines – Aspirants for elective posts can no longer be liable for premature campaigning after the Supreme Court ruled that that offense has already been removed from the statute book.

MANILA, Philippines – Anticipating an increase in the number of crimes committed in taxicabs with the onset of the Christmas season, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has introduced a hotline for its “Trip Tracker” project.

MANILA, Philippines – On the observance of the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women yesterday, women’s groups slammed the rape and killing of women in the Maguindanao carnage.

MANILA, Philippines—A new committee will be formed in the House of Representatives to provide extra attention to the welfare of women and to protect them from abuse and violence, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman disclosed Wednesday, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

DID_School_Feeding

THE board of the Philippine Hospital Association took the unprecedented task of suspending for two years its immediate past president for having allegedly sexually harassed two association employees.

Where do greenhouse gas missions come from? Which countries are most responsible for causing human-induced climate change?

SINGAPORE – Men who bottle up their anger at being unfairly treated at work are up to 5 times more likely to suffer a heart attack, or even die from one, than those who let their frustration show, a Swedish study has found.

MANILA – The number of overweight Filipinos are increasing, according to a nationwide survey by the Food and Nutrition Research Foundation (FNRI).

CEBU, Philippines – Cebu City is now being promoted as one of the country’s havens for both local and foreign retirees through a memorandum of understanding signed between the Cebu City government, the Philippine Retirement Authority and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

MANILA, Philippines – Two construction workers died while two others were injured when loose soil collapsed on them as they worked on the foundations for another building at the compound of the Maligaya Elementary School in Quezon City yesterday afternoon.

MANILA, Philippines – Two men were seriously injured when a tanker they were filling with bunker fuel exploded at a used-oil recycling plant in Bagbaguin, Caloocan City Monday night.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang downplayed yesterday the reported concerns raised by the International Monetary Fund on the country’s budget deficit, which has already breached the government’s full-year target as of October.

WASHINGTON – A survey published Monday of information technology managers at over 500 US-based companies has found that only about one in four has enabled more than half their workforce to work remotely.

SYDNEY – Eco-friendly managers and staff are the key to making a retailer go green, according to a study listing 15 of the world’s top eco-friendly retailers in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

NORWAY – The Philippine and Norwegian governments will forge a bilateral agreement soon to lift the ban on au pair deployment to Norway. This was announced by Philippine ambassador to Oslo, Elizabeth Buensuceso, at an au pair conference dubbed, “Daughter of Globalization: An au pair conference”, held in this city.

RP races to secure rice supply for 2010 MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines could import as much as three million tons of rice next year as the world’s largest buyer of the grain, worried about a potential spike in prices, moves quickly to secure supplies.

Social Security System (SSS) President and Chief Executive Officer Romulo Neri recently said that the SSS would like to ask Congress to find ways to increase the contribution of members, in order to expand services and secure the financial stability of the fund.

The proportion of families who experienced involuntary hunger increased nationwide by 1.3 points—the equivalent of an additional 300,000 families—after the onslaught of Tropical Storms “Ondoy” and “Pepeng,” according to a special Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

LOS ANGELES: Poor sleep can be dangerous for those whose jobs require quick reactions, according to a study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. The researchers found a link between sleep deprivation and information-integration, a process that relies heavily on instantaneous, gut-feeling decisions.

The number of Filipinos who experienced hunger increased by about 300,000 after tropical storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng hit the country, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported.

Franchising seems to be immune from the global financial crisis, with some firms expanding even during the economic turmoil, officials of the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) told The Manila Times in an exclusive roundtable interview on Monday.

While educated Filipinos were vital to the Philippine economy, the World Bank noted that most of them were unemployed.

CEBU, Philippines – To ensure that every child fully enjoys his/her rights, The Department of Interior and Local Government is urging local government units to include children’s rights as a priority item in their Comprehensive Development Plan.