Monthly Archives: December 2009

MANILA, Philippines—Some 340,000 retirees who are members of the Social Security System can now avail themselves of their 13th-month bonuses as the agency has released P8.7 billion which also covers pensions for December. SSS spokesman Joel Palacios said in a statement the funds were released in mid-November to partner banks, including Philippine National Bank, Philippine…

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Construction worker Bilal is in a happy mood as he takes his lunch break sitting next to an artificial lake near Dubai’s showpiece Mall of the Emirates. But he admits anxiety about the end of his contract in one year’s time, when the 24-year-old may have to return to Bangladesh.

LOS BAÑOS—Asian rice farmers typically do not fly around the world on holiday or own big-engine cars but scientists say they have an important role to play nevertheless in helping cut the world’s output of greenhouse gases. While much of the globe’s focus in the climate change fight is on the burning of fossil fuels…

MANILA, Philippines—The country registered more than one million hours of effort to tackle climate change and other environmental issues, the United Nations office here said. The top five countries are India, which registered 53,917 hours, followed by Pakistan, 40,710, Nigeria, 31,647, Kenya, 32,277, and Philippines, 26,112.

MANILA, Philippines—A party-list representative on Sunday urged Congress to pass a law that would penalize schools that bar students from taking their exams because they had not fully paid their school bills.

MANILA, Philippines – The Aboitiz Group and a number of foreign power firms have joined hands to further improve efforts to maintain operational and environmental safety at the Aboitiz- run power facilities.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of 3G (third generation technology) users in the Philippines, whether for mobile phones or USB modem devices, is expected to grow to eight to 10 million by next year, quadrupling to 40 million by 2014 or about 39 percent of the population.

MANILA, Philippines – The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) warned the public yesterday that criminal syndicates are recruiting minors to stage crimes such as robberies, then killing them once they have served their purpose.

MANILA, Philippines – The country faces as much as a $300-million drop in remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) due to the debt crisis in Dubai, the country’s largest labor group warned yesterday.

IT is amazing how the wind turbines in the northern part of the Philippines are not only picturesque that draw tourists; they can, in fact, generate 25 megawatts of electricity and are connected to the Luzon grid. What is even more interesting is the creation of a unique project between Philippine and Japanese partners that…

WASHINGTON, D.C.: You have to be mighty isolated not to know someone who has been laid off, was forced into early retirement or—just entering the labor market—can’t find a job. Unemployment of 10.2 percent is still below the post-World War II peak of 10.8 percent of late 1982, but by other measures, the job situation…

THE Philippine auto industry pales   in comparison to its other Southeast Asian counterparts due to a cost disadvantage arising from a lack of scale, according to a study commissioned by several assemblers.

FORMER senator Ralph Recto asked Malacañang on Thursday to increase the Christmas bonus of more than a million national government employees and release the additional benefit before the end of the year.

A LOCAL waste and pollution watchdog on Thursday warned consumers that ordinary leather shoes they buy may be tainted with harmful substances that can adversely affect their health, as well as the environment.

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga: Negotiations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the estate-owned Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and Clark Mimosa Employees Association have been concluded. The CDC Special Project for Resort Operation (CDC-SPRO) announced on Wednesday the “successful” conclusion of the CBA after the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on December 1.

MARIVELES, Bataan: More than 1,000 factory workers of a Korean firm at the Bataan Economic Zone here on Wednesday expressed fear of losing their job if Adidas will not extend its management contract and put in more orders.

ZAMBOANGA CITY: A gas explosion had killed a coal miner and injured four more in the southern Philippines, police said Friday.

(CNN) — It was either mind-blowing or completely forgettable. Either way, Alice doesn’t remember. One August morning, Alice and her husband, Scott, had sex. That’s when things became confusing. Rather than appearing pleased, Alice, 59, seemed disoriented.

A lawmaker is pushing for the immediate passage of a measure giving more power to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) in a bid to curb the rampant sugar smuggling in the Philippines.

Dear PAO, I would like to ask if the bank has the right to deduct 2 percent to 2.7 percent from my remittance to my family. Rino O. Frayna

TWO samples of branded leather shoes in the Philippines that were tested in laboratories in Sweden contain harmful toxicants, an international nongovernment organization revealed Thursday.

Nine out of 10 babies 6 months old and below are dying in the Philippines because they have not been breastfed by their mothers, a United Nations official said on Friday.

CEBU, Philippines – Overseas Filipino Workers in Italy have an excellent relationship with the Italian government, this was the clarification made by Cebu City south district Rep. Antonio Cuenco regarding reports of maltreatment of OFWs.

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MONTREAL – For eight months, the Quebec government has been holding on to a report that explores the link between asbestos-related cancer and Canada’s only community that still mines the substance.

OSLO – The head of the Norwegian Shipping Association (NSA) in Oslo assured the families of seafarers from the Philippines that security and safety continues to be the top concern of their organization whose members employ up to 32,000 Filipino seafarers in their global operations.

LONDON, England – A recent spate of suicides by foreign maids in Lebanon is prompting outrage among human rights groups, who say the government is doing too little to protect migrant domestic workers from severe abuse.

MANILA, Philippines — Four out of five Filipinos said they would not support a presidential candidate endorsed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, according to results of a Pulse Asia nationwide survey released Thursday.

GENEVA — Investigations into the deaths of 57 people in an election-related massacre in southern Philippines must be the start of a major reform process in the country, two United Nations human rights experts said on Wednesday.

It won’t make you younger but staying active as you age can go a long way toward maintaining and improving your health. The benefits of regular activity, though, are sometimes blunted by unexpected injury. As a growing number of Filipinos older than 65 have become more active, their rates of sports-related injuries have risen significantly.…