Monthly Archives: December 2009

MANILA, Philippines–The business process outsourcing industry, one of the sectors driving growth of the economy, cites widespread corruption and lack of qualified talents as potential hurdles to the growth of the sector in the coming years.

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a creation of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), which seeks to promote, coordinate and facilitate the active and extensive participation of all sectors to effect peace and development in Mindanao. By virtue of House Bill 6958, MinDA seeks to address the need for a…

MANILA – Labor Secretary Marianito Roque on Wednesday called on shipping companies to provide more protection for Filipino sailors after 16 of them were seized by pirates who took over a Greek-flagged supertanker off Somalia.

Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng caused considerable damage and losses estimated at $4.4 billion, or 2.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report by a group of local and foreign experts. GDP is the total value of goods and services produced in a country in a year. Prepared by the team composed…

A group of individuals and civil society groups around the globe urged President Gloria Arroyo to release appropriations made in the national budget of 2008 for the Department of Health (DOH), specifically for the purchase of autoclave machines for treatment of infectious medical waste. An autoclave is a device for sterilizing equipment and supplies by…

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Britain’s top envoy to the Philippines yesterday warned that the Philippines stands to lose more foreign investments to its Asian neighbors if the government fails to immediately institute economic reforms and strategies that will boost the country’s competitiveness in the world market.

Korea Electric Power Corp. has recommended the rehabilitation and revival of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant following the completion of its feasibility study, a ranking official of National Power Corp. said yesterday.

Bangko Sentral and banks yesterday signed an agreement that will reduce back-end remittance service fees to just P50 per transaction for those that use the central bank’s Philippine.Payments and Settlement System.

While Filipinos continue to indulge themselves in the political fiesta atmosphere with every Tom, Dick and Gloria running for office in 2010, experts are concerned about the worsening threat of climate change and its impact on the lives of billions of people all over the world. Aside from disasters due to erratic weather patterns, experts…

MANILA, Philippines – The automotive industry expect to sell 127,000 units this year or a 2.3-percent growth from last year’s level, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment arm of the Metrobank Group, said it expects a four- to six-percent growth in remittances this year despite a strengthening peso against the dollar.

MANILA, Philippines – Families of Filipinos working and living abroad are expected to save at least P92 million to as high as P922 million after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and a group of universal as well as commercial banks inked an agreement reducing the fees on fund transfers.

MANILA, Philippines – Reporters covering the high-risk election campaign should not just be provided with firearms but also with decent insurance coverage to protect them and their families should a tragedy like the Maguindanao massacre befall them, an opposition lawmaker said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday ruled out the possibility of mass displacement of Filipino workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) despite the prevailing Dubai debt crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and other major export-led economies are expected to experience substantial recovery next year, according to the United Nations.

MANILA, Philippines – Two young Filipinos won the recent CNN/YouTube Debates and their prize includes a free trip to Copenhagen, Denmark to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Local vehicle assemblers expect to end the year with a growth of 2.3 percent in sales to more than 127,000 units, which remains far behind the sales figures of its neighbors as a result of unabated smuggling of used vehicles.

KOREA Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) has found the mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant suitable for rehabilitation, state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) said. Froilan Tampinco, Napocor president, said Kepco has completed its studies on the Bataan nuclear plant.

LIMAY, Bataan — A diver died while a colleague is in critical condition when they plunged into a nine-meter chlorination tank inside the Alstom compound (former ABB power plant) in Barangay Alangan, Limay, Bataan, last Monday.Superintendent Luisito Bolivar, newly designated police chief, reported that Peter Jao, a diving expert of the CJMS Diving Services, did…

MANILA, Philippines – Local vehicle and parts makers expressed their support for the revision of the Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP) under EO156. The Philippine Automotive Competitiveness Council Inc. (PACCI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino math whiz kids lorded it over their counterparts from 21 countries, bagging a hundred medals and winning for the Philippines the overall championship in the just-concluded Philippine International Mathematics Competitions (PIMC) hosted by Iloilo City.

Power Corp. (Kepco) to rehabilitate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which has been mothballed for two decades.

A STRONG peso risks undermining the recovery of the Philippine export sector, which has yet to bounce back from a global slump, according to pundits. Last week, the government announced that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) hardly grew at 0.8 percent in the third quarter. Worse, second-quarter GDP growth was recast downward to 0.8…

MANILA, Philippines – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday urged governments worldwide to remove punitive laws applying to people afflicted with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and instead protect their rights.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday allowed appointed government officials seeking to run in next year’s elections to stay on in their posts and actively campaign even after filing their certificates of candidacy (COC).

Message of Rep. Raymond Democrito T. Mendoza Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) At the Opening of the Follow-Up National Tripartite Conference on Freedom of Association: Towards Fair Globalization and Decent Work 02 December 2009, Hotel Sofitel, Manila

TUCP MESSAGE National Tripartite Conference on Principles of Freedom of Association: Towards Fair Globalization and Decent Work 03 December 2009, Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Pasay City

Last week, we saw that there have been two parties called Lapiang Manggagawa (LM, Labor Party) — one formed in the 1920s which acted as a stepping-stone to the formation of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP) in 1930, and the second founded on the initiative of the PKP in 1963 as a legal means…

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., the smaller of the two oil refineries in the country, posted a net income of P7.6 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 50 percent from P5 billion year-on-year, despite sharply lower sales.