Monthly Archives: December 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Barack Obama said that disenchantment over the Copenhagen climate talks was “justified” but defended the chaotic outcome as the top UN envoy urged an end to post-summit recriminations. The climate change conference held in the Danish capital ended last week with a nonbinding agreement that the European Union has blasted as a…

A collision that sank the wooden-hulled Catalyn B at the mouth of Manila Bay on Thursday, leaving at least four dead and dozens missing, was the latest in a long list of shipping accidents across the Philippines. Millions of Filipinos, many of them too poor to afford air travel, use the seas and waterways to…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture fears the loss of up to P40 billion worth of palay or paddy rice and up to P16.4 billion worth of corn next year due to the El Niño phenomenon.

The summit failed to deliver a way to halt dangerous climate change About 45,000 travelled to the UN climate summit in Copenhagen – the vast majority convinced of the need for a new global agreement on climate change.

Public satisfaction with Vice President Noli de Castro’s performance went down, but his rating is still the highest among the top government officials, a recent survey showed. Results of the survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that 58 percent satisfied and 26 percent dissatisfied with the performance of de Castro.

THE 30th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)—which follows this month—provides a great opportunity to reflect about the world’s situation of women’s rights. In spite of progress in the promotion of gender equality, discriminations on the basis of gender are still pervasive in all societies.…

PROMETHEUS BOUND The climate negotiation in the Fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen has come to a sour end. The world’s high expectation for a meaningful and binding agreement is doused with icy cold water by a nonbinding deal dubbed as “Copenhagen Accord”—a deal primarily brokered by the most powerful and leading polluter…

MANILA, Philippines – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is preparing a new Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan, the government’s economic blueprint, with measures on climate change adaptation high in the agenda.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) announced that the reported number of new HIV infections by the end of 2009 will increase by more than 100 percent compared to 2007. 

BUFFETED by a global economy in recession, Philippine exports retreated to their lowest ebb of two-digit below zero growth in the first nine-straight months of 2009.

Warns inflation, exit strategies remain critical AFTER A DIFFICULT YEAR, things are looking up for most Asia-Pacific economies, including the Philippines.Ratings firm Standard and Poor’s said all its rated economies in the region were expected to post positive GDP growth in 2010.

PARIS– Cardiovascular disease linked to obesity may be worse than thought while health problems associated with being underweight may have been overstated, according to a study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on Wednesday.

The broadest definition of a political party is that it is an organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power, legitimately through elections or ignobly through other means.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Philippines is expected to grow moderately next year amid a fragile global economic recovery, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.

A day after Pulse Asia survey showed Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd with a commanding lead among presidential candidates, another poll by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) also found him ahead in the Palace race with similar figures.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has reversed its ruling that declared unconstitutional the cityhood laws passed by the 11th Congress.

MANILA, Philippines – The Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, is leading the way in providing goods, products and services focused on tackling climate change, according to the latest findings from the HSBC Climate Change Index.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to jump 20 percent next year on the back of a gradual recovery by the global economy.

MANILA, Philippines – The amount of committed investments registered at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) grew 13.3 percent this year as electronics companies continued to expand despite the impact of the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – A survey conducted by the Department of Education (DepEd) showed that education stakeholders would rather schools open in June than in September.

I remember starting a new job about 10 years ago and being introduced to an employee who was plugging away in his cubicle. As we moved out of earshot, the manager who was showing me around remarked, “Good guy, but a bit of a poet.”

COPENHAGEN—Despite all-night efforts for two weeks by delegates to hammer out a global deal, which brought together 110 world leaders, the summit ended on Saturday with a political agreement and a loose commitment to develop the details over the next 12 months.

A US-led initiative called the Copenhagen Accord has formed the centre-piece of a deal at UN climate talks in Copenhagen, despite some countries’ opposition. Below is an explanation of the main points in the agreement.

As in a chess game, the contestants in the coming electoral contest will attempt to control the center of the chess board early on, to give each major piece room to maneuver and execute its given task as the match progresses. The core of the political territory in the electoral chessboard is no other than…

For much of the 1990s and the first half of the present decade, many developing countries seeking integration into the global economy adopted the type of market-oriented measures pushed forward by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Much has been written about the impact of these measures (known as the Washington Consensus) on…

MANILA, Philippines – From afar, the edifice known as the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) sits in quiet solitude atop the 3.5 square kilometer government property in Napot Point, framed by the lush mountainside of Mt. Natib and the clear azure skies of Morong. The power plant overlooks the South China Sea, where the sound…

The climate negotiation in the Fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen has come to a sour end. The world’s high expectation for a meaningful and binding agreement is doused with icy cold water by a non-binding deal dubbed as “Copenhagen Accord” – a deal primarily brokered by the most powerful and leading polluter…

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) recently urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to purge its list of accredited suppliers under the government’s Electronic Procurement System (EPS), amid reports it is full of prohibited sellers of goods and services to the public sector.

Trust the Filipinos and their optimism. Despite all the bad things that have happened this year, nearly nine of 10 Filipinos are hopeful the coming year will be better, according to a survey by pollster Pulse Asia.

Asian giants China and Indonesia have hailed the Copenhagen UN climate summit outcome, despite its cool reception from aid agencies and campaigners.