Monthly Archives: January 2010

A lawmaker called Thursday for the passage of a proposed law that would put a cap on credit card interest rates and surcharges on both purchases and cash advances made by card holders.

Many hope 2010 holds a brighter economic future than last year’s sliding profits and mass layoffs. A recent survey of 2,700 HR professionals conducted by CareerBuilder.com shows companies are revisiting strategies, headcount and cost containment to position for measured growth in 2010.

THE Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Central Visayas has started accepting a second batch of caregiver and nursing applicants for Japan.

CEBU, Philippines – Some of the 57 contractual and casual employees under the Office of the Vice Governor claimed they will continue to work even if they are not paid salaries after their contracts were not renewed by the governor.

CEBU, Philippines – The Philippine Nurses Association of America assured Filipino nurses dreaming to work in the United States that talks are going on between nurse communities and senators in the US to include in their health care reform the end of visa retrogression.

British Ambassador Stephen Lillie has called for continued competitiveness-enhancing reforms through legislation since such laws have the potential to boost the economy.

CLARK FREEPORT: The worldwide financial stress may have taken its toll inside the Freeport, especially on the number of workers, which declined by close to 3,000—from 57,790 in December 2008 to 54,829 workers in April 2009.

First of three parts I would like to share my speech on the topic “Critical Issues and Concerns on Campus Leadership” during the Annual Convention and Seminar Workshop for Campus Advisers and the 13th Annual National Convention and Seminar Workshops for Student Leaders held in Baguio last year attended by more or less 600 faculty-advisers…

President Gloria Arroyo signed on Thursday Republic Act 9903 condoning penalties on delinquent remittances of premium contributions to the Social Security System (SSS).

MANILA, Philippines – A 47-year-old woman died while her husband was seriously injured when they were hit by a steel roller that broke from a ship about to leave the port in Manila yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The principal proponent of the reproductive health (RH) bill in the House of Representatives vowed yesterday to block the renewed Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative unless the RH bill is passed.

MANILA, Philippines – A party-list group representing separated and abandoned women proposed yesterday the enactment of a law that will mandate a 10-year marriage validity to spare incompatible couples the expense of lengthy legal proceedings before their marriages are annulled.

MANILA, Philippines – Local businesses are more optimistic this year after the country avoided going into recession in 2009, an international consultancy group said.

I do not know if there were any last minute second thoughts but the schedule for making the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) operational is Jan 1, 2010. I wrote a column last Dec. 14 that pointed out some of the dangers of this arrangement to Asean economies for so long as the Chinese yuan…

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) jumped by nearly 20 percent to a new record high of $45.033 billion as of December last year due to strong inflows, government deposits, and the increasing value of the central bank’s gold holdings.

Spain prime minister has proposed setting binding economic objectives for the EU’s member states under a 10-year plan to boost growth and competiveness.

After meeting with several unemployed San Diego workers this morning, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spoke at a rally of workers, union, community and faith leaders calling for creation of a local jobs program.

International ratings agency Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) noted the government’s failure to adopt measures to address the worsening fiscal situation after officials recently announced that the budget deficit for next year is expected to match this year’s P300 billion.

The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) yesterday reported it set a new record for the most number of passengers for a single year.

The year’s end was as usual capped with the usual yearend greetings—this time sent via SMS and Web 2.0 updates in Facebook. As the revelry subsided, it became apparent that some telcos continued to send announcements and advertisements that went unnoticed until the number of personal messages dropped to its normal rate. Some friends adviced…

Asian car makers dethroned Detroit as the biggest sellers in the United States in 2009 after General Motors and Chrysler succumbed to the strain of the economic crisis, industry data shows. Total industry sales fell 21.2 per cent to 10.43 million vehicles in 2009, according to Autodata.

MANILA, Philippines – This is a reaction to the news article titled “Free trade bad for Asean, warns solon” last January 5. Aside from this the sectors that the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will primarily hit will be the millions of farmers and fisher folk in the region. It will also worsen the impact…

FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY: When a buoyant majority of Filipinos polled recently said they awaited the New Year with optimism, I suspected that they were mostly expressing Hope.

MANILA, Philippines – American banking giant Citigroup sees the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) implementing an exit strategy earlier than expected in light of 2010 election-related spending and the conversion of offshore inflows.

Short training period just won’t work, says group MANILA, Philippines – With the postponement of the training for teachers who will serve during the automated elections, a group expressed fear that the teachers are being set up as scapegoat in case confusion mars the exercise or if it fails completely.

MANILA, Philippines – The administration Lakas-Kampi-Christian Muslim Democrats party should worry more about its standard-bearer’s platform than his packaging.

Transport authorities have set harsher punishments for erring seafarers and will require them to render local service before allowing them to work abroad.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has allotted P893 million as cash dividends last year to be given to its eligible members after the system again recorded earnings from its life insurance fund in 2008.

The year 2009 was a banner year for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in terms of its improved human rights record.

Sen. Edgardo Angara yesterday underscored the need to invest more in early childhood education to enable the country to gain competitiveness in the global arena.