Monthly Archives: January 2010

Last Aug. 14, 2009, yet another free trade agreement (FTA) that would shape the course of trade in the Philippines, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and India took flight from Bangkok. As with the case of FTAs preceding it, the event took place without much fanfare. ASEAN Trade Ministers signed on to the…

MANILA, Philippines – Microfinance enjoyed strong growth in financing from a widening pool of donors and investors last year, according to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

MANILA, Philippines – Another round of mergers, acquisitions and consolidations is expected to occur in 2010, albeit not as grand as the previous years.

MANILA, Philippines – In 2009, more than 10 public school teachers and officials were kidnapped in Mindanao on five separate occasions, and one of them was beheaded. In the last quarter of the year, typhoons “Ondoy”and “Pepeng” destroyed billions worth of public school property. These unforeseen and unwanted events shook the country’s already struggling education…

MANILA, Philippines – For the first time, and perhaps the last time during her presidency, President Arroyo, placed the entire country under price control after tropical storm Ondoy hit Metro Manila and some surrounding provinces. She regulated the prices of basic goods and services.

THE global economic slowdown may not have hit the Philippines as hard as developed nations such as the United States and Japan, but it has almost crippled the country’s biggest export dollar earner—the semiconductor industry.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) created on Monday Task Force Ampatuan to secure Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. for Tuesday’s arraignment, which will be held in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday there will be “no sacred cows” in the department’s probe into the alleged anomalous purchase of Influenza A(H1N1) testing machines.

ON Sunday, we ran a special report on how credit-cardholders are vulnerable to abuse by third-party collectors hired by card companies. In that report, we narrated the ordeal faced by simple folk—including a minimum wage-earner and a government employee—who despite their limited financial capacity easily gained access to credit cards by virtue of the aggressive…

Editor’s note: In the first part of this yearend report on the House of Representatives, the article reported the achievements and challenges faced by congressmen in 2009. Following is the continuation of the list of vital measures that were enacted into law during the Third Regular Session. Conclusion

Let us pause a moment, take a deep breath and consider what is the single most important test the nation must hurdle in order to have a fair chance of success in 2010 and beyond. Some will say that it is electing the right person—their preferred presidential candidate naturally—as the 14th president of the Republic.…

The Supreme Court has ruled that intra-corporate disputes are not within the authority of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) to decide on but subject to the jurisdiction of the regular courts. The Supreme Court Second Division, in a decision written by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, affirmed an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeals…

The vibration in the air indicates the completion of many events. They are at hand. The completion will bring many changes in our lives and can affect the whole system of living in this constantly changing world of ours. — AVV110

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno yesterday condemned officials of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for spending P26.8 million for “entertainment” in 2008, as revealed recently by the Commission on Audit (CoA), saying the practice of charging lavish meals against public funds was “far from entertaining.”

FREE TRADE: There is this old line that if we could convince the Chinese to drink their tea with sugar and if we could get even just one percent of the ensuing sugar needs, we would have to plant half of our arable land with sugarcane to meet the demand but would then be able…

MANILA, Philippines – The peace being sought by the government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) remained elusive in 2009.

MANILA, Philippines – Investments in the country’s economic zones are expected to rise by 15 percent to surpass the P200-billion mark this year.

NEW YORK (AFP) – – It seems parents have long been right. Going to bed early is key to getting enough sleep and helping adolescents feel on top of the world, a new study reported.

The Deloitte study entitled, “The Future of the Philippine Automotive Industry” premised its conclusion on some advantages and disadvantages prevailing in the country over its competitors.

Advocates boldly state their experiences regarding HIV In a public health clinic in Manila where one can get tested for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, there is a poster that reads: “This is what someone who can be infected by HIV looks like.” Under this sign is a mirror.

D.K. Florino, junior assistant manager of bank that issues credit cards, whose job is to remind credit cardholders of their respective dues, admitted that he was once the subject of a complaint by a client for the “tone” of his voice. He said that kind of complaint does not hold water among credit card companies,…

What legal remedies are available for a cardholder who has defaulted on payments? What legal shields can one use against the harassment of collection agents agencies? What legal help can one have in solving the predicament of outstanding debts one does not have the money to pay?

Five months ago, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago proposed the Prohibiting Credit Card Debt-Collection Harassment bill aimed at “addressing numerous complaints on how credit card companies, through their counsels or collecting agencies, use unfair collection practices that range from harassment to borderline illegal.”

There are some 7.4 million Filipinos who have credit cards, according to Euromonitor International, a global provider of business intelligence on industries, countries and consumers. Although this number is significantly lower than the total debit cardholders—31.3 million holders, or equivalent to 32.6 percent of the population—the country’s credit consumers have already grown by 32 percent…

IT’S not amazing that there are more than seven million credit cardholders in our country (though some estimates say there are only four million plus). In the first place, there are some 11 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Most of them remit money to their families back home. They come home to the Philippines long…

BALANGA CITY, Bataan, Philippines – The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has announced that the country has achieved 99.4 percent energizing at the barangay level.

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – The country’s pyrotechnics industry suffered a further slump in sales of firecrackers this New Year.

MANILA, Philippines – With some two million Filipino babies born annually, the country’s population will grow to 94 million this year, an official of the Commission on Population (PopCom) said yesterday.

The year 2009 proved to be a very challenging year for the automotive business as it took severe beating from the global financial meltdown. The closures of manufacturing plants, financial bankruptcies and massive layoffs of workers of the world’s biggest autoplayers were clear signals of an industry in dire straits.