Monthly Archives: May 2010

While the country debated health care reform in the first quarter of 2010, the nation’s five biggest insurance companies saw their profits soar, raised consumers’ premiums, offered fewer benefits and lost 2.8 million customers, mostly because consumers could no longer afford their plans, according to a new report from Health Care for America Now (HCAN).

Brussels, 14 May 2010 (ITUC OnLine):  The ITUC has welcomed the adoption of a new child labour “Roadmap” http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_127018.pdf at an international conference in the Dutch capital The Hague this week, which will give a new push to reach a target set by the International Labour Organisation to eliminate the worst forms of child labour…

MANILA, Philippines—The fight between the “Noy-Mar” and “Noy-Bi” advocates has been traced to the rivalry between the Hyatt 10 and groups identified with the so-called Kamag-anak Inc. of ex-Tarlac Rep. Jose Cojuangco, the Philippine Daily Inquirer has learned from sources in the camp of presidential front-runner Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

ALONG with the seasoned politicians and entertainers, former athletes and sports personalities also ran for office this year, and, as in any sporting event, there were winners and losers.

THE members of the so-called Hyatt 10, who defected from the Cabinet of President Gloria Arroyo in 2005, on Wednesday outlined the agenda for the new administration under Senator Benigno Aquino III.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) said the government must patch the loopholes in the new motor vehicle program to attract more investments in the industry. “Our country going through its first taste of automated elections reflects democracy in action. This augurs well for the Philippines and for Filipinos, as foreign…

Foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Philippines rose for the first time this year in February.

SALES abroad of Philippine-made goods grew at the fastest pace on record in March, with the quick recovery of electronics raising the possibility of an upgrade in the industry’s forecast. The National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday said merchandise exports in March jumped 43.7 percent to $4.176 billion from $2.907 billion last year.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s export earnings rose to a record high of 43.7 percent to $4.18 billion in March as the global recovery spurred demand for locally-made electronics goods.

MANILA, Philippines – Critics have conceded that the automated election system (AES) used in last Monday’s polls was a success. The Concerned Citizens’ Movement (CCM) of University of the Philippines law professor Harry Roque Jr., one of the groups that earlier opposed the AES before the Supreme Court (SC), admitted that it was “absolutely thrilled…

Reelectionist Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin San Pedro was proclaimed Tuesday afternoon as winner over former Mayor Jaime Fresnedi.

The people have spoken—a minority of them, at least. Noynoy Aquino is our next president. “Vox populi est suprema lex” (The voice of the people is the supreme law), as they say. Nobody can dispute that.

Had Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile bowed to pressure, especially from some of his colleagues, to elect a new Senate head before the May 10 elections to avert a leadership vacuum in the executive branch, that would have been a futile exercise. The proposed change in the Senate leadership stemmed from fears of a failure…

The people have spoken. Now the hard part begins for the new president, Noynoy Aquino. Someone has reminded me to observe the hundred-day honeymoon period that new presidents are supposed to enjoy after they are sworn in, before those of us who don’t like Noynoy can start criticizing him again. On the other hand, another…

THE software piracy rate in the Philippines stood at 69 percent last year, unchanged since 2007, according to the Asia-Pacific regional office of the Business Software Alliance.

SENATOR Benigno Aquino III, who headed for a landslide victory in this week’s presidential election, on Tuesday, renewed a campaign vow to go after President Arroyo and her cronies for any corrupt acts in office.

The automated election system failed to bring change to Lanao del Sur, a traditional warlord and goon country of Mindanao, where violence and a low voter turnout marked Monday’s elections, as they did in the past.

SOME of President Gloria Arroyo’s allies won in the country’s first automated elections on Monday despite being linked to the unpopular chief executive, but most of her Cabinet men lost even if she won as a representative of Pampanga province.

Updating of results suspended Canvassing of election returns (ERs) from some 76,347 clustered precincts cannot proceed after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday found out that there were some damaged compact flash cards in still unidentified areas.

FORMER police and military officers and soldiers accused of rebellion suffered stinging defeats in Monday’s elections, even as showbiz personalities saw their stars either dim or glow brighter following a defeat or victory at the polls.

THE exit poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and TV 5 showed Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd leading the presidential race by a huge margin, just like he was doing in the partial vote tallies of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

MANILA, Philippines – The real lending rate in the Philippines continued to slide in the first quarter of the year due to the steady decline in nominal bank lending rates, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Private economists have lowered their inflation forecast for this year to an average 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent despite the decision of monetary authorities to raise the target due to higher oil prices and more expensive electricity.

Trade union leaders of nations involved in talks to create the latest international trade deal—the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement (TPPTA)—are calling for the negotiations to be inclusive and open, not conducted behind closed doors with a few corporate players, as too many other deals have been.

THE Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association,Inc. (PBGEA) requested members of the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board to defer the petition of a national trade union for P75 wage adjustment in the region.

Disenfranchisement massive as long lines swelled under heat of sun Confusion, irregularities, breakdown of the counting machines, massive disenfranchisement of voters and vote buying marred the country’s first automated polls, with reports of voters having a hard time finding their names in the clustered precincts coupled with the inconvenience of filling up the more than…

A bold $1 trillion rescue by the European Union halted the slide of the euro on Monday and sent markets soaring worldwide in a gambit that may ultimately be seen as the moment Europe truly became a union.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) — Jeepney driver Alberto Dakis didn’t mind that he had to wait for over two hours just to cast his vote for Philippine President. The sweltering heat brought on by the El Nino, the long queues in the polling centers, the misunderstandings over the voting process won’t keep Dakis from practicing his…

MANILA, Philippines – A total of 134,000 Filipinos participated in the overseas absentee voting as of yesterday morning, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) vice presidential contender Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay took an early lead in partial unofficial tabulated precinct results last night.