Monthly Archives: July 2010

ECONOMISTS and former government officials are divided on the ways the Philippines can achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets, a set of measurement that focuses on eight targets by 2015.

HONG KONG – Hundreds of workers in Hong Kong called for a minimum wage law Wednesday as lawmakers debated the controversial issue which has long divided the city’s business sector and grassroots labor groups.

THE state-owned Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund is tightening up on housing loans to ensure its viability amid an overwhelming demand for home financing, its top official said Tuesday.

State-run Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) said it would tighten lending rules for new and incoming members to maintain the agency’s viability. “When before, a member could just pay a lump-sum equivalent to P4,800, which is likewise payable for 24 months to get a loan of P500,000, now a new member should wait for…

SALES abroad of Philippine-made goods soared in May due to strong shipments of electronic products—the country’s key export—but the industry warned of a softer market in the second half of the year. In a statement, the National Statistics Office on Tuesday reported that export earnings in May went up by 37.3 percent to $4.239 billion…

The Department of Health on Tuesday said that 3,077 vehicular accident-related injuries were reported for the first quarter of 2010, according to its National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. The report shows that there were 9,521 injury cases in 77 government and private hospitals.

At least 5,000 Filipinos are dying every year because of pulmonary diseases caused by poor air quality in the country, a clean air advocate organization said on Tuesday. During a news forum held at Annabel’s Restaurant on Tomas Morato Street in Quezon City, lawyer Glynda Bathan of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities said…

THE looming power crisis has prompted a lawmaker to seek commercial operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). Rep. Kimi Cojuangco of the Fifth District of Pangasinan filed House Bill 1291 or the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant Act of 2010 on Tuesday which she said would address the country’s electricity generating capacity shortfall by…

MANILA, Philippines – Whether seen through nationalistic or pragmatic lenses, the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA is here – signed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 and ratified by the RP Senate.

MANILA, Philippines – Investments into the electronics industry surged by more than 10 times to $437 million during the first five months of this year from only $41.34 million a year ago, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry in the Philippine Inc. (SEIPI) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino is not closed to the use of nuclear energy to provide the country with adequate power, especially in Mindanao, but is no longer keen on reviving the mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant (BNPP) because of the high cost this would entail.

MANILA, Philippines – If it takes a preacher to rid the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) of its corrupt image, then the new man at the top is perfect for the job.

Any administration or government that actually thinks they can live up to the expectations of today’s Filipinos have to be men and women of absolute faith or are absolutely insane.

MANILA, Philippines – Jaime Fabiaña, chief executive officer of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), defended yesterday the agency and denied allegations that its officials have been working there too long and have lost the vision to serve.

MANILA, Philippines – Bad news for thousands of Filipino physical therapy (PT) graduates who want to work in the United States: American PT licensure authorities are blacklisting the Philippines and three other countries for at least one year over the leak of test questions.

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration has abolished the food-for-school or rice-for-school program of the Arroyo government and will re-allocate the P3.3-billion budget for this to conditional cash transfers that may be of more help to the poor, Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Believing they will never find employment, at least a million jobless Filipinos have quit looking for work.

MANILA, Philippines – The military yesterday denied involvement in the recent killings of two activists in Masbate and Nueva Ecija. Maj. Harold Cabunoc, spokesman of the Army 9th Infantry Division based in Bicol, said they would not resort to extrajudicial killings even if communist rebels have attacked and killed their troops.

MANILA, Philippines – Six workers were killed after a wall fell on them in Laguna at early dawn today during the onslaught of tropical storm “Basyang.”

Davao City (14 July) — Seeing the role of teachers in encouraging kids attend school, a project in partnership with the Department of Education is set to identify commendable teachers who did well in eliminating child labor through education.

The title of this column is not a prediction. It is a fact. Whether we like it or not, whatever we do now or tomorrow, the rains and the floods are coming.

MANILA, Philippines — Foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong should enjoy the same rights as local workers, the multi-nationality Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body (AMCB) said in a statement.

MANILA, Philippines—Refusing to die, the bill to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) has been filed anew in the House of Representatives.

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MANILA, Philippines—In their first collective statement since the Aquino administration assumed office, leaders of the Catholic Church called on the President to drop government programs that promote artificial contraceptives as a means of family planning.

DICT and cybercrime bills pending in Congress await action Almost two weeks have passed since President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III held a press conference to name his Cabinet members.

MANILA, Philippines—For the first time since assuming office Monday last week, Health Secretary Enrique Ona has drawn a broad outline of the Aquino administration plans for carrying out its ambitious goal of giving universal health care coverage to the people within three years.

CAR ASSEMBLERS and parts manufacturers will be eligible for incentives such as lower power rates and even a moratorium on strikes under draft implementing rules for the new Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP).