Monthly Archives: July 2010

A car nearly rammed into the side of ours as we were driving home along NLEX after a weekend sortie. The other car had been abruptly crossing from the rightmost lane to the leftmost where we were, rudely cutting other motorists, and didn’t slow down until we honked the horn at him. He would’ve hit…

In 2008 Winston Garcia caused the filing of libel charges against several newspapermen, including this columnist, who had echoed questions raised by public school teachers against him.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has upgraded its economic forecast for developing Asia to 7.9 percent from the previous 7.5 percent after first-quarter data showed broad-based growth in the region.

MANILA, Philippines – Monetary authorities believe that there is no compelling need to tweak its key policy rates due to benign inflation outlook which prompted the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to slash this year and next year’s inflation forecasts.

MANILA, Philippines – The aggregate net earnings of listed firms in the first quarter this year surged 113.9 percent on improved performances across all sectors, data released by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed.

MANILA, Philippines – The mining industry accused yesterday the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) as being against the development of the country’s God-given natural resources after the prelates asked President Aquino to put an end to large-scale mining.

MANILA, Philippines – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) is set to forge an agreement with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to put in place aggressive adaptation measures to protect communities from strong typhoons this rainy season.

MANILA, Philippines – He did it before; can he do it again? With his appointment as Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) secretary, corporate executive Jose “Ping” de Jesus has been pulled back to government service with a tough task: to perform once again the miracle of cleaning up a huge bureaucracy the way he…

MANILA, Philippines – Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson yesterday blamed administrators of the Angat dam in Bulacan for the water crisis in the concession area of Maynilad Water in the western sector of Metro Manila.

The government plans to strengthen the sugar industry by increasing output within the next five years in preparation for the zero tariff regime in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2015.

Honorary Lithuanian consul Rafael Evangelista was jolted from his Subic base reverie and had to fire off an e-mail to announce that he was very much alive, thank you, contrary to an item here on Monday.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday said he will uncover more “landmines” left by the previous administration and present a true picture of the government’s financial status during his first State- of-the-Nation Address next week.

VIENNA—Nowhere in the world is the HIV virus spreading faster than in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where more than 80 percent of those infected are under 30 years old, UNICEF said Monday.

The Philippine economy will grow at a faster pace of 4.5 percent next year, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday, revising its earlier forecast of 4 percent in terms of the gross national product for 2011.

MANILA, Philippines – The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), is urging President Benigno Aquino III to intervene in the Philippine Airlines (PAL) labor dispute.

HEALTH Secretary Enrique Ona on Monday said his department would push for the passage of the reproductive health bill, setting the stage for a confrontation between the Aquino administration and the Catholic Church.

PARIS – The first six months of 2010 brought a string of warmest-ever global temperatures, but connecting these dots to long-term climate change patterns remains frustratingly difficult, experts say.

The framers of our Constitution and those who conceived the party-list system in our country had the best intention to guarantee that only those “truly belonging to marginalized and underrepresented sectors, such as labor, peasants, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers and professionals” represent these sectors.

THE PALACE yesterday announced a slew of appointments to key agencies and offices as the Aquino administration entered its third week in office.

MANILA, Philippines—Three more party-list groups were proclaimed winners in the May 10 polls by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Monday but their first nominees still can’t take their seats when Congress opens on Monday.

SUPPORTING the access of entrepreneurs to credit may help a city become more competitive, according to a study by the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center.

Due to the recent economic crisis, high cost of operations, low sales or other business reasons, some establishments have been forced to close shop. Consequently, job security becomes tenuous at best. One of the ways to provide safety nets for retiring employees is the setting up of an employees’ trust fund.

THE Philippines is likely to experience a construction boom within the decade because of the urgent need to address the country’s infrastructure constraints, according to an economist from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P).

A FIVE-PRONGED AGENDA for the Aquino administration’s first 100 days was bared yesterday by the country’s largest business group.

WHEN a credit card user does not pay the entire amount shown in his monthly statement of account, he is bound to pay more for his purchases because of interest and penalty charges. When this happens, the credit card issuers are the big winners because they make more money on unpaid bills. The smaller the…

CEBU, Philippines – ALU-TUCP yesterday denied former workers seized vehicles rented by Chagrin Inc., the company in barangay Pagsabungan, Mandaue City that is trying to shake off accusations of unfair labor practices.

VIENNA – Scientists on Monday reported a major stride towards a vaginal gel that can thwart HIV, a goal that would be of huge benefit to African women bearing the brunt of the AIDS pandemic.

UNLESS you have no idea what a car is—which is highly unlikely if you’re reading this column—you’ve surely heard of the “sudden unintended acceleration” that bedeviled Toyota from late last year to early this year, forcing the Japanese carmaker to recall millions of vehicles in the US alone. The complaints filed against the car company…

FOREIGN investors have taken a wait-and-see posture vis-à-vis the Philippine financial market pending a clearer policy direction from President Benigno Aquino 3rd during his upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA), according to Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Ltd. In a briefing, Stephen Corry, chief investment officer at the securities firm, said the Philippines has been…

HEALTH Secretary Enrique Ona is supporting the appeal of two concerned groups to release the 43 community health workers or the Morong 43, whom the military tagged as alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA). According to Ona he will continue the call of former Secretary Esperanza Cabral, the Alliance of Health Workers and…