Monthly Archives: August 2010

MANILA, Philippines—Have you ever thought of donating a part of you so that others may live? The question was posed Wednesday by kidney experts from the Philippine Society of Nephrology who urged everyone to be “a hero for life” by donating their organ when they die.

RA 9520, otherwise known as the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008 integrates the many laws that govern other types of cooperatives into a consolidated law. Examples of these cooperatives that used to be covered by separate and distinct laws are those in the Electric, Transport and the Water Services businesses.

MANILA, Philippines—Is it legal for hospitals to charge nurses training fees by as much as P20,000 so that they can undergo training?

As P-Noy’s economic team starts the process of crafting the medium-term development plan, new wrinkles on an already jagged economic terrain have emerged: the US economy is slowing and foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the Philippines is falling. As pundits used to say: when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold; the…

GENEVA, Switzerland—Youth unemployment hit a record 81 million youngsters worldwide last year with the economic crisis, potentially breeding a “lost generation,” the International Labor Organization said on Thursday.

One of the manifestations of poverty is not having a job. If, together with President Noynoy, we think that our main objective is to reduce poverty, then the immediate objective is to create jobs. Joblessness is partly cause and partly the result of poverty. At present, unemployment is a world-wide phenomenon. We are fortunate in…

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar Binay, also the government’s housing czar, has ordered the suspension of a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration directive for a compulsory six-month contribution to the Pag-Ibig fund as a precondition for migrant workers’ deployment abroad.

THE GOVERNMENT will focus on poverty alleviation efforts at the local level in a bid to achieve more of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, a Cabinet official said yesterday.

Gov’t to propose pay floor plus productivity-based adjustments PROPOSED CHANGES to the minimum wage-setting mechanism will be announced next week, with the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) set to endorse a two-tiered approach to pay adjustments.

TWO legislators representing the women sector have refiled the bill  seeking to legalize divorce in the country to give married couples in irreparable marriages another legal remedy to resort to in addition to the country’s existing laws on legal separation and annulment.

MANILA, Philippines – It’s been 10 years since member-states of the United Nations (UN), including the Philippines, pledged to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of 8 targets anchored on eradicating poverty.

PHILIPPINE retailers are bullish this year, with some eyeing to expand overseas, industry leaders said during the start of a national conference on Wednesday. “We are very optimistic,” Bernie Liu, Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) president, told The Manila Times on the sidelines of the 19th National Retail Conference and Stores Asia Expo 2010.

During the campaign, Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno Aquino 3rd came out with a basic education agenda crafted by his education team, raising from 10 to 12 the number of years to earn a high school diploma. This means seven years instead of six in elementary and five years instead of four in high school.

I wish to deny reports that I earned P10 million in salary and allowances last year. I earned only one million “Rizal” (see your Central Bank-denominated peso coin). Where the Commission on Audit got the six zeroes is something it has to explain to my spouse.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday has released the list of areas where the number coding scheme will be implemented in the metropolis—some have their own window hours while others have not. This was made after MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino suspended all exemptions to the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) through the…

CEBU, Philippines – Out of 22 countries identified by the World Health Organization, Philippines ranks ninth in terms of having the most number of tuberculosis cases worldwide.

Filipinos remember General Antonio Luna as a brilliant, brave soldier and tactician of the second phase of the Revolution and the proverbial hothead but never as the excellent scientist. This is largely due to how historians over the years told the story of the hero. The historian and chair of the National Historical Institute Ambeth…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines must choose between producing vehicles in the country or importing vehicles before crafting any new regulation in order to better support the auto industry.

MANILA, Philippines – Organic farming advocates are pushing for the promotion of organic farming as a climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy in the Philippines.

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Albay Governor Jose Ma. Sarte Salceda Jr. said the National Government should emulate the economic model of the Bicol region which is now the fastest growing region in the country.

MANILA, Philippines – Public school teachers lamented that the second tranche of the salary increase due them under the Salary Standardization Law III, or Republic Act No. 6758, has not yet been issued in their recent salaries.

MANILA, Philippines – More Filipinos can enjoy free skills training and become highly employable as President Aquino allocated P1 billion for the Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA) scholarship program.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) will add yet another layer in its textbook evaluation process as it claims to embark on a move to shape up in the battle it is waging and so far losing against error-riddled textbooks procured by the department for use of public school children.

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Budget Secretary Florencio Abad yesterday said there is no rush to implement the proposed additional two years in the 10-year basic education curriculum.

As expected, and despite protestations to the contrary, they are now floating the idea of legalizing abortion or the taking of the life of an innocent, defenseless, unborn child in the mother’s womb. This latest move just confirms the long held view that the so-called reproductive health and reproductive rights of women, provided for in…

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has encouraged young people , including students and fresh graduates, to take a closer look at in-demand occupations, and develop the corresponding skills to avail of these job opportunities found in the country’s major and emerging industries.

BALANCING ACT: The plan to raise the fare in the light rail transit lines in Metro Manila is a tough balancing act for the Aquino administration seeking to cut losses without overburdening an estimated 750,000 daily commuters.

MANILA, Philippines – Seven in 10 Filipinos believe the results of the May 10 national elections are more credible than those of previous elections, a recent non-commissioned survey by polling firm Pulse Asia showed.     

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang declared yesterday that all midnight appointees of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must immediately vacate their offices pending the resolution of petitions filed against the implementation of Executive Order 2 revoking the appointments made during the prohibited period.

Besides their main labor complaints on early retirement age, more work and less pay, Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) flight attendants have another issue to raise: shorter breaktimes during domestic flights.