Monthly Archives: August 2010

IN line with the Aquino administration’s zero-based budgeting (ZBB) thrust, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is in the process of beefing up its organization by rationalizing the various agencies under it.

EXECUTIVES of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) ignored my request for comments on President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s choice of the zero-based budgeting technique and how it will impact on the agency’s work.

ZERO-BASED budgeting (ZBB) has always been an attractive technique to US state-government level planners. It became even more so when Americans felt the 2008-2009 economic meltdown.

In an effort to live up to the promises of the present administration to and to deflate the ballooning fiscal deficit, the Aquino economic managers have introduced the “zero-based” budgeting approach. Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad told The Manila Times said it was none other than President Benigno Aquino 3rd who initiated and…

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao , Philippines  – Two soldiers were killed while four civilians were wounded in an ambush by New People’s Army guerillas in a hinterland area in Paquibato district in Davao City, the military said.

MANILA, Philippines –  The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has come up with a benefit package for people with HIV/AIDS to fortify efforts to meet Millennium Development Goal No. 6, which is to “halt or reverse the spread” the virus.

CEBU CITY, Philippines  – Vice President Jejomar Binay wants another round of adjustment in housing loan interest rates of the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund to make it more affordable to its members.

MANILA, Philippines – Faced with controversies and questions on its integrity, the Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed that the Office of the Ombudsman has the power to directly remove erring officials.

MANILA, Philippines—The newly appointed head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), Joel Villanueva, has ordered an overhaul of the agency’s school accreditation and scholarship program, citing the dismal 20 percent employment rate of Tesda scholars.

MANILA, Philippines—Cebu has been ranked the third best island in Asia by New York based travel magazine Travel + Leisure.

MANILA, Philippines—The compromise agreement signed yesterday between the owners and farm workers of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) obliges HLI to allocate P150 million in financial assistance to the farmer-beneficiaries, to be distributed based on the amount of shares they currently own. Each share is worth P1.27.

BAGUIO CITY – The Center for Research and Epidemiology Disasters (CRED) here disclosed the Philippines ranked first worldwide in the most number of disasters that hit a country with 25.

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Despite the opposition from various sectors, the Department of Education (DepEd) will soon implement an enhanced 12-year basic education program, which consists of seven years in the elementary level and five years in the secondary level, according to Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro.

Name of Officer (Mother Unit) Amount 1. Arreza, Armand D. (SBMA) — 26,865,923.20 2. Ricafort, Benigno (CDC) — 14,506,466.74 3. Garcia, Edgardo F. (DBP) — 12,718,942.61 4. Tetangco, Amando Jr. (BSP) — 10,772,830.14 5. Bitonio, Benedicto Ernesto Jr. R. (DBP) — 9,309,042.75 6. Geronimo, Rolando (DBP) — 9,080,633.12 7. Abaya, Narciso L. (BCDA) — 7,654,597.14…

THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DoLE) will consult with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and other countries on the planned shift to a two-tiered wage system.

DAVAO CITY — The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has revived and updated the 13-year-old information support system under the Special Zone of Peace and Development in Mindanao.

MANILA, Philippines – To speed up issuance of business permits and licenses, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) launched on Friday a project to streamline these processes in cities and municipalities.

President Aquino yesterday welcomed the compromise agreement between the Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) management and its farmers that has been reportedly signed by the parties concerned notwithstanding the lingering contentions of other farm worker beneficiaries.

MANILA, Philippines – Amidst the controversy surrounding the signing of the comprehensive Motor Vehicle Development Plan (MVDP), the Board of Investments (BOI) announced they will be reviewing the MVDP in order to make it more responsive to the call of the new administration to create more employment.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has revoked Executive Order 883 which automatically gives lawyers occupying legal positions in government third level career executive official service (CESO III) rank.

MANILA, Philippines – The leadership of the House of Representatives is forming a group that would organize the thousands of bills filed in the chamber to enable lawmakers to work more efficiently in prioritizing and approving the measures.

MANILA, Philippines – Reproductive Health bill advocates yesterday expressed strong opposition to a proposal by a New York-based human rights group to legalize abortion in the Philippines to prevent desperate pregnant women from undergoing unsafe abortions.

THE PHILIPPINES is undergoing an unprecedented rise in construction activity. This is a welcome development for architects and the construction industry as a whole. However, this is not necessarily a positive development for the environment. As we know, many projects and developments are not green and sustainable. And yet, many developers market their projects as…

WASHINGTON – At long last, success. Almost seven years after it first applied for assistance from the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC), the Philippines finally got a $434-million development grant from the innovative US foreign aid program to reduce poverty through economic growth.

MANILA, Philippines – The farmers and owners of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) yesterday ended their decades-long dispute by signing an agreement that will allow the farmers to own a patch of the estate or continue as stockholders of the sugar firm.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday ruled out the possibility of enforcing a wage hike moratorium this year despite a clamor from the business community.

MANILA, Philippines—The well had already gone dry but still the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) promised to provide P1 billion worth of technical and vocational scholarships to the unemployed across the country, burdening the agency with debts under a new President.

MANILA, Philippines — It’s not only the officers of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) who are enjoying sky-high perks and bonuses from the government.

THE CRIMINAL was a woman. They are always women. On paper, the sentence is imprisonment, up to six years. In the dank back rooms of Manila slums, and in the emergency wards of public hospitals, the sentence can be death. In 2008, at least 500,000 women resorted to abortion. Ninety thousand suffered complications. A thousand…

MANILA, Philippines—The success or failure of nations in their pursuit of economic development depends, among other factors, on nurturing racial harmony and peaceful coexistence, as well as on the manner by which they manage the environment and use natural resources.