Monthly Archives: August 2010

The latest data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed that Filipino households still bear the brunt of health spending, accounting for more than half of total health expenditure in the country.

A FILIPINO authority on human rights has been unanimously elected chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

TACLOBAN CITY – Concentration of working children in Northern Samar are in the abaca, coconut, transportation and quarrying industries in the province.

MANILA, Philippines – The controversial debate over abortion is heating up. But beyond the polarized views from moral, scientific and practical standpoints, the argument may just be taking flesh in the lives of women facing risks in the country’s abortion clinics.

Members of an indigenous Dumagat community from the mountains of Rodriguez, Rizal, just east of Manila have fled their homes after soldiers reportedly drove them away from their village.

LOS ANGELES – A Filipino newspaper is in trouble after the US Labor Department reportedly found out that it violated many rules when it hired workers from the Philippines.

Brussels, 6 January 2010 (ITUC OnLine): A decision taken by the ITUC’s Israeli affiliate Histadrut to allow migrant workers membership is a significant step towards ensuring an end to exploitation and helping ensure full respect for their rights at work.  The December 28 decision by the national trade union centre removes an anomaly whereby only…

LUCENA CITY, Philippines – Health officials here have expressed alarm over the rising number of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among youngsters, an official of the Lucena City Health Office said Friday.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has urged HIV and AIDS advocates or champions to strengthen their local responses to halt the continues spread of the virus in the Philippines.

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance yesterday officially launched a website dubbed Pera ng Bayan (People’s Money) to enlist the public’s active support for the Aquino administration’s campaign against corruption.

“LIVELIHOOD” (PROGRAMANG pangkabuhayan) clearly tops the people’s initial agenda for the attention of President Aquino, according to a report from the June 25-28, 2010 Social Weather Survey released last Monday.

FROM THE initial stories that came out in the press, one got the impression that the pilots who had left PAL were the bad guys. The stories, sourced from PAL management, went that the pilots were earning oodles of money (by local standards anyway—P500,000 a month was the figure being given for a senior pilot).…

Let me tell you what I’d do if I were president (a job I assure you I would not take, even if I were eligible and it was offered to me):

IN a bid to stop “gender-based discrimination,” a Makati court has ordered Philippine Airlines to stop implementing an early retirement policy that supposedly discriminates against flight stewardesses who were hired before 1996.

THE Aquino administration will almost triple the cash payments to the needy in its budget next year, doling out P29 billion to 2.3 million poor families nationwide, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Thursday.

Filipino nurses and other workers may now have difficulty seeking employment in European countries, the Philippine Overseas Welfare Administration (POEA) said on Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines—Employees of the television network Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC-13) have asked the government to quickly replace the sequestered company’s board members, who have allegedly been emptying the company’s coffers.

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines (PAL) will find its hands full next week as it deals with two pending labor disputes with the unions of flight attendants and ground crew.

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines (PAL) has moved to stem the further resignation of pilots with a pledge that none of its remaining pilots would be moved to PAL sister firm Air Philippines, a budget airline.

PARIS—Women who conceive within six months after a miscarriage have a better chance of a healthy pregnancy without complications compared to women who wait longer, according to a study released Friday.

BERLIN — Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany needs to lure qualified immigrant workers to address skills shortages, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Wednesday, wading into a fierce debate in the country.

THE MAKATI Regional Trial Court (RTC) has stopped Philippine Airlines (PAL) from implementing an early retirement policy that allegedly discriminates against female attendants.

ON A flight to Vancouver from Newark, New Jersey many years back – it was during those earlier tries by Philippine Airlines to fly that route – I was chatting with the flight attendant and telling her about how  I was going to visit my Aunt and Uncle who was living in Oak Harbor, Washington.

INVESTMENTS PLEDGED to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reached P68.609 billion from January to July, up by 57.54% from year-ago levels, data released yesterday showed.

The following are the latest comparative power rates in Asia, culled by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore) in US$/kWh terms, which we presented in our recent Global News Network (GNN) program on the subject, “Meralco Caught Overcharging Again:”

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment supports the city government’s call for call center companies to provide free transportation to their employees on graveyard shift.

WASHINGTON DC, United States—A key US government report Friday is expected to show already high unemployment nudging up as firms remain reluctant to hire in large numbers.

The Philippines is suffering a crippling brain drain with many of its most talented and qualified workers heading overseas for higher paying jobs and better lifestyles, employers said. The shock resignations last week of 25 Philippine Airlines (PAL) pilots, who left for bigger salaries abroad, highlighted a trend that is changing the stereotype of overseas…

Philippine Airlines (PAL) apparently playing hardball with its defiant pilots could cost the flag-carrier a bigger headache, a high-ranking official warned on Thursday. “Until now, PAL is faced by ill prospects of more resignations, if no concessionary actions from PAL will be taken,” said Dante Velasco, undersecretary for public information of the Department of Transportation…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Western Mindanao is now on alert as they are monitoring all entry points in the region to prevent recruitment and trafficking of young workers there.