Monthly Archives: August 2010

MANILA, Philippines – Many Filipinas are forced to patronize life-threatening methods to terminate pregnancies because abortion is a criminal offense in the Philippines, according to the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights.

MANILA, Philippines – Four in 10 Filipinos appreciate former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s infrastructure projects but a significant number also consider her inability to address the problems of corruption and inflation as among her biggest failures, a recent Pulse Asia survey showed.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang tossed yesterday the matter of the wage hike moratorium to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), saying it was a very “sensitive” issue.

MANILA, Philippines – Transportation Secretary Jose de Jesus has ordered his agency’s officials to continue mediation meetings between the management of Philippine  Airlines and the pilots who left the flag-carrier, a spokesman said.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino ordered yesterday the revocation of the midnight appointments of the previous Arroyo administration.

Philippine Airlines is no stranger to labor disputes and pilot exodus. But it seems the Aquino administration is. The current high-profile issue of pilots leaving for greener pastures abroad is actually old news.

President Obama today told the AFL-CIO Executive Council, “We are going to keep fighting for an economy that works for everybody, not just a privileged few.” He also said that with the help of working families and their unions, we are going to rebuild our economy stronger than before, and at the heart of it…

Brussels, 4 August 2010 (ITUC OnLine): The international trade union movement is calling for governments to push ahead with a rights-based approach to tackling the HIV and AIDS pandemic, following the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna at the end of July.

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Airlines’ giant Boeing 747-400 and Airbus 330 jets – normally used for international flights – have been servicing selected domestic routes including Cebu City since Monday to accommodate passengers affected by the pilots’ walkout.

Davao City (4 August) — The regional federation president of the Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines (PYAP) here expressed high expectations that President Noynoy Aquino has concrete programs for the youth sector, citing particularly the out-of-school youth.

One of the most serious and longstanding problems of the Philippines is that of providing adequate employment opportunities for young people entering the workforce. As part of the two-year project (2005–2007) concerned with obtaining better recognition and understanding of the employment situation of young men and women, the ILO commissioned a survey of the youth…

MANILA, Philippines – Maricel, an 18-year-old mother, attempted to induce an abortion on fears of losing her employment opportunity in a foreign land.

MANILA, Philippines – The government clarified on Tuesday that it will not take over flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL). Palace officials said they are ruling out the option even as the labor row between PAL management and the company’s resigned pilots remains unresolved.

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines cannot stop its pilots from seeking better-paying jobs overseas and then force them to fly its planes, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said Tuesday.

CEBU CITY – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) 7 is set to announce a wage increase for Central Visayas workers next week, with RTWPB Chairman Elias Cayanong saying that such increase will be “better” than previous hikes in wages.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines yesterday said in a press release that Philippine Airlines has to offer its resigned pilots highly-improved benefits so the company can lure them back.

A New York-based law firm, the Center for Reproductive Rights, has released a paper blaming the Philippines’ pro-life laws criminalizing abortion for endangering women. The group alleges that current laws force women to turn to illegal abortions that can result in complications and — in around 1000 cases annually — even death. The report basically…

Unsafe abortions in the Philippines will be reduced if the Congress passes a reproductive health bill that will promote modern family planning, several women’s rights advocates said at a forum Wednesday.

From time to time, often in the teeth of whatever crisis is gripping the country, we hear proposals for government to buy back certain companies or even entire industries, supposedly to ensure the welfare of the public. This knee-jerk reaction to re-nationalize is premised on an oft-mistaken belief that things were a lot better when…

Health Secretary-designate Enrique Ona wants to deodorize “dirty and smelly” public hospitals to the tune of P9 billion starting next year.

THE HEADS of both the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Metro Rail Transit MRT) are talking about increasing their fares because the government is losing money in subsidizing their operations. The government pays P40 for every rail passenger in addition to the fare he pays, they said. This subsidy comes from the taxes paid…

Some 4.7 million Filipino families are set to benefit from the “Pnoy PhilHealth day” that aims to provide health insurance coverage to “true” indigents in the country after they were evaluated and identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

At least nine families were forced to flee their homes in Valenzuela City Tuesday night due to a foul smell from an onion storehouse in the area.

Executive Order 877, like many of the unfinished business of the Arroyo administration, is fraught with controversy and it just gets worse as the press picks up misunderstood bits and pieces.

KEEPING YOUR car properly tuned, your tire pressures checked, and turning down the air-conditioning are some of the ways to make your driving more efficient and cut your fuel consumption, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI).

FAR Eastern University (FEU) in Manila and Silliman University in Dumaguete have sealed new collective bargaining deals with their employees, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said at the weekend.

THE REGIONAL wage boards of Caraga and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have ordered increases in daily minimum wage by P20 and P12, respectively, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said in a press release yesterday.

THE BOARD of Investments (BoI) will not move to raise tariffs on imported vehicles contrary to some automotive companies’ fears, a ranking official said late on Monday.

MORE BUSINESS GROUPS are pressing Congress for tax policy reforms and laws to improve governance, a review of proposed legislative priorities showed. The wish lists of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) share several bills which their…

A “BIG number” of mergers and consolidations in the rural-banking industry is expected over the next couple of years now that a government-funded P5-billion program providing financial assistance to prospective buyers of weak rural banks is in place, an industry leader said on Tuesday.