Monthly Archives: August 2010

MANILA, Philippines – Most college graduates in the country fail to pass licensure examinations, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) reported yesterday.

MINDANAO QUESTION MANILA, Philippines—Urooj S. Malik’s article, “Mindanao can be RP food basket” (Talk of the Town, Aug. 8), is a well-meaning attempt at breaking the current political and economic impasse in Mindanao. The problem, however, is that it ends up hewing closely to the long-running Manila-imposed strategy of utilizing Mindanao’s human and natural resources…

Education Secretary Armin Luistro yesterday clarified that contrary to claims by critics, the cost of adding two more years to the current 10-year education cycle may be lower than P100 billion.

As it continues to receive reports that Filipino applicants paid manpower agencies substantial amounts for placement or recruitment fees, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Embassy in Guam reminded Filipinos applying for a job in Guam that the United States has a “no recruitment fee” policy for foreign workers.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The number of Americans filing new weekly claims for jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly to 500,000, the highest level in nine months, the government said Thursday, threatening recovery hopes. The soaring number “compels us to act,” President Barack Obama said, demanding lawmakers pass a stalled bill that will end taxes on key investments in…

MANILA, Philippines – We would like to call your attention on the “inaccuracies of facts” contained in the column of Federico D. Pascual entitled “MRT Riders Also Pay for Cost of Corruption” that appeared in the Philippine STAR last August 12, 2010. It is disturbing that there is a lot of misinformation and baseless innuendos…

MANILA, Philippines – Misguided farming policies, including land reform, are keeping millions in the Philippines poor, according to a report released by the World Bank this week.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Power Corp. and the National Power Board have been ordered by a Quezon City court to pay a total of P300 million to a group of retirees who alleged they got less than what they were supposed to when they opted to retire early under the company’s restructuring program.

Noticing the gap between economic growth and poverty reduction, the World Bank urged the Philippines to work for a more inclusive growth that benefits the poor.

THE government hopes to recover an estimated P250 billion lost yearly to tax evasion by focusing on tax cheats among the self-employed and collecting unpaid inheritance taxes, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said Thursday.

Almost ten years ago, I chanced upon a US market research study which showed that Filipino-Americans were spending $50 billion annually as their collective cost of living. The $50 billion does not include what Filipino-Americans own, what they have in their bank accounts or their investments, just what they spend – their rent or home…

CALIFORNIA, United States—An immigrant residing in California recently contacted our office to express her disgust over her inability to obtain her retirement benefits from the Social Security System. Her letter reads:

CALL CENTER and outsourcing managers should invest more in building “cordial relationships” with workers to lessen the attrition rate, according to executives of two local business process outsourcing (BPO) companies.

DAVAO CITY — Philippine fashion and industrial designers are moving abroad for better pay and environment, a Manila-based international designer said yesterday. Percy “PJ” Jutare Aranador, a “lifestyle designer” and owner of PJ Aranador Design Studio One, claimed at least 3,000 designers and workers in his profession have migrated to China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and…

NEW DELHI — They are every marketeer’s dream and the future of the world economy — now, Asia’s aspirational middle classes have been laid bare in a major new study focusing on their astonishing growth.

CAR ASSEMBLERS are looking at ending the year with higher output, a development which could even mean a factory expansion for some, industry officials yesterday said.

Citing its potential harmful effect on infants, an ecological group are calling for a precautionary ban on “bisphenol A (BPA),” a chemical used in making plastic feeding bottles for babies.

MANILA, Philippines – Business confidence for the fourth quarter has hit an all-time high on the back of higher-than-anticipated economic growth, stronger peso, robust overseas remittances, benign inflation, strong export earnings, and smooth transition of political power.

THE sale of the 982.1-megawatt Agus and Pulangi hydropower complex might not push through as originally envisioned in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), as the Department of Energy (DOE) is looking to use the power plant to balance the interests of consumers and potential investors in Mindanao’s power-generation sector.

MANILA – In suburban Alabang, south of Manila, Juana Santos, 57, runs a makeshift store. On any given day neighbors come in droves, not to buy goods but to enquire about padala, a Tagalog word that in English means remittance.

A BILL that seeks to promote and protect the rights of Filipinos who flock to business-process outsourcing (BPO) companies for immediate employment has been refiled in the House of Representatives.

THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) is increasing lobbying for a US bill that could allow duty-free entry for Philippine-made garment exports, as its approval in Washington remains uncertain, Secretary Gregory L. Domingo yesterday said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is deemed at high risk from food insecurity due to various factors including risk of extreme weather events, quality of agricultural and distribution infrastructure, conflict and effectiveness of government, a new survey showed Thursday.

LONDON – Madonna and Demi Moore may be fuelling talk of a growing trend for older women on the prowl for younger men but a study on Wednesday said the phenomenon of the “cougar” is a myth, confined to the world of celebrities.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday said the government would suspend the creation of new freeport zones. On the sidelines of the Philippine Mid-Year Economic Briefing, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo told reporters that economic zones under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) are well-managed and are getting favorable feedback from investors.

WHERE’S the big fish, and the little details? Responding to presentations made by the country’s economic managers during the Philippine Mid-Year Economic Briefing on Wednesday, business groups are asking the Aquino administration to put in place a tougher anti-smuggling campaign as well as other policies to brighten up the investment climate.

GRAFT charges were filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against the Regional Director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the Cordillera Administrative Region for buying office supplies without the benefit of public bidding. In an 11-page resolution of the Ombudsman, signed and approved by Ombudsman Maria Merceditas Navarro-Gutierrez, indicted in court…

CEBU, Philippines – A worker almost lost his life after accidentally touching a high-tension wire of the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) the force of which sent him falling down to the ground from the rooftop of a mini-gym where he was working at that time.

At the end of the Curriculum Summit that I convened last month, I asked the participants what concerns other than those we had discussed during the session were urgent and important. They listed several, among which are the following. These concerns reflect the current thinking of our senior educators. I append my own take on…

(Part 2 of a series on Survey of Mayors’ Delivery of Health and Education Services) In The Philippine STAR’s August 11 issue, the article entitled “Noy scraps GMA’s P8-billion ‘pork’ for LGUs” stated that President Noy Aquino scrapped two lump sum budgetary items of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Kilos Asenso for livelihood programs and…