Monthly Archives: October 2010

A BILL seeking to give 20-percent discounts on milk, diaper and medicines to an estimated 14 million single parents, especially those with infants and who are considered among the most “vulnerable” members of society has been filed in the House of Representatives.

Brussels, 5 October 2010 (ITUC OnLine): As the East African Community (EAC) is a creating a common market, the East African HTUR network, established last July in Nairobi as part of the ITUC HTUR programme, will meet in Kigali on 6 and 7 October to debate about the integration of a clause on human and…

Brussels, 6 October 2010 (ITUC OnLine): Trade unions have welcomed the section on “Social Cohesion” in the Chair’s statement to conclude the ASEM-8 Summit of 46 Asian and European countries, held in Brussels on 4-5 October.

BRUSSELS, Belgium—Two months before a key United Nations climate conference, European and Asian leaders pledged Tuesday to seek an urgent, legally-binding deal on global warming that would include deep cuts in emissions.

DFA ANSWERS THE QUESTION BRUSSELS, Belgium—For now, they are the 10 countries of Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Kuwait, Laos, Myanmar, Ireland, Saipan, Norway, Syria, and Vietnam.

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MANILA, Philippines – Bank lending rose by 12.5 percent in August from a year ago, registering its fastest pace in over a year, as improved consumer and business sentiments drove demand for credit and prompted banks to lend more.

MANILA, Philippines — The International Monetary Fund has again raised its growth forecast for the Philippines for 2010 and 2011, citing improving domestic demand and business sentiment in the country and the rest of Asia.

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 2) The Department of Health has set aside P400 million for the purchase of natural and artificial means of family planning, including two million condoms to be distributed next year, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said Wednesday.

I sat as a panelist in a round-table discussion on the mismatch problem at the annual conference of the Call Center Association of the Philippines last week. We had a very insightful exchange and I would like to synthesize the points of discussion in this column.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will make it a national policy to provide couples with an informed choice on family planning methods and triple the funding for population management, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Tuesday.

MANILA, 6 October 2010 (IRIN) – A humanitarian relief agency will soon begin using mobile phones to send cash to employees of rehabilitation projects in typhoon-hit areas in northern Philippines.

The international community’s historic commitment to slash worldwide poverty in half by 2015 — known collectively as the Millennium Development Goals — has resulted in real advances: Primary school enrollment is up, new cases of preventable diseases are down, and millions of people have climbed out of extreme poverty. Yet even with these steps forward,…

MANILA, Philippines – A deaf person will file a discrimination case before the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) after an airport immigration officer prevented him from boarding his flight to Qatar.

BRUSSELS, Belgium—International working group on indigenous peoples, mining, and climate change criticized the European Union for its policy on accessing raw materials, saying it makes indigenous peoples in developing countries like the Philippines and Indonesia poorer.

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Employers here may have to start laying off workers to avoid or stem losses, if the power situation in Mindanao does not improve.

The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has given final notation of the proposed memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), signaling the implementation of the P5-billion Strengthening Program for Rural Banks (SPRB).

WASHINGTON (Xinhua) – The financial rescue program launched two years ago has played a critical role in rebuilding confidence of the financial sector, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday.

President Aquino directed yesterday Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to assume jurisdiction over the dispute between the management of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) and its cabin crew union Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (Fasap) after negotiations between both collapsed anew yesterday.

The Department of Education (DepEd) will need more than P16.7 billion in additional funds for its K+12 project. In the same breath, Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro said their plan to add two more years to the current 10-year basic education curriculum came in different from what was expected during the celebrations of the World…

About 40,000 to 50,000 Filipino workers may be needed by the United States to construct its new military base in Guam, US Ambassador Harry Thomas said.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering the Commission on Elections to release to several groups involved in checking on the integrity of the automated election system adopted by the Comelec on May 10, 2010, the source code and other pertinent documents for their testing purposes, the poll body has still not done so, and will…

Conclusion In the Asian Development Bank’s latest rating of regional bonds, the Philippines emerged among the best rated in East Asia, helped by growing confidence in the economy since the May elections boosted political stability after years of chronic unrest. That affirms our Friday column, which expounded on the political and policy underpinnings of the…

Pro-life advocate sees doom, gloom over reproductive health bills MANILA, Philippines – Poor couples will only suffer if the reproductive health (RH) bills that have been filed in the House of Representatives are approved and enacted into law, a pro-life advocate said.

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LEGAZPI CITY: Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay defended President Benigno Aquino 3rd against his detractors, which according to him the Aquino administration is better than his predecessors as the peso value strengthened in the first 100 compared to former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo. Salceda told The Manila Times that among the five administrations—which…

Despite protests, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday unveiled the government’s plan to add two more years to the current 10-year basic education curriculum. The model disclosed by Education Secretary Armin Luistro during celebrations marking World Teachers Day would add two years of “senior high school” to the current system and will be implemented…

MANILA, Philippines – A Department of Finance (DOF) Resolution that dealt with the exclusivity of incentives has delayed more than P3 billion worth of investments from three different Japanese semiconductor firms.

Last Wednesday, when I reported on the publication of the list of top 500 taxpayers, I made the comment that Bobby Ongpin was only at 306th and paid P2.8 million in income taxes. I did not imply Mr Ongpin was evading his taxes but was merely wondering why movie starlet Rufa Mae Quinto, 133rd, paid…

There is no doubt that the issue of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill has resurrected like the proverbial Phoenix. This was an issue even before the Arroyo presidency and because Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has openly declared his support for a population control program for the country, this has encouraged Congress to revive this…