Monthly Archives: October 2010

MANILA, Philippines – The International Labor Organization (ILO) yesterday warned governments that millions of unemployed workers in 35 countries, including the Philippines, are at greater risk of suffering from psychological disorder resulting from difficulty in finding immediate employment.

MANILA, Philippines – A leading Catholic bishop denied yesterday reports that he threatened President Aquino with excommunication if the government pushes through with the distribution of contraceptives.

In a bid to make President Aquino bow to the Catholic bishops’ stand against the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill that will have government providing contraceptives to those who choose to utilize the artificial method in cutting down the size of their families, though “responsible parenthood,” the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of…

Hooray for a President who cares for the quality of life of his people (please don’t blink). Boo to a Church that doesn’t, that thinks 12 starving children sleeping on a mud floor under some rusty GI sheet is something God intended.

MALACANANG has earmarked P50 million for a government study on the possible use of nuclear energy in the country, Energy Secretary Rene Almendras said Thursday.

First of two parts Respected economist Bernardo Villegas got the nickname “Prophet of Boom” for his bullish predictions on the Philippine economy from as far back as the 1970s. For many business people and other seasoned observers of the country may have found many unfulfilled projections and promise, especially after the optimism after the 1986…

AN American-based engineering company has proposed to build a nuclear power plant in the country, Secretary Jose Rene Almendras of the Energy department said Thursday. During a briefing in Malacañang, Almendras said that the company was among those US business firms that wanted to pour in new investments in the country during the recent visit…

President to promote responsible parenthood THE leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Thursday said that there is a possibility that President Benigno Aquino 3rd could be excommunicated and expelled as a member of the Roman Catholic Church if he will push with his plan to make contraceptives available to poor…

CEBU province has the most recorded cases of human rights violation in Central Visayas. Out of 97 cases in the region this year, Cebu has 65 cases, said Leo Villarino, special investigator of the Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) during a forum yesterday.

MANILA, Oct 1, 2010 (IPS) – Anthony, a 22-year-old call centre agent, goes to work at 6 p.m. and finishes at around 2 a.m. But instead of going home, he heads to a bar to meet another male agent over beer, and if the late night looks promising, they spend more time together until daytime.

Despite a recent UNAIDS report that sub-Saharan nations are leading the decline in new HIV infections, woman are disproportionately affected by the disease, and future progress could be hampered by a huge funding shortfall.

Employment has shown signs of recovering from the global downturn, particularly in emerging Asian and Latin American economies, but the global outlook remains worrying given what the International Labor Organization (ILO) sees as a protracted “labor market recession”.

FROM the time that the call center or business process outsourcing (BPO) industry emerged in the country, it has been considered as one of the biggest factors to the Philippine’s economic growth. Heralded as the country’s “Sunshine Industry,” BPO in the country continues to gain increasing revenues despite the prevailing unstable economic conditions worldwide.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday that the country’s outstanding external debt increased by 9.6 percent in the first half of the year due to the upward foreign exchange revaluation adjustment from the continued weakening of the US dollar as well as the recording of the $1.2-billion special drawing rights…

MANILA, Philippines – Masters Vincent Raphael G. Soriano, Javier Ma. B. Pablo, and Jose Antonio T. Sison were named the grand champions of the 2nd Asian Schools Debate Championships (ASDC) held in De La Salle University last Sept. 5 to 9. The three Ateneans bested over 200 debaters during the tournament, which was attended by…

Overcharged and harassed credit card users might soon find relief from abusive card issuers. Though a tyro, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo is taking up the cudgels for them against big banks and government coddlers.

So there are indeed strings attached to the $464-million MCC grant. All those gratifying, encouraging and non-controversial statements about fighting poverty and promoting sustainable economic growth in the Philippines during the photo-ops in New York did not give us a complete picture. P-Noy gave the entire picture only at a town hall style meeting with…

By all accounts she should have simply crumpled and died. Given what she lost she had every reason to be angry at the world and at the Creator himself. But she didn’t. Like a mangled lamb spared from the slaughter, she said “I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time”. But was…

MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is ready to face the wrath of the Roman Catholic Church in pushing for the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is zeroing in on the excessive number of higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country as one of the major causes of the deteriorating quality of higher education.