Monthly Archives: December 2010

MANILA, Philippines – A group of religious organizations has urged lawmakers to speed up the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill into law.

SAYS UN OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME MANILA, Philippines—Ecstasy and methamphetamine are increasingly becoming the illegal drugs of choice in East and Southeast Asia, replacing heroin, opium, and cannabis, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report.

MATI, DAVAO ORIENTAL — The Health department is expanding health insurance coverage through a “zero payment” scheme for the poorest of the poor.

…as new industry development program hits delays AN OLD INCENTIVE PACKAGE for automotive exporters will be temporarily revived while work to upgrade a broader policy for car assembly remains stalled, officials last week said.

MANILA, Philippines—Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz on Monday advised would-be students, students, and graduates to consider taking up fisheries and agricultural courses or skills training and upgrading in these fields because job opportunities in these sectors abound and are “in-demand from 2011 and onward.”

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines—Amid the heated and often emotional debates over reproductive health, the population officer of this city has expressed preference for teaching the Church-backed natural family planning method more than the government-supported artificial methods.

Exasperated over ever rising electricity bills, consumer protection groups yesterday sought the government takeover of the power industry to shield the public from further unwarranted hikes in local electricity rates which they said has become the world’s highest.

ILOILO CITY — A carpenter was electrocuted, while five of his fellow carpenters sustained severe burns in their bodies after a steel pipe they were installing at the Iglesia ni Kristo Church snapped into a high tension wire in Oton, Iloilo.

Hong Kong – A Filipino maid is challenging Hong Kong’s immigration laws in a bid to win the right to citizenship, a news report said Sunday.

MANILA—The Philippines and its Asean partners have agreed to work together in the implementation of industrial relations practices as embodied in the Asean Industrial Relation Guidelines adopted during the 21st Asean Labor Ministers Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam last May 2010.

At least 14 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were repatriated from Malaysia last December 2, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.

HONG KONG – Singapore and Shanghai rank top among Asian cities as the best real estate investment destinations, while Osaka and Manila are seen as the least ideal, an industry survey showed on Monday.

After the chest-thumping and finger-pointing over the speedily approved 2011 budget dies down, it’s Question Hour. While the media, the politicians and the pundits may find much to debate over the quick passage in Congress of the P1.46-trillion proposed General Appropriations Act, including some controversial outlays and cuts, the more pragmatic may prefer to move…

We know Christmas is around the corner because there are a lot of things associated with the season that begin to manifest themselves around this time of the year such as those ubiquitous twinkling lights and lanterns. Sadly, no thanks to global warming, we haven’t been waking up to nippy mornings yet despite the fact…

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s financial system remained sound and stable amid the strong capital inflows being experienced by emerging markets including the Philippines, monetary authorities said over the weekend.

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration would likely be able to cap this year’s budget gap at P325 billion, according to the latest Market Call, a joint capital market research report issued by First Metro Investment Corp., the investment arm of the Metrobank Group and the University of Asia and the Pacific.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines –Two men were electrocuted while pruning trees inside a subdivision in Angeles City on Monday, police said.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino children continue to live in dangerous times under the Aquino presidency, human rights activists claimed Sunday.

MANILA—Italy, the United States, Greece, Belgium, and the United Kingdom top a list of two dozen rich countries that let their most vulnerable children fall even further behind, with enormous consequences not only for the kids themselves but for the economy and society at large, said a new United Nations report.

MANILA, Philippines –  The world’s leading food companies brag about their billion dollar brands. Nestle, the world’s leading food company, has 28 brands with sales of almost $1 billion a year. Nestle brands are either No.1 or No.2 in the market: Nescafe, Maggi, Kit Kat, Milo, Nido, Nesquik, Pure Life, Nespresso, and Purina.

MANILA, Philippines –  Private think-tank Forensic Law and Policy Strategies Inc. has urged government to watch its debt levels as it enters into contracts under the so-called public private partnership (PPP) scheme.

MANILA, Philippines – Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo topped the list of Cabinet members with the biggest real estate properties worth more than P55 million. Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras came in second with P48 million followed by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala with P46.676 million. The figures were based on the Cabinet members’ Statement of Assets…

Susana Danio, a Filipina maid from Pangasinan, recently won a legal battle in the United Kingdom over being unfairly dismissed by Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, reports ABS-CBNNews.com. The London-born princess, heiress daughter of US duty-free billionaire Robert Miller, was ordered to pay Danio almost £7,500 (about P500,000).

NEW DELHI: The chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday the debt crisis in Europe remained serious but he tipped Ireland to recover rapidly after its weekend bailout.

FEATURE Bacteria that thrive on arsenic have been scooped from a California lake, a discovery that redefines the building blocks of life and offers new hope in the search for other organisms on Earth and beyond.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) has approved new training regulations for at least eight courses in the fields of jewelry making, land surveying and barbering.

President Aquino issued a blanket assurance to Cabinet members against a shake-up yesterday, saying he does not plan to remove any of his officials from their respective positions.

LICAB, Nueva Ecija — Scarlet Taguinod, 41, wakes up at 4 in the morning everyday to prepare food for her family and wash their dirty clothes.

In the wake of a public opinion survey showing that nearly seven of 10 Filipinos favor the reproductive health (RH) bill, an influential Catholic priest urged the Church to “walk the talk” in fighting the measure, with “armies” of natural family planning educators in every parish.

CEBU, Philippines – The City Council is urging Congress and the Civil Service Commission to study the impact of reported practices of some government agencies and local government units in outsourcing personnel from private manpower agencies.