Monthly Archives: January 2011

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) is readying plans to meet the country’s energy requirements amid the critical situation this year, most especially during the summer months.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is transforming primary school yards into vegetable gardens in a bid to fight US-inspired junk food addictions that are causing an explosion of health problems throughout society.

THE best of government cannot be found in the things that government propagandists advertise as great. The reason is simple. The great and breakthrough initiatives often come in dry and little memos framed in legalese. And are too bland to get the notice of the mainstream media.

The University of the East will hold its 31st Job Fair, in cooperation with leading corporations in the country, on Jan. 20 and 21 at the UE Manila’s Main Lobby. A career talk and jobseeker’s interview will precede the fair on Jan. 18 and 19, respectively, with resource persons and facilitators from the participating firms.

A party-list lawmaker yesterday called on the Aquino government to take a closer look at the plight of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia many of whom are suffering from unhealthy working conditions.

MEMBERS of the Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) and other business groups are pushing for the passage of a bill that would promote fair competition among the country’s industries. In a forum held at the Sulo Reviera Hotel in Quezon City on Friday, the FTA and various stakeholders expressed support for the passage of the “Philippine…

A NON-GOVERNMENT organization on Friday questioned the Aquino administration’s inclusion of its public-private partnership (PPP) program in the country’s economic blueprint for the next six years.

THE Aquino administration fell short of its target proceeds from its asset sale program in 2010.

THE government’s new anti-insurgency strategy, the Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) Bayanihan, is turning out to be the best antidote into ending the 40-year communist insurgency problem as more members of the New People’s Army (NPA) return to the fold of the law, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Armed Forces spokesman,…

Dear PAO, I am scheduled to give birth by caesarian delivery this coming February 2011. How long will be my maternity leave? Is the father of my child entitled to paternity leave even if we are not married? Ella

MANILA, Philippines –  The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has reminded credit card issuers and their collection agents to respect the rights of their clients and to refrain from engaging in unfair collection practices.

MANILA, Philippines –  The Office of the Ombudsman for the Visayas has ordered the filing of charges against the vice mayor of Escalante City in Negros Occidental for the unlawful dismissal of three city employees.

MANILA, Philippines –  Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta and her deputies yesterday asked the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to overturn a ruling of the Career Executive Service (CES) Board imposing eligibility requirement on them.

MANILA, Philippines –  Lawmakers yesterday supported the call for a total log ban in the country.

RIYADH: After a five-day visit, the Philippine House of Representatives’ Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs (COWA) fact-finding mission brought home a clear picture of the hardships that Filipino migrant workers faced in Saudi Arabia.

SEAN foreign ministers (L-R) Myanmar’s U Nyan Win, Phillipine’s Undersecretary of Policy Erlinda F. Basilio, Singapore’s George Yeo, Thailand’s Kasit Piromnya, Vietnam’s Assistant Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh, Indonesia’s Marty Natalegawa, Cambodia’s Hor Namhong, Brunei Darussalam’s Mohamed Bolkiah, Laos’ Thongloun Sisoulith, Malaysia’s Dato’ Sri Anifah Aman and ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan pose during a group…

Indonesian foreign ministry foto of Asean foreign ministers, Lombok, Indonesia 16 Jan 2011 Asean foreign ministers gathered for an informal retreat on Lombok, Indonesia Asean foreign ministers have said that sanctions against military-ruled Burma should be dropped.

MANILA, Philippines—House leaders on Saturday called for an investigation into the pernicious practice of levying fees on registered nurses seeking on-the-job training with hospitals and medical institutions.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino is mulling the implementation of a total log ban nationwide following the massive flooding and landslides that hit several areas in the country.

THE HOUSE committee on overseas worker affairs (OWA) will recommend the ban of deployment of women domestic helpers in the Middle East nation due to reported abuses of Filipina migrant workers, Akbayan Rep. Walden F. Bello, chairman of the committee, said.

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Central Visayas officials have vowed to prepare all their cities and towns resilient for disaster and are the biggest group so far to have committed to the Disaster Risk Reduction Campaign launched here on Thursday.

FOR DECADES, it signified a new version of the Filipino dream. It was not becoming a lawyer or a doctor that parents wished for their children: it was becoming a nurse. And thus nursing became the most popular course in colleges, with one nursing school after another sprouting to meet the boom. Perhaps because of…

Unidentified armed men shot dead a member of the government’s anti-illegal logging task force while he was guarding confiscated timber in Surigao del Sur province in southern Philippines.

Little has been known about the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), created in 2004 by Executive Order No. 269 as the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, regulating and administrative entity of the government’s executive branch for Philippine ICT development.

Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) president Bob Aduiza denounced the Philippine Airlines (PAL) management for retiring eight female flight attendants despite an order from the labor department raising the retirement age of all PAL flight attendants to 60 years old.

The Supreme Court (SC) has turned down six suits questioning the constitutionality of Republic Act (RA) 9372, otherwise known as the Human Security Act of 2007.

A NON-GOVERNMENT organization on Friday questioned the Aquino administration’s inclusion of its public-private partnership (PPP) program in the country’s economic blueprint for the next six years. In a statement, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said the inclusion of PPP in a number of sections in the draft Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2011-2016,…

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday stressed that increases in the prices of basic commodities and services have no impact yet on real minimum wages. This was the statement issued by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

MANILA, Philippines – Eight flight pursers of Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be retired by the airline management effective Jan. 16, 2011 after a Makati court removed all legal obstacles for their separation from service upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 55.

AN increasing awareness of the need for safe water is driving up sales of water retailers, an executive of a leading water-franchise company said.