Monthly Archives: February 2011

TAIPEI – The Year of the Rabbit conjures images of fluffy bunnies, but fortunetellers in Asia predict that the coming year on the Asian lunar calendar will be anything but cuddly.

THE UNITED NATIONS Development Programme (UNDP) will provide a total of $18 million in assistance to the Philippines this year, a bulk of which will be alloted to environmental projects, the agency’s top official in the country said at the sidelines of an international biodiversity conference in Pasay City yesterday.

ILOILO CITY, Feb. 2 (PIA) – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 6 has recovered some P65,000 in backwages and other monetary benefits from complaining workers in the region through conciliation conferences.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

SAYS CONSERVATION GROUP MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines is among the 10 areas in the world with the most at-risk forest areas, posing a danger to endemic species and could affect the livelihood of local residents, the group Conservation International said on Wednesday.

A lawmaker is seeking to put a cap on the interest rates charged on deferred payments made on credit card purchases.

Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz warned President Aquino with being faced with daily street protests led by the Church once the Reproductive Health (RH) bill that his administration is backing gets Congress’ approval.

THE Philippines’ biggest sugar miller expects prices of the commodity to remain high throughout 2011, allowing the company to eliminate its deficit when its fiscal year ends in August.

THE Organic Producers and Trade Association Philippines Inc. (OPTA) on Tuesday presented to the Department of Agriculture a roadmap for organic agriculture for the next three to five years.

Public discussion on the amendment of the constitution ruled the news during the last week. As far as the policy pertaining the attraction of foreign direct investments is concerned, the Philippines is not at par with other countries.

MANILA, Philippines – Overloading and defects in a gondola of a building under construction in Makati City caused the lift to collapse and led to the deaths of 10 workers, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ruled yesterday.

Summary After snatching call center crown from India last year, Philippines again looks toward business process outsourcing to lead growth for country in 2011, targeting to hit US$11 billion in revenues.

THE economy unexpectedly accelerated last quarter as investment and consumption rebounded, spurring expansion in 2010 to the fastest pace since the Marcos era.

MANILA, Philippines – London-based Barclays Capital sees inflation exceeding 4.5 percent in the middle of the year prompting the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to adjust upwards its key policy rates by 25 basis points in the third quarter of the year.

MANILA, Philippines –  The Philippine economy galloped to its highest annual growth after the Marcos administration, surging by 7.3 percent in 2010 on the back of a global economic recovery.

The so-called low base factor coming from a slim 1.1 growth in 2009 coupled with spending related to the national elections in May last year and the dependably strong remittance from Filipinos working abroad mostly contributed to a 7.3 percent growth last year, the fastest pace in more than three decades, government data showed.

Leaders of the Catholic church have called on the people to once again “act together” in condemning the Reproductive Health (RH) bill following the House panel’s approval of the consolidated version of the birth control measure.

MANILA, Philippines – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approved yesterday a P1 increase in the minimum fare for passenger jeepneys from the current P7 to P8 in Luzon that takes effect tomorrow.

EIGHT flight attendants won a reprieve Friday after the Labor Department stopped Philippine Airlines from retiring them once they reached the age of 55.

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives committee on population and family relations approved yesterday a consolidated version of several measures on the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill despite a last-ditch effort of some lawmakers to block it.

MANILA, Philippines—Saying that the dialogue with Malacañang on the reproductive health (RH) bill only revealed the huge disconnect between the two parties on the issue, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Monday exhorted the faithful to consider mass action amid efforts in Congress to fast-track a family planning measure.