Monthly Archives: March 2011

MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Enrique Ona has reiterated his call for the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, saying that poor families that wish to limit the number of their children should be assisted by the government.

THE Philippines suffered net outflows of foreign exchange in February, as it registered a balance of payments (BOP) deficit during the period.

Students from South Korea topped the list of foreigners who took up elementary and high school education and short-term courses in the Philippines last year, statistics from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) showed yesterday.

President Aquino and his allies’ vindictiveness toward the high court justices not appointed by him has spread into slashing even their retirement pay.

SHE SHOULD have been staying home, doing her school assignments, watching TV or checking her Facebook account for it was a Saturday, but 16-year-old Dana Algabre did not mind not being able to do those things.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

MANILA, Philippines – The House committee on ways and means has approved a bill simplifying the net income taxation scheme (SNITS) that will limit the allowable business deductions from gross revenues for self-employed individuals and professionals to reduce corruption and increase government revenues.

TOKYO—Japan’s major automakers are trying to find alternative parts suppliers to replace those knocked out of action by the colossal earthquake last week that has forced most of the country’s car production to a halt.

ONe of my favorite broadsheet columnists, fraternity brod Randy David, has commented insightfully on our very Filipino reaction to the risk issues inherent in nuclear power that were so forcefully thrown up at us by the ongoing debacle at all four nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan.

I met her while lining up for coffee at the neighborhood Starbucks in Salcedo Village. It was almost 10 in the evening when I took a break from the grim images of a Japanese doomsday being played over and over again on CNN.

I fully agree with Senator Santiago: “There are alarmist calls borne out of superstition and ignorance that we should stop all talk in operating the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Let us be very, very careful with our facts”. The facts are that there have been only a few nuclear accidents. One was Chernobyl where some…

My deep sympathies to my Japanese friends and the Japanese people generally. What a most horrendous disaster. One can hardly encompass it. Do you realize that the impact is now at the level of the whole Philippine economy for a year? An economy of US$190 billion is being approached by losses in Japan now estimated…

MANILA, Philippines (PNA) — The Department of Health (DOH) continues to rally behind giving couples an informed choice in choosing the number, spacing, and timing of their children.

CEBU, Philippines – Several groups which composed the Catholics for Reproductive Health (C4RH) held their national teleconference in major cities of Manila, Baguio, Davao and Cebu to show that majority of Filipino Catholics are clamoring for RH services contrary to the claim of the Church hierarchy.

Until last week, it seemed like nuclear energy was going to experience a return to favor. Even the Obama administration was looking at nuclear energy as the cheap and clean alternative to coal in this era that’s super conscious of the serious impact of greenhouse gases on our weather patterns.

Partly-list group United Transport Koalisyon (1-Utak) yesterday asked for government assistance to help drivers and operators of public utility vehicles cope with the increasing oil prices and the projected drop in passenger load.

MANILA, Philippines – The net inflow of foreign portfolio investments or “hot money” jumped 135 percent in the first two months of the year due to a surge in investments in shares listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and peso-denominated government securities as investors continued to place their funds in high-yielding investment instruments, the…

An alliance of Filipino migrants group in the Middle East yesterday scored the Aquino government’s declaration on “voluntary repatriation at OFWs own expense,” saying this is a disservice to the sector that is helping the economy being kept afloat through their billions of remittances and fees and exactions imposed by the government.

THE Aquino administration has proposed the establishment of a nuclear power plant in its Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2011-2016, according to the country’s socioeconomic planning chief.

Traditional solutions only solve traditional problems. In the case of solving the problem of high fuel prices, traditional politicians as well as government officials need to sit down with oil industry players in order to develop mutually beneficial and acceptable solutions because at the end of the day, they are ALL part of the problem…

IF your cable TV was tuned in to ANC Wednesday morning, the rest of your day was probably ruined by Secretary Mario Montejo of the Department of Science and Technology (DOTC).

MANILA, Philippines –  Party list group 1 Utak sought yesterday government intervention in the rising prices of oil.

MANILA, Philippines –  President Aquino will not support the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

Jakarta (The Jakarta Post/ANN) – Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei – three ASEAN countries that receive large numbers of migrant workers from their neighbors – will likely remain reluctant to discuss migrant worker issues at ASEAN ministers’ meetings, a senior Indonesian government official says. However, the countries would not rule out discussing the issue altogether, especially…

MANILA, Bulletin – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) came out yesterday with regulations exempting from income tax certain financial benefits received by employees from their employers.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday again banned the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Bahrain following the growing political tension there.

BEIJING (AFP) – The atomic crisis sparked by Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami is throwing a spotlight on energy-hungry China’s own plans to build dozens of nuclear power plants despite questions over safety.