Monthly Archives: April 2011

A good investment climate produces new investments that yield productivity and profits for the proponents. It is efficient when it further encourages investments to be made at low cost with high prospects for profits and social benefits (in the case of public investments).

MANILA, Philippines –  The rise in consumer prices was steady in March at 4.3 percent and well within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ expectation, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines –  Higher fuel prices and news of an impending rise in electricity rates greeted consumers yesterday, sparking fears of sharper increases in the costs of basic goods and services in the coming days.

But Palace won’t certify minimum wage hike bill MANILA, Philippines—While overall inflation apparently settled at 4.3 percent in March, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the country’s workers still needed relief because the crisis in the Middle East would be expected to continue.

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MANILA, Philippines—There are 60,000 job vacancies waiting to be filled up by new college graduates at the country’s official job search website, according to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

MANILA, Philippines – There are at least 2.4 million working children in the Philippines and the target is for government to end the worst forms of child labor in five years, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Members of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) rallied outside the Labor Department’s main office in Intramuros, Manila on Monday to protest the agency’s order banning the union form going on a nationwide strike.

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A member of the House of Representatives yesterday called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to consider “converting embassies and consulates worldwide as OFW defense centers first and foremost” in an environment of changing global landscapes and huge numbers of Filipinos seeking employment abroad.

The local assembler of giant car maker Honda is slashing its production by half, which it said would be a temporary cut down, starting this month as a result of the multiple disasters that recently hit Japan that affected its parts production in its Japan headquarters.

NOW that Winston Garcia is no longer the president and general manager of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) there is hope that the problem of non-payment of pensions and pension delays would eventually be solved, and hopefully soonest.

STILL hoping for the best, the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) on Monday suspended indefinitely their planned strike, which was supposed to have started on April 2, or seven days after they filed their petition before the Department of Labor and Employment.

It’s an undeniable fact that there are so many poor people in our country. Just imagine, we have an estimated 5.2 million families with a monthly income of P3,460 or less per family. That’s a total of around 25 million Filipinos living in extreme poverty. The second group of 4.1 million families has an average…

MANILA, Philippines – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said that even if President Aquino is wooing displaced Japanese firms to locate in the country, the absence of a Philippine rescue incentive package makes other countries more attractive.

MANILA, Philippines – Treasury bill (T-bill) rates declined across the board yesterday as investors scrambled for government debt papers.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) is investigating if there are other individuals who may have received donated blood found to be positive for the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), an official said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is determined to institute reforms before the end of the year in the recruitment process to address the concerns of employees in the Kingdom, Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines –  Wage boards nationwide are convening within the week to determine if there is a supervening condition that may be considered in granting a salary increase to minimum wage earners.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino rejected yesterday proposals by his party-mates in the Liberal Party (LP) to reduce the value-added tax (VAT) on oil.

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WORKERS should not count on an announcement of an increase in daily minimum wages this May 1, as the procedure prescribed for reaching this decision leaves very little time to do so by that date, an official of the agency overseeing the process hinted in an interview yesterday.

Now some members of Congress want to get a piece of the action. I’m referring to the move of the House of Representatives to investigate the controversy involving Willie Revillame who asked a six-year-old boy to gyrate like a sexy dancer in his program. Revillame and the gleeful audience egged the boy on despite the…

MANILA, Philippines – The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today announced their plan to embark on a five-year program to end child labor in the country by 2016.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority has certified at least 6,806 applicants.

THE Philippines last year joined Asia’s emerging markets with an expanding middle class after it posted a per-capita gross domestic product of more than $2,000, according to economists.

NOTE: As mentioned at the end of the two-part column published last Friday and Saturday, a three-part article on anti-corruption measures which ran in August, will be reprinted this week with some revisions and updates, to reiterate key steps that can be taken to reduce graft.

THE leadership of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) over the weekend announced that it would file a case against the government for allegedly suppressing the strike that they intended to hold on account of Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) planned outsourcing of its services.

General Santos City —Three small-scale miners were confirmed dead while six others remain trapped in several mine tunnels that collapsed on Saturday at the height of heavy rains at a mountain village in Tampakan town in South Cotabato.

The Saudi govern-ment is non-committal to the Philippines’ request to lift the ban on Filipino domestic helpers but announced that it will soon introduce “reforms” to protect the rights of fo-reign workers in the King-dom.