Monthly Archives: April 2011

MANILA, Philippines –  Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz yesterday stopped the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) from holding a nationwide strike.

MANILA, Philippines –  A member of the United Nations delegation visiting the country underscored yesterday the importance of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, citing global evidence of improvement of countries after putting similar measures in place.

VARIOUS transport groups on Thursday snubbed a protest caravan organized by the militant Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mgs Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide to dramatize its objection to the spate of oil price increases recently.

MANILA — Officials said a landslide triggered by heavy rains has buried alive three miners who were resting in their bunkhouse in South Cotabato province.

THE Energy Department on Thursday said it will more strictly enforce the energy conservation measures set in place by the previous administration to cut power and fuel consumption in government agencies by 10 percent.

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said corruption, piracy, preferential tariff on various goods and restrictive laws remain barriers to trade between the US and the Philippines.

THE World Bank and other development partners of the Philippines have expressed confidence that the newly unveiled 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan (PDP) would spur economic growth in the country for the next six years.

THIS week’s release of corruption survey results by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) brought back memories of this writer’s stint in Ma-lacañang. The annual poll prompted much downplaying by Palace officials, especially when the Philippines’ corruption score and ranking rose.

THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said that Thursday’s transport caravan staged by militant groups failed to disrupt public transportation operation in Metro Manila and in other parts of the country.

ADVOCATES of the controversial Reproductive health bill have found new allies that would help in convincing the government to pass the proposed law and these are the various protestant churches and denominations in the country.

THE public-private Export Development Council (EDC) is assessing the potential effect of the disasters in Japan to Philippine exports in the long-term, although officials said that the impact would likely be minimal.

P500M eyed for jeepneys, tricycles TO cushion the impact of rising oil prices on the public, President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Thursday said that he had approved in principle the executive order that grants fuel subsidy to selected public utility vehicles for a period of one month.

President Aquino was challenged yesterday to clearly define the direction of the supposed “daang matuwid” or straight path he had been crowing about after the latest survey of the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (Perc) showed the Philippines did not improve from its spot of being perceived the third most corrupt nation…

A network of human rights advocates vowed on Friday to support a looming labor strike by Philippine Airlines union members, saying that Malacañang’s ruling allowing the PAL management to get subcontractors for its non-core businesses undermines workers’ rights.

MANILA, Philippines – The dropout rate for elementary students is rising from an average of 5.99 percent in 2007 to 6.28 percent in 2010, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

MANILA, Philippines – A team from the Japanese government will be heading to Manila to discuss the renegotiation of the Japan Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

While the nation still grieves over the execution of three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in China yesterday, San Juan City Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito yesterday asked the Aquino administration to realign its position in cutting 50 percent of its Legal Assistance Fund (LAF) to OFWs worldwide.

Can anyone help me make heads or tails of statements made two weeks ago by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm) Corp. president and chief executive officer? Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said that when the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) was enacted in 2001, state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor)’s accumulated financial obligations stood…

A one-month fuel subsidy to public transport franchisers has been approved in principle, President Aquino said yesterday, as part of his government’s initial response to the continuous rounds of oil price hikes in the country owing to the still unabated political crises confronting the Middle East.

The third batch of 82 Filipino nurses will leave for Japan on May 30 to undergo intensive Japanese language training to further boost their chances of passing the country’s tough licensure examinations.

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines, where an average of 11 women a day die giving birth, could lower its high maternal death rate by having a reproductive health policy, a visiting United Nations delegation said on Friday.

MANILA, Philippines – The National HIV and AIDS Registry has listed 6,326 cases in the country, including the 159 new infections diagnosed in February, a party-list lawmaker said Friday.

One of our readers, Zaide Capistrano, has asked about an anti-usury law after reading our last column “Capping Credit Card Charges.” Here is some background information in response to Capistrano’s query and for the benefit of other interested readers:

MANILA, Philippines – The country is expected to hit its export targets despite of the work disruption in Japan and the crisis in the Middle East, the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) said.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s foreign debt rose by 9.5 percent to $60.1 billion in 2010 on the back of higher government and private sector borrowings as well as upward foreign exchange revaluation, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – After six consecutive quarters of upswing since the fourth quarter of 2009, economic activity may slow down in the second quarter of the year.

Throughout the Philippines in March there have been vibrant marches and celebrations for National Women’s Month. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has also joined in with marches and protests of its own, but unfortunately these are to protest a proposed law that would actually provide a better life for women. The Bishops’ animus…

MANILA, Philippines – Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo yesterday called on local government units to refrain from enacting ordinances prohibiting the purchase of contraceptives without prescription.   He said local government units have no power to issue such ordinances.  

MANILA, Philippines – The “transport caravan” staged by militant transport groups yesterday failed to cripple public transportation in Metro Manila, according to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino consumers were more pessimistic in the first quarter of the year because of rising oil and food prices, and natural disasters that occurred overseas, according to the 1st Quarter 2011 Consumer Expectation Survey (CES) conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).