Monthly Archives: May 2011

The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco), the country’s de facto embassy office in Taiwan, will not be covered by the proposed law overseeing supervision of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) due to possible diplomatic and political repercussions.

Takeaway: Job seekers sometimes approach interviews too eager to please. Here are his tips for getting around that feeling and putting your best foot forward.

More than two million Filipinos should see a difference in their pay packets this month, after the authorities in Manila decided a cost-of-living allowance should be tacked on to the minimum wage.

MANILA — The Department of Education (DepEd) was asked to implement measures that will protect teachers, students and volunteers from hazardous substances, such as asbestos during the weeklong Brigada Eskwela program.

THE authors of a bill seeking to tap volunteer groups to build housing for the poor are reconsidering the imposition of an extra 1-percent realty tax that some lawmakers have described as “forced volunteerism.”

Among the provisions of the controversial reproductive health bill is the institutionalization of “age-appropriate sex education” among the Filipino youth, specifically students of public elementary and secondary schools.

FOR once, the Department of Labor and Employment and Migrante, an organization of migrant Filipino workers, shared the same stand in disputing the claim of recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani who claimed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could start ditching both domestic and skilled Filipino workers after local labor officials rejected the request of Saudi employers…

MODEST growth of remittance flows to the Philippines are expected to sustain, but the buying power of Filipino recipient fell because of the appreciation of the peso and inflation, according to World Bank.

During 1998 to 2010 the economy underwent sustained but moderate expansion. However, structural changes affirmed the relative decline of industry and agriculture and the increasing domination of the economy by the services sector. Large unemployment in the labor sector typifies the problem of declining industries, especially manufacturing.

MANILA, Philippines –  President Aquino yesterday deferred the implementation of fuel subsidy for farmers and fisherfolk, citing the lack of inventory on their real numbers.

A GROUP of local wood producers on Tuesday called on the government’s attention over the influx of substandard and smuggled imported plywood from China.

MANILA, Philippines –  The cost of electricity in the country, already the second highest in Asia next to Singapore, will go up further, energy officials told the House committee on energy yesterday.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) inked an inter-agency memorandum of agreement (MoA) to strengthen coordination and linkages to promote the welfare of the construction workers and the growth of the construction industry.

A recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing that the unemployment rate under the Aquino administration has increased to 27.2 percent was branded “statistically insignificant” by the Palace, insinuating that it departed from the official National Statistics Office (NSO) formula that shows far lesser number of jobless Filipinos.

More than six months since Myanmar held its first general elections in 20 years, human rights abuses continue unabated, say activists. “There has been no appreciable change in the human rights situation in Myanmar since the elections,” Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty Internationals Myanmar researcher, told IRIN in Bangkok.

LAWMAKERS on Monday said the Gawad Kalinga bill was forced volunteerism and patriotism because of the proposed mandatory 1-percent real property tax to subsidize housing for the poor.

THE Chamber of Mines on Monday slammed the Catholic Church for condemning all mining activities in Palawan when some of its members own shares in a mining firm.

At 15 years old, Avelino is already earning for his family. “Batang packer” as he is called, Avelino carries 50 kilos of gravel a day for P500 in the mines of Compostela Valley. “Gusto ko hindi na ako magtrabaho kaso lang wala akong pera. Kung hindi ka magtatrabaho wala kang kakainin,” (I don’t want to…

Proposed law on stalking to include cyber-stalking MANILA, Philippines – A proposed law seeking to penalize stalking will be expanded to include cyber-stalking.

KUWAIT CITY, May 24: “Laws should be enacted to make Kuwait a better environment for workers to come and be afforded all the rights that they are supposed to have as human beings in accordance with international standards,” were the words of the Secretary General of Kuwait Human Rights Society, Amer Al-Tameemi, speaking at a…

MANILA, Philippines – Four insurance companies are still struggling to raise the mandated P125-million minimum paid up capital required by the Insurance Commission (IC) and the Department of Finance (DOF). The reportorial deadline expired last March.

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile welcomed yesterday the program of President Aquino listing climate change as among the top five issues that will require coordinated action and budgetary intervention from Malacañang.

MANILA, Philippines – Two Filipino students won first and second places in the under-18 category of the Kejia Pengcheng Cup Beijing International Sudoku Tournament in Beijing, China over the weekend.

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, one of the authors of the proposed Reproductive Health (RH) bill at the Senate, said that the senators would start the debates on the controversial measure in August.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of unemployed Filipinos rose by 1.4 million to 11.3 million in March from 9.9 million in November last year, according to the latest survey by polling firm Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The army of the unemployed continues to grow under the Aquino administration as the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey showed 27.2 percent of the labor force were jobless in March or more than one in four Filipinos who are able to work.

BELMONTE SHRUGS OFF OUSTER BID A coup in the House of Representatives is in the works and a group led by Liberal Party (LP) members in the chamber will back Cavite Rep. Joseph Emil Abaya to replace Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte.

The Global Union representing workers in the garment industry has today released a damning report on working conditions in Asian sportswear supply chains.

MANILA, Philippines — A migration expert has warned the government against playing hard ball on the request of Saudi government to lower the minimum wage of household service workers, saying that it could lead to job losses for thousands of Filipino migrant workers.