Monthly Archives: June 2011

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is considering the use of a $100-million fund budgeted for nuclear energy development, for other activities, a Department of Energy (DOE) official said.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Daniel Inouye has refiled in the US Senate a bill which seeks to revive the dying textile industry in the Philippines and generate some 200,000 jobs while at the same time opening up the Asian market for American textile.

As for online shopping scams, the criminal usually offers to sell an item online, then refuses to deliver the item once a buyer deposits the payment in the criminal’s bank account. MANILA, Philippines – The number of cybercrimes reported in the country each week has increased by at least 25 percent compared to six years…

MANILA, Philippines – Justice Undersecretary and Inter Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) head Jose Vicente Salazar said the problem of human trafficking extends far beyond the country’s borders and that there is an urgent need for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss and formulate policies to ensure that human trafficking is put…

MANILA, Philippines – A research group yesterday said that the youth sector, apart from sex workers and migrant workers, is also considered as “high risk” to the infection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The study “Philippine Education Sectors’ Response to HIV, Drugs and Sexuality” showed that the HIV cases in the country continued to climb,…

LUBAO, Pampanga ,Philippines – Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo slammed yesterday the Aquino administration and warned of “danger signs” in the country’s economy because of what she claimed was a lack of leadership in government.

FITCH Ratings Inc. lifted the Philippines’ credit score to a notch below investment grade on the back of the country’s strong external finances and the government’s efforts to trim its fiscal deficit. In a statement on Thursday, Fitch said it upgraded the sovereign’s long-term foreign currency rating to “BB+” from “BB.” The long-term local currency…

(Ric Saludo’s colleague Marishka Noelle M. Cabrera contributed today’s column.) FOR the non-nerd, computer hacking is a nuisance at worst, perpetrated by losers with nothing else to do but wreak havoc in cyberspace just for kicks. But the fun is getting serious now, with hackers engineering security breaches in global corporations and institutions and exposing…

THE business community is opposing two bills seeking to institutionalize corporate social responsibility activities. While CSR should be embedded in every company’s “business DNA,” Ed Amistad, chairperson of the League of Corporate Foundations, said it should not be required by law and should remain as a voluntary activity.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines received another credit rating upgrade under the Aquino government, this time from London-based Fitch Ratings that upgraded the sovereign rating by one notch from the previous “BB” to “BB+” following the country’s strong economic growth. This is the fourth upgrade received by the Philippines since President Aquino assumed office in…

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday urged President Aquino to certify as urgent the bill seeking to increase mininum wage for household helpers or “kasambahay” along with additional benefits, saying that the measure is long overdue. Estrada also twitted colleagues from the House of Representatives for apparently sitting on the bill, which has been…

NIXES 3 SECRETARIES WHO ALWAYS GIVE HIM ‘BAD NEWS’ President Aquino may be far removed from the reality of numerous problems the country faces, and the reason nothing moves in Malacañang. He yesterday bared in a speech of “two or three” of his Cabinet members who have brought him nothing but problems and “bad news,”…

A BOOMING stock market has expanded the Philippines’ billionaires list to a record 11, with the combined wealth of the 40 richest also hitting an all-time high, Forbes.com said on Thursday. Shopping mall king Henry Sy, 86, saw his assets surge 44 percent to $7.2 billion over the past year and remains the Philippines’ richest…

GOVERNMENT officials vowed to help 350,000 skilled Filipino workers who will be displaced by “Saudization,” a program in Saudi Arabia designed to cut unemployment of the Middle East country’s subjects.

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the Trade Department to include the creative industries and disaster-mitigating and recovery projects in the 2011 Investment Priorities Plan, bringing to 13 the number of activities eligible for incentives this year from 11.

THE Philippines’ booming stock market lifted the fortunes of the country’s richest people to an all-time high, bringing their collective wealth to $34 billion against last year’s $22.8 billion, Forbes magazine says in its Web site. The number of Filipino billionaires also more than doubled this year to 11, with the country’s 32 tycoons getting…

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III’s closest ally and Liberal Party spokesman, House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, has attributed the President’s declining popularity to a “lack of clear direction, coherent economic road map and failure to stop the increase in the prices of basic commodities such as petroleum products.”

LAGAWE, Ifugao, June 24(PIA)- – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) here reactivated the Provincial Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (PTIPC) to serve as a forum for tripartite advisory and consultation among labor, employers, and government sectors in the formulation and implementation of labor and social policies.

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Saying the wet season is the perfect time to go green, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is calling on the public to take advantage of the weather and plant trees in aid of government’s National Greening Program (NGP).

MANILA, Philippines – Two of the country’s most influential business groups said they’ll give President Benigno Aquino III a pass on his first year but expect action in the next. Aquino marks his first year in office next week and the country’s two biggest survey organizations say his numbers have dropped about 10 points from…

MANILA, Philippines – Eighty-six-year-old mall magnate Henry Sy remains the richest man in the Philippines while port operator Enrique Razon Jr. joined the elite billionaires’ list this year, according to the annual listing conducted by Forbes Magazine.

MANILA, Philippines – The public can expect faster action on complaints regarding infrastructure projects as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) launches its own call center hotline.

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, June 23(PIA) – The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with three private partners in Eastern Visayas in the implementation of the different poverty-alleviation programs, projects and activities of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS).

REMITTANCES from Filipinos working abroad will likely rebound in the second half of the year, but annual growth may come in lower than expected given the weaker first quarter results, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Various electric cooperatives (ECs) owe the National Electrification Administration (NEA) more than P37.5 million in excess subsidy funds.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino’s approval and trust ratings slightly declined in the past three months, a new Pulse Asia survey revealed yesterday. Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan survey, conducted from May 21 to June 4, found 71 percent of Filipinos expressing approval and trust in the President.

Jobs for overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia will soon grow less, according to a recruitment expert, as the looming implementation of a new labor policy there will compel companies to limit the number of their foreign employees.

The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) yesterday reminded the public to take extra precautions against potential lawless elements in social networking sites on the Internet due to reports of increasing crime related to it.

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker Thursday urged the House of Representatives to pass a version of the measure pushing for the welfare of household helpers.