Monthly Archives: August 2011

Millions of Filipinos have left the country to find better-paying jobs abroad. MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines would be a boiling cauldron of poverty and social unrest if it were not for the millions of Filipinos heading overseas to work in higher-paying jobs, according to a US embassy cable published by WikiLeaks.

WIKILEAKS TARGETS CEBU CITY Cebu City’s “vigilante killings” of suspected hoodlums didn’t escape the notice of United States officials. A US Embassy cable recently released by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks showed that in 2005, the US Ambassador to the Philippines reported that Cebu government officials and the public were perceived to be supporting the killings…

PROFITS OF pension fund Social Security System (SSS) rose by 15% in the first half on the back of higher earnings from investments and cutbacks in operating expenses.

Gil has been commissioned by the Department of Health to make a documentary on the rising cases of HIV and AIDS in the Philippines. But his lead, Heidi, is reluctant to talk about the facts and circumstances surrounding her condition. In front of the camera, the widowed, AIDS-stricken Heidi only cries and curses at her…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines should capitalize on opportunities offered by renewable energy (RE) by encouraging more investments that are expected to generate up to 50,000 “green jobs” in the next 20 years while ensuring environmental protection.

New UN report indicates progress but says there is also cause for alarm Although new HIV infections in the 30 countries that make up the Asia-Pacific region have fallen by 20 percent since 2001, prevalence among intravenous drug users is climbing alarmingly in Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines, according to a new joint United Nations…

The raging controversy over the Reproductive Health (RH) bill has forced the Senate to tackle a subject normally left in the hands of religious clerics: “When does life begin?”

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will deliver 1.3 million scholars next year despite a proposed cut in its 2012 budget.

THE deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq and Afghanistan will stay but will exclude those employed in the US military bases in those countries, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said Sunday.

Zamboanga City—Tens of placard-bearing workers in the fishing industry here staged a protest on Sunday against a ban ordered by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) on sardine fishing this year.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Children whose mothers smoked while pregnant were more likely to end up on medications such as antidepressants, stimulants and drugs for addiction, according to a study from Finland that hints at smoking’s affect on a baby’s developing brain.

Malacañang on Saturday admitted it is still worried over the continued uncertainty of whether workers affected by the spinoff of Philippine Airlines’ non-core businesses will sign up with the flag carriers’ new service providers.

CEBU, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress Party (TUCP Party-List) bared their list of projects for Cebu to dispute allegations that they did not allocate projects from their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

MANILA, Philippines – One might ask: At a time when the world’s superpower has raised its debt ceiling and Europe is faced with a debt crisis, is the Philippine jewelry industry still relevant? Entrepreneurs and leaders of the Philippine export jewelry industry are saying, yes, and now more than ever. The country, which has always…

MANILA, Philippines – Exporters are adopting a “wait-and-see” strategy as the unstable peso-dollar exchange rate continues to impact on their revenues and competitiveness.

There is a staggering amount of debt made by Filipino consumers arising from the use of “plastic” or credit cards. In the same breath, management of this debt continues to be a challenge.

MANILA, Philippines – More companies in the Philippines are planning to expand their operations and hire more workers in the fourth quarter of the year in anticipation of a strong domestic demand during the Christmas season, a survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

FIRMS expect to hire more toward the fourth quarter of the year, consistent with their buoyant view on the solid macroeconomic fundamentals of the country, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.

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MANILA, Philippines – After a visit to aircraft carrier USS John Stennis, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa said yesterday Filipinos working in US facilities in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan may stay and continue their work there until the year ends.

Over the past several years, the country bore witness to how “going green” has shaped and revolutionized the way buildings are structured and how companies conduct their businesses to adopt a triple bottom-line approach.

AFTER seeing the highest number of cases reported in a month since 1984, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said Sunday that it does not automatically mean that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in the country are already alarming.

Whoever said genies aren’t real? While they are no longer live in traditional magic lampts, they’ve moved to a smaller and more powerful house: the credit card. One swipe (you need to rub!) and you’ll get what you want. And unlike the old genies, the credit card will not ask you to trade your soul…

CONSUMERS should start saving more money for their coming electricity bills. The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) both have pending petitions before the Energy Regulation Commission (ERC) to increase their power rates.

WHEN electricity from power plants is transmitted through the cables and wires to reach factories, offices and homes, some of it is lost. It is called system loss. The cost of this technical loss is being charged to consumers. This dissipated electricity disappears. It does not reach the consumer. But he or she is billed…

IN 2001, Congress passed a law intending to lower electricity rates. Today, there are pending proposals at the House of Representatives aimed at reviewing or repealing it. Why? Because that law has increased consumers’ electricity bills and made Philippine power rates the highest in Asia.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of banks taken over by state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) went up 29 percent in the first eight months of the year as more problematic banks were ordered closed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

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WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Philippine Overseas Workers Welfare Administration recently announced that it is now accepting applications from dependents of overseas Filipino workers for its college scholarship program. The scholarship program, called Education for Development Scholarship Program, is open to all high school graduating students in the Philippines who are children or dependents of active OWWA members.

MANILA, Philippines—From a war of words to a battle of figures. The ongoing Senate debates on the reproductive health bill have shifted to a key question —how many mothers actually die in the Philippines every day?