Monthly Archives: August 2011

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) believes that strong domestic demand would give the Philippines enough internal buffer to survive the impact of the recent downgrade of the triple A credit rating of the US by Standard & Poor’s as well as the ongoing debt concerns in Europe.

The confusion is getting worse. There are now three RH bills: the Lagman bill in the Lower House, the Santiago bill in the Upper House and the bill coming from Malacanang called Responsible Parenthood bill which is included among the list of priority bills sent to the Lower House for approval. The stakes must really…

WHILE the 2012 allocation for the Department of Education was increased by P31.5 billion, the proposed P1.816-trillion budget for the year earmarked zero budget for the capital outlay of state universities and colleges (SUCs), a lawmaker said on Friday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reported 204 new cases of HIV/AIDS in the country. In its Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry, the DOH said the new cases were registered in July, bringing to 1,220 the total number of HIV cases this year. Of the number, 27 cases have progressed into AIDS.

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Labor and Employment has brought to the International Labor Organization its complaint against the Greek owners of a ship for abandonment of 12 Filipino seafarers in Spain.

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela, August 26 (PIA) — Despite the various regional summits on the controversial Reproductive Health Bill or HB 4244 spearheaded by the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development in the country, its passage still depends on various factors within the halls of Congress in the next few months.

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — To reinforce its campaign on the passage of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill in line with the goal of having it passed before this year ends, an official from the Region 7 office of the Population Commission (PopCom) stressed that one of the best ways to advance their advocacy…

MANILA, Philippines — Mothers in indigent communities would greatly benefit from the passage of the Reproductive health (RH) bill now being debated in Congress by getting better access to modern family planning methods.

BANGKOK (AlertNet) – New HIV infections in the Philippines are doubling every year due to inadequate prevention efforts and poor knowledge of risky behaviour among vulnerable groups, a top U.N. official said in an interview.

The Philippines must liberalize its economic policies to attract more investors, China’s top diplomat to Manila urged the government of President Aquino. Ambassador Liu Jianchao, at a press briefing Wednesday, singled out mining as one of the major industries that should undergo policy reforms as many Chinese investors complain of going through many obstacles before…

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine coconut exports from January to July this year declined by 40.2 percent, figures released yesterday by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) showed.

MANILA, Philippines – US-based investment bank Citigroup believes emerging market economies, including the Philippines, have strong foreign exchange reserve coverage to survive renewed risk aversion that could lead to sharp reversals in capital flows.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) together with the Climate Change Commission and the National Youth Commission, and labor group Federation of Free Workers (FFW) pushed for the creation of “green jobs” to help increase employment opportunities while helping the country achieve sustainability.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy likely grew 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent in the second quarter of the year, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga Jr. said yesterday.

The confusion is getting worse. There are now three RH bills: the Lagman bill in the Lower House, the Santiago bill in the Upper House and the bill coming from Malacanang called Responsible Parenthood bill which is included among the list of priority bills sent to the Lower House for approval. The stakes must really…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Airlines (PAL) has commenced implementation of its spin-off/outsourcing program by sending individual separation letters to about 2,600 workers from the airline’s catering, airport services and call center reservations units.

MANILA, Philippines – Businesses turned more optimistic in the third quarter of the year after two straight quarters of decline in the business optimism index under the Aquino administration.

MANILA, Philippines – IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (E-Games), online gaming subsidiary of publicly listed technology firm IPVG Corp., is targeting 1,000 internet cafes in the next 2 to 3 years.

Imports rose 6.6 percent year-on-year to $4.5 billion in June, snapping a six-month decline as higher oil shipments offset a sharp drop purchases in electronics and semiconductors, the National Statistics Office said Thursday.

■ Some 2,600 workers in the airline’s catering, airport services and call center operations get the pink slip PHILIPPINE Airlines said Thursday it had sent termination notices to about 2,600 workers as it started outsourcing jobs such as catering amid losses.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it has closed down a disco club in Parañaque City and a KTV bar in Cebu City for employing minors.

REPUBLIC SERVICE Last of Two Parts WHAT will be the impact of the economic and financial crises in America and Europe on Asia? For the region outside Japan, Morgan Stanley analysts see “No Escape from Weaker Growth in the Developed World”, as their Hong Kong report predicts.

A YOUNG Filipina Muslim has done the country proud by becoming one of the five international awardees of the Zonta International Young Women in Public Affairs Award (YWPA) for her work in building libraries and distributing books in areas known to be hotspots of rebels and terrorist groups.

ISLAMIC education is perceived by many, often in ignorance, as narrowly traditionalist and reactionary. What is ignored is that, over the past century, traditional Islamic schools have to respond to modernizing influences in many positive ways. This is shown in Indonesia where such changes are of enormous consequence. Indonesia is not only the world’s largest…

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman yesterday said some lawmakers had been “misinformed” when they called for an immediate exit from the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

MANILA, Aug. 26 – The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) filed on Friday a petition before the Court of Appeals (CA) questioning the national flag-carrier Philippine Airlines’ outsourcing plan which will pave the way for the termination of 2,600 workers in September this year.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Aug. 26 (PIA) -– Industries have to put in place standard safety programs to help prevent or eliminate accidents from happening.

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Aug. 25 (PIA) -– The International Labor Organization (ILO) has tapped the National Statistics Office (NSO) in conducting a survey to find out the extent of child labor situation in the Philippines.

An international survey conducted by the United Nations has revealed that production processes around the world will have to be significantly overhauled if poverty is to be eliminated and environmental issues facing the planet overcome.

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—The Department of Health of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is maximizing the use of radio for a family planning campaign to help slow down the region’s exploding population.