Monthly Archives: September 2011

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday that remittances by Filipinos working abroad climbed 6.3 percent in the first seven months of the year on the back of the sustained demand for skilled Filipino manpower amid the economic growth concerns in the US, the debt crisis in Europe, as well as…

MANILA, Philippines – Metro Manila youths are poised to prove student power, by asking Congress to take an early vote on the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill pending in Congress.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino’s satisfaction and trust ratings went up by six and four percentage points, respectively, in the past three months, according to the latest poll by Pulse Asia.

Prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market may drop by as much as P3 per kilowatt-hour once the initial 200 megawatts from renewable energy projects come online, a study conducted by the technical working group of the National Renewable Energy Board shows.

Dear PAO, I worked as a project base system engineer for two and a half years for an agency which deployed me to a company to which the former has a contract.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd has called for a review of the Oil deregulation Law to make room for a more competitive market in the local petroleum industry.

THE looming fare hike at the Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit (LRT) won’t be sudden, Transportation and Communications Secretary (DOTC) Manuel Roxas 2nd said Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – A worker was killed while another was injured when the house they were helping to demolish in Makati City collapsed Tuesday night.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) slashed its growth forecast for the country this year to 4.7 percent from five percent previously as a result of “subdued government spending” and weak exports receipts, saying that increased public and private investment may see a pickup in economic activity next year.

President Aquino’s fiscal managers’ move to effectively impound more than P2 billion funds of the judiciary as a result of unfilled positions in the proposed 2012 national budget is seen to put the Executive in a clash, not only with the Judicial branch but also with the Legislature due to its apparent unconstitutionality.

Labour relations between the UAE and the Philippines is one of supply and demand, as is the case for every country that sends its citizens to work overseas. For the Philippines, it is important to remember that workers, unable to find employment at home, keep local economies afloat with billions of dollars in remittances sent…

CATARMAN, Northern Samar, Sept. 15 (PIA) -– Key agencies of the province of Northern Samar led by the Provincial Government and International Labor Organization-International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) will finally engage into a written agreement to signify and capture the collective commitment of each representation in eliminating child labour as well…

Philippine education officials are drawing up a more comprehensive child protection policy to protect pupils against bullying, abuse, exploitation and discrimination in school.

Paris—In pain? A good laugh with friends will help you deal with it courtesy of “feel-good” chemicals that flood the brain, according to a British study released on Wednesday.

CHICAGO – The annual number of children who die before they reach age five is shrinking, falling to 7.6 million global deaths in 2010 from more than 12 million in 1990, UNICEF and the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank has opened a $500-million credit line for the Philippines to help the country improve its natural disaster preparedness program.

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded its full-year growth outlook for the Philippines to 4.7 percent from a five percent forecast in July, the Manila-based lender said.

EVEN with the frequent demolition incidents in Metro Manila and other parts of the country of squatter shanties, the number of urban poor families who have experienced eviction is smaller compared to the same period last year.

One can easily remember the fate of the Ayala Alabang barangay ordinance prohibiting the sale of contraceptives which a sweeping multitude of oppositors rallied against and consequently led the city council to shoot it down for being unconstitutional.

The Japanese government recognizes how beneficial the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) has been in the past three years, after trade volume increased with Philippine exports to Japan going up from $6.21 billion in 2009 to $7.80 billion in 2010.

MANILA/HONG KONG – Asia’s emerging economies will grow robustly into 2012, led once again by China, although troubles in the United States, Europe and Japan will clip their momentum, the Asian Development Bank said in an updated economic outlook released on Wednesday.

LOCAL FIRMS will not have to comply with a minimum investment value, but will have to adhere to strict environment and labor standards to operate in economic zones being planned for non-export businesses, an official said yesterday.

Jails nationwide housed 59,289 inmates as of end-2010. Meanwhile, convicts in national penitentiaries reached 35,937, according to the NSCB.

Boasting the result of his administration’s effort toward transparency in the government, President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday urged businessmen and the public to take a more active role in governance and promote integrity.

Widespread corruption, not only in government but also in the business sector, is a stumbling block that keeps the economy from growing, business leaders and analysts said at the 1st Integrity Summit Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) remains unfazed by the Saudization policy restricting the hiring of foreign workers in the Kingdom. The Saudi Arabian government has yet to come up with a matrix which would categorize about 3,000 companies in the Kingdom.

GARAPAN, Saipan – Hundreds of jobless Filipinos in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) have until November 27 this year to find a new employer or face deportation from the United States territory.

TO PROTECT PUBLIC FROM PREDATORY PRICING A member of the House of Representatives is seeking the creation of a special body to monitor the prices of petroleum products to protect the public from possible predatory pricing, or mispricing of pump prices by the oil companies.

Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday said the reinstatement of the “au pair” program in other European countries would bring employment opportunities to Filipinos, especially in view of the tight labor situation arising from the political unrest in the Middle East.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s Moro secessionist movement in the south, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has been included in the United Nation’s list of armed groups that recruit children in warfare.