Monthly Archives: October 2011

Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday pressed the adoption of a strategic urban development plan for Metro Manila, saying its absence has stunted the country’s development and has led to urban squalor in some areas.

The realization must have hit like a thunderbolt. The sustained decline in our rate of growth is due principally to the collapse in public spending since this administration took over.

MANILA, Philippines – State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has promised to withdraw its four petitions for increases in electricity rates totaling P4.88 per kilowatt-hour.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said only 34 percent of Filipino mothers practice exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of their babies.

MANILA, Philippines – The net satisfaction ratings of the top three government officials next in line to President Aquino slightly declined in the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The Trade Union Congress Party (TUCP party-list) strongly supports members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) on their protest action against the impending termination of 2,600 employees.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, in a privilege speech on Monday, revealed that the Keppel Subic Shipyard did not have a good track record when it comes to on-site accidents.

MANILA, Philippines – The military yesterday denied a report by New York-based Human Rights Watch that the Army is falsely labeling children as combatants of the communist rebels.

MANILA, Philippines – Chief Justice Renato Corona yesterday challenged critics to make a comprehensive study of the case involving the retrenchment of thousands of employees of Philippine Airlines (PAL) before making any judgment.

Nearly 12 percent of some 196 new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients in the Philippines in August were overseas Filipino workers (OFws), a lawmaker said.

AT THE start of the new millennium, public health officials around the world were puzzled about the very low rate of Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the Philippines, despite the reported very low rate of condom use.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s ongoing landmark right of abode case has split the local community. The High Court deemed the city’s immigration law, which barred some 290,000 foreign domestic helpers from applying for permanent residency, unconstitutional.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution and national priorities should define each country’s strategy for environmentally friendly growth, environment ministers and senior officials of more than 40 countries told a meeting organised by the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) and India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests in New Delhi this week (3–4…

CHIEF Justice Renato Corona on Wednesday stood by the Supreme Court’s decision to recall its Sept. 7 ruling in favor of 1,400 flight attendants who claim they were illegally fired by Philippine Airlines in 1998.

A difference in defining company ownership between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Supreme Court (SC) was bared yesterday as the culprit for the current trouble the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is having on its shares structure that is being thought of violating the Constitution.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is again up to its old dirty tricks of fabricating “evidence” and information. A prominent international human rights group has accused the Philippine military of fabricating information that children they take into custody are child soldiers.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago are once again engaged in a clash, this time on the matter of the feasibility of amending the Constitution through a mode being proposed by Sen. Franklin Drilon labeled by him as a “bicameral constituent assembly.”

MANILA, Philippines – A total of 196 Filipinos, including 23 overseas Filipino workers, were diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in August, a party-list lawmaker said Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines — Stakeholders in the maritime industry have affirmed their preference for voluntary arbitration as a better mode of dispute resolution following the signing of an agreement covering various issues and concerns affecting the shipping sector.

It is supposed to be a coveted award among top local companies and multinationals. For some strange reason, they asked me to join a five-man panel of judges composed of former and current CEOs, an academician and an experienced personnel management professional. They made the job easier for us by pre-screening the dozen or so…

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Oct. 11 (PIA) — Three nationwide surveys are being conducted this month by the National Statistics Office. These include the Survey on Overseas Filipinos, Survey on Children and the quarterly Labor Force Survey .

MANILA – The Philippines cut its growth and trade forecasts for this year and the next on uncertainty over the global recovery, government officials told a Senate budget hearing on Wednesday.

It is now beyond one year in the Noynoy Aquino presidency. It is possible to make some temporary judgments and assessments about the way we are led. In general, the country has moved forward well. In another vein, much more needs to be done. He promises transformational leadership. In some areas, we get passive leadership…

MANILA, Philippines – Singaporean-owned Keppel Subic Shipyard Inc. violated certain safety regulations at the time of the accident that resulted in the death of six workers, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

Business process outsourcing companies expect earnings to reach $14 billion in 2012 as the industry explores new sources of revenue.

THE Philippines ranked third out of 173 countries in the world considered as most vulnerable to disaster risks and natural hazards of the United Nations’ (UN) World Risk Index this despite existing laws aimed at disaster mitigation and climate risk.

MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday expressed concern over the looming crisis in the military’s pension system that could affect the retirement benefits of soldiers.

THE Department of Health on Tuesday said that the agency will deploy door-to-door health teams to visit the poorest of the poor areas nationwide.

MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Enrique Ona cited three health concerns presently confronting the country in a meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO)-Western Pacific Region Office.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd on Tuesday announced that the hiring of 13,000 new public teachers next year and the construction of 66,000 classrooms until 2016 are on track.