Monthly Archives: October 2011

THE government overpaid 19 independent power producers (IPPs) by $10 billion in the last 10 years, a House leader said on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Electricity producers in the country have been overpaid by as much as $10 billion (P440 billion) over the past 10 years, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez revealed yesterday.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday moved to have the upper chamber step into the Keppel Subic Shipyard accident that killed six of its workers and se-riously injured several others, following reports the company has not lifted a finger since the incident took place last Friday.

DOMESTIC vehicle sales showed signs of improvement in September, but the first nine-month performance remained sluggish despite easing supply chain woes.

THE Supreme Court on Monday recalled its “final” decision declaring as illegal Philippine Airlines’ layoff of 1,400 flight attendants in 1998, drawing immediate criticism from the union.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has issued a new policy and guidelines allowing schools to increase their tuition and other charges next year to help them make more money, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Monday.

THE Philippines expects shipments of some 250,000 tons of sugar to the world market by end of this year driven by strong demand from Asian countries and the United States, the Sugar Regulatory Administration said on Monday.

BUDGET Secretary Florencio Abad on Monday warned of a looming pension crisis at the military and the police, saying that the government will soon have to allocate a far bigger budget for retired soldiers and policemen than for those in active service.

MANILA, Philippines – A Singaporean-owned ship repair facility in Zambales has temporarily suspended its operations while investigation into an accident, which killed at least six of its workers, is ongoing.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, chairman of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development and of the congressional oversight committee on labor and employment, expressed concern on the ongoing labor dispute between the country’s national flag carrier, the Philippine Airlines (PAL), and the ground crew union PAL Employees Association (Palea).

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s power rates are now the fifth highest in the world, Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza of the party-list group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said yesterday.

New cases of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the country reached an all-time high of 204 in July this year, the highest number of new cases recorded by the Department of Health (DOH) in a month to date.

THE controversial expanded Annual Income Return, or AIR, that was supposed to have been suspended is back and will be enforced in next year’s filing season.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III’s House allies on Sunday were accused of manipulating a probe of the P10-billion Poverty Eradication and Alleviation Certificates or Peace Bonds that taxpayers must begin paying for on Oct. 16 this year, and at a total cost of P35 billion.

The walkout by members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) from their jobs last week at the height of typhoon “Pedring” may be considered an act of desperation.

Last of two parts TUWID na Daan, Lunod na Bayan. That could well be the sad commentary on the past year, when urgent flood control projects were delayed by rebid-ding, denying flood-prone areas of Luzon the needed repairs on dikes, seawalls, riverbank protection, and other rehabilitation work to safeguard lives and livelihoods in the event…

THE Supreme Court (SC) has given reprieve to business tycoon Lucio Tan by recalling its earlier resolution ordering him to pay P3 billion to the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association (Fasap) of Philippine Airlines (PAL) when it declared as illegal the 1998 retrenchment of 1,400 flight attendants of the flag-carrier.

MANILA, Philippines – The government will save P11 billion annually once reforms are implemented in the military’s retirement system, an official of the Armed Forces Retirement and Separation Benefits System (RSBS) disclosed yesterday.

FORMER President Gloria Arroyo’s program to hire out-of-school-youth may have had a noble intention but its implementation was riddled with irregularities that even the Commission on Audit (COA) cannot say if the beneficiaries received the salary promised them.

MANILA, Philippines –  The government needs P187.1 billion or about 10 percent of the proposed P1.8 trillion national budget for 2012 to implement 184 laws passed by Congress since 1991, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a report to the House of Representatives.

MANILA, Philippines –  The country’s top corporations and giant conglomerates are unperturbed by the downturn in the world economy.

Philippine migrant groups in the United Arab Emirates have called on the government to scrap a travel guarantee document required of Filipino visitors to the UAE, branding the regulatory measure as “state extortion.”

Inside Business Agenda MANILA, Philippines — When the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011, it painted a picture of the global economy at a time characterized by significant uncertainty.

Alyansa Tigil Mina expresses its deep regrets and anguish to the resulting social disorder brought about by the NPA attacks to the Taganito Mining Project in Claver, Surigao del Norte.  Beside the destruction of equipment and damaged structures, our alliance is disturbed that the communities in and around the mining site are the biggest losers…

A total of P100 billion has been tagged by budget  activists in the 2012 National Expenditure Program as potential climate change-related funds which can be used to strengthen the country’s institutional capacity to adapt to climate change next year.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) should conduct a thorough investigation on the “tragedy” at the Keppel Shipyard in Subic, Zambales where at least six workers were killed and many others were injured after a huge, tons-heavy steel platform in the area collapsed, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday said.

CODE-NGO TO COST GOV’T P35B BY OCT. 18 MATURITY The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said it would impose a 20 percent final withholding tax on the controversial P35 billion PEACe Bonds, which the government will be required to pay on Oct. 18 when its 10-year maturity falls due, the Department of Finance (DoF) said…

The ground crew union of Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Saturday urged the Tourism Congress to look into passenger safety issues at the national flag carrier after it laid off 2,600 workers from its call center reservation, catering and ground handling service departments.

THE WORLD BANK has joined other multilateral institutions in trimming growth forecasts for the Philippines, citing a weaker-than-expected first half and renewed global turmoil.