Monthly Archives: December 2011

European banks have large presence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including the Philippines, which could affect the region’s credit market in case of a spillover from the European debt problem.

On orders of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, 188 members of the House of Representatives, which has the exclusive power to initiate impeachment cases, have impeached Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona without reading the Articles of Impeachment, and without a committee hearing or a floor debate.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has formed an inter-agency task force to unify and strengthen the performance monitoring of national government agencies, as well as simplify, harmonize and boost the reporting systems in place. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said Administrative Order 25 will result in “a collaborative instrument for a unified and integrated Results-Based…

MANILA, Philippines – The early part of the year saw the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in full gear in its campaign to color the country green through tree planting. The DENR immediately released the guidelines for the government’s “National Greening Program” (NGP) which seeks to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million…

MANILA, Philippines – Monetary authorities are gearing up for more economic uncertainties next year as growth in emerging East Asia is expected to remain weak due to the global economic crisis. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the necessary economic, fiscal, and financial reforms that are crucial to restoring the sustainability of…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is hoping that 2012 will be a good year for the agriculture sector as the department hopes to finally see results from its preparatory work done this year. This was the assessment of Agriculture Undersecretary Joel Rudinas who said the DA has not made any downward revision…

MANILA, Philippines – The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) yesterday ordered its fighters to “arrest” landlords who block land reform and to attack companies that destroy the country’s natural resources. In a 13-page statement issued on the eve of its 43rd anniversary, the CPP also directed its revolutionary forces to launch attacks on the…

2011 has been the most peaceful for industrial relations with only two work stoppages recorded during the year, the Labor Department said last week. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz attributed the industrial peace to the reforms in labor arbitration and adjudication.

MANILA, Philippines – Local businessmen are asking the government to replace the minimum wage system with a two-tiered wage policy that is based on productivity.

Job opportunities in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector topped the list of vacancies posted by private sector employers in the online job matching system, Phil-JobNet, said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baladoz in a statement Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy struggled under the weight of weak public spending and the crises – financial and natural – in the world’s major economies, but has remained resilient in the first full year of the Aquino administration. According to latest economic data, the Philippine economy, as measured by the gross domestic product…

MANILA, Philippines – The share of tourism in the country’s economy grew to P518.5 billion in 2010, 13 percent higher than the previous year’s P459 billion, according to a report from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

MANILA, Philippines – The aggregate profits of companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) fell 10 percent in the nine months ending September this year to P308.86 billion, data from the PSE showed. Consolidated revenues, however, rose 15.4 percent to P2.78 trillion from P2.41 trillion, driven by improved performances in the financial, property and…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines continued to experience severe weather events in 2011 that killed thousands of people, highlighting the country’s increasing vulnerability to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday that the peso remains the least volatile currency in Asia amid the heightened risk aversion brought about by the weak economic growth in advanced economies led by the US and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

Antipolo City, Agusan, Quezon, Albay may also be hit by massive floods THE tragedy that hit the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in Northern Mindanao may also happen in 18 other areas tagged by the Climate Change Congress of the PhilIPPINES (CCCP) AS PRONE TO floods and landslides, it was learned on Thursday.

UNCERTAINTIES from Europe cast a dark cloud over the prospects of the local automotive industry, with supply woes seen to plague the sector until early next year. Dr. Wayne Lee, president and chief executive officer of Universal Motors Corp., said during an exclusive roundtable interview with The Manila Times that the twin disasters that hit…

With the escalating violence in Syria, the Philippine government pressed the go button for the mass evacuation of at least 17,000 Filipinos trapped in the raging conflict. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday raised the crisis alert level in the troubled Middle East state from alert level 3, which means voluntary evacuation, to alert…

THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has granted the applications for exemption from payment of the new P305 minimum wage order to four business firms after they complied with the requirements under the law. This was revealed by lawyer Ernesto F. Carreon of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, a…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines maintained its standing as the third country after Iraq and Somalia in the list of countries with the most number of unsolved murders of journalists in 2011, the New York-based press freedom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in its yearend survey released yesterday.

A party-list group has dropped from its membership rolls its representative in the Lower House after reneging on a term-sharing agreement with the group’s second nominee.

The Department of Energy (DOE) will ramp up rural electrification projects in line with government plans to spur investments across the country.

The World Bank (WB) expects a low growth scenario for the economy this year and next mainly as a result of the still weak global market and largely due to the Aquino administration’s underspending of the budget.

ANTIPOLO City: A construction worker died while 5 others were severely injured when a portion of a perimeter wall of a billboard along Marcos Highway in Masinag collapsed on them Wednesday. Police identified the fatality as Allan Platado, while his injured fellow construction workers were Anthony Ginucor, Dexter Algullo, Jonjon Cabaro, Jeric Pabor, and Crispin…

A change in the political wind particularly the transfer of power after President Aquino’s term to a political rival is the greatest fear cited by investors in committing investments to flagship projects of Aquino under the Private-Public Partnership (PPP) scheme, representatives from the private sector said at a recent PPP Breakfast Forum sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers…

ANTIPOLO City — A construction worker died while five others were severely injured when a portion of a perimeter wall of a billboard along Marcos Highway in Masinag collapsed on them yesterday.

A staunch anti-communist party-list lawmaker is in hot water for making unfounded statements that has put the House of Representatives in a bad light.

The 40,000-strong Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) is calling on every member of the justice system to rally behind and defend the Supreme Court as an institution of democracy and rule of law even as it expressed grave alarm over railroaded proceedings of the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday congratulated the Armed Forces for carrying out a civil relations program that he said had reduced the attacks by Moro and communist rebels by 50 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Attacks by the Moro Islamic Liberation front went down by more than 50 percent from January to November as…

With only two work stoppages between January and November, the year 2011 can be considered the most peaceful so far for industrial relations in the Philippines, the Department of Labor and Employment said Tuesday.