Monthly Archives: December 2011

There have been strong reactions from NGOs to a statement by Health Secretary Enrique Ona made last week at a meeting of the Philippine National AIDS Council supposedly calling on parents to have their homosexual children tested for HIV/AIDS.

In the middle of year 2010, the year President Benigno C. Aquino III assumed the presidency, a senior DepEd director remarked, “We have the budget to continue our urgent literacy activities but we have been immobilized since we are not allowed to spend it. Everything is paralyzed.”

COA CONFIRMS CCT HOLES. . . The Commission on Audit (COA) found several discrepancies and holes in the President Aquino flagship Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program. It discovered:

President Benigno S. Aquino III appears to have been angered by the following decisions: 1. The appointment of SC Justice Corona as Chief Justice and the acceptance by the Supreme Court despite his objection and personal appeal;

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has suspended the transporter permits of Chevalier Enviro Services Inc. and the AEC Hauling Services for allegedly transporting and attempting to dump untreated medical wastes at a landfill in Capas, Tarlac in violation of Republic Act 6969 also known as the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear…

Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz commended the banking industry after it adopted a Voluntary Code of Good Practice, a first for the banking sector and the 23rd such code adopted by the country’s various industries under the administration of President Aquino.

Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz warned contracting and subcontracting firms to comply with the new Department Order (DO) No. 18-A Series of 2011, which guaranteed rights of employees of contractors to security of tenure.

DAVAO CITY—The reported loopholes in the distribution of  the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program uncovered recently by the Commission on Audit (COA) happened in 2010 and have already been addressed, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said.

What is the punishment for employees who joined an illegal strike? This is answered in this case of the 121 employees of a multipurpose livelihood cooperative and a motor corporation (MMLC and SMC) who joined a labor union (KMLMS). Of these employees 14 became union officers while 107 were union members.

It seems President Aquino is plucking economic policies out of the air as the National Food Authority (NFA) indicated the country will have to import an initial 500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice next year against Aquino’s claim before the recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in Hawaii.

President Aquino pressed on with his verbal attacks against the Supreme Court (SC), this time blaming the judiciary for country’s worsening economy.

President Aquino is considered ineffective in improving the economic conditions of Filipinos despite his still high performance and trust ratings that nonetheless are on the decline, based on the latest survey of Pulse Asia.

Larry Ortega, 23, of Caloocan City writhed dying as thousands of volts of electricity surged through his body while six of his co-workers were injured after hitting a live wire at their Valenzuela City work site last December 5. Investigation said that the victims were working with a round steel bar when they accidentally hit…

House Minority leader Rep. Edcel Lagman yesterday said that alarm bells rang for Centrist Democrat International (CDI) president over the situation which speaks of alleged persecution of former President Gloria Arroyo, one of its members.

EMPLOYERS belonging to the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association Inc. (PBGEA) are requesting the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) to defer any increase in the minimum wages, insisting that their people are already properly compensated under collective management agreements (CBAs).

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) stood firm Wednesday on its decision to tax extra or voluntary contributions made by government and private employees to state pension and insurance firms like the Pag-IBIG, Social Security System, Government Service Insurance Corporations and PhilHealth despite strong opposition from members of Congress and other sectors.

HONG KONG  – The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday trimmed its 2012 growth forecast for emerging East Asian economies including China, as the eurozone turmoil threatens to drag the global economy back into crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – Lawyer and business leader Miguel B. Varela is the new President of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) after one of the most hotly contested elections in more than 10 years.

There are 21 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were among the 200 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnosed on October, up by 92 percent against 104 recorded in the same month of 2010.

KYOTO—“It’s like taking a nursing course all over again, but this time, in Japanese.” That is what Filipino nurses here told Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz when they met on Sunday and asked the labor chief for help in hurdling the national nursing board exams of Japan.

KYOTO, Japan—The Philippines is on the right track by focusing on “inclusive growth” but many problems remain, a ranking International Labor Organization official said yesterday as the ILO opened a major regional meeting here on how to protect jobs and economic growth amid the global financial crisis.

I had expected the economy’s growth performance to pick up in the third quarter, and wrote so two weeks ago, a week before the official data were announced.  It turns out I was both wrong and right.

HEALTH Secretary Enrique T. Ona on Sunday directed Center for Health Development – Metro Manila Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo to closely monitor the waste treatment and management of various hospitals in Metro Manila.

I have long ago stopped listening to Abigail Valte, supposedly deputy presidential spokesperson, because I still have to catch her saying something that makes sense, or failing that, at least something that I don’t already know from reading the papers or watching the news.

MANILA, Philippines – Simplifying business operations increases productivity, reduces costs and heightens efficiency. This allows entrepreneurs to free up and manage their time better, so they can pursue their hobbies and other passions.

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a bill prohibiting public and private hospitals from requiring cash payment from registered nurses who want to gain work experience.

COTABATO CITY ,Philippines  – Suspected Moro rebels have blasted a powerful improvised explosive in a banana plantation in Tulunan, North Cotabato in what could be an attempt to force the company to shell out “protection money,” authorities said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The government is close to achieving its target number of beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer program.

CHICAGO – The US Department of Labor has ordered a school board in Shreveport, Louisiana to pay 43 of the 300 Filipino school teachers $57,380 for the board’s failure to pay for their immigration fees and for underpaying them with entry level rates although they have advanced degrees.

MANILA, Philippines – All of the necessary ingredients for an AIDS epidemic are present in the country, Sen. Miriam Defensor- Santiago said. Santiago is worried that once a concentrated epidemic reaches the general population, it would be more difficult to control.