Monthly Archives: December 2011

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.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The Philippines is among seven countries with a steady increase in cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Absenteeism by business process outsourcing employees is higher in the Philippines and in Asia Pacific than the rest of the world due to odd work shifts, a research company said.

Era of legitimate subcontracting jobs arrives in bank, says Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz The highly profitable banking sector became the first industry in the Philippines to acknowledge and legitimize labor outsourcing, a significant development in the labor front that will affect thousands of jobs.

MORE than half of the domestic travelers last year went around for pleasure or vacation, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO). In its 2010 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors, the NSO said about 23.1 million Filipinos who were 15 years old and above traveled in any place within the country from April to September…

Malacaang is standing by earlier plans of revenue officials to impose taxes on Pag-IBIG and Social Security System (SSS) contributions and insists the scheme needs only to be explained adequately in the face of growing opposition from Filipino workers abroad.

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/1 Dec) – The agriculture sector, specifically sugar and corn, are the top employers of child labor in the province, according to baseline survey commissioned for the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), a program funded by the International Labor Organization.

In recent days I ran several pieces about the dark side of mining. Among them are studies of poverty and joblessness worsening in mining regions, and looming disaster from tailings dams. As a rejoinder of sorts, the Chamber of Mines sent some industry figures and concerns. In fair play, I present them as the view…

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) left its key policy rate unchanged at 4.5 percent yesterday, as widely expected, after data this week showed economic growth unexpectedly slowed in the third quarter.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy is now focused on “investment-led growth” and is no longer heavily dependent on the remittances of overseas Filipino workers,” President Aquino said yesterday.  

The Philippines’ ranking among the world’s most corrupt countries has slightly improved. From 134th last year, it ranked 129th this year out of 183 most corrupt countries surveyed in the 2011 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI)-Philippines on Thursday.

Optimism of Filipinos about the quality of life and economic conditions in the next 12 months has hit the highest level, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) said on Thursday.

Remittance flows to developing countries are expected to total $351 billion this year, and worldwide remittances, including those to high-income countries, will reach $406 billion for the current calendar year, according to a newly updated World Bank brief on global migration and remittances.

Vice President and Chairman of the Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees Jejomar Binay has unveiled Pag-IBIG’s innovative “rent-to-own program” for public utility drivers and operators.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago yesterday demolished arguments coming from fellow senators and allies of President Aquino in their bid to have Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona recuse from participating in all the cases involving former President Gloria Arroyo.

INDONESIA, VIETNAM RANKED CLEANER IN CPI SURVEY The Philippines under President Aquino and his straight path mantra failed to breach perceptions of being among the most corrupt country in the region, landing 129th among 182 countries on the list, the worst among key Asian economies and 25th of 35 countries in the Asia-Pacific, the latest…

MANILA, Philippines – The global group Transparency International (TI) yesterday said the corruption perception in the Philippines has slightly improved.

MANILA, Philippines – Manila ranks 128 out of 221 cities in the world, according to Mercer’s 2011 Quality of Living ranking highlights.

MANILA, Philippines – More Filipinos expect their lives to improve in the next 12 months, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) yesterday joined farmworkers of Hacienda Luisita in celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision ordering the distribution of the 5,000-hectare sugarcane plantation owned by the family of President Aquino.

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MANILA, Philippines—Majority of the 17,000 overseas Filipino workers based in Syria, most of them undocumented domestic helpers, have ignored the government’s voluntary repatriation program, prompting the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to intensify its efforts to reach out to the OFWs and convince them to leave the troubled country.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

CEBU, Philippines – An Alternative Dispute Resolution was recently established at the West Cebu Industrial Park in Balamban where workers may file requests for assistance (RFAs) under the Single Entry Approach program without having to go to the Department of Labor and Employment office.

AN ALLY of President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday slammed the Tourism Department’s marketing strategy of luring “divorcees and the broken-hearted” to the country, saying it was actually promoting sex tourism.

STATE-RUN Philippine Health Insurance Corp. will double its members’ premiums to P2,400 annually by Jan. 1 next year from P1,200 now due to the higher benefits they now receive, company president and chief executive Eduardo Banzon said on Tuesday.

THE country’s Big Three oil companies remain the most profitable in the industry, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

JAKARTA: Growth in Southeast Asia’s six major economies is expected to slow down through 2016, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed on Tuesday, urging them to find new growth drivers as the key US and European export markets were stuck in a crisis.

TARLAC, Philippines – Authorities intercepted 2 trucks carrying hazardous medical waste in Tarlac province on Thursday. The rotting garbage, composed of medical refuse, came from hospitals in Metro Manila.

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) has recognized three regions in Mindanao as having the most number of public high schools (HSs) with zero dropout rate in the country in school year (SY) 2010-2011.