Monthly Archives: January 2012

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MANILA, Philippines – Portfolio investment inflows, also known as “hot money,’’ retreated by 11.5 percent in 2011, reflecting the jittery mood of fund managers worldwide brought about by rising growth concerns in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has to import more biothanol this year as local production still cannot cope with increasing demand for the alternative fuel, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

IMPROVED fiscal situation will allow Southeast Asian economies, particularly the Philippines, to weather the global economic downturn and turbulence, according to the Bank of America (BofA) Merrill Lynch.

Facing an imminent displacement of some one million Filipinos employed by the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector and its allied industries, President Aquino appears unfazed and even called a bill pending in the United States to stop outsourcing of American jobs abroad a bluff.

An administration senator yesterday debunked claims made by Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) on the need to increase members’ contributions to bankroll expansion of services and benefit packages since the government has enormous cash reserves and huge subsidies.

The Philippines was lumped among the world’s mostly unfree countries in the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom, published annually by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, receiving a rank of 107 out of 179 countries on the list as it continues to rate poorly on the rule of law category despite President Aquino’s…

GLORIA CALLS NOY ‘LAZY, VISIONLESS, OBSESSED WITH POLITICAL WARFARE’ Former President Gloria Arroyo didn’t say “It’s the economy, Stupid in her article read by a US-trained economist, but it had the same ring as the slogan used by then US presidential candidate, Bill Clinton, who ended up winning the presidency twice.

Last month I wrote about a bill before Congress that would both help fight the offshoring of call-center jobs and protect consumers. Now the countries where we have been sending those jobs are organizing a lobbying campaign to fight the bill.

Focusing on ways to return jobs to the United States, a White House forum on “insourcing” this week highlighted the return of 400 US Airways reservations jobs to Winston-Salem, N.C., Phoenix, Ariz., and Reno, Nev.

MANILA, Philippines – The new enhanced curriculum for Grade 1 and 1st year high school students under the K (Kindergarten) + 12 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) by the Department of Education which will be introduced in school year 2012 to 2013, will be more “enjoyable” and more comprehensive to students. For one, DepEd said that…

MANILA, Philippines – The “Strengthened Technical-Vocational Education Program (STVEP), which the Department of Education (DepEd) launched in school year (SY) 2007-2008, has gone a long way in propping up, vitalizing and popularizing technical-vocation education (TVE) in public secondary schools.

MANILA, Philippines – As many as four million local and overseas jobs will become available for Filipino jobseekers this year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

Other opportunities in Asia await Filipino business process outsourcing (BPO) workers in case the US Congress passes a bill that keeps American companies from farming out non-core operations overseas, the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Philippine director said Thursday.

In the private sector economy, economic growth is sensitive to domestic and international influences. With respect to domestic factors, what the government does or does not do could be of great consequence. Economic policy and the magnitude of government spending are manifestations of the influence of government on the economy.

A person’s job is a property right which he cannot be deprived of without due process. This case of Jun, Art, Gerry, Ron and Cary (Jun et. al.) illustrates this rule enshrined in our bill of rights (Article III Section 1, Constitution)

MANILA, Philippines – The electronics industry is looking forward to a better year this 2012 after grappling with the global financial issues and the natural disasters in Japan and Thailand last year.

The Social Security System said employees, self-employed workers and voluntary members with overdue loans can settle their unpaid principal and interest without paying the full amount of penalties under a new amnesty program starting on April 2.

FOREIGN direct investments (FDIs) in the Philippines made a turnaround in October to net inflows, but was weaker during the first 10-month period as investment decisions were stalled by renewed concerns over uncertainties in the global economy.

THE Department of Labor and Employment has earmarked P340 million budget for short-term work to be offered to 140,000 students this year.

THE Philippines’ export revenues in November 2011 dropped by 19.4 percent to $3.342 billion compared to the $4.146 billion recorded in November 2010, according to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Tuesday.

Dear PAO, I would like to consult you on how I could compel the father of my son to give support to our son. We are not married but my son was acknowledged by his father. I already filed a complaint before the barangay and we had agreed that he would give monthly financial support…

A SCHOLARSHIP program of former President and now Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga worth P241 million was deemed as failure because the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and its partner failed to furnish monthly progress reports on the success of the scholarship, disbursement of funds, and other required data for monitoring and evaluation.

UN STUDY: MANILA, Philippines—With a 50 percent increase in new HIV infections over the past 10 years and decreasing local and foreign funding for anti-AIDS programs, the Philippines is a “long way” from meeting its sixth Millennium Development Goal—halting and reversing the spread of the dreaded disease—by 2015, according to the country coordinator of the…

Employees at a Foxconn factory in Wuhan, China, some of whom reportedly threatened to kill themselves over a wage and working-conditions dispute, have instead come to an agreement with the manufacturer.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)  said majority of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) last year went to the Middle East, with 743,535 hires.

Women in India’s Call Center Industry Relatively high wages and the opportunity to be part of an upscale, globalized work environment draw many in India to the call center industry. At the same time, night shift employment presents women, in particular, with new challenges alongside the opportunities. This book explores how beliefs about what constitutes…

Ericsson Group’s consumer research arm Ericsson ConsumerLab has identified consumer trends for 2012 and beyond, highlighting connectivity becoming as essential as roads and electricity, that social media are redefining news reporting, and that anyone can now be a service provider.

MANILA, Philippines – The House committee on ways and means will look into another controversial issuance of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which imposes tax on contributions to state pension and insurance institutions like the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Pag-Ibig Fund.

STATE-RUN Social Security System (SSS) is eyeing to get Malacañang’s approval for its proposed contribution hike within the first half of the year.