Monthly Archives: March 2012

MANILA, March 21 (PIA) — The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and its regional organization for Asia and the Pacific (ITUC-AP) formally extended unequivocal support to Former Senator Ernesto Herrera as constitutional president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

The national government intends to impose far heavier taxes and tougher environmental restrictions on the mining industry, President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines— Malacañang admitted on Tuesday the continued existence of factors—high cost of electricity and insufficient loans for small businesses among them—that the World Bank recently said were preventing poor Filipinos from benefiting from the country’s economic growth.

Palace says it is not ignoring rising oil prices MANILA, Philippines – Former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno is advising the Aquino administration to do something about high fuel prices.

MANILA, Philippines – Almost half of the Filipino population believes Chief Justice Renato Corona is guilty of the charges filed against him at the Senate impeachment court, a recent survey by Pulse Asia showed.

Survey Has No Bearing – Senators MANILA, Philippines — Forty-seven percent of Filipinos believe that Chief Justice Renato C. Corona is guilty of the charges against him, while 43 percent cannot categorically say whether the chief magistrate is guilty or not, a Pulse Asia survey result released Tuesday revealed.

Pulse Asia: Only 5% find him innocent Close to five in every 10 adult Filipinos have found Chief Justice Renato Corona guilty even if a majority of them have little or no knowledge of the impeachment case against him, results of a Pulse Asia survey released on Tuesday showed.

OIL prices have gone up several times, and starting today, commuters will pay 50 centavos more when they ride on jeepneys, but Malacañang is not convinced that these are enough reasons to increase the salary of ordinary workers. A Palace official on Tuesday said that President Benigno Aquino 3rd has rejected the proposed P125 across-the-board…

ITUC-AP General Secretary Noriyuki Suzuki presents to Fmr. Senator and TUCP President Ernesto F. Herrera the formal Statement of ITUC and ITUC-AP endorsing the constitutional succession of Bro. Herrera to the TUCP presidency. In their respective speeches UNI-APRO General Secretary Christopher Ng (right of Bro. Herrera) and LO-FTF/Danish Trade Union Council Consultant Jens Aarup (left…

MANILA, Philippines – New graduates can expect good employment prospects this year. In its recently released Philippines Quarterly Update, the World Bank said the job prospects in the Philippines will see improvements due to higher public spending and continued growth in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

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THE Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis (Philcat) on Monday expressed alarm over the high number of tuberculosis cases in the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines – An estimated three million elementary and high school students in public schools across the country are graduating as school year 2011-2012 comes to a close this month, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.

THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Monday said that at least 80 nursing schools face closure because of their poor performance in licensure exams.

Following the release of the results of the January 2012 round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the quality of employment in the same period improved due to the expansion of remunerative wage and salary employment as well as the rebound…

“You can be Streetsmart”—Empowering through financial literacy Living the urban life can be very difficult at times. We are faced with constantly increasing prices, fast-changing lifestyles and pressures to continually uplift our living standards. These not only take a toll on us but also on our financial budgets. For the ordinary working middle-class people like…

BAGUIO CITY—President Aquino remains firmly opposed to the scrapping or reduction of the 12-percent valued-added tax (VAT) on oil, saying it would only increase demand for oil in the country and eventually drive up local pump prices.

BAGUIO CITY—President Aquino said on Sunday night that mining activities would most likely be barred in 78 ecotourism sites in the country identified by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to nurture and sustain tourism growth.

WEAK spending, despite improvements in tax takes, continues to hobble the country’s growth, the World Bank said. In a report released on Monday and titled “From Stability to Prosperity for All,” the world’s largest lender said that while the “Philippine economy grew by 3.7 percent in 2011, broadly in line with its neighbors,” the growth…

STRATEGIC AREAS for reforms this year have been identified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) under the aim of modernizing tax administration to make it more convenient, efficient and transparent.

MANILA, Philippines – A global aviation industry group slashed its 2012 profit forecast for airlines all over the world by $500 million as oil prices continue to soar. The Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement on Tuesday, March 20, that it expects oil prices, based on Brent crude, to reach an…

THE PHILIPPINES has been told to hasten reforms related to investment restrictions and complex business licensing, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in report, with slow action seen to have kept the economy operating “below potential.” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, however, noted that the country had made “important” improvements.

The cavernous and historic Kalayaan Hall of Club Filipino was filled this time with workers from all walks of life. They came neither to denounce a government nor to install a new one. They gathered all 350 of them, to celebrate what they call a “New Dawn” in the tumultuous history of the Philippine labor…

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Sunday said it had ordered its personnel at all ports nationwide to facilitate the “unhampered” exit of au pairs bound for Europe after the Philippine government lifted the ban on their deployment.

MANILA— The World Bank said on Monday the Philippines needs to accelerate reforms to allow for sustained economic growth above 5 percent a year to improve the lives of the poor and catch up with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank expects the Philippines to grow below the average for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with economists pointing to the need for increasing tax revenues, particularly from excise taxes on liquor and tobacco.

All elements are in place, says former NEDA chief For the Philippines, 2012 does not mean the end of the world as predicted by the ancient Mayans, but could instead herald the beginning of a much-awaited economic takeoff, according to former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cielito Habito.

Thai firm’s P2.2-B project tops February list Thailand ranked highest among the Philippines’ top investors for February 2012 with Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Foods Phils. Corp.’s (CP Foods) aqua feed production project in Bataan, according to the Board of Investments.

LEGAZPI CITY: A “camote” style of illegal coal mining operations are thriving in Batan Island, Rapu-Rapu, Albay under the noses of local officials, clashing directly with the reputation of the Province as a pioneer in climate-change adaptation programs.

SEVERAL lawmakers from Mindanao are demanding immediate government action on the worsening power crisis on the island, saying the power crisis there was artificial and deliberately caused. Energy officials were “in cahoots with unscrupulous businessmen who are out to make huge profits from the recurrent [blackouts], Agham party list Rep. Angelo Palmones said.