Monthly Archives: August 2012

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MANILA, Philippines – Senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda remain as the most popular senatorial candidates in the 2013 midterm elections, based on a recent survey conducted by Pulse Asia. The survey, conducted last July 27 to 30 in Metro Manila, showed that the preferences of the voters were split between the Liberal Party (LP)-led…

Geoffrey Newton had always prided himself on his DIY skills. Even aged 81, he was fitting a new kitchen and bathroom in his home. ‘Over the years he’d done everything from building a boat to converting an old school house into our home,’ says his wife Pat, 82, a former GP. ‘He was brilliant at…

THE FINANCIAL literacy of Filipinos has improved significantly, Citi said, with the country notching a record high in the bank’s Financial Quotient Survey last year. The Philippines scored 52.6 points out of a possible 100 in the poll, conducted late 2011 and released yesterday. This is the country’s first time to breach the halfway mark…

The Philippine economy may grow at a faster clip of about 5 percent in 2012 from 3.7 percent in 2011. It all hangs on how decisively and quickly the government can spur investments with a little help from consumers and private investors.

MANILA – More Filipinos feel they are money-smart, said multinational bank Citi on Tuesday. Citing its latest Financial Quotient Survey, Citi said Filipino respondents garnered a score of 52.6 out of 100 points, the first time they scored past the 50-point mark since the survey was launched in 2007.

The New York Times in a post on Monday said the Philippines is poised to be an ‘economic bright spot in Asia’, citing a young, growing population and improvements in governance and efficiencies as forces driving growth amid a backdrop of tentativeness in the rest of the world.

IMPORTS EXPANDED anew in June, recording the fastest growth pace in 10 months following an electronics shipments rebound and a transport equipment surge, the government yesterday reported.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is concerned about the growing protectionism in many advanced economies, particularly on employment in the services sector, describing it as a threat on investments in the country’s business process outsourcing sector.

Out of 171 territories surveyed by the Ocean Health Index, the Philippines ranked 105th among the world’s most deteriorated marine ecosystem, Sen. Loren Legarda said yesterday. Legarda, who heads the Senate Committee on Climate Change, said the Ocean Health Index “is a new kind of yardstick” that measures how the world’s oceans can continue to…

PUBLIC SPENDING last month spiked to its highest level so far this year as government agencies responded to budget reforms, particularly a threat to withdraw all unused funds by the end of this quarter.

MARC FABER holds a doctorate in economics and has been forecasting and trading the global markets since the 1970s. Beginning in 1973, he has been based in Asia – first Hong Kong and now living in Chiangmai, Thailand, a city well known by foreign expats for an incredible German microbrewery and very numerous “hostess bars.”…

STRONG GROWTH in developing Southeast Asia is “credit positive,” Moody’s Investors Service yesterday said, with countries such as the Philippines expected to continue posting gains amid lackluster outlooks for other regional economies.

MANILA, Philippines – The passage of the proposed Anti-Racial, Ethnic and Anti-Religious Discrimination Act of 2011 faces a rough sailing in Congress after some senators thumbed down the inclusion of the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders (LGBTs) provisions in the bicameral bill.

THE country’s health watchdog has been branded “feeble” in failing to prevent nearly 12,000 deaths caused by work related cancers. A Health and Safety Executive board meeting report last week revealed that cancers were to blame for 8,000 to 12,000 deaths per year due to occupational illness.

INDOLENT Indios, inhabitants of the Philippines were once called. But Corazon Juliano-Soliman resents that tag given especially to poor Filipinos. “Let’s not forget that while we’re in deep slumber, at 4 o’clock in the morning, farmers and fisherfolk are already tilling the soil or at sea, the urban poor who put the city to bed…

The Senate finance committee approved and will submit for plenary deliberations the proposed 2013 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) amounting P55.98 billion—excluding budget of attached agencies—a major portion of which is the P44.26 billion for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), or the government’s Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program, according to…

MANILA, Philippines—The government is seriously considering a plan to end the deployment of Filipino domestic helpers abroad over a period of five years.

TOKYO – Big Japanese manufacturers’ sentiment worsened in August and is expected to improve only slightly in the coming months, a Reuters poll showed, as Europe’s debt crisis, a global slowdown and a stubbornly strong yen take their toll on the export-reliant economy.

Even as the promise of an AIDS vaccine seems finally within humanity’s reach, researchers in the United States have discovered a new disease —as-yet unnamed, but fortunately non-contagious— with very AIDS-like symptoms.

Australia’s manufacturing union and the council of trade unions are pressing for the nationwide removal of asbestos by 2030 following the release of a comprehensive federal report on the hazardous substance.

German manufacturing declined in August Continue reading the main story The eurozone’s economy is set to contract by 0.5%-0.6% in the July to September quarter, tipping it into its second recession in three years, a closely-watched survey suggests.

PHILIPPINE stocks continue to draw strong foreign participation but even with the local bourse tracking a surge in foreign buying, numbers revealed that local investors remain the dominant force, Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) President Hans Sicat said on Thursday.

THE Aquino administration is on track in alleviating poverty in the Philippines, according to Secretary Corazon Soliman of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)—thanks, she said, to the Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program.

THE GOVERNMENT more than doubled its first semester fiscal deficit in July as it posted its highest monthly spending performance so far this year.

After its four-year implementation in the Philippines, the P420-million Trade Related Technical Assistance Program 2 (TRTA2) of the European Union (EU) will be have a follow up program to be launched within the year.

THE GOVERNMENT more than doubled its first semester fiscal deficit in July as it posted its highest monthly spending performance so far this year. The shortfall hit P39.249 billion last month, more than the P34.482 billion incurred in January to June and raising the tally for the year so far to P73.731 billion.

MANILA, Philippines — More than 350 foreigners, mostly Taiwanese and Chinese, were arrested Thursday by agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission in what authorities called the “biggest and most resolute operation” against cybercrime.

The Philippines stands to benefit from an investment boom in the coming years fueled by prevailing low interest rates, according to the regional unit of an international accounting organization.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has removed a stumbling block for those opposing the participation of questionable party-list groups and nominees in the 2013 elections by allowing them to register their concern even informally with only a letter.