Monthly Archives: August 2012

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, it is broke. The Philippines has been the poorest performing country among its comparable neighbors over the past 30 years. There are many reasons for this, but paucity of job-creating, wealth-creating investment is certainly one of the principal ones.

MANILA – (UPDATED 4:57 p.m.) The country’s stellar economic performance is likely to take a turn for the worse in the short term, according to the National Economic and Development Authority, which on Wednesday said Typhoon “Gener” and the ongoing monsoon rains will not only slow down growth, but also push up prices at a…

This type of hurricane is a very strong tempest, so many and so strong hitting these islands that neither Virgil nor Ovid nor any other poet I have read can describe its destructive power. These occur very often and we suffer so much, that even after experiencing them, it is difficult to believe these can…

Despite the telephone being the most popular channel for support, it also has the reputation for being the most frustrating method. Repeating information to agents, waiting on hold, and navigating phone menus are the main reasons customers dread the call center. Negative caller experiences drive customers to the competition, and to share these experiences with…

The Senate’s ratification of the Domestic Workers Convention will bring the treaty into legal force, promising better working conditions and key labor protections for millions of domestic workers, a global rights body said.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The Senate approved yesterday the resolution which concurs in the ratification of an international treaty providing legal protection for Filipino domestic workers and to ensure them decent wages and benefits.

Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz reported yesterday that 957 bus drivers and 950 bus conductors have benefited from the legislated minimum wage and performance incentives as proof of their compliance with Department Order 118-12, the rules and regulations governing employment and working conditions of drivers and conductors in the utility bus…

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment-7 noted several violations committed by Direct Access Corporation and its officials during their inspection conducted last week. In a press conference yesterday, representatives of the company’s 664 terminated workers revealed the said violations.

In 2010, the United Nations declared that safe and clear drinking water is a human right “essential to full enjoyment of life and all other human rights.” In the Philippines, it is estimated that 15,000 barangays do not have 100% access to safe water. Most towns have piped in water only in the poblacions but…

Manila, Philippines – Director-General Arsenio Balisacan of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) believes a rapidly increasing population is the reason the country’s economic growth has not surpassed neighboring countries in Asia.

Manila, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) sees the Senate’s ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention as a milestone for over two million Filipino domestic workers here and abroad as they join the ranks of formal workers.

MANILA, Philippines – A Protestant Church leader in Davao City said Monday the highly contested Reproductive Health Bill is “not evil” because it offers Filipinos, especially the poor, freedom to plan their families, but stressed that his group respects the position of the Catholic Church.

Human life is a gift. It is a gift because nothing and nobody can give it to itself and oneself, respectively. In fact, even a dear little plant laying fast sleep in the heart of a seed needs the rain and the sun to wake it up to life.

Twenty five companies are still unable to meet the minimum public ownership requirement of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

3511k agrarian workers affected; pullout due to peace problem Lawmakers on Sunday denounced the government’s plan to fire some 11,000 agrarian reform employees by October as its rice self-sufficiency program suffered a serious blow from Japan’s decision to yank $159 million in funding for irrigation projects in Mindanao due to peace and order problems.

Three high school students from different schools in the country won the championship of the 5th Association of the Southeast Asian Nations Quiz Bee in Phonm Penh, Cambodia.

The Philippines Senate on Monday concurred with the ratification of International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Philippine labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that the Senate’s ratification was “historic” as it placed the Philippines at the forefront of the global efforts to promote decent and productive work for household service…

THE GOVERNMENT is considering a transition period for beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program once it ends in 2015. “We are currently looking at ways to ease beneficiaries out of the CCT program because some of them will not be out of poverty by 2015,” Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said on Monday…

In grabbing control of the global business process outsourcing (BPO) industry from India, the Philippines may have finally found the key to long-term, sustainable economic growth that will lift the country out of Third World status. Up until two years ago, India had been the world’s biggest BPO provider. While BPO includes service support, sales…

The Human Development and Poverty Reduction (HDPR) Cabinet Cluster has issued a paper strongly endorsing the President’s position on ‘responsible parenthood’. Below is the cluster’s statement in full.

OUT OF CONTEXT. This reference to the research of 2001 Nobel winner George Akerlof was posted on CBCP’s site to oppose the Reproductive Health bill. Editor’s Note: The CBCP reacted to this story on August 6, Monday, and published a piece on its CBCP for Life website. The piece is entitled, “Akerlof contradicted what?”

UN, 20 government agencies back RH bill MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) — The United Nations and 20 Philippine government agencies voiced their support for the passage of a reproductive health (RH) bill that would supposedly promote responsible parenthood. The support came after Catholics staged a protest rally against the bill on Saturday.

IMMEDIATE passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill was urged yesterday by business groups, ahead of a House of Representatives vote tomorrow on ending protracted debates on the controversial priority measure.

In grabbing control of the global business process outsourcing (BPO) industry from India, the Philippines may have finally found the key to long-term, sustainable economic growth that will lift the country out of Third World status. Up until two years ago, India had been the world’s biggest BPO provider. While BPO includes service support, sales…

MANILA, Philippines—Labor officials rescued three child laborers from a construction site in Negros Occidental recently. In a report to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, DOLE Region 6 Director Ponciano Ligutom Jr. said the minors, aged 16-17 years old, were found working at an excavation site along the highway at Brgy. Calumangan, Bago City.

MANILA – Almost half of all the cities and municipalities in the Philippines are poor, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board.

(PR-201206-SS2-01, Posted 03 August 2012) Based on the 2009 small area estimates (SAE) of poverty, almost half or 795 of the 1,643 cities/municipalities in the Philippines have poverty incidences ranging from 32.1 to 60.0 %, while 67 municipalities have poverty incidences higher than 60.0%. On the average, the municipal and city level poverty incidence estimates…

Many of the materials used in construction, including welding, pipefitting, and millwright work, contained, or in some cases still contain asbestos. By the mid-20th century asbestos was being used in fire retardant coatings, concrete, bricks, pipes and fireplace cement, heat, fire, and acid resistant gaskets, pipe insulation, ceiling insulation, fireproof drywall, flooring, roofing, lawn furniture,…