Monthly Archives: October 2012

There’s quite a buzz in Manchester Central (United Kingdom), where 10,000 men and women from co-operatives around the world have gathered to share their ideas and experiences. The three-day Co-operatives United event marks the close of the UN International Year of Co-operatives and highlights the staying power of a movement that is gaining renewed attention…

The need to have more women in the world’s still male-dominated boardrooms has gained widespread recognition but there is also strong disagreement on how to go about it. GENEVA (ILO News) – Women make up about 50 per cent of the world’s population but only a fraction become company CEOs or board members. Yet, evidence…

The Business Processing Association of the Philippines said the voice segment of the industry is showing no signs of slowing down and is expected to sustain its growth next year. BPAP president and chief executive Benedict Hernandez said Tuesday employment in the call center sector or the voice segment would increase to 567,000 in 2013…

This is the second installment in a mini-series from Ramit Sethi’s book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich. In case you missed the first post in this series, 3 Simple Steps Leading to Personal Wealth, be sure to check it out as well. I struggled for a while with what to include in today’s…

MANILA, Philippines – The International Labor Organization (ILO) said domestic workers in rich European capitals still suffer from abuses and discrimination despite existing labor laws that respect their rights as many of them are undocumented. An ILO analysis on the situation of domestic workers in Europe showed that despite clear domestic labor laws, European governments…

THE PHILIPPINES has one of the most optimistic consumers in the world, with the country ranking third among 58 economies in a Nielsen survey that found sentiment as having edged up globally in the third quarter. The country scored 118, up from 112 a year earlier, in the research firm’s latest Consumer Confidence Index that…

Foreign capital in the form of portfolio flows, also called “hot” money, continue to flow inward on net basis even though the volume of outflows or repatriation has gathered steam, as well. Data obtained from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that gross portfolio outflows in the year to September 14 was up 6 percent…

DELAYS IN the implementation of government programs and projects, not higher revenues, explain the lower-than-planned budget deficit. The Philippine government has targeted a full year budget deficit of 279 billion or 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP). From January to September 2012, the programmed deficit is 183.3 billion. Yet, the Aquino administration underachieves once more,…

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad on Tuesday said the recent upgrade by Moody’s Investors Service of the Philippine credit ratings could lead to government improved spending.

INFRASTRUCTURE spending remained well below the full-year program as of September, Budget department data showed, as disbursements to some agencies were underutilized and funds remained unreleased. Budget gap widens, still well below targetSpending plan reviewedCoA questions agency’s unauthorized spendingSubsidies to state firms dropGov’t still to catch up on spending target

THE anti-poverty program isn’t working. That’s the verdict reached by two United Nations agencies, namely, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the Aquino administration ought to listen to what they have to say.

President Aquino on Tuesday expressed confidence that the country’s export sector, which is expected to grow less than target this year, would be able to weather the challenges posed by economic difficulties hounding its key markets.

MANILA, Philippines – Three hotels in Manila made it to Conde Nast Traveler’s list of top 20 hotels in Southeast Asia, while two resorts in the Visayas were named among the best in Asia. The influential travel magazine released its much-awaited Reader’s Choice Awards 2012 in its November issue.

THERE’S a specter haunting Asia—the ghost of double—dip recession in advanced economies that small businesses are trading with is dampening confidence, a report by Regus Plc. said. “It’s clear that there’s been a stagnation in business confidence, accompanied by significant falls in some rapidly developing economies since our last BCI report in April,” said Filippo…

The Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) in Palawan has just been officially listed as a wetland of international importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje said the PPUR was the latest site to make it to the list.

Despite the Commission on Audit (CoA) reporting huge slippages in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) which is the government’s term for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, the Palace said the Aquino administration does not have any plan to introduce revisions in the mechanism of the doleout program.

MANILA, Philippines – Moody’s Investors Service raised yesterday the Philippines’ sovereign credit rating to one notch below investment grade, citing the country’s strong economic prospects and stable financial system.

There could be a context for the obsessive verbal attacks mounted against the usual suspects by the President while he was abroad last week. That context could very well be a slew of adverse international reviews of our economic performance so far.

The Labor Department reported on Monday that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region had agreed to increase the monthly minimum allowable wages of foreign household service workers, including Filipino domestic helpers.

THE International Labor Organization (ILO) said domestic workers in rich European capitals still suffer from abuses and discrimination despite existing labor laws that respect their rights because many of them are undocumented.

MANILA, Philippines – Tagalog is now the fastest-growing language in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. Based on StatCan’s 2011 Census of Population: Linguistic Characteristics of Canadians, Tagalog is now the fifth most common non-official language spoken in Canadian households.

MANILA, Philippines – Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda blamed anew the Arroyo administration for the Philippine’s woeful performance in fulfiling the Millennium Development Goals pegged by the United Nations.

The Philippines will have an advantage when the single market is established among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2015, says an official of the Delegation of the European Union.

International migrants send home over US$ 400 billion a year, yet they and their families often lack basic social protection. That is where microinsurance can step in. GENEVA (ILO News) – Migrants often serve as the equivalent of an informal insurance policy when adversity strikes their families back home but they themselves tend to be…

International migrants send home over US$ 400 billion a year, yet they and their families often lack basic social protection. That is where microinsurance can step in. GENEVA (ILO News) – Migrants often serve as the equivalent of an informal insurance policy when adversity strikes their families back home but they themselves tend to be…

TUCP to Turkey Pres.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said the government must support its own initiative to stop many local miners from using children as their employees in many parts of Bicol province.

JAKARTA – The Philippines’ performance in meeting its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has remained dismal with barely three years into the deadline to achieve the objectives set by United Nations member-states, according to a UN report.

MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Enrique Ona has underscored the vital role played by the private sector in helping the government provide reproductive health (RH) services, saying that six million Filipino women have unmet needs for modern family planning (FP) services, either for spacing or limiting their children.