Monthly Archives: November 2012

THE PHILIPPINES has been ranked 87th among 141 nations in terms of being the best for business, a development officials said reflected rising investor confidence.

COMPANIES should practice “inclusive business” to help the Philippine government’s push for inclusive growth, speakers urged in a conference at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters yesterday.

The Philippines has a huge market potential for increasing so-called inclusive businesses (IBs) that could help address poverty, a study prepared for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) disclosed.

MANILA, Philippines – If the Philippines wants to significantly increase Filipinos’ incomes in the next 15 years, it must post an average annual growth of 6.7% during the period.

TOURISM Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. is confident the Philippines would break the 4.5-million tourist forecast for this year, revealing that the Department of Tourism continues to grow at 9.9 percent yearly average and even reaching 15-percent gross on some months.

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the creation of special teams to exclusively handle cases of extra-legal killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other forms of human rights violations by state and non-state forces.

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MANILA, Philippines – Thirteen organizations whose nominees come from the same families have been accredited for next year’s party-list polls, according to the complete list released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday, November 29.

DOHA: Pilipina domestics have been hot favourites of Qatari households for decades. There have occasionally been talks of exploitation of these hapless workers — like their counterparts from other countries — in Qatari as well as expatriate homes, but there have also been reports of how many of them were pampered by their employers and…

Editor’s note: Janet Walsh is the deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Women’s Rights division. You can follow her on Twitter: @JanetHRW. The views expressed are her own. “If I looked nice, he hit me,” Ana L., a mother of five in Colombia, told me.

More than six million youths worldwide have either stopped searching for a job or had to take up additional studies due to the intense competition in the labor market, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said.

Many countries have ratified ILO conventions on maternity protection, but pregnant women still face workplace discrimination. Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25), the ILO publishes guidelines on how to implement maternity protection policies.

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Three miners drowned when sea water flooded their tunnel on Tuesday afternoon in Barangay Palanas in Paracale, Camarines Norte, police said yesterday.

LONDON – The euro zone economy is on course for its weakest quarter since the dark days of early 2009, according to business surveys that showed companies toiling against shrinking order books in November.

Business activity in the eurozone continued to contract in November, a survey suggests. The Markit eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Output Index was little changed from October, up to 45.8 from 45.7. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Cristobal said industrial roadmap finished and Industry Development Council revived by first quarter of next year. At least three basic industries – iron and steel, petrochemicals and copper – may start a sustained industrialization of the economy, and consequently increase the share of manufacturing to 30 per cent of GDP by 2016.

MANILA, Philippines – The 2011 list of government’s top earners is quite different from 2010. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) chairman used to top it. Not anymore.

PRESS RELEASE UNAIDS reports a more than 50% drop in new HIV infections across 25 countries as countries approach the 1000 day deadline to achieve global AIDS targets In addition, the number of people with access to antiretroviral therapy increased by 63% in the last 24 months—AIDS-related deaths fell by more than 25% between 2005…

The 25th of November will be the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It kicks off 16 days of global activism against gender violence. Two initiatives, one global and one in the Philippines, give an insight into the lessons we must learn and the future we can build.

While South Asia is still lagging in curbing child labour, South American countries like Brazil and Chile have made significant strides. From 33 countries of the Asia and Pacific, 12 countries have achieved moderate advancement, seven countries minimal, eight no advancement whatsoever while six were not even assessed, according to the latest findings on the…

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) – Let’s talk about sex. “Do we talk about sex? How many of us are openly talking about it,” Dame Carole Kidu, a member of the High Level Task Force for International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), asked members of parliament and civil society organisations from 13 Asian countries in…

The number of HIV/AIDS cases in the Philippines increased by 25 percent in the span of 10 years despite the 50 percent drop in the rate of infection worldwide, a United Nations (UN) report released on Wednesday shows.

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE recovered strongly this quarter as firms expected improvements in their operations and the macroeconomy, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday. Business optimism slips in third quarterBusinesses more upbeatBusinesses more upbeat in Q4

MANILA, Philippines — Mobile phones will scale up the initiatives to monitor maternal and child health care in eight poor municipalities in the Philippines, an official from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.

The World Bank yesterday said remittances from overseas workers will reach $24 billion this year, making the country the third top recipient of remittances among developing countries.

Manufacturing remains the biggest contributor to economy at 21 percent, growing at healthy rate of nine percent, but its contribution to total growth has been reduced by the brisker growth in the services sector.

US Navy contractor broke law—Legarda A US Navy contractor violated Philippine environmental laws by dumping toxic waste into Subic Bay in October, Senate investigators found Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – At least 26 million Filipinos still don’t have access to a sanitary toilet, with a large number still finding creative ways to defecate, an expert said.

MANILA, Philippines – At least a hundred cases related to impunity against the exercise of freedom of expression have been recorded in Southeast Asia for 2012, according to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), a regional network of independent, national media organizations.

The steep drop in actual mining investment during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2011 forced the government to slash its target for the second half to $349 million (P14.360 billion) from the original $1.1 billion (P45.262 billion).