Monthly Archives: November 2012

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – New incidents of HIV infections across 25 low- and middle-income countries dropped by more than 50% in a decade (2001 to 2011), according to the 2012 Global Report of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS.

People who have recently lost their jobs are more likely to suffer a heart attack than their employed peers, in some cases running a risk as high as 35 percent, according to a US study.

An end to the worldwide AIDS epidemic is in sight, the United Nations says, mainly due to better access to drugs that can both treat and prevent the incurable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the disease. Progress over the past decade has cut the death toll and helped stabilise the number of people infected…

A United Nations report says the number of AIDS-related deaths worldwide has fallen for the fifth year in a row to 1.7 million people in 2011. That’s down 5.6 per cent from 2010 and 24 per cent when compared with 2005. The annual report by UNAIDS on the state of the global pandemic estimates the…

GENEVA – The volume of greenhouse gases causing global warming rose to a new high last year, the UN World Meteorological Organisation said Tuesday, warning it is becoming increasingly unlikely the world can limit rising temperatures to UN-backed targets.

MANILA, Philippines – Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin S. Binay said on Tuesday the city has become the first local government unit (LGU) in the country to conduct its greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory.

MANILA, Philippines – They say it’s more fun in the Philippines. But according to United States pollster Gallup, the Philippines is also the world’s most emotional nation – which means that Filipinos feel the most in a slew of emotions such as pain, happiness and anger.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will be pushing for an agreement to have a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol when the climate change conference convenes in Doha starting November 26.

MANILA – The World Bank on Wednesday said money sent home by overseas Filipino workers could reach $24 billion this year, making the Philippines the world’s third largest recipient of remittances.

MANILA, Philippines — The bicameral conference committee has finally decided to fix the monthly minimum wage for household helpers to P2,500, paving the way for its immediate enactment into law, Senate President Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estraday yesterday said.

VANCOUVER — Women taking some occupations with potentially high exposures to carcinogens and endocrine disruptors have higher risks of developing breast cancer, showed a new study by Canadian scientists.

MANILA – The government has formed an inter-agency committee that would look into illegal small-scale mining activity and gold smuggling, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau said on Tuesday.

The UN’s latest assessment of global cases of HIV/Aids shows there has been a further drop in new infections among children. There were 330,000 new infections in children last year – the figure is 24% lower than in 2009.

New HIV infections have dropped more than 50% in 25 low- and middle-income countries, according to a new World AIDS Day report by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

FAMILY PLANNING makes good business sense, both for employees and employers. The Reproductive Health (RH) bill is pro-poor, pro-women, and pro-growth. If I were to prepare a national budget for 65, instead of 95, million Filipinos, I would have a budget surplus rather than a budget deficit, with a larger share of the budget going…

THE MANAGING Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Christine Lagarde, visited Manila last week. The press conference on Nov. 16 and press release available on the IMF Web page covers the Managing Director’s views on the Philippines and discussions with the country’s leadership and senior government officials. She also had the opportunity to…

MANILA (3rd UPDATE) – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Tuesday it is allowing party-list groups Akbayan and Bayan Muna to run in the 2013 elections. Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the the commissioners voted 4-2-1. The four who voted in favor are Comissioners Christian Robert Lim, Elias Yusoph, Rene Sarmiento and Armando Velasco.

The rising preference for Philippine sovereign liabilities reflects improved perceptions of risk, absence of liquidity pressures and low inflation, according to the latest comment of credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service.

MANILA – Foreign businessmen operating in the Philippines warned the government against implementing a Supreme Court decision that redefined limits to foreign ownership of companies, saying this ruling is a “step backward” as the country scrambles to catch up with Asean neighbors in attracting investments.

FRANKFURT — Europe’s government-debt crisis is no longer panicking financial markets. But it won’t end until the region’s economy starts growing strongly again. And that will be a while. The economy of the 17 countries that use the euro has shrunk for two straight quarters — a common definition of a recession — and analysts…

Global Industry Analysts Inc. (GIA) in its new report on the global call center business has quoted that the industry is poised to reach a whopping $337.8 billion by 2018. The key factors that would drive this industry growth are the increased focus on customer service as a means for business development as well as…

LEGAZPI CITY—The Bicol region has 300,000 children workers, next only to the 316,000 child laborers in Central Luzon. With its six provinces and eight cities, the Bicol region has been invariably called the country’s tambay (unemployed) capital.

SOUTHEAST Asian countries, including the Philippines, are emerging resilient from a period of global turmoil, with rising investment and domestic consumption that will propel growth in coming years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.

Several ASEAN countries have raised their minimum wages or will do so in the near future to adjust salaries to the rising costs of living and to provide the population with higher purchasing power. However, businesses and investors claim that the wage hikes were a blow to competitiveness and would make setting up new businesses…

UNEMPLOYMENT grew in the third quarter, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in a new report, reversing a steep fall seen three months earlier. Underemployment surgesSharp drop in jobless rateJobless rate eases to 7.2%2.72M Filipinos jobless in Oct.- survey

GENEVA – Around 222 million women in developing countries have an unmet need for voluntary family planning, a United Nations report said Wednesday. Making voluntary family planning available to everyone would reduce maternal and newborn health care costs by 11.3 billion US dollars annually, according to the “State of World Population 2012” report released by…

NEW YORK – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Wednesday called family planning a human right, and emphasized the economic benefits family planning can have for the greater society.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has proposed the creation of a high-level inter-agency body to monitor investigations involving cases of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture. On Thursday, De Lima said she came up with the idea of creating a “superbody” against human rights violations following her recent visits to Washington and Geneva in Switzerland.

Sitting on a picnic blanket in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park with fellow Indonesian domestic workers on a Sunday in October, 34-year-old Arida is holding back tears. Moneylenders have demanded she turn over almost all her HK$3,740 ($483) monthly salary to pay debts totaling more than $5,000 that she incurred finding a job, she says. When…

A HIGH-ranking United Nations (UN) official on Monday said that the Philippines needs strong education politicians to improve the quality of education.