Monthly Archives: January 2013

The Philippine House of Representatives has approved a bill to strengthen the country’s comprehensive policy on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines deserves an investment-grade status this year as its economic landscape has “dramatically changed” under the Aquino administration which has begun to address the country’s weaknesses to achieve sustainable and “cohesive” growth, a world renowned economist said.

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – The Philippines slid yesterday to 147th place among 179 countries included in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index released by the France-based Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres or RSF).

Ethnic minority women face double discrimination in the workplace because of their race and their gender. Many fail at the application stage simply because of their names. GENEVA (ILO News) – When university graduate Jorden Berkeley, 22, began applying for a job, she was surprised to have no responses.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) recorded 293 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency (HIV-AIDS) last December, bringing to 3,338 the cases in 2012.

The country is still producing too many maritime graduates who cannot be absorbed by the world market. When maritime schools advertise their services to, “sail around the world and earn in dollars,” parents who spend thousands of pesos for tuition fees and other cost must be warned of such empty promises.

MANILA, Philippines – World policymakers have highlighted the resilience of emerging markets in the past year, but warned nobody is “decoupled” from the fragile global economic environment and that buffers must be built up to ensure sustainability.

MANILA, Philippines — Among the Philippine leaders from 1986 to present, President Benigno Aquino III posted the fastest growth in his first year in office while President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo posted the best average economic performance among those who completed their respective terms, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

Benefiting from robust consumer spending and improving investment climate, the Philippine economy was expected to have maintained a robust 6.5-percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 and remained one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Negrenses are now joining the sugar industry in pushing for the swift passage of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act, now pending in both chambers of Congress.

The TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines) and its political arm, TUCP Partylist, which currently has one seat in Congress, are joining the sugar industry in pushing for the passage of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act authored by 3rd District Rep. Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez.

(CNN) — The recession in Europe is entering its fifth year and unemployment doesn’t look like it will be returning to normal levels anytime soon.

While unemployment in different parts of the world started to rise again five years after the global financial crisis erupted, the number of Filipinos out of job continue to decline, International Labour Organisation noted on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Many Filipino jobseekers are now opting to “underskill” themselves just to get employed, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippine Congress has approved a bill awarding compensation to thousands of victims of human rights abuses under late President Ferdinand Marcos’s 20-year iron rule.

MANILA, Philippines–After close to two months of waiting, President Benigno Aquino III has finally enacted into law the “Kasambahay Bill” setting a fixed monthly pay of up to P2,500 and more social benefits for close to two million domestic workers.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has signed into law the Kasambahay bill for domestic workers, according to two separate reliable sources.

PUBLIC FINANCE is no longer a shortcoming for the Philippines, Fitch Ratings yesterday said. Information delay leads to lower Open Budget scoreExperts needed as public demands investment info Davos leaders uneasy over glut of easy moneyCurrencies slip amid appreciation warningsMore money to flow into emerging markets

World Economic Outlook Update Gradual upturn in global growth during 2013 PDF version (652 kb)Global growth is projected to increase during 2013, as the factors underlying soft global activity are expected to subside. However, this upturn is projected to be more gradual than in the October 2012 World Economic Outlook (WEO) projections. Policy actions have…

MANILA: The Philippine government plans to move about 100,000 squatters from their homes on crucial waterways in Manila by June as a flood control measure and for their own safety, an official said Saturday.

The Hong Kong government will abolish the controversial Employees’ Retraining Levy on the employers of Filipino household workers in July this year, the Labor Department said Monday.

THE UNITED STATES is pleased with the pace of the Philippines’ growth but would like to see economic expansion sustained in the long term by further liberalization, a visiting US State Department official yesterday said.

THE KEY to strong, sustained and inclusive growth in the Philippines is the performance of the agriculture sector. Agriculture accounts for a significant, though decreasing, share of gross domestic product (GDP) and is the source of employment of roughly 40% of Filipino workers. A great majority of the poor, approximately 70%, live in rural hinterlands…

HSBC analyst said that the country’s disproportionate reliance on remittances as the key growth driver means its current account will likely stay in surplus for years to come, putting further pressure on the peso. This will effectively raise production costs in the Philippines, making its manufacturing sector less competitive, the analyst said.

INCLUSIVE growth can be achieved if economic expansion is kept at the same pace in the next 10 years. However, the private sector can push this faster if it practices “inclusive business,” a government official said.

THE PHILIPPINES has some of the best population ratios, Fitch Ratings said, in contrast to advanced economies facing the prospect of reduced labor forces. “In advanced economies, the elderly are expected to make up a rapidly rising proportion of their populations over the next 30 to 40 years,” the debt watcher said in a report…

MANILA, Philippines – A man died while four others were injured in a rubber factory accident in Valenzuela City on Tuesday morning.

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings yesterday said in a new report that the Philippines’ public finances have become less of a drag on the sovereign credit profile.

Women and girls have borne the brunt of national budget cutbacks in the Asia Pacific region, in the wake of the world economic slowdown. .GFC’s devastating impact on Asia-Pacific women and girls (Credit: ABC) .This is according to a report commissioned by PLAN, one of the oldest and largest children’s development organisations in the world.