Monthly Archives: January 2013

If you phone your bank or internet provider these days, you’re just as likely to be talking to someone in Manila as Melbourne. PINKEY Barrozo says she has come to know Australians, even though she sits in front of a computer thousands of kilometres away in a glitzy building towering above Manila. ”I have developed…

While I advocate a stronger national agency for disaster risk reduction and management, much of the fieldwork in all phases of DRRM—preparation/mitigation, response, and rehabilitation/recovery—will be borne on the shoulders of local government units. A strong national agency will be necessary for LGUs to lean on, not just when help is needed during and after…

IRIGA City, Jan 12 (PIA) — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Bicol has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) today with the University of Northeastern Philippines (UNEP) for the full implementation of its Youth Enterprising Support or YES Program to reduce unemployment problem among the youth.

MANILA, Philippines – Local government units (LGUs) are set to receive an internal revenue allotment (IRA) in 2013 that’s highest in the last 3 years, and the first to be generated under the current administration.

IT’S THE big elephant in the room. No one wants to talk about it, but the broken political system has been a major constraint to growth in the Philippines. Real political parties don’t exist. Candidates for public office are chosen not by well-established political parties through a rigid process of selection but by polling agencies…

IT MAY be rather late to do a yearender, but much of what I’ve read so far tend to be either fulsome (sycophantically so, actually) or excessively critical. So this is going to be a pluses-and-minuses review, albeit partial, of both the economy and the polity, with the time period under review including the first…

Bank sees PH potential, but urges reforms to hasten progress Despite its favorable demographics, the Philippines continues to miss out on a greater share of foreign direct investments (FDIs) due to a “restrictive” foreign ownership policy and “uncompetitive” business environment, British banking giant HSBC said.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Record unemployment and fraying social welfare systems in southern Europe risk creating a new divide in the continent, the EU warned Tuesday, when figures showed joblessness across the 17 EU countries that use the euro hit a new high.

Beijing — China will overtake the United States economically within six years, an official research institute predicts, and go on to become the world’s most important country in three decades more, state media said Wednesday.

MOVEMENTS of Asian currencies must be closely monitored to ensure that a “competitive balance” is maintained in the region, an economist said. With funds fleeing struggling markets and surging to emerging economies, currencies in the region have seen sharp appreciations, Asian Development Bank research fellow Victor C. Pontines yesterday noted.

Battered by weak exports and an economy in recession, Japan unveiled a $117 billion fiscal stimulus package Friday in a bid to boost growth. The measure will increase spending on public works, disaster recovery and provide aid to smaller businesses. The plan is part of newly installed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s effort to get the…

Bank sees PH potential, but urges reforms to hasten progress Despite its favorable demographics, the Philippines continues to miss out on a greater share of foreign direct investments (FDIs) due to a “restrictive” foreign ownership policy and “uncompetitive” business environment, British banking giant HSBC said.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) said the Philippines is now the third largest source of domestic workers across the Asia Pacific with 1.9 million of them. Filipino workers are preferred by rich households in Arab states with their good command of the English language.

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 2013 (IPS) – Even as government negotiators from around the world prepare to gather next week for a final round of talks on a new international treaty limiting the use of mercury, scientists and activists are warning that the draft treaty is both too weak and too limited in scope to have…

10 January 2013 – Communities in developing countries are facing increasing health and environmental risks linked to exposure to mercury, according to new studies by the United Nations environmental agency.

GENEVA — At least 52.6 million people worldwide are employed as domestic workers, most of them women vulnerable to abuse and without adequate legal protection, the U.N. said Wednesday in its first snapshot of the often invisible workforce that cares for other people’s families and households.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT units (LGUs) have been given increased budgetary support in this year’s budget given a revenue collection improvement during the start of the Aquino administration.

THE PHILIPPINES is one of the few countries that has committed to ensure labor protection for domestic workers according to international standard, said the International Labor Organization (ILO) in a report.

Experts are questioning whether diet drinks could raise depression risk, after a large study has found a link. The US research in more than 250,000 people found depression was more common among frequent consumers of artificially sweetened beverages.

THE AQUINO administration which has expressed strong commitment to openness and fiscal responsibility has made monitoring of government projects even more difficult. At the same time, it has reneged on its promise to improve governance by building up public institutions. It has weakened rather than strengthened budget rules.

BRUSSELS – European unemployment has hit an unacceptable high, as one national leader put it on Tuesday, with dire figures in Spain highlighting a growing north-south divide that experts warn will only get worse.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI urged world leaders on Monday to try to reduce the growing gap between the rich and the poor in regions such as Europe as they reform their economies.

Despite legislation limiting working time in most countries, domestic workers are amongst the least protected and suffer health issues as a result.News GENEVA (ILO News) – The working hours of domestic workers are amongst the longest and most unpredictable of all groups of workers.

OF LATE, we have been blessed by more than a few positive news concerning our economy and society. There has been a transformation, from being the Sad Sack in East Asia to being the object of praise, without sarcasm, from the MD of the IMF. We should celebrate the gains we have made. We thank…

Malacañang on Tuesday said the Aquino administration continues to address poverty incidence in the country as shown in the decline in the number of families who experienced hunger in 2012. “The Aquino administration remains committed to addressing hunger as a result of poverty,” said Palace Deputy Spokesman Abigail Valte in a statement.

MANILA, Philippines – The controversial Reproductive Health Law is set to take effect this week after President Benigno Aquino III signed the measure last Dec. 21.

We’ve heard so much about the United States’ impending “fiscal cliff” in recent weeks, and the harm it could inflict well beyond the American economy. Here at home, there is so much optimism on the outlook for the Philippine economy with its surprising growth performance and a general upswing in business confidence due to perceived…

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration has fallen short of its employment generation target of a million per year, while its public spending ratio continued to slide.

THE PHILIPPINE economy is headed for banner growth this year, First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) yesterday claimed, with the stock market set for new highs, interest rates to stay low and inflation to remain benign.