Monthly Archives: June 2013

MANILA, Philippines – Despite robust economic growth so far this year and a series of international credit rating upgrades, inclusive growth and poverty alleviation still elude the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has signed a law conferring civil service eligibility on thousands of members of provincial boards and city and municipal legislative councils.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino approved on Wednesday six public-private partnership projects with a combined total of P76.5 billion among five government agencies, but two of the National Economic Development Authority-approved projects carried “conditions.”

Last June 19, Francis Estrada, former president of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), spoke before the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX). It was vintage Francis… incisive and to the point. He talked about the Philippines today… what is right with it… what are the challenges.

MANILA, Philippines—One out of every five Filipinos from the middle to upper income groups claims to be an “expert” in money matters. But a global insurance giant recently found that members of these classes perform poorly in a basic financial literacy quiz.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

LINGAYEN, Philippines — Three men died of suffocation inside a deep well of a piggery farm in Natividad, Pangasinan shortly before noon Tuesday.

Many children are exposed to harsh and hazardous working conditions that harm their health and learning abilities. Press release | 27 June 2013 ROME – Governments need to take measures to protect children from harmful work in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture, say the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

SINGAPORE – With a policy that neither encourages nor discourages its citizens from working abroad, the Philippines, despite what many view as having a flourishing economy, is likely to remain a vacation country for millions of so-called overseas Filipino workers.

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipina has been named one of New York City’s best teachers. Marietta Geraldino, geometry teacher in 10th and 11th grades at the Fredrick Douglas Academy II in Manhattan, was one of the 11 teachers who received the “Big Apple Award” last June 12.

MANILA, Philippines – Major oil companies jacked up prices anew, marking the seventh consecutive week of price increases and the fourth for the month of June.

MANILA, Philippines – As Japan pursues its growth strategy, the Philippines remains an attractive investment destination for manufacturers, officials said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Combined earnings of all locally-listed firms climbed in the first quarter on strong performance of the retail, banking and infrastructure sectors.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s top economic manager said he remains unperturbed by the weakening of the peso and the local bourse, saying these barometers are going into a ‘dip’ cycle.

PRESS RELEASE Position paper calls for freedom from violence, equality in capabilities and resources, and women’s voice to be the cornerstones of a stand-alone gender equality goal (New York, 26 June) Drawing global attention to the persistent factors that block the achievement of gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment worldwide, UN Women has launched…

MANILA, Philippines – A new report raised urgency for further mainstreaming climate change into the government’s planning and budgeting process so that archipelagic Philippines — the world’s third most vulnerable to weather extremes, sea level rise and temperature increase — can better build its resilience amidst projections that climate-altering global warming will worsen in forthcoming…

The Philippines ranks as the eighth biggest contributor in the global value chain, according to the World Investment Report 2013, a study conducted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which was launched on Wednesday at the Great Eastern Hotel in Quezon City.

Data collection on social and economic development has come a long way, particularly since the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — the eight anti-poverty goals internationally agreed upon more than a decade ago. Yet, much remains to be done, particularly in the area of gender statistics, which can help to illustrate the impact development policies have…

As a former oil industry executive, looking at how the new independent oil companies are gnawing away at the market share of the majors day in and day out, I can’t say I envy my former colleagues, some of them I had welcomed into the fold fresh out of college those days.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines risks losing “over $2.5 billion in potential renewable energy investments” due to delays in the crafting of rules and mechanisms that were causing investor uncertainty, a 2013 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report said.

Every year, an estimated 14 million girls are forcibly married before they turn 18 . . . that’s something like 39,000 girls everyday! That was what girls-not-brides panelists told a 13,000-strong Women Deliver 2013 conference in Kuala Lumpur recently. Pictures on video and publications show girls ages 8 to 13, were looking so unhappy and…

Despite the (new) labor relations law, despite the watered-down rules issued, and despite DOLE’s oft-repeated commitment to speedy labor justice, a front-line med-arbiter in Southern Luzon continue ‘unintentionally’ delaying releasing decisions on certification elections in enterprises in export processing zones.

All poor families covered by 2015 State subsidy to the poor via the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program will further go up so that practically all of them are covered in two years’ time, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said on Monday.

BEIJING (AP) — An American executive said he has been held hostage for four days at his medical supply plant in Beijing by scores of workers demanding severance packages like those given to 30 co-workers in a phased-out department.

MANILA, Philippines – In what could be a test case for its strengthened powers to prosecute cases of oil cartelization, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been asked to indict officials of oil giant Chevron Philippines Inc., producers of Caltex petroleum products, for alleged predatory pricing through its service stations in Metro Manila.

ITUC calls on World Bank to implement key review panel recommendations 24 June 2013: The International Trade Union Confederation has called on the World Bank to adopt and implement key recommendations made by the independent Doing Business Report Review Panel, headed by South Africa’s Minister of Planning Trevor Manuel.

‘In the Philippines, call centers are not known to rotate their worker’s schedule because their operation is mostly at night. This takes a dangerous toll on their health.’