Monthly Archives: October 2013

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will continue to see robust growth in 2013 and 2014 based on strong domestic consumption and an increase in investments, but this expansion has yet to generate new jobs or reduce poverty levels, according to an updated Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecast.

The Philippine service sector has come a long way in just over a decade, with its tremendous growth owed in no small part to the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

Even if you can’t pay top dollar, how you hire and the strategies you use to retain people can make a major difference. FORTUNE — New Gallup research shows that only 13% of workers worldwide are actively engaged in their jobs, meaning they’re psychologically committed to doing their best and likely to make a strong…

THE Court of Appeals (CA) Seventh Division has ruled that former senator Ernesto F. Herrera is the rightful president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

[MANILA] The Internet is “a major reason” for the increase in HIV cases in the Philippines, according to one of the country’s top health officials.

MANILA — The Philippines has joined the “Red Card to Child Labour” global campaign to end child labor. Around 200 former child laborers played in the Batang Malaya football tournament Thursday, in partnership with the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and the Younghusband Football Academy.

MANILA – Thousands of jobs are waiting for Filipino workers in Canada. Among the jobs up for grabs are for engineers, architects, teachers, and healthcare professionals.

Some 52% of families of cooks, servers, and other fast-food workers receive public aid, nearly twice the percentage of the overall workforce. FORTUNE — Taxpayers spend at least $7 billion annually to subsidize food stamps and other public assistance programs that fast-food industry workers depend on to get by, according to two new studies.

One of my first jobs in Manila was at an American call center company in Ortigas where I worked as a technical support agent. Shortly after I started, my male coworkers decided that my being an out-and-proud lesbian was too much to take. They “jokingly” dragged me to the men’s room because they said they…

For once the Nobel Peace Prize Committee was wrong. Malala Yousafzai should have won. Her courage and her wonderful advocacy for the education of girls worldwide will have and are having a dramatic impact on the world and the freedom of people. Getting rid of chemical weapons is important, but not at the same widespread…

These past two weeks, due to floods or bomb threats, many residents of Metro Manila were caught in monstrous traffic jams. Based on social media and radio reports, it is clear that citizens are reaching a breaking point. The anger is palpable, the blame laid squarely on the government and especially the Metro Manila Development…

It’s no contest should there be a performance audit on one-on-one basis between two state pension fund agencies of the government – the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines – The unabated small-scale mining is the culprit in the mercury contamination of rivers along the remote mountain border of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

President Benigno Aquino III’s satisfaction scores dropped to “good” in September from “very good” in June, according to a new survey by pollster Social Weather Stations.

BUSINESSMEN and celebrities have again topped the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) list of biggest individual taxpayers, although with significant ranking change for 2012.

MANILA, Philippines – While the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) posted a P3.8-billion shortfall in its reserve fund requirement in 2012, its officials and employees took home various kinds of bonuses and allowances that totalled P1.448 billion.

THE APPELLATE court has ruled former senator Ernesto F. Herrera is the rightful president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) in light of the intra-organization dispute within the country’s largest labor union.

The Philippines was outpaced by other countries in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) when it came to the production of motor vehicles in the first eight months of the year, according to data from the ASEAN Automotive Federation (AAF) over the weekend.

News, business, economy, manufacturing, auto industry The Philippine automotive sector continued to trudge behind its neighbors in the Asean in terms of vehicle sales and production despite posting a robust year-on-year growth domestically.

MANILA, Philippines – Representatives of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) are in the country to reassess the Philippines’ compliance with the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) for Seafarers Convention.

In 1989, a labor union filed a petition with a sewing machine company to be the sole and exclusive bargaining agent that represents the company’s collectors. The company refused to recognize the labor union, explaining that the union members were not actually their employees but were independent contractors. To support its claim, the company showed…

PUBLIC SATISFACTION with President Benigno S. C. Aquino III has hit a low point, falling to “good” from “very good” in a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted last month.

We need a way to measure whether our nations are progressing, in terms of the real things that matter to real people, writes Michael Green. We need a way to measure whether our nations are progressing, in terms of the real things that matter to real people. (Madelene Cronje, M&G)

MANILA, Philippines – Job opportunities await many Filipinos planning to work in Canada with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Canadian government.

MANILA – The head of the Social Security System (SSS) brushed aside criticisms that bonuses given the pension fund’s board members were uncalled for, if not immoral.

MANILA – The country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) industry increased its revenue target for this year, citing greater interest in the Philippines as an outsourcing destination.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of weary workers risk life and limb riding the MRT each day even as an international transport expert described the depreciated and badly maintained train system “extremely dangerous.”

THE information technology and business-process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry is likely to exceed its target of raking in $25 billion in revenues by 2016 due to the faster year-on-year growth of 19 percent that it has been experiencing.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines, already in the limelight as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, gained another vote of confidence from two global financial institutions with a fresh round of economic upgrades.

LONDON – A group of domestic workers led by an award-winning Filipina activist is joining UN talks this week urging the UK government to improve their rights in the country by implementing recommendations from the International Labour Organization (ILO).