Monthly Archives: February 2014

WASHINGTON – Raising the U.S. minimum wage would lead to the loss of about half a million jobs by late 2016 but lift almost a million Americans out of poverty, the Congressional Budget Office forecast in a report on Tuesday that reignited debate over one of President Barack Obama’s top priorities this year.

Philippine Daily Inquirer Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, was signed into law by President Aquino on Sept. 12, 2012. Its original goal was to penalize acts like cybersex, child pornography, identity theft and unsolicited electronic communication in the country.

GENEVA – One hundred and thirty-four journalists and media support staff were killed while on reporting assignments last year, most of them targeted deliberately, the London-based International News Safety Institute (INSI) said on Tuesday.

CEBU CITY, Philippines – When Direct Access Corp. (DAC), the Cebu-based call center where Sylvio worked, closed unexpectedly last December, he felt sick. Literally.

(Second of three parts) To be fair, deregulating the power sector is a daunting task. The dynamics of the sector are complicated by our country’s political and moral landscape.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Carrots, yes; potatoes, no MANILA – Rice tops the list of farm products smuggled into the Philippines, according to a state-backed study released today. According to a report by Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the amount of smuggled agriculture products hit $10 billion in the period 1986-2008.

MANILA, Philippines – A business leader slammed the proposal to grant workers flexible work schedules or to mandate the change in business hours to help ease the heavy Metro Manila traffic.

MANILA, Philippines – A Department of Health (DOH) official admitted that the contents of the controversial Reproductive Health Law can still be implemented by the agency even without the measure.

FOR the 21st-century criminal, a new image has emerged. It is locked in shadows, often faceless, anonymous. It lives in a virtual world made up of pixels. It waits for the unthinking, the brash, the carefree.

MANILA – Businessmen scored the Aquino administration for being ill-prepared for the massive traffic jam triggered by two major Metro Manila infrastructure projects, construction for which began this week.

MANILA, Philippines—The prospect of hellish traffic jams in Metro Manila with two major road projects beginning simultaneously on Monday night has prompted a Quezon City lawmaker to revive his push for a four-day work week for government employees to help ease the anticipated gridlock.

MANILA, Philippines – Remittances from Filipinos working and living abroad grew faster than expected in 2013, hitting a new record high of $22.76 billion from $21.391 billion in 2012, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported yesterday.

Boo Chanco beat me to the punch with his column yesterday reporting on the economic effects of the agrarian reform program. His report is based on a discussion paper put out by Dean Raul Fabella of the UP School of Economics and circulated among fellows of the Foundation for Economic Freedom.

What is green building? Green building is the practice of: increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials. It is a move to reduce building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal (the complete life cycle of a building). This…

WASHINGTON — The Arctic isn’t nearly as bright and white as it used to be because of more ice melting in the ocean, and that’s turning out to be a global problem, a new study says.

NEDA chief Arsenio Balisacan answers questions during a media briefing at Malacañang yesterday. WILLY PEREZ MANILA, Philippines – High unemployment and poverty incidence will remain a big challenge for the government in the next 10 years or so even amid steady growth – largely because of decades of squandered opportunities, the government’s chief economist said…

MANILA, Philippines—Congress and several business groups have described as an attack on an individual’s constitutional right to privacy the unilateral move by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) requiring taxpayers to reveal more details about their bank deposits in their income tax returns beginning this year.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The economy could still grow by as much as 7.5 percent in the first quarter of the year despite the lingering effects of natural disasters which struck the country in the last quarter of 2013, officials of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said yesterday.

(First of three parts) Everyone is washing his hands of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001, now that it has reared its ugly head.

We are finally reaching a tipping point when it comes to the analysis of gender imbalances in companies. After decades of pointing the finger at women and what they do or don’t do, a chorus of voices is putting the responsibility for gender balance where it belongs: with business leaders.

“P-Noy must listen to other voices, not only to his close advisers,” says the activist Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC). FDC issued a press release in response to the rise in joblessness among Filipino adults.

The biggest window of vulnerability to chemicals occurs in utero, during infancy and early childhood, experts say. (CNN) — The number of chemicals known to be toxic to children’s developing brains has doubled over the last seven years, researchers said. Dr. Philip Landrigan at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and Dr. Philippe…

MANILA – The Philippines ranked first in a global index, first released by a research group in 2013, that attempted to quantify a population’s feelings of love. One year after the its release, one of the authors of the study still marvels at “the most amazing (non-linear) relationship ever discovered in economic data.”

PROTECTION. The youth of Tanauan, Leyte find refuge in an open space where they can learn about reproductive health. Photo by Save the ChildrenPROTECTION. The youth of Tanauan, Leyte find refuge in an open space where they can learn about reproductive health. Photo by Save the Children

MANILA, Philippines – Two Mindanao lawmakers have filed a bill seeking to extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by five years. Land acquisition and distribution as provided under Republic Act 6657 will expire on June 30 this year.

MANILA, Philippines – Eight buses in a bus terminal were burned down by suspected members of the New People’s Army in the town of Lemery early Sunday morning, police said.

Why only now? Today, the mobilization phase of the NLEX-SLEX Inter-Connector project begins in the heart of Metro Manila between Makati and the City of Manila. After 45 days or so, the actual construction work will begin in earnest. Motorists in Metro Manila have been told to brace themselves for what promises to be 2…