Monthly Archives: February 2014

CABINET PRESSED TO EXPLAIN MANILA, Philippines—Baffled by the high unemployment rate, President Aquino on Tuesday quizzed the Cabinet on its “action plan for poverty reduction” as the benefits of a strong economy were eluding the country’s middle class and poor. Aquino presided over a rare full Cabinet meeting that included Vice President Jejomar Binay in…

RECENT discussion over the labour-supply effects of Obamacare has touched off a debate over the usefulness of the dignity of work as a social value. Leading Republicans argue that policies that discourage work and therefore signal that work is not important should be strongly resisted. Paul Krugman insists that it is impossible to maintain the…

MANILA, Philippines – The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector will further help drive economic growth in the Philippines but this could be dampened by the forthcoming ASEAN integration in 2015, a study by an international business consultancy group noted.

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of those who get infected with the deadly human immunodeficiency virus infection or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in the country are highly educated.

MANILA, Philippines – Merchandise exports hit an all-time high in 2013 amid growth in shipments of non-electronic products. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released yesterday showed the country’s merchandise exports reached $53.978 billion last year.

PARIS – Worldwide, one woman in 14 has been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner, according to the first global estimate of the problem, published on Wednesday.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) raided an illegal mining operation in Camarines Norte at the weekend and arrested 14 Chinese nationals, MGB Director Leo Jasareno said.

12 February 2014 – While nearly 1 billion people have escaped extreme poverty in the past 20 years and child and maternal mortality have been cut by almost one half, much more work remains to be done to address inequalities and ensure the rights and dignity of all, especially women and children, top United Nations…

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue has issued a new regulation, making the filing of the annual information return (AIR), which asks for information on taxpayers’ extra income, optional this year.

Last week, I made the point that smuggling, corruption and protectionist policies are almost the same thing. Where one of these activities is prevalent, chances are it is because the other two elements are also there as partners in misconduct.

In exceptional cases, the court may grant separation pay to employees dismissed for a just cause as an act of “social justice” or on “equitable grounds.” But not in this case of Rina. Let us find out why.

More than 3,000 Filipino workers have been in jail since last year while 800 others have died, many of them in accidents and due to illness, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in its annual report.

When the summer months kick in, the DOE will put the entire power sector on “yellow alert.” That sounds a little ominous. Yellow has become the color code for incompetence.

Foreign businessmen say the Philippine economy must grow by 9 percent every year to reduce poverty. The American and Australian Chambers of Commerce say the economy’s current performance of 7 percent has yet to translate to more jobs, which it said could be created if government boosts the manufacturing sector. But the group says discouraging…

There are more jobless Filipinos as of the last quarter of last year according to a survey done by the Social Weather Station. Interestingly enough, although there are more who lost their jobs, more are optimistic that they can get better jobs this year.

How much of our recent economic growth benefits the Philippine countryside? Too little, it seems. Agriculture, the most dominant economic activity in rural areas, contributed a mere 0.1 percentage point to the 6.5 percent gross domestic product growth in the final quarter of 2013, while services and industry contributed 3.5 and 2.8 percentage points respectively.…

The income tax filing deadline for calendar year (CY) 2013 (15 April 2014) is just around the corner, and once again the individual taxpayers are confounded with the issue of whether to report income and other receipts that are tax-exempt and those that have already been subjected to final tax in the annual income tax…

The Senate on Monday approved a bill seeking to avert the possible blacklisting of some 80,000 Filipino seafarers from vessels from the European Union (EU), the same day the House of Representatives approved on third reading a counterpart bill.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments continued to rise in November last year amid the country’s rosy economic prospects, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of jobless Filipinos went up by 2.5 million in the last quarter of 2013, according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Some 12.1 million Filipinos were jobless at the end of 2013, as unemployment rose to 27.5 percent in the last quarter of the year, according to a Social Weather Stations poll.

Filipino and Indonesian migrant workers staged a protest in Taipei Sunday, seeking mandatory days off and salaries equal to those of their Taiwanese counterparts.

UK firm warns of major setback in 2016 leadership change MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy is expected to continue expanding between 6.5 and seven percent in the next decade but London-based Capital Economics warned that the change in leadership in 2016 could be a major setback for the country.

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The number of registered Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) has reached 6.3 million, said President Benigno Aquino III.

Malacanang on Monday said it is not surprised with the increase in unemployment shown in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey. Based on the latest SWS survey, the unemployment rate increased to 27.5 percent in December 2013 compared to 21.7 percent in September 2013. It was also the highest rate of unemployement for 2013.

Sustaining President Aquino’s reform initiatives will be key to keeping the Philippine economy growing above-trend. MANILA – The Philippine economy can sustain its above-trend growth in the next 10 years provided that government reform continues, according to Capital Economics.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz clarified on Monday that the government does not plan on signing any agreement that will in effect “rent out” overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

MANILA, Philippines – Fourteen Chinese nationals were arrested in a raid on an alleged illegal black sand mining site in Camarines Norte on Thursday, which also resulted in the seizure of at least P12 million worth of minerals, heavy equipment and motor vehicles, officials reported yesterday.

THE MONETARY BOARD kept key interest rates steady during its first policy meeting for the year but adjusted its 2014 and 2015 inflation forecasts. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) overnight borrowing and lending rates were maintained 3.5% and 5.5%, respectively, for a 10th straight meeting, with monetary authorities contending that inflation remained manageable.

The real estate sector doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down this year, according to property analysts. The year 2013, for Enrique M. Soriano III, Ateneo program director for real estate, was relatively stable. “The sector weathered local and regional challenges,” said Soriano, who is also a senior adviser for Wong+Bernstein Business Advisory.