Monthly Archives: September 2014

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers in South Korea can expect a higher pay in 2015 after the South Korea Minimum Wage Council (SKMWC) passed a 370 Korean won increase in the hourly minimum wage rate, the Department of Labor and Employment said Monday.

Manufacturers today are at a crossroads. One way is the business-as-usual approach based on the linear economy, in which goods are made to be used for a short time by consumers and then mostly dumped or incinerated. But with a growing world population and the emergence of billions of new consumers in the rising markets,…

I’ve written several articles on how to live a healthy life. But this time, let me list down 10 unhealthy habits everyone should avoid. The numbers in parentheses refer to the approximate reductions in lifespan each bad habit entails.

BE SPECIFIC: Instead of griping in general about strict provisions of the Constitution, advocates of amendments opening the door wider to foreign investors should specify the changes they want. That way, the issues could be joined, thus facilitating a more intelligent debate.

ABIDJAN – Gambia’s National Assembly has passed a bill imposing life imprisonment for some homosexual acts, officials said Monday, potentially worsening the climate for sexual minorities in a country with one of Africa’s most vocal anti-gay leaders.

A country’s global competitiveness is reflected in the list of companies in the global stage. Among these are: ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Dreyfus (the ABCD) for commodities; and Pepsico, Coca Cola, Mondelez and Mars (USA), Nestle (Switzerland), JBS (Brazil), Danone (France) for food processing. The top global retailers are: Walmart, Costco (USA), Carrefour (France), Tesco…

The lack of analytical skills is making several college graduates difficult to employ, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) said. At the Tapatan sa Aristocrat forum on jobless growth on Monday, Ecop Assistant Treasurer Lucy Tarriela said this stems from the “copy-paste” frame of mind of many young Filipinos.

DAVAO CITY—Corporate funding for social development efforts In Mindanao reached P1.1 billion and the organization encouraging corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending said it was setting its sight at pouring these resources to the small farm communities to increase chances of bringing the marginal families into the cycle of economic growth.

State-owned National Power Corp. said Monday it will appeal the order of the Supreme Court to settle P60.2 billion worth of backwages of former employees, saying it will affect the company’s finances and operation.

MANILA, Philippines – Understanding and cooperation. That was the request of Malacañang on Sunday to those involved in the port decongestion, which has been causing traffic jams in the metropolis.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of poor Filipinos decreased by 2.5 million last year, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told the House appropriations committee Friday.

Thousands of food packs worth millions of pesos that could have helped Typhoon Yolanda’s victims were instead lost to spoilage, the Commission on Audit special report on Yolanda relief operations concluded.

From the National Ecnonomic Development Authority The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is optimistic about the achievement of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) targets for 2014 in the Industry and Services (I&S) sectors. Bright prospects are also seen for the achievement of end-of-plan targets in the financial sector.

MANILA – The implementation of the Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) in 2015 may imperil the livelihood of about 62,000 sugar farmers and 600,000 sugar workers in the country, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said.

Nurses who are still unable to find jobs overseas or in local hospitals should consider applying as clinical analysts in the business process outsourcing sector, a lawmaker said Sunday.

Is it system-related, a case of poor maintenance, bad management, normal wear and tear, a combination, or all? The series of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) mishaps and glitches since July alone, topped by the Aug. 13 overshooting by a malfunctioning train at the Taft Station that injured 38 passengers, point to the sad…

AMID a flurry of great economic news for the country, from a higher competitiveness ranking to increased growth, a group of business leaders, who banded together as Citizenswatch, organized a forum that aimed to search for other ways that could push the country several notches higher. Their recommendations show that the “doables” in leveling up…

The MOA between the DILG and SSS allows contractual personnel to register under the SSS’ Expanded Self-employed Program Coverage MANILA, Philippines – Contractual and job order (JO) personnel working in local governments units (LGUs) can now be covered under the Social Security System (SSS).

‘Do we really understand the growing problem of mental health crisis and suicide? If only we can take pause to listen and show someone that we care’ We, Filipinos, have always been known to exhibit a sunny disposition in life. Despite the tragedies and the daily chaos that we face, we can always muster the…

IF the proposed anticompetition law seeks to stop giant local companies from keeping local competition down and foreign competition out, then that law is a yes. But if it seeks to break up local giants, which are now dominating the Philippine market and getting the lion’s share of a cash-rich, even if entirely deindustrial­ized country—after…

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines’ tourism sector is catching up with its neighbors and is more optimistic on its prospects with the Asean integration moving into full swing by 2015, tourism officials on Friday.

By Gina G. Macabaya 06 May 2014, Baguio City. –TOPPS (Teachers Organization of the Philippine Public Sector) held its 5th Triennial Congress on 3-6 May 2014 in Baguio City. Some 58 TOPPS leaders and members from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao attended the program. The congress started with a caucus on women facilitated by Sis Wilhelmina…

By Joseph Jovellanos 25 May 2014, Manila. –SMP-NATOW (Samahang Manggagawang Pilipino – National Alliance of Teachers and Office Workers) held its 13th National Convention and 43rd founding anniversary on 25-27 May 2013 in Manila, with the theme “United, Great, and Free”. Some 180 leaders and members from various education institutions and offices all over the…

Philippines is Most Improved Country in WEF Global Competitiveness Report since 2010; Up 7 this year to No. 52 We are pleased to inform you that the Philippines has advanced 7 more notches to No. 52 in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, from No. 59 last year. The country has now gained…

ABOUT THE Middle East and Libya many Filipinos have one fear, and that’s the loss of their jobs as the region and that country fall apart, besieged by the violence of contending sectarian groups and the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).

Statement: The Presidential Spokesperson on PH ranking in WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 Statement of Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda On the Philippines’ ranking in the WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015

Manila, Sept. 2: Indians have been losing out in this long-drawl-out battle. Over the past few years, young, English-speaking Filipinos have increasingly been cornering voice-BPO jobs, their “American” accents more suited for serving corporate clients in the US than the accents of Indians.