Monthly Archives: November 2014

The Gulf state’s physical abuse and slave-like treatment of migrant workers is making headlines again, as the UN starts its own investigation, following an official complaint at the international level, which detailed an “alarming frequency” of cases.

China has driven global growth, which has averaged a paltry 3% a year since 2008. So the knock-on effects of a Chinese slowdown on the global economy would be significant. The OECD reckons a two-percentage-point decrease in the growth of Chinese domestic demand for two years would reduce world GDP by 0.3 percentage points a…

MANILA, Philippines – Did you know that if your credit card is stolen, you are still liable for charges that the thief made? This is just one of the issues that all credit card holders should be aware of.

Nearly 5 million people in Asia and the Pacific are living with HIV/AIDS, growing by the hundreds every day. Can the region halt and reverse its spread by 2015? See video here http://www.adb.org/news/videos/did-you-know-hivaids-asia-and-pacific

‘Even if we’re not the majority, our voice can still be powerful. So we need to shout it out, so other members of the Congress can hear us.’ MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ male-dominated Congress should pass more laws that uphold women’s rights, advocates said as the Philippines marks 18 “days of activism against gender…

Still, the New York-based Human Rights Watch says a standardized contract is no substitute for labor law protection and institutional reforms MANILA, Philippines – Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz is hopeful that a new template contract for migrant domestic workers that sets basic labor standards in the Gulf region will “end soon the days of abuse…

MANILA (3rd UPDATE) – The fire at the One World Place building in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig has been declared out past 1 p.m. on Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines – ‎Fire investigators are still probing the cause of fire that struck the unfinished One World Place building in the upscale Bonifacio Global City business district in Taguig City on Thursday morning.

Who hasn’t received an e-mail from a close friend stranded somewhere or having had an accident asking for an urgent money transfer? Who hasn’t been offered a hefty commission in return for bank account details from an heiress or oil baron in a far-flung country? These are perhaps the first experiences that many of us…

Last Tuesday’s column focused on the positive condition of Filipino girls with respect to their enjoyment of their rights. The bright message was revealed by Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman at the celebration of the 25th year of founding of the Convention on Child’s Rights (CCR) on Nov. 20, 1989.

Protecting our children has always been our people’s mandate. It’s instinctive, humane and quite frankly, common sense. But times are changing. Poverty is worsening and along with this unfortunate plight is the diminishing innocence of our youth.

Gulf labor ministers Tuesday agreed on minimum terms in the contracts of domestic staff to improve the widely criticized working conditions of over 2.4 million foreign maids, an official said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine bond market posted the fastest growth in emerging East Asia in January to September this year, according to a report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s imports declined 2.6 percent in September from a year ago, amid weak performance of electronic products and two other commodities.

MANILA, Philippines – Fewer Filipino families give bribes or “grease money” to government officials and they do so usually only after being asked to, a 2013 survey commissioned by the Office of the Ombudsman shows.

With only a 3rd quarter economic growth of 5.3%, experts say that ‘normalized’ government spending, private consumption, and investments will help the country stay on its growth track MANILA, Philippines – Thursday’s announcement that the gross domestic product (GDP) performance for the 3rd quarter slowed down to 5.3% indicates the economic growth target for 2014…

Nearly two out of five Filipinos or 39 percent were optimistic that their quality of life would improve in the next 12 months, a 2014 third quarter poll taken by the Social Weather Stations found.

MANILA – The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is assuring its members that it has enough funds to meet financial obligations to present and forthcoming pensioners.

Asia-Pacific countries today adopted a ministerial declaration committing to accelerate action on achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment across the region. Representing a strong and united regional voice, leaders from more than 40 countries committed to reinforcing their efforts to eliminate gender discrimination and inequality, as a matter of human rights and for the development…

Labor Minister Abdullah Saleh Al Khulaifi says his country needs more skilled manpower from the Philippines, given Qatar’s expanding economy MANILA, Philippines – The labor chief of Qatar assured the Philippines on Sunday, November 23, that amendments to his country’s labor law that could benefit overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are slated to pass before 2015.

PhilHealth President Alexander Padilla acknowledges there will be ‘transition difficulties’ as they implement the new PhilHealth law, but government wants to implement it as soon as possible

This seems an odd question to ask for me as president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines. But it is a legitimate question that any labor union and union leader should seek to answer.

Ninety rights and labour groups renew call for “urgent action” to protect migrant workers in the Gulf states. A collective of major international rights and labour groups have launched a fresh call for urgent action to protect migrant workers from abuse in Gulf Arab countries.

No placement fees for Filipinos working abroad as domestic workers, caregivers and seafarers. This was the reminder of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to prospective overseas Filipino workers.

Two construction workers were killed while another was injured in an accident in the construction site of a 40-story building Wednesday in Libis, Quezon City, police said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Nineteen workers, three of them minors, were rescued from a garments factory in Potrero, Malabon yesterday.

Does sharing information on foreign domestic worker(FDW) labour laws and market conditions help improve employment outcomes? One in every five Singaporean households employs a foreign maid.

Yesterday (November 20) marked the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), an international human rights treaty that discusses children’s rights in four areas: the right to survival, the right to develop to the fullest, the right to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation, and the right to participate…

QUEZON CITY, 21 Nov. (PIA)–Some 268 Quezon City youths recently graduated from the JobStart Life Skills Training under the DOLE’s JobStart Philippines Program.