Monthly Archives: December 2015

Servant leadership, dedication, discipline and adaptive management characterized Secretary de Guzman’s work in Paris. The result was a cohesive and united Team Philippines. Reports of deaths and damages from the two most recent typhoons (Onyok and Nona) that devastated the Philippines have raised the urgency of understanding how the new global climate agreement can particularly…

Those of us in Le Bourget the evening of December 12, 2015, were genuinely happy with what we have achieved but we were also acutely aware that the hard work must continue in the years ahead

The Philippines ranks 141st out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines became a less dangerous country for journalists in 2015 after improving its ranking for press freedom, Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders or Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) revealed.

Global economic growth will be disappointing next year and the outlook for the medium-term has also deteriorated, the head of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday.

Global economic growth will be disappointing next year and the outlook for the medium-term has also deteriorated, the head of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday.

ICT has the power to positively affect every aspect of our lives. But there are hurdles that we as a nation need to overcome first MANILA, Philippines – We have been dubbed as the social media capital of the world, and the numbers continue to prove it.

MANILA, Philippines – The intention of Japanese companies to expand business in the next one or two years in the 10-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has declined, but these firms still expect business to be profitable in countries like the Philippines, a survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)…

MANILA, Dec. 29 — The United States Department of Labor (US-DOL), in its 2014 report on Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor last September, cited the Philippines as having achieved ‘significant advancement’ in its efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

Election spending and the recovery of the global economy will increase the country’s import payments to at least 10 percent next year, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

BEIJING – The owner of a Chinese gypsum mine drowned yesterday after jumping into a well in an apparent suicide during rescue efforts for 17 workers still trapped two days after the mine collapsed and killed one person, state media said.

On 30 September 2015, the United States Department of Labor, in its 2014 report on Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor cited the Philippines as having achieved ‘significant advancement’ in its efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, the third year in a row that the said report has cited and…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) is firm on implementing the flagship education reform program of the Aquino administration despite numerous petitions filed before the Supreme Court (SC) to stop it.

MANILA, Philippines – A 22-year-old helper died while three others were injured when several glass panels fell on them in Caloocan City on Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines – Danielle Clara Dandan, a 26-year-old writer from Makati, is preparing for her wedding next year. If she has her way, she would have wanted the law lowering income tax passed before year-end.

The uneven growth pace of economies in the world—particularly the country’s top trading and investment partners—remains as one of the major challenges from the external front for the Philippine economy going forward, while the possible effects of El Niño and the lingering infrastructure gap are the challenges seen as growth hurdles on the domestic side.

The Philippines and the European Union (EU) announced on Tuesday that they have agreed to start formal negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA), three years after laying down the foundation for it. Outgoing Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo and EU Trade Commissioner Anna Cecilia Malmström said they “share the ambition” to conclude an FTA that covers…

Last Nov. 25, the Philippines kicked off its annual 18-day Campaign to End Violence against Women (VAW). Now on its 13th year, the Philippine campaign combines three women’s human rights normative commemorations, namely, the International Day for the Elimination of VAW (Nov. 25), International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), and the historic opening for signature…

Landholdings of farmers nationwide declined by almost 50 percent in 32 years, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported. Data released by the PSA showed that the average landholding of farmers declined to 1.29 hectares per farm in 2012, from 2.84 hectares per farm in 1980.

Read more here.

ITOGON, Benguet, Philippines – Two small-scale miners died of suffocation in a tunnel in this town on Tuesday. Edgar Santos, 29, of Alicia town in Isabela, and Jordan Cortez, 25, of Mountain Province, were found inside the tunnel located in Barangay Tuding.

Published in SUNS #8159 dated 18 December 2015 Nairobi, 17 Dec (Ranja Sengupta) – Civil society representatives present at the WTO Ministerial Conference (MC10) have expressed deep shock and disappointment over a draft text on Agriculture released in the early hours of the morning here on the third day of the Conference.

Good day! I am writing in support to your stand for security of tenure, and to merely express my sentiments on the institution I’m currently employed at. I work as a Job Order employee in my organization. Somehow, I find the term “Job Order” way too discriminating. Upon reading my contract, workplace discrimination has already…

Download the document here.

Mayor Eduardo Duterte, candidate for president, made a big splash on labor market issues when he said that if elected, he would put an end to the “contractualization of labor.” He said contractualization would kill the development of Philippine labor skills.

CAMP DANGWA, LA TRINIDAD, Benguet: Two mine workers died of gas poisoning inside a mining tunnel of Baguio Gold in Tuding, Itogon this province on Tuesday, three days after another miner was reported to have died of suffocation in the mining site.

We have just learned that Bank of Commerce, one of the country’s leading commercial banks, is turning universal.

Did I hear it right, our country has received a $7-million technical assistance grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for a hotel rating system, only to find out later that what has been produced by our tourism officials is a flawed system?

Mayor Eduardo Duterte, candidate for president, made a big splash on labor market issues when he said that if elected, he would put an end to the “contractualization of labor.” He said contractualization would kill the development of Philippine labor skills.

By Gerardo P. Sicat | http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/12/16/1532990/contractualization-labor-2016-election-issue Mayor Eduardo Duterte, candidate for president, made a big splash on labor market issues when he said that if elected, he would put an end to the “contractualization of labor.” He said contractualization would kill the development of Philippine labor skills.

A 46-year-old construction foreman was killed in a freak accident in Quezon City Sunday, police said yesterday.