FRESNO, Calif. – Federal food safety officials warned Monday that consumers should stop eating all foods containing pistachios while they figure out the source of a possible salmonella contamination.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Majority of 200,000 college students and their parents in Central Luzon will enjoy a respite from increases in tuition and other fees in school year 2009-2010.

I MENTIONED LAST WEEK how various East Asian scholars, in a recent forum in Tokyo, affirmed the need for East Asia to rethink and rework the export-driven growth model that had propelled the region’s economies in recent decades.

Several large business outsourcing companies are coming to the Philippines to take advantage of the country’s competitive edge as a low cost and efficient outsourcing provider, according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines.

The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) is supporting the Nurses Assigned in Rural Areas (NARS) program of the government. This programs aims to provide employment for nurses amidst the financial crisis the world is currently experiencing.

Nestle Philippines, Inc. (NPI) has released a 2009 report titled “Creating Shared Value, Our Path Forward,” on how the company is locally implementing its global business strategy of creating value for society while creating value for its shareholders. The report describes the Company’s sustainable Creating Shared Value (CSV) initiatives in nutrition, health and wellness; rural…

eo788 – Promoting a Youth National Service

The Finance Department will ask the Senate to consider its proposed bill phasing out the grant of income tax holidays to prospective foreign and local investors to raise revenues.

Marubeni Corp. of Japan will bid for the contracts to operate the 700-megawatt Pagbilao and 1,000-MW Sual coal power plants, an industry source said over the weekend.

CLARK FIELD—Over 121,000 Filipino workers have either lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts or reduced work loads because of the economic crisis, according to a Labor Department official.

CLARK – Over 121,000 Filipino workers have either lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts or reduced work loads because of the economic crisis, a government official said Sunday.

MANILA, Philippines – Some P50 billion worth of tourism investments, mostly hotels and resorts, would be opened in the country this year until 2010 despite the global economic crisis, according to President Arroyo.

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Pia Cayetano called yesterday for a public apology from a top Hong Kong publication and one of its columnists for a racial slur against Filipinos over the country’s right to claim the Spratly Islands.

PARIS (Xinhua) — The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said on Friday the world economy may need more stimulus in 2010, and governments should be prepared to do more.

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the Philippines is dealing with the global financial crisis better than most countries in the Asia Pacific region.

MANILA, Philippines – Four party-list lawmakers accused of being involved in the killings of three former rebels in Nueva Ecija have sought relief from the Supreme Court (SC) in the cases that they believe are part of their political persecution under the administration of President Arroyo.

Dear PAO, Please help me with my concerns: a. Our school has amended our Employees’ Manual under its Revised Retirement Plan. Retirement age is set at 60. However, the company may extend the services of an employee beyond retirement age in meritorious cases. 

The 4th World Health Tourism Congress closed on Saturday with the Tourism secretary’s aim, expressed last year when the Philippines won the honor to host this year’s congress, achieved.

The most stubborn kind of poverty is that passed down from generation to generation. The poorest Filipino households are those whose heads have the barest formal education—or none at all. And they transmit their poverty, as a kind of negative inheritance, to their children and grandchildren.

12,000 overseas workers laid off–Labor official The economic crisis has cost over 121,000 Filipino workers their jobs, pay cuts or reduced work loads, a government official said on Sunday.

CLARK Field, Pampanga: The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is calling on the government to fast track the passage of bills aimed at advancing the interests of the sector amid a global economic slowdown.

TOP companies raised by a fifth the cash reward for their owners last year amid an economic slowdown that has seen more firms slash jobs.

Ethical road map for business leaders: Jon Huntsman’s new book Winners Never Cheat (Even in Difficult Times).

MANILA, Philippines – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor group, reported yesterday that they might defer plans to seek wage hike for minimum wage earners nationwide because of the global economic crisis.

Men may feel younger than their age, but their sperm isn’t fooled. Increasing age in men is associated with a number of significantly worse reproductive outcomes, according to several studies presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting.

MANILA, Philippines – A congresswoman yesterday called on a Hong Kong magazine to apologize to the Philippine government for offensive and defamatory comments on Filipinos in an article on the country’s claim over the Spratly islands which China also claims.

MANILA, Philippines – The local tobacco industry continues to defy the economic odds for the second straight year, following reports of another bumper harvest and good prices this year which augurs well for the two million Filipinos dependent on this industry.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Tax Research Center (NTRC) of the Department of Finance (DOF) has thumbed down a proposal at the House of Representatives seeking to exempt from property tax the families of senior citizens.

MANILA, Philippines – MG Leasing Corp. (MGL), a joint venture between Japanese industrial giants Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Corp. (SMFLC) and Marubeni Corp., is planning to invest in renewable energy projects in the Philippines.

HIGHER food prices in Asia and the Pacific pushed up the number of undernourished people in the region from 542 million in 2003 to 2005, to 583 million in 2007.