The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) now estimates the effects of the global downturn on the local economy to last at most one and a half years more, which was longer than its initial estimates.

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered all government agencies to save money so they can set aside P7 billion to hire 180,000 people displaced by the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday renewed President Arroyo’s call on government agencies to tighten their belts and use their savings to provide emergency employment to the poor to help tide them over in the coming months.

This is a story told by someone who shall remain anonymous to protect both him and the institution he heads.

THE United Nations (UN), and not the G20, should lead in creating a new financial architecture that would rise out of the current economic crisis, University of the Philippines Prof. Walden Bello said Saturday.

LOCAL gaming development is getting second-mention next to Singapore, and Filipino talents are drawing in clients.

METRO Laguna and Metro Cavite are the next top destinations for call center sites.

AMID worldwide gloom and doom, local call centers are upbeat this year and for the following years when they expect to corner 10 percent of the $130-billion global market by 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials said a double-digit growth in remittances from overseas Filipinos is still possible in the first two months of the year, especially if the robust growth in labor export could be sustained for the rest of the year.

WE OFTEN HEAR IT SAID THAT we in the Philippines have no lack of good plans, programs, policies and laws, but our problem lies in enforcement and implementation. For example, we pride ourselves as being among the first in the world to have formulated a national strategy for sustainable development after the 1992 Rio Earth…

BAGUIO, Philippines — Officials of Mankayan town in Benguet province urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Saturday to crack the whip against the country’s biggest gold producer for throwing hazardous substances into the town’s dump.

MANILA, Philippines – Hot money fled the country last month as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported a net outflow of $199 million in foreign portfolio investments, reflecting more caution among investors amid a deepening global slowdown.

MANILA, Philippines – Senators maintained there are enough safeguards in the Poll Automation Law against cheating and that doomsayers should just help the Commission on Elections carry out a successful computerized elections in 2010.

MANILA, Philippine — Workers in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector are assured of stable wages this year, even amid the global recession, but they should not expect salaries to increase much, an industry leader said.

‘No dislocation of gov’t workers’ MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said “no one shall be dislocated” in the government workforce when a rationalization program is implemented.

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers should follow safe sex methods as a United Nations study revealed that Filipina workers employed in the Arab region face a high risk of being infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS Or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, a recruitment consultant said Saturday.

Good manufacturing jobs helped create the middle class in the 20th century. Good green jobs could play the same role in the 21st century. And the union movement is poised to lead the charge to clean up our environment and create good jobs.

FILIPINOS remain pessimistic in the first quarter as concerns over unemployment and low incomes outweighed the easing of inflation, according to a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey.

Filed Under: Healthcare Providers, Health, Health organisations HEALTH care cost maybe one of the least priorities for most people who are facing an economy marred by news of ongoing layoffs and retrenchments, slimming profit margins and decreasing export volumes.

90,000 new jobs expected CLARK FREEPORT, Philippines — The information technology and business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines is expected to grow 20-25 percent this year and can hire 80,000-90,000 employees, the chairman of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) said.

MANILA, Philippines — A senator has urged the Department of Health (DoH) to ensure gender equality in government hospitals and medical facilities after receiving reports of sexual harassment and discrimination against female doctors, interns and nurses.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The world population is projected to top nine billion in 2050, up from 6.8 billion this year and seven billion early in 2012, according to UN estimates released Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP): Troubled banking giant Citigroup had its best profit performance in over a year in the first two months of 2009, company CEO Vikram Pandit told employees in an internal memo made public yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is not insulated from the effects of the global crisis, and moving towards protectionism will just make the situation worse, the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipina overseas workers employed in the Arab region face a high risk of being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, a study conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo met yesterday law enforcement officials and representatives of media organizations at an emergency meeting in Malacañang that came up with fresh measures to prevent more attacks on journalists.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo has signed the law defining Philippine territory, sparking protests from China over control of strategic South China Sea islands, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said yesterday.

CHILDREN of older fathers have lower intelligence scores than those born to younger men, perhaps because of cumulative damage to men’s sperm during their lives, Australian and US researchers have found.

THE Armed Forces vowed yesterday to use conventional military power to defeat communist guerrillas instead of waging an “ideological war” with the rebels, in a major policy shift.

In keeping with the directive of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to make housing programs more affordable, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) reported that it has, so far, condoned some P41.97- million worth of penalties and surcharges from its previous housing loan programs.