SINGAPORE—Five of the world’s least expensive cities are in Asia, and these are Manila, Kathmandu, New Delhi, Mumbai and Karachi, a survey shows.

EXPORTS fell the most in 28 years in January, deepening the Philippines’ economic slowdown as demand for Asia’s electronics and other goods plunge amid a global recession.

It is amusing to watch Cebuano Boy Herrera needle fellow Cebuano Winston Garcia on Winnie da Pooh’s pooh performance as funds manager for GSIS pensioners. The former Senator pooh poohed a recent press release claiming GSIS’s assets grew nine percent to P480 billion in ’08.

Financial assets in Asia lost 9.6 trillion dollars in value in 2008, slightly more than a year’s worth of GDP, the Asian Development Bank said on Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the global credit crisis and its impact on most financial systems, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) is still bullish over the growth prospects of the Philippine economy and its financial system.

MANILA, Philippines – Auto sales went up by 2.7 percent to 9,027 units in February from a month ago, a good indication that the industry may grow this year despite the dismal performance of the auto industry in other countries, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – An environmental group advocating alternative energy solutions yesterday re-launched its electric-powered jeepney that it claims could help solve the pollution problem of Metro Manila.

MANILA, Philippines – An official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday that some 3,000 jobs are available in the hotel and restaurant industry as he painted a bright picture for the country’s domestic tourism.

The global crisis wiped a staggering $50 trillion off the value of financial assets last year including $9.6 trillion of losses in developing Asia alone, the Asian Development Bank said Monday.

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to hasten the implementation of its emergency job creation program after only 20 percent or 100,000 of the available 500,000 jobs have been filled up in the past two months.

MANILA, Philippines – Investors’ appetite for government debt papers improved as seen during yesterday’s auction.

MANILA, Philippines—Filipino migrant groups in New Zealand have launched online petitions calling on the Wellington government to review a new ruling that automatically denies registration to Filipino nurses who obtained their degrees in the Philippines in less than four years.

MANILA, Philippines – Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza warned the nation yesterday of a corn shortage unless it boosts production and research on the second staple food of a large number of Filipinos.

NEW DELHI, India — The American professor nicknamed “Dr. Doom” for forecasting the financial crisis has said the global recession will last all of this year and probably next, India’s Mail Today reported Saturday.

MEMBERS of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will enjoy increased subsidies for hospitalization fees and professional charges of physicians for confinements starting May 1 this year.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said he could not assure Americans the recession-mired U.S. economy would start growing again later this year, The New York Times said on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The IMF gave itself a scathing review for its mistakes in spotting the roots of the global crisis and acknowledged it fell short in its job as the world’s global financial overseer.

SINGAPORE (AFP) – Asian governments need to roll out fresh stimulus measures to stop their economies from sinking further as the region reels from collapsing exports, regional analysts said.

NEW YORK – Every day this week arrived with more evidence that energy usage is unlikely to bounce back soon, yet some experts believe oil prices may already have struck bottom.

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2009 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund called Friday for governments to take further stimulus measures to counter a severe global economic slump it sees extending into 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – The economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) may grow by just three percent this year from 4.6 percent in 2008, according to the latest study on the Philippines by Barclays Capital.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has issued landmark guidelines formalizing electronic money transactions — the first of its kind of electronic innovation in the world.

MANILA, Philippines – The Quezon City government and the Federacion International De Abogadas (FIDA) recently signed an agreement to provide legal assistance to the city’s urban poor, especially those who are victims of gender-related violence.

Philippine society already accords high status to women. But many of them in the marginalized sector still undeniably need the protection and access to resources that will help them achieve their fullest potential as a human person. This is precisely the objective of the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination…

MANILA, Philippines – The Arroyo administration has increased by P1 billion the funding for the emergency employment program to provide more jobs for poor citizens, Malacañang reported yesterday.

Catholic bishops are divided on what automation system should be adopted for the 2010 national polls, with one bloc preferring the position of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and the other bloc lobbying for the open election system (OES).

MANILA, Philippines – On the occasion of International Women’s Day yesterday, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) called on the government to improve protection of women’s rights and related programs in the country.

While the economic downturn has definitely hurt the country’s IT sector, several industry players are optimistic that opportunities still abound and that recovery will happen by 2010.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Another calamitous jobs report and other bleak data suggest further pain ahead for the recession-battered US economy, and may push back a recovery from the worst slump in decades, analysts say.

Malacañang declared that there is no turning back on the full automation of the 2010 elections, as President Gloria Arroyo waits for the P11.3-billion supplemental budget for poll automation law to reach her desk.