TRECE MARTIRES CITY, Cavite—It was difficult for Lilibeth Doncillo to look at the wrecked site of Starmaker, two days after the firecracker factory exploded, leaving at least six people dead.

The country’s biggest labor group yesterday urged the government to make available its non-performing assets for the use of 500,000 Filipino workers who have been laid off or about to lose their jobs in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque urged the Philippines’ Three Plus (3+) Social Partners, labor, management, government, industries, and other prominent sectors, to unite in enablinh the country ride out the global economic crisis, even as he bared that the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has allotted some P402.852 million to urgently assist the workers displaced…

The militant center for women, Gabriela National Alliance of Women expressed concern about the rising unemployment rate among women, saying 70 percent of the laid-off workers are women in their productive years.

SANTA ANA, Cagayan, Philippines—Officials and residents of this coastal town on Friday protested the alleged environmental destruction caused by the operations of casinos at the Cagayan Special Economic Freeport Zone here.

ALL pawnshops take “anything of value” as loan collateral, as the sign says out in front. But this one pawnshop, Agencia de Empeños de Makati, goes a lot further.

THE massive job cuts being implemented by manufacturers and exporters amid the global economic crisis may lead to an increase in the number of unredeemed pawned items.

MANILA, Philippines — Workers party-list Partido ng Manggagawa on Saturday pointed out the flaws in the action plan drafted at Friday’s Multi-sectoral Conference on the Global Financial Crisis organized by the Department of Labor and Employment.

MANILA, Philippines—Eighteen Chinese nationals purportedly coming to the country to visit were actually workers bound for a construction project at the Cagayan Economic Zone Area (Ceza).

MANILA, Philippines—How will Filipinos get through hard times? They will buy more lotto tickets.

The international air transport industry is forecast to suffer a $2.5-billion loss this year based on a fuel price of $60 per barrel, a decline of three percent in passenger volumes, a drop of five percent in cargo traffic and yield deterioration of three percent.

The economy is likely to grow by 4.1 percent this year or within the government’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the year of 3.7 percent to 4.7 percent, an economist from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said yesterday.

A senior administration lawmaker yesterday called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to provide children of displaced workers access to school grants that can be used to pay their tuition, even if only in part.

Two student groups launched a signature drive against the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) plan to include nursing among the courses it will cover in its two-year pre-university level system, which will effectively turn the four-year nursing program into a five-year course.

By all accounts the freest democracy in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, ironically, has become less and less transparent in its budget and financial processes.

While massive job layoffs could hurt the Social Security System (SSS), its financial muscle is strong enough to make the private pension fund withstand shocks “for the next five to 10 years,” its president and chief executive officer Romulo Neri said yesterday.

The casualty count in the explosion that obliterated a firecracker factory in Cavite has reached seven and authorities are tracking down 19 others still missing.

Vice President and concurrent Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman Noli de Castro urged yesterday the Senate and Lower House to restore the provision in the Charter of the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or Pag-IBIG Fund that the shelter agency should “invest not less than 70 percent of its investible fund to…

A top Catholic cleric called yesterday for an employment summit to tackle the reported massive layoff of workers in the economic zones.

Pronouncements by Congress that the budget it approved last week is the country’s biggest defense against recession may turn out to be nothing more than hot air.

Malacañang has deleted the transparency clause in the proposed P1.415-trillion national budget, according to Sen. Francis Pangilinan.

The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) warned yesterday that the number of poor Filipinos might increase in the coming months after the labor department reported that up to 300,000 workers might lose their jobs in the next six months due to the global financial crisis.

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After surging to double-digit levels in 2008, monetary officials said they expect the nationwide inflation rate to drop to as low as 3.9 percent this year and rise slightly to 4.7 percent in 2010.

The economy is likely to grow by 4.1 percent this year or within the government’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the year of 3.7 percent to 4.7 percent, an economist from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said yesterday.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) wants the government to postpone the plan to rationalize state agencies to help Filipinos cope with the global financial turmoil.

TRECE MARTIRES, Cavite: The Civil Security Group (CSG) of the Philippine National Police on Friday said they need first to evaluate the result of the investigation to determine if Star Maker Fireworks license would be revoked after the factory explosion that claimed eight lives and injuring 55 others in Trece Mar-tires, Cavite.

CHIEF Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo of the International Criminal Court (ICC) stressed that he will bring to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious crimes.

A TOP official has recommended a temporary stop to the firing of redundant state workers, saying it is necessary to avoid worsening the problem brought on by the economic crisis.

THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) wants a moratorium on jobs cuts in the public sector amid the present economic difficulties.