FREE-TRADE AREA ARRANGEMENT ON THE HORIZON   Philippine and US Trade officials have intensified talks on trade and investment relations between the two countries during the recent Trade and Investment Facilitation Agreement (TIFA) meeting held in Washington, D.C., a Trade department report said.

Universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) posted a slight improvement in bad loans ratio in October last year due to lower non-performing loans (NPL) and an increase in loan portfolio, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Tuesday.

Consumer prices rose at a slower pace in December due to lower oil prices, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported Tuesday.

Japan’s Sanyo Electric Co. plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs and is choosing which among its semiconductor plants in China, Vietnam and the Philippines to close to revamp its struggling businesses before being bought by Panasonic Corp., a press report said.

The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) announced yesterday that starting next school year, courses such as engineering, architecture, nursing and accounting will be a five-year college course.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) announced yesterday that it paid 12 percent more in claims and benefits to its pensioners in the 10-month period from January to October 2008, and added that it will provide higher monthly pensions to its member retirees this year.

What are the requisites for the filing of an application for registration of title to a parcel of land? This is answered in this case of the spouses Gardo and Luisa.

ILIGAN CITY – President Arroyo has ordered the expansion of the administration’s emergency employment and livelihood program to create at least one million jobs for the poor by July.

The global financial crisis has taken its toll even among the country’s biggest firms, a labor group said.

The growth in remittances from overseas Filipinos will slow down to as low as six percent in 2009 as the global economy verges on recession, cutting down trade and income in developed countries.

Major oil players are expected to soon start “automatic” oil price adjustments that aim to make pricing of pump products more transparent.

This year will be critical for the Philippines as it faces a bleaker global financial market as well as recession and volatility in prices, particularly oil.

London-based Fitch Ratings has maintained its stable outlook for the Philippines, saying the country is “reasonably healthy” despite the tumult in the global economy.

Jollibee Foods Corp. yesterday said it completed the acquisition of a 70-percent stake in Lao Dong, a Taipei-based restaurant.

About l7 months before the 2010 elections, the automation of the voting and counting process remains uncertain because the Commission on Elections, Malacañang and Congress could not get their act together to get the ambitious project going.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) this year would focus on assisting those who might lose their jobs here and abroad in starting their own businesses in the country instead.

IN AN effort to secure a grant from Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the Philippines has fine-tuned six compact proposals for submission to the MCC Transaction Team prior to the MCC peer review process.

The bicameral conference committee has agreed to increase to P50 billion the P10-billion Economic Stimulus Fund proposed by the Senate in the 2009 budget, Sen. Edgardo Angara said Monday.

The influx of Filipinos securing jobs overseas does not redound to lower unemployment rate in the country after all, a report from the Philippine Migration and Development Statistical Almanac showed.

The Department of Energy expects more rollbacks in pump prices in January because of low crude costs last month.

The local automotive industry would not have to resort to asking the government for a bailout, unlike the much-troubled US auto industry, manufacturers said Monday.

Jewelry and housewares exporters have downsized their workforce by as much as 60 percent and reduced prices by whopping 50 percent to cope with the impact of the global economic woes, a survey revealed.

How does one handle stress coming from a bossy employer, a philandering husband or unhappiness with life? Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

Make 2009 the year to go from good health to great. It’s easier than you think. “The trick is to make small adjustments and let them add up,” says David Katz, MD, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University. Check out the list of 52 specific, doable mini-changes in this article, then try…

When will our Congressmen start doing something right? When will they do something that will convince us that they truly represent our best interests and not just their own?

Investments at the Clark Freeport Zone are expected to reach $3 billion by 2010, Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president Benigno N. Ricafort said.

In a move to steer students away from substandard schools and so-called “diploma mills,” the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), in partnership with the Professional Regulation Commission, will publish the performance of colleges and universities in PRC licensure examinations.

The National Book Development Board (NBDB) said it is not empowered by law to regulate the quality of textbooks used in public schools.

The pews are filled but the offering boxes are not. Apparently, an increase in the number of churchgoers does not necessarily mean an increase in Mass collections.

Filipina Muslims protest Israel’s assault on Gaza Strip in front of the Israel Embassy in Makati City yesterday.