The country’s mining investment targets for 2010 and onwards may have to be revised as a number of mining firms have put on hold their various projects.

The employment problem, which is expected to worsen next year, will be eased if the government opens the country’s service sector, the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines Inc. (AmCham) said.

Research firm Gartner Inc. has chosen the Philippines as one of the world’s 30 top offshoring destinations, mostly due to the country’s attractive labor costs.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is studying the decision of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to declare as legal the move of Lopez led Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to collect lifeline subsidy from consumers.

The government is looking at helping three major sectors next year to help boost the domestic economy, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said during the weekend.

The government is looking at raising P20 billion from the sale of state-owned assets next year, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said during the weekend.

Educators and information communications technology policy-makers gathered recently at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City for the third National ICT in Basic Education Congress.

Here’s a bit of really good news following announcement of a global-wide recession and massive job cuts in the US and Europe.

THE government has raised its programmed privatization revenues for next year after the sale of Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) was postponed, the Department of Finance said.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Banks floundered, grabbed government lifelines, and failed in 2008 as the global financial crisis shredded their own vaunted reputations for security.

Higher rate adjustments loom   THE Regulatory Office of state-run Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS-RO) has thumbed down proposals for the extension of the concession contracts for the East and West zones.

Expect endless arguing among passengers, drivers and bus conductors as a provisional reduction of fares takes effect today.

Tomorrow, Christmas will only be nine midnight or dawn masses away. But the usual festive mood permeating the air this time of the year is uncharacteristically elusive. In our village alone, most of the houses used to be fully-dressed in glittering Christmas lights and decorations.

How’s this for noche buena? Mother, father and sister carry packed food in plastic containers and then alternate between walking and taking public transportation, seemingly off to a special mission. Just outside a building, they prop up a table with a few chairs.

TWENTY-TWO of Qatar’s largest companies will be hiring Filipinos starting next month to fill up 37,000 positions in the energy, transport and construction sectors, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said yesterday.

THE World Bank has commended the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its efforts to put in place well-targeted social safety nets like the conditional cash transfer, or CCT.

President Arroyo vowed to secure more jobs for skilled Filipino workers in the Middle East during her three-day visit to Qatar that started yesterday.

Consumer confidence remains negative for the fourth quarter of the year and the first quarter of 2009, but some improvement was noted as global oil prices continued to decline.

Critics preparing next year’s impeachment complaint against Pres. Arroyo may want to consider this: the administration spent over P36 billion in 2007, well above the sum approved by Congress for that year. This amount excludes funds they were not able to release in agency budgets including those transferred to over-all savings.

MOST international aid assistance to the Philippines and other developing countries goes to big projects that have little to do with easing social inequities like poverty alleviation.

HONG KONG: Economic growth in developing Asia will slow to 5.8 percent in 2009, down from a likely 6.9 percent this year and 9 percent in 2007, as the impact of the global financial crisis spreads to emerging markets, says a new report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

LABOR officials are on the alert for the adverse effects of the global financial meltdown on jobs—here and abroad.

As far as the call-center industry is concerned, the current global financial crisis is not something to worry about.

AMERICA’S cold is putting a damper on what the World Bank calls “the strongest pace of economic expansion in three decades” in the Philippines.

SPECIAL REPORT:LOCAL IMPACT OF GLOBAL MELTDOWN   RP banks, investment firms, even exporters are forecast to weather the storm but labor sector will suffer.

Families of overseas Filipinos are now investing less of their remittances on housing and financial instruments and are instead putting more money away for savings, a central bank survey showed.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has approved a P600 increase in the monthly pension of its old-age and disability pensioners.

State employees and pensioners will soon receive an early Christmas gift, Malacañang said yesterday.

The Monetary Board yesterday closed down three more rural banks identified with the Legacy group and placed them under the receivership of Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Philippines’ main Muslim separatist group has agreed to stop recruiting child soldiers and return those in its ranks to civilian life, a United Nations official said Friday.