The National Bureau of Investigation alerted the public on Sunday over the rampant smuggling of human organs in the Philippines. The NBI said smugglers are now targeting childen who are kidnapped and taken abroad where their organs are sold to foreign nationals.

GOVERNMENT agencies have been asked to look into reports that workers of Gaisano Capital South in downtown Cebu City were using children as shields during a strike protesting the department store’s allegedly unfair labor practices.

The imposition of sanctions on officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) who failed to meet their revenue targets have been slow.

Under Article 291 of the Labor Code, all money claims arising from employer-employee relationship like recovery of unpaid wages, separation pay and 13th month pay must be filed within three years from the time the cause of action accrued, otherwise they shall forever be barred. This case of Alma and her late husband Jim is…

The country’s largest labor group has expressed strong opposition to the planned sale of the government’s 40-percent stake in Petron Corp.

PROTESTING workers of Gaisano Mactan temporarily lifted their labor strike before noon yesterday, following an agreement with the store management and officials of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board 7 to meet today for a dialogue.

GOVERNMENT agencies have been asked to look into reports that workers of Gaisano Capital South in downtown Cebu City were using children as shields during a strike protesting the department store’s allegedly unfair labor practices.

Mga menor-de-edad pa lang sina Ma. Jennifer Abalos, 12; Jevelyn Devara, 14; at Gessa Clemente, 13, at halos magkapareho ang kanilang hangarin na makatulong sa kanilang mga magulang at makaahon sa kahirapan.

MANILA, Philippines — India and China have bigger economies but the Philippines has a higher “educational density” and thus in a better position to move ahead in offshore outsourcing, according to an economics professor from Europe.

MANILA, Philippines—Monaco-based designer Josef Crisanto was a sickly child who grew up in a dysfunctional family environment in Davao. Since he was too weak to play outdoors, his mother supplied him with paper, pens and crayons. A Piscean, he lived in his own world of imagination which was reflected in his drawings.

President Gloria Arroyo has the power, strength and ability to address one of the most serious challenges of her presidency—the significant curtailment of human trafficking and sex slavery in the Philippines.

LOS ANGELES, California — Thirteen-year-old Filipino Catherine Loria from Tiaong, Quezon shared honors with senior contestant Andrew Clarke from Jamaica when they were proclaimed Grand Champion Performers of the World in the 2008 World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) or the Hollywood Olympics.

Workers of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) urged the government yesterday to allow the firm to resume its passenger service to prevent employees from getting laid off.

Calamba City — In line with the directives of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to implement pro-poor programs, the Regional Inter-Agency committee (RIAC) on the non-wage benefits spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) recently with 43 companies regionwide aimed at helping workers to cope up with the…

A Philippine Navy reserve officer and former dean of the Mapua Institute of Technology’s School of Mechanical Engineering has led an R & D team in that school in developing an affordable robot to defuse and remove bombs planted by terrorists; its first commercially produced model is set for delivery soon to the Philippine National…

MANILA, Philippines — Around 100 bank employees went to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Friday to protest alleged massive contractualization and “union busting.”

ALTHOUGH a law prohibits the employment of persons below 15 years old, this poverty stricken nation of more than 90 million people is teeming with child workers.

MANILA, Philippines — Seven Filipino students have earned perfect math scores and made the country one of seven overall champions in an international competition, an official from the Philippine team said in a statement to media.

The country’s largest labor organization yesterday expressed concern over the proposed four-day workweek, saying that it could lead to lower take home pay for workers.

MANILA, Philippines — Two boys’ choirs have once again proved to the world the Filipinos’ innate musicality when they bested peers from more than 30 countries at the 5th World Choir Games in Graz City, Austria, according to the Philippine embassy there.

The Swiss-based organization Institute of Management Development (IMD) has ranked the Philippines 40th among a total of 55 countries in its 2008 World Competitiveness Yearbook.

A 14-year-old coed from a school in Dagupan City bested math wizards from other parts of the Asia- Pacific region when she topped the international “sudoku” challenge held in Singapore over the weekend.

Under the Corporation Code (Section 6 © P.D. 902-A as amended by PD 1799), the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) may suspend the proceedings of any collection suit filed before any court by a creditor against a corporation, partnership or association placed under management or receivership. But is this rule applicable to a secured creditor?…

MANILA, Philippines — The United States Trade Representative (USTR) will keep the country under “active scrutiny” for possible violation of international labor standards in its “no union, no strike” policy in special economic zones that has allegedly resulted in the rise of killings of labor leaders between 2001 and 2007, an official from an international…

MANILA, Philippines—It is always a happy occasion when one chances upon a winner, and an even happier occasion when that winner happens to be a Filipino.

ORANI, Bataan — Four persons, including a minor, were arrested by police authorities for allegedly operating a cybersex den Saturday. Supt. Warren F. de Leon, chief of Bataan CIDG, said members of the Bataan CIDG and the Provincial Police Office, accompanied by DSWD personnel, nabbed Omar John Pinili, 22, Lawrence Aquino, 19, Ian Aquino, 19,…

MANILA, Philippines — A team of students from UP Diliman won an award from Sun Microsystems for a Java application that runs on a mobile device and helps doctors treat poisoning cases faster.

A Filipino physicist who pioneered in the Philippines research on cutting-edge photonics won the top prize in an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Science and Technology competition.

The age-old problem of the theory of knowledge has been that of certitude. Are we ever certain? Obviously, it seems we are certain about a number of things—and our universe of certainties is in direct proportion to our credulity. But the question that has nagged philosophers has been “the right” to be certain. Ultimately, what…

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga: The chief of the Pampanga Crime Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) disclosed last week that syndicates proliferating in the city are reportedly using minors to extort money from foreigners.