By Samuel P. Medenilla, Business Mirror, Feb 6, 2018 While the contractualization issue has polarized employers and employees, it also bonded moderate and labor groups that they are staging a joint rally today (Wednesday) to press President Duterte to choose the executive order (EO) they prefer over the draft EO being supported by business groups.

By Bob Egelko, Feb 5, 2019 Employees who are required to stay “on call” before the start of a possible work shift — phoning their employer two hours before the shift to learn whether they’re needed — are entitled to be paid for that two-hour period regardless of whether they’re called in to work, a…

By: Pathricia Ann V. Roxas, INQUIRER.net, Feb 04, 2019 MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives on Monday unanimously approved on third and final reading House Bill 7030 or the “Anti-Elder Abuse Act.”

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by Iris Gonzales, The Philippine Star, Feb 4, 2019 I can’t count how many cigarettes I’ve smoked in my life, but every stick marked something big or bizarre – a heartbreaking story, a bloodied body I saw, a breathtaking mountain that made me gasp, or a quarrel with a lover.

by Lawrence Agcaoili, The Philippine Star, Feb 4, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has explained to Malacañang why the upper end of the inflation target was breached for the first time in a decade as the rise in consumer prices kicked up to 5.2 percent last year from 2.9 percent…

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by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), Feb 3, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — Local tobacco farmers are urging the government to hold back on further increasing excise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to allow them to stay afloat.

by Iris Gonzales, The Philippine Star, Feb 3, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — The Ayala and Yuchengco Groups have executed their plan to merge their education units after obtaining the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).

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The company has won two patents for a wristband that could track workers’ movements and breaks. It was unclear if Amazon planned to actually manufacture the tracking device and have employees wear it. Amazon already has a reputation for a workplace culture that thrives on a hard-hitting management style. by Ceylan Yeginsu, The New York…

by Richmond Mercurio (The Philippine Star) – Feb 1, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos have further upped their game in terms of spending time online as the Philippines dethroned Thailand to become the world’s heaviest users of the internet.

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With the measure, fund to get depleted 12 years earlier than programmed By: Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan 31, 2019 State-run Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) stands to lose 12 years from its fund life if the House-approved bill reducing the optional retirement age of government personnel to 56 becomes a law,…

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by Macon Ramos-Araneta, Manila Standard, Jan 31, 2019 Health advocates will reject “anything” below the P60 increase in the sin tax on cigarettes based on the proposal by Senator Manny Pacquiao, citing the Department of Finance preliminary model.

by Helen Flores, The Philippine Star, Jan 30, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ ranking has improved 12 notches in the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) conducted by the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International.

By Butch Fernandez, Business Mirror, Jan 30, 2019 SENATORS are firming up a consensus on a higher tobacco tax ranging from P60 to P90 per pack. But, in an indication of how fiercely the tug-of-war between pro- and anti-tobacco tax hike is affecting lawmakers, the Senate Ways and Means Committee scheduled another public hearing next…

By: Doris Dumlao-Abadilla, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan 30, 2019 The Philippines may see a slight improvement in economic growth and a drastic decline in inflation this 2019 after a challenging period last year, but the peso may resume a “gradual” depreciation to 55 against the US dollar through next year, economists from British banking giant…

by Nestor Corrales, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan 30, 2019 MANILA, Philippines – The government is offering 17, 000 jobs as “immediate response” to workers displaced from the Subic shipyard of financially troubled Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phil), a public works official said Wednesday.

by Reports from Leila B. Salaverria and Marlon Ramos, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan 30, 2019 The Senate ways and means committee wants to look closely first into the plans of the Department of Health (DOH) for implementing universal health care and how it used its previous budgets before determining how much it would increase tobacco…

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by Consuelo Marquez, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan 29, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — Most Filipinos agree that the minimum age of criminal liability must be 15 years old, Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey result showed on Tuesday.

by Daphne Galvez, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan 29, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — Health advocates on Tuesday gathered outside the Senate complex in Pasay City to urge senators approve the bill seeking to further increase the excise tax on tobacco products.

by Danessa Rivera, The Philippine Star, Jan 28, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — Civil society groups have called for the overhaul of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001, saying the current energy reforms are not enough to reduce the high cost of electricity.

by Rey Galupo, The Philippine Star, Jan 28, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — A construction worker died after falling from the fourth floor of a school building in Pandacan, Manila on Friday night.

by Mary Grace Padin, Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star) – Jan 26, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy is unlikely to recover this year due to tighter monetary conditions, global trade tensions, and a “deteriorating” business environment, two global think tanks said in separate reports.

by Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star) – Jan 25, 2019 GDP growth slows to 6.2% The Philippine economy grew at a slower pace in 2018, failing to hit the government’s target but still among the fastest in Asia, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported yesterday.