The Philippines and the European Union (EU) announced on Tuesday that they have agreed to start formal negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA), three years after laying down the foundation for it. Outgoing Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo and EU Trade Commissioner Anna Cecilia Malmström said they “share the ambition” to conclude an FTA that covers…

Last Nov. 25, the Philippines kicked off its annual 18-day Campaign to End Violence against Women (VAW). Now on its 13th year, the Philippine campaign combines three women’s human rights normative commemorations, namely, the International Day for the Elimination of VAW (Nov. 25), International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), and the historic opening for signature…

Landholdings of farmers nationwide declined by almost 50 percent in 32 years, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported. Data released by the PSA showed that the average landholding of farmers declined to 1.29 hectares per farm in 2012, from 2.84 hectares per farm in 1980.

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ITOGON, Benguet, Philippines – Two small-scale miners died of suffocation in a tunnel in this town on Tuesday. Edgar Santos, 29, of Alicia town in Isabela, and Jordan Cortez, 25, of Mountain Province, were found inside the tunnel located in Barangay Tuding.

Published in SUNS #8159 dated 18 December 2015 Nairobi, 17 Dec (Ranja Sengupta) – Civil society representatives present at the WTO Ministerial Conference (MC10) have expressed deep shock and disappointment over a draft text on Agriculture released in the early hours of the morning here on the third day of the Conference.

Good day! I am writing in support to your stand for security of tenure, and to merely express my sentiments on the institution I’m currently employed at. I work as a Job Order employee in my organization. Somehow, I find the term “Job Order” way too discriminating. Upon reading my contract, workplace discrimination has already…

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Mayor Eduardo Duterte, candidate for president, made a big splash on labor market issues when he said that if elected, he would put an end to the “contractualization of labor.” He said contractualization would kill the development of Philippine labor skills.

CAMP DANGWA, LA TRINIDAD, Benguet: Two mine workers died of gas poisoning inside a mining tunnel of Baguio Gold in Tuding, Itogon this province on Tuesday, three days after another miner was reported to have died of suffocation in the mining site.

We have just learned that Bank of Commerce, one of the country’s leading commercial banks, is turning universal.

Did I hear it right, our country has received a $7-million technical assistance grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for a hotel rating system, only to find out later that what has been produced by our tourism officials is a flawed system?

Mayor Eduardo Duterte, candidate for president, made a big splash on labor market issues when he said that if elected, he would put an end to the “contractualization of labor.” He said contractualization would kill the development of Philippine labor skills.

By Gerardo P. Sicat | http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/12/16/1532990/contractualization-labor-2016-election-issue Mayor Eduardo Duterte, candidate for president, made a big splash on labor market issues when he said that if elected, he would put an end to the “contractualization of labor.” He said contractualization would kill the development of Philippine labor skills.

A 46-year-old construction foreman was killed in a freak accident in Quezon City Sunday, police said yesterday.

The rising cost of tuition fees in some countries has led many to question if a university education is worth the investment. Despite those increased costs, along with the student debt that often accompanies them, not obtaining some level of higher education can in fact be quite costly for millennials. Data from a Pew Research…

ITOGON, Benguet – A miner died of suffocation after he was trapped in a tunnel in this town on Saturday. Cesar Agustin Paler of Nueva Ecija was about to get out of the tunnel along with his companion Oliver Bunoten when he decided to return to get some ore samples.

MANILA, Philippines – More Filipino households receiving remittances from their loved ones abroad are saving and investing amid the heightened financial literacy programs being undertaken by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Enslaved workers were forced to peel shrimp in Thailand for up to 16 hours a day for little or no pay 30% of U.S. Shrimp Is Misrepresented, Study Says (NEW YORK) — U.S. officials and human rights activists called on Americans to stop buying fish and shrimp tied to supply chains in Thailand, where The…

PARIS – In the past two weeks of intense global climate change negotiations, the Philippines showed in many ways the compelling portraits of victims of climate change, and it did convince the world that the fate of billions of people and the environment lies in the historic Paris Agreement approved Saturday night in the French…

All workers nationwide are now getting wages above poverty threshold, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.

PARIS — Several thousand climate activists from across Europe and many from farther afield gathered peacefully near the Arc de Triomphe on Saturday to protest the outcome of the COP 21 climate conference about 12 miles away.

Over 2 million Filipino children are working under hazardous conditions nationwide, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Broad-based improvement in employment, says PSA MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines registered slight gains in employment last October, while the jobless rate eased to its lowest level in a decade, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

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MANILA – More Filipinos found jobs in the fourth quarter ahead of the busy Christmas season. The unemployment rate continued to ease in October, now at just 5.6 percent compared with last year’s 6 percent and July’s 6.5 percent.

Wage earners in Aurora have a slightly higher increase of P20 MANILA, Philippines – Minimum wage earners in Central Luzon will get a P15-increase in their daily pay, the labor department said.

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives, voting 170-5 with one abstention, passed on third and final reading last night a bill granting the 1.5 million government personnel salary increases over four years starting Jan. 1 next year.

MANILA, Philippines – Economic losses from the impact of climate change in Southeast Asia could be 60 percent higher than previously estimated, reducing the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 11 percent by 2100, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) study.

Highlights of agreements and bilateral meetings [Signed and conducted on the margins of the 2015 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting] As of 25 November 2015 ASIA-PACIFIC Australia AGREEMENTS SIGNED JOINT DECLARATION ON A PHILIPPINES-AUSTRALIA COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP The Joint Declaration on the Philippines-Australia Comprehensive Partnership acknowledges the increasing breadth and depth of our relations setting the tone,…