With economic integration looming in 2015, ASEAN is attracting the investment community’s attention, given its combined GDP of US$2.1 trillion and 600-million strong consumer market and labor base. Vast fishing stocks, wide arable lands, and untapped mineral and gas deposits — not to mention an expanding middle class and ready access to some of the…

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned that catastrophic events brought about by climate change could stall economic growth in Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines.

COTABATO CITY – Ahmed Dialiv “Amin” Turabin Hataman, 13, won the grand prize in the 8th International Young Inventors Olympiad in Georgia, USA, besting more than 100 participants from 40 countries worldwide.

MANILA, Philippines – The Social Security System (SSS) is implementing a 5 percent across-the-board pension increase for its 1.9 million pensioners starting this month.

MANILA, Philippines–About 50 export firms operating within economic zones mostly in the Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) have implemented shorter working hours and forced leaves affecting up to 20,000 workers amid delayed production as a result of the truck ban in the city of Manila, according to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza). On the sidelines of the…

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s “outdated” and “inequitable” taxation system makes middle-income earners pay the same taxes as billionaires and needs to be updated immediately, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said Thursday.

THE following are remarks on Yolanda rehabilitation delivered by Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan at the ASEM Manila Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction on Management: RAY is the Government’s strategic plan to guide the recovery and reconstruction of the economy, lives, and livelihoods in the areas affected by Yolanda. It was conceived about a…

RODRIGUEZ, Rizal – The Malasya-Uyungan Elementary School sits on top of a mountain, the only concrete structure in a sparsely inhabited community. Constructed in 1991, the school closed down in 1997. For the next 15 years, no teacher was willing to work there.

MANILA, Philippines – The extended period for agrarian reform ends on June 30, but more than 35,000 landholdings covering more than 271,000 hectares of land all over the country have yet to be covered by government notices.

Some teachers in Rodriguez, Rizal also struggle to reach a school that is on top of a mountain. And, it appears their difficult journey will continue for some time because the road that has been planned has yet to become a reality.

62 of 80 provinces are reportedly using outdated basis for real property tax assessment MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) called the attention of provincial governments in the country in its latest print ad, saying many of them were losing revenues due to an “outdated” valuation system for real property tax (RPT)…

Around six minors were rescued by National Bureau of Investigation agents and Department of Social Welfare and Development officials during a Wednesday morning raid on a bar at the corner Roosevelt Avenue and Quezon Avenue Quezon City.

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) reiterated on Tuesday that the proposed revenue-sharing measure being pushed by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) will render future legitimate mining projects uncompetitive.

WATCHING an action movie with many plot twists and turns can be very enjoyable. You never know who to trust and, sometimes, the bad guys are really the good guys. If it is really done well, it can be like a roller-coaster ride.

Usual backlog of classrooms, teachers remains, says Luistro (First of a series) SOURCES: DEPED AND CHED / COMPILED BY: SCHATZI QUODALA, INQUIRER RESEARCH The birth pains that marked the launching last year of K + 12—a bold program meant to align the Philippines with the global 12-year basic education cycle—are not going away soon, along…

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has approved the increase in funeral and disability benefits for both public and private sectors for as long as government financing institutions can finance them.

MY good friend Manong Max Edralin, a well-known pillar in the public-relations industry, once asked me how come he was getting a modest retirement pension from the Social Security System (SSS), considering that he was once a high official of Citibank N.A., where he worked for almost 20 years before retiring in 1991.

The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) from enforcing regulations mandating lawyers and other self-employed professionals to disclose their standard service fees to the tax authorities.

From P10,000, the fine is now at P1 million. A joint administrative order from the DOTC, LTFRB, and LTO also covers rude drivers who overcharge, refuse services, and are reckless

The Makati Business Club (MBC) has echoed the call of other business groups pushing for proper implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), similarly advocating for changes within the regulatory framework without amending the said law.

AS the expiration of the law extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) draws near, farmers are gearing up for simultaneous protest actions to express their sentiment over the issue of agrarian reform. One group of farmers is calling for the junking of the law that gave birth to CARP while another group is calling…

MANILA, Philippines – Leading telecommunication companies, including Philippine Long Distant Telephone Company, are supporting a bill filed by Senator Ralph Recto providing free Wi-Fi access in public places in Metro Manila, but experts noted it can only apply to key areras where infrastructure is readily available. ”We really support the measure. We do not see…

The Monetary Board is allowing banks to extend operating hours and services even without securing regulatory approval, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday.

(Updated 12:27 p.m.) Despite registering a double-digit growth in the first four months, the number of cars produced in the Philippines remains the smallest in Southeast Asia.

MORE investors from the United States are now seriously considering doing business in the Philippines after hearing leading Filipino private-sector figures talk about a country brimming with numerous investment opportunities.

MANILA, Philippines–Foreign and local business groups bucked proposals to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), or the Republic Act No. 9136, saying that proper implementation is the better answer to power industry issues.

SUPERTYPHOON “Yolanda” survivors continue to be housed in tents that were donated by United Nations relief agencies. An overnight fire razed a tent that was being used as temporary shelter by the survivors, killing a woman and six of her children. AP CEBU CITY—The Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery has approved…

MANILA, Philippines–While modern gadgets have become almost basic necessities for an ever growing number of people, technology appears not to have broadened much the reach of banking institutions and services.

MANILA, Philippines – Businesses are against amending the power reform law under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) or Republic Act 9136, the country’s business groups said in a position paper.

A “denial” is not necessarily true; a “clarification” does not always clear things up. So the Letter to the Editor of Transport Sec. Joseph Emilio Abaya on the MRT-3 mess, published in The STAR yesterday, needs rebutting.