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.

(Updated 11:14 a.m.) In the last three years, Grade 7 students of Caloocan High School had to buy workbooks for their Filipino subject as there were no learning materials issued by the Department of Education delivered to their school.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has slammed the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for being remiss in its job that caused the death of eight female workers in a padlocked warehouse in Pasay City last May 29.

MANILA, Philippines—A total of 393 new cases of the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, which could lead to the fatal Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), were reported in April, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

THE country’s gross domestic product (GDP) rate slowed to 5.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, a development ascribed to the effects of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan).

Revealing that the Philippines had the slowest and most expensive Internet service in Asia, Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino has directed the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) to submit within three months reform programmes to regulate fees for Internet connection.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

MANILA, Philippines — Which member of President Benigno Aquino’s official family has the most relatives in government? Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Environment Secretary Ramon Paje top the list with nine each, based on their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth for 2013.

A worker who dodged death in a fire that razed a residential building in Pasay City complained they were locked up by their employer, making it difficult to escape, a report on GMA’s “24-Oras” said Friday evening.

At least eight people believed to be stay-in workers were killed in a fire that razed a commercial-residential building used as a DVD player warehouse in Pasay City before dawn Friday.

“Walo ang kumpirmadong patay matapos masunog ang isang warehouse sa Samonte Street, Barangay 47, San Isidro, Pasay, Biyernes ng umaga. ” (UPDATE) Walo ang kumpirmadong patay matapos masunog ang isang warehouse sa Samonte Street, Barangay 47, San Isidro, Pasay, Biyernes ng umaga.

There is a business case in pushing for equality as observed and practised by 670 global companies “Men are hired on potential and women are promoted for performance.” What a disturbing thought to think that in evaluating men and women, different standards apply. There seems to be an unconscious bias to rate men as leaders…

Manila, May 30 (IANS) — Eight female workers were killed and nine injured Friday in the Philippines when a fire broke out in a warehouse, an official said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines ranks fourth in ASEAN in terms of fastest Internet speed, according to a study by Ookla (Netindex.com) conducted last month.

MANILA – Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz took exception to the findings of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) that the Philippines is one of the worse countries to work in.

While there is no available date specific to child labor in sugarcane for the entire country, ABK3 LEAP’s baseline date in Negros Occidental documented 30,760 households with children working in sugarcane farms in 60 barangays within 15 cities/municipalities, the press release also said.

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / May 29, 2014) – The Philippines, one of the world’s largest producers of English-speaking nurses, is now deploying overseas an average of 12,000 of them every year, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines. Citing statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the TUCP said around 85% of those…