Carrots, yes; potatoes, no MANILA – Rice tops the list of farm products smuggled into the Philippines, according to a state-backed study released today. According to a report by Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the amount of smuggled agriculture products hit $10 billion in the period 1986-2008.

MANILA, Philippines – A business leader slammed the proposal to grant workers flexible work schedules or to mandate the change in business hours to help ease the heavy Metro Manila traffic.

MANILA, Philippines – A Department of Health (DOH) official admitted that the contents of the controversial Reproductive Health Law can still be implemented by the agency even without the measure.

FOR the 21st-century criminal, a new image has emerged. It is locked in shadows, often faceless, anonymous. It lives in a virtual world made up of pixels. It waits for the unthinking, the brash, the carefree.

MANILA – Businessmen scored the Aquino administration for being ill-prepared for the massive traffic jam triggered by two major Metro Manila infrastructure projects, construction for which began this week.

MANILA, Philippines—The prospect of hellish traffic jams in Metro Manila with two major road projects beginning simultaneously on Monday night has prompted a Quezon City lawmaker to revive his push for a four-day work week for government employees to help ease the anticipated gridlock.

MANILA, Philippines – Remittances from Filipinos working and living abroad grew faster than expected in 2013, hitting a new record high of $22.76 billion from $21.391 billion in 2012, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported yesterday.

Boo Chanco beat me to the punch with his column yesterday reporting on the economic effects of the agrarian reform program. His report is based on a discussion paper put out by Dean Raul Fabella of the UP School of Economics and circulated among fellows of the Foundation for Economic Freedom.

What is green building? Green building is the practice of: increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials. It is a move to reduce building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal (the complete life cycle of a building). This…

WASHINGTON — The Arctic isn’t nearly as bright and white as it used to be because of more ice melting in the ocean, and that’s turning out to be a global problem, a new study says.

NEDA chief Arsenio Balisacan answers questions during a media briefing at Malacañang yesterday. WILLY PEREZ MANILA, Philippines – High unemployment and poverty incidence will remain a big challenge for the government in the next 10 years or so even amid steady growth – largely because of decades of squandered opportunities, the government’s chief economist said…

MANILA, Philippines—Congress and several business groups have described as an attack on an individual’s constitutional right to privacy the unilateral move by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) requiring taxpayers to reveal more details about their bank deposits in their income tax returns beginning this year.

(First of three parts) Everyone is washing his hands of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001, now that it has reared its ugly head.

We are finally reaching a tipping point when it comes to the analysis of gender imbalances in companies. After decades of pointing the finger at women and what they do or don’t do, a chorus of voices is putting the responsibility for gender balance where it belongs: with business leaders.

“P-Noy must listen to other voices, not only to his close advisers,” says the activist Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC). FDC issued a press release in response to the rise in joblessness among Filipino adults.

The biggest window of vulnerability to chemicals occurs in utero, during infancy and early childhood, experts say. (CNN) — The number of chemicals known to be toxic to children’s developing brains has doubled over the last seven years, researchers said. Dr. Philip Landrigan at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and Dr. Philippe…

MANILA – The Philippines ranked first in a global index, first released by a research group in 2013, that attempted to quantify a population’s feelings of love. One year after the its release, one of the authors of the study still marvels at “the most amazing (non-linear) relationship ever discovered in economic data.”

PROTECTION. The youth of Tanauan, Leyte find refuge in an open space where they can learn about reproductive health. Photo by Save the ChildrenPROTECTION. The youth of Tanauan, Leyte find refuge in an open space where they can learn about reproductive health. Photo by Save the Children

MANILA, Philippines – Two Mindanao lawmakers have filed a bill seeking to extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by five years. Land acquisition and distribution as provided under Republic Act 6657 will expire on June 30 this year.

MANILA, Philippines – Eight buses in a bus terminal were burned down by suspected members of the New People’s Army in the town of Lemery early Sunday morning, police said.

Why only now? Today, the mobilization phase of the NLEX-SLEX Inter-Connector project begins in the heart of Metro Manila between Makati and the City of Manila. After 45 days or so, the actual construction work will begin in earnest. Motorists in Metro Manila have been told to brace themselves for what promises to be 2…

2 Metro mega-road projects under way MANILA, Philippines—Are you ready for some truly monstrous traffic jams and “bear with the short-term inconvenience,” as Malacañang pleaded Sunday?

The economy may slow down this quarter from the previous on slacking imports, tourism, electricity consumption and volatility in financial markets, according to an index of 11 key data collated by the state statistics office.

Read Part 1 here MANILA, Philippines – Smuggling of agricultural commodities has become widespread in recent decades because some policies and procedures in the country’s importation system have become antiquated.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on Monday said the government seeks to cut the poverty incidence in the Philippines to just 16.6 percent by 2016, the year President Benigno Aquino III steps down from office.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has expressed support for a four-day school week in Metro Manila, which aims to ease traffic once the construction of 15 major road projects begins.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) is investigating a number of power generators, including the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), for violating rules on trading and dispatch in the electricity spot market during the 30-day maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas platform, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said Saturday.

During the last Cabinet meeting, I understand that P-Noy was perplexed by the issue of persistent poverty. In his way of thinking, he might have thought that by making the CCT a flagship program of his administration and pouring billions into it, even a tiny bit of improvement would manifest by now.