Doubling the value of exports of goods and services to $120 billion by 2012 could generate 9.1 million jobs, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Monday. “[As] per our estimates: if we double our exports, it could add an additional 9.1 million job opportunities,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said during Monday’s budget hearing…

PUBLIC SPENDING may have increased significantly as of July but the government still has a lot of ground to cover if it is to achieve full-year targets, Budget department data showed. Capital outlays hit P148.7 billion in the January-July period, up 39% from the previous year. The figure, however, is just 39.72% of the P374.4-billion…

WE LIVE in highly interesting and challenging times. On one hand, we have global economies still trying to recover from an economic downturn that started back in 2008 with the global financial crisis. Concerns around the economies of the euro zone as well as the US continue to be front and center in many perception…

MONETARY POLICY remains appropriate but authorities will consider various scenarios, among them a fresh easing by the US Federal Reserve, during a review next week, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) chief said. “At the moment, our assessment is that our stance of policy is appropriate,” central bank Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. yesterday said…

The government is being urged to spend more on education and skills training, and to keep granting conditional cash transfers to the poor in the run-up to 2015 to ensure the Philippines reap the economic benefits of its entry to the so-called “demographic window.”

Boosting the labor-intensive manufacturing sector could hasten poverty alleviation and help achieve inclusive growth in the country, the top official of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – Due to a number of recent economic shocks, including fuel and rice crises, a senior research felllow at state-owned think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said it may be difficult to bring down the country’s poverty rate to 16.6% by 2015.

The economic growth figures released by the government last week validated the resilience of the Philippine economy in the face of global uncertainties. The country’s GDP grew 5.9 percent in the second quarter of 2012, faster than most Asian economies. This was above the average 4.7 percent in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)…

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 3, 2012) – The National Commission on the Indigenous Peoples has began preparing for the full implementation of Indigenous Peoples Maternal, Neonatal, Child Health and Nutrition Project (IP MNCHN Project) in selected provinces in the southern Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines – As senators continue to deliberate whether to pass or not the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, a group of experts urged legislators to consider the stake of the youth in the debate. In a roundtable discussion among experts from the fields of education, adolescent health, law, demography and social sciences on August…

“REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT” used to be a buzzword in academic and policy circles from the late 1960s through the 1980s. That it has faded in recent years reflects perhaps a general sense of disappointment with the country’s regional development that has become more lopsided than balanced.

MANILA, Philippines – Japan is hiring over a hundred more Filipino nurses and caregivers, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said representatives of Japan International Corporation for Welfare Services (JICWELS) and different health care facilities are set to interview applicants in the next two weeks.

MANILA, Philippines – Twenty years after the Philippines signed the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement, the country may still not be ready to join the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.

DAVAO CITY—The Philippines should increase its domestic productivity to more effectively address the labor-generation and poverty-reduction problems, or risk being be pulled down by criticism that its recent high gross domestic product (GDP) percentage was not benefiting its population, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

BERLIN, Germany – The head of Europe’s financial bailout fund, Klaus Regling, said the eurozone crisis could be over in “one or two years” if member states stick to their pledges, in an interview to be published Monday, September 3.

Jobseekers often lose the chance of getting a good job just by coming to the interview unprepared or wearing the wrong clothes or accessories. The information site Money-zine.com said, “Perhaps the biggest mistake made by some interviewees is going to an interview unprepared. If you’re looking for a job, then it is in your best…

MANILA, Philippines—A workplace safety group has called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) to investigate the death of four plumbers in a grease trap in Ali Mall.

ATENEO TEACHERS’ STAND Having studied House Bill No. 4244 and the amendments proposed by its authors, we conclude that it is rights-based and supportive of state obligations to promote health under the Constitution and international covenants.

(NaturalNews) Most Americans are familiar with the dangers and health hazards associated with asbestos exposure, but a new study has found that inhaling tiny nanofibers generated by the nanotechnology industry can be just as harmful.

MANILA, Philippines – The labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) yesterday sought a deeper investigation into the death of four workers who reportedly drowned in a Quezon City mall’s septic tank.

PARIS, France – Pascal Lamy, head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), confirmed that growth in global trade would remain below 4% this year and urged governments against protectionism.

Health experts on Thursday warned mothers to avoid giving milk formulas to their babies, saying that breast-fed infants are healthier, smarter and less susceptible to serious diseases. Dr. Howard Sobel, team leader of the Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Unit of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that babies fed formula milk get sick…

The Philippine Labor department and the South Korean government signed an agreement that would expand the technical cooperation between them.

MANILA, Philippines – Local think tank Global Source Partners (GSP) cut its growth forecasts for the Philippine economy this year and next year due to the slower growth in the second quarter.

Unemployment across the 17-nation eurozone hit a record 18 million in July, the EU statistics agency says. Some 88,000 more people were added to the jobless total, but upwardly-revised data for June meant the unemployment rate remained at 11.3%. Eurostat said the 18,002,000 jobless total was the highest since records began in 1995.

Finally, someone high up in government has raised the alarm about the rise of on-the-job training (OJT) requirements as a cover for unpaid or underpaid labor. Vice President Jejomar Binay has rightly called our attention to a phenomenon that opens the door to the exploitation of Filipino students. Abroad, such internships have been called the…

The Philippines and South Korea will exchange notes on workers’ occupational safety and health (OSH) as part of efforts to enhance safety in the workplace, the Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday. The DOLE said the agreement between the two countries was formalized in a pact signed in the last week of July. The…

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections has no choice but to remove the Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP) from its list of accredited party-list organizations, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes reported yesterday.

MANILA – The Philippine government is ready to support growth if needed, with the state stepping up spending on public infrastructure, ensuring that growth this year will be closer to the high end of a target of 5 to 6 percent, the economic planning secretary said on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank believes the Philippines is in a better position to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in three years due to the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program. In a preliminary assessment of the program, the World Bank said families covered by the CCTs spent 36% more on education and…