Manila, Philippines – Majority of business executives are dissatisfied with the government’s efforts to fight smuggling even as they found most government agencies to have shown satisfactory performance in the second year of President Aquino’s administration, according to a survey conducted by the Makati Business Club (MBC).

Recent natural disasters have left an indelible scar in our collective memory. Last week’s monsoon rains left us again trembling and whimpering. Late Monday night, as the rains poured in copious furious buckets, some of us decided to wait it out at the office till the weather calmed down. The rains hardly stopped — there…

In spite of a not-too-mild drop in popularity rating as seen by Social Weather Station in its latest survey, President Aquino is doing just fine, according to the perception of businessmen who were asked by the Makati Business Club about their outlook for 41 government agencies in the two years that the Chief Executive has…

MANILA, Philippines – The Reproductive Health (RH) bill, in various forms, has languished in Congress for 17 years, but the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) finds it unfair that the government is now “railroading” it.

Manila, Philippines – The Aquino administration is set to review the country’s medium-term development plan next year to incorporate mitigation measures against disasters and external shocks, Socioeoconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan yesterday said.

President Benigno Aquino III wants to win the Philippines a credit rating update and bring in more foreign investment, and he claims to have made progress in his campaign against corruption.

A THIRD wave of asbestos victims is being diagnosed with life-threatening diseases and most have one thing in common – they renovated their homes in the ’80s. A leading asbestos support group says home renovators doing works more than 20 years ago are among the new wave of people being diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.

SEOUL – Discrimination against women hampers progress in alleviating world poverty and costs Asia-Pacific economies tens of billions of dollars a year, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s socioeconomic planning chief is pushing for the revival of local industries, saying that this is key to achieving the Aquino administration’s economic growth target of 8.5 percent by 2016.

Faculty members of the Ateneo de Manila University on Monday released a statement in support of House Bill 4244, or The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Bill.

The Departments of Budget and Management (DBM) and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) claimed that the very controversial Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or conditional cash transfer (CCT) is not alms but a worthy assistance for the destitute who prefers not to work.

NINE government agencies, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Department of Finance (DOF) and Department of Tourism (DOT), received record-high satisfaction ratings from top business executives. But they gave the administration’s anti-smuggling campaign a failing grade.

What the country could build now is a floating grandstand. Then it will be very convenient for BS Aquino III, the other politicians, the DSWD and DILG secretary, the disaster officials, do-goody media networks, ad nausea to perform their center-staging for the national audience. This should be very welcome next year as it is election…

EMPLOYEES CHARGE CIRCUMVENTION OF NEW GOCC LAW Like paved roads that did not take long to be pockmarked with holes after the incessant rains, President Aquino’s straight path mantra had proven to be all hype as employees of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) charged yesterday that appointees of Aquino had continued with the…

MANILA, Philippines – Unlike the medal drought that Team Philippines experienced in the London Olympic Games, young Filipino math wizards bagged more than 200 medals in three different international competitions.

MANILA, Philippines – The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) is bullish about the prospects of the country’s non-voice information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) segment as revenues surged 26 percent last year.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Finance (DOF) said it would study the proposal of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seeking the adoption of a seven percent single levy for all mining operations in the Philippines.

Last week, we saw much damage caused by the southwest monsoon rains or hanging habagat. We realized once again that we had not really learned our lessons. Even after Ondoy! But we also witnessed the many brave men and women who risked their lives to help our kababayans in distress. And we saw that despite…

LIVES are being put in danger because homes are not being tested for asbestos before renovations begin, industry sources have warned. The Asbestos Contractors Group says people face serious disease, even death, because there are no laws making it mandatory for homeowners to conduct a hazardous materials audit before they start work. The group says…

CALL CENTER operations were barely disrupted last week even as floods in Metro Manila caused by torrential rain paralyzed many workers in the capital. “Operations were normal as of Wednesday. Although it was not 100% normal, operations were still ongoing,” Jojo J. Uligan, president of Contact Centers Association of the Philippines (CCAP) told BusinessWorld in…

True to their promise for renewed joint collaboration, Japanese and Filipino unions are continuing to support nationally-identified issues and concerns in the Philippines. As a follow up to 2011’s program on decent work and green jobs, this year’s activity (third of its kind since the program was launched in 2010) paid more attention to engaging…

Online plea rues ‘business as usual’ despite widespread calamity As one online litany put it, last week’s massive monsoon floods exposed a “sad truth” about an otherwise booming industry. Call center agents and other employees in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector could not hide their dismay over the decision of some companies to keep…

UNITED NATIONS—UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday announced the launch of a new independent global network of research centers, universities and technical institutions to help find solutions for some of the world’s most pressing environmental, social and economic problems.

The government said it is studying the creation of a single mining contract and other mineral industry reforms suggested by the International Monetary Fund.

Foreign direct investments rose 10.2 percent year-on-year in the first five months, despite the sharp drop recorded in May, the Bangko Sentral said Friday.

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill expanding the rights and benefits of prospective witnesses to help the authorities prosecute criminals and strengthen the administration of justice.

It’s the same old political story. The Party-list system in the Philippines serves the interests of political personalities or political allies who are either no longer eligible to run for district seats ater serving some nine terms in the House of Representatives or are allies of both the opposition and the administration who, however, cannot…

BOKOD, Benguet, Philippines – Incessant prayers and offerings worked yesterday when rescuers dug out a 33-year-old small-scale miner trapped in a tunnel here for a week, authorities said.

LOS ANGELES—A lawsuit brought on by nearly 3,000 Filipino workers against Dole Food Company was dismissed on Thursday. The Los Angeles Superior Court dismissed with prejudice Macasa v. Dole, which 2,935 Philippine plaintiffs filed in 2011.

Cutting wages tends to increase competitiveness but can also hurt economic growth as it decreases domestic consumption, the International Labour Organization has warned.