Even before the Palace releases today the details of the Executive Order (EO) on mining signed by President Aquino last Thursday, various groups assailed it as being no different from previous policies that do not address the root of the conflict between mining operations and the communities where the projects are located.

NO EFFORT TO AMEND CONSTITUTION WITHOUT NOY BACKING — JOKER Efforts to tinker with the Constitution have been resurrected and a meeting between Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte has been scheduled to discuss possible changes that can be introduced in the 1987 Charter, Sen. Joker Arroyo said.

(Last of two parts) The story of the war brides’ experiences is replete with accounts of abandonment, neglect and discrimination. Historian Caridad Concepcion Vallangca, in her book “The Second Wave: Pinay & Pinoy (1945-1960),” narrated the plight of some brides who did not make it to the United States as their GI (government issue) husbands…

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The Authorities should consider the slain Dutch development worker Wilhelmus JJ Lutz Geertman to be a victim of extrajudicial killing due to his involvement in campaigns against landlessness, mining, logging and a large freeport project in Aurora province, his brother said on Saturday.

“You can’t handle the truth.” This was the famous Jack Nicholson line in the movie A Few Good Men after the prosecutor, played by Tom Cruise, demanded: “I want the truth.” In like manner, we Filipinos want growth, but can we handle growth? That’s something we should all ask ourselves and seriously ponder.

Manila, Philippines – The Philippines offers several investment opportunities for mining firms but key risks which can curtail projects from taking-off remain such as an ongoing moratorium on issuance of permits, provincial bans on mining and new rules in getting the indigenous people’s consent for a project, according to a British firm which specializes in…

Manila, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday appealed to graduating high school students and those who have yet to enroll in college to try “unpopular” courses.

Manila, Philippines – Labor groups and former employees of the defunct Pantranco North Express are considering filing graft charges against Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II for defying a Supreme Court (SC) order when he stopped the sale of 489 franchises to bus firms affiliated with the Victory Liner Group.

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Norte/PIAT, Cagayan — The campaign for child labor-free barangays stepped up a gear, particularly in northern Luzon, with support from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and national leaders that have anchored on the theme, “Pagtutulungan, Pagpapalaya sa mga Batang Manggagawa (Cooperation in Freeing Children from Hard Labor).”

Boracay Island in Aklan, made world-famous by its powdery white-sand beaches, has been named by the international magazine Travel+Leisure as the world’s best island destination for 2012.

The President’s formula might be working, but his allies in the Senate say the results are not enough. Sen. Ralph Recto said the credit rating upgrade givenby the international rating agency Standard & Poor (S&P)’s to the country poses a challenge for the Aquino administration to create needed jobs and increase the size of the…

They’re still at it, criminals on the internet, on the lookout for the easy-to-gyp, or the lonely. The easy-to-gyp fall for hoaxes that come via e-mail, letters such as these. The first is purportedly from Nanding Josef, head of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Pilipino, and it goes: “Apologies for having to reach…

Manila, Philippines – President Aquino gave assurance yesterday that his administration was working to change the mindset of local government units (LGUs) and empower them so they would become more business-friendly.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – Pupils in villages near a gold-rich mountain in Maitum, Sarangani, skip classes on Fridays to attend to what they deem is a more important task – hauling soil and stones from mine tunnels.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino confirmed yesterday the imminent coalition of the ruling Liberal Party with the Nacionalista Party and the Nationalist People’s Coalition to field common candidates in the May 2013 senatorial elections.

MANILA, Philippines – Vehicular accidents have claimed the lives of almost 600 persons nationwide during the past six months of the year, the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) said yesterday.

It was just a question of when. Even as the current Ford Philippines president Randy Krieger took over local operations more than a year ago, the writing was already on the wall.

MANILA, Philippines – The government is projecting a rice importation range of zero to 100,000 metric tons in 2013 on expectations of better palay yield in the second half of the year. Next year, the government is also expected to lay down the ground work for rice exportation.

MANILA, Philippines – The labor-intensive business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is expected to pay a total of P247 billion in wages this year, one of the industry’s backers in Congress said yesterday.

As usual, many bus companies are trying to wriggle away from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) order to pay fixed salary rates and provide additional benefits to bus drivers. Out of the 158 registered bus companies, only 50 have complied with the “two-tier” compensation scheme that allocates regular salaries plus performance bonuses to…

MANILA, Philippines – Local auto parts makers are urging the government to review the Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP) and fasttrack approval of pending bills to help the auto market and encourage other auto assemblers to stay in the country amid Ford Philippines’ planned closure of its assembly plant.

BONN, Germany — The low enrollment and literacy rate in Mindanao vis-à-vis the rest of the country is just among the many negative effects of decades of conflict and crisis in the region, an international expert on crisis and education said here at the 2012 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered yesterday its 2012 growth forecast for the US, a major trading partner of the Philippines, but the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) believes that this will have limited impact on the domestic economy.

The peso posted the highest appreciation among Asian currencies to date but is among the lowest in terms of volatility, with both performances, reflecting positive of the economy.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) yesterday blamed the Aquino administration for the killing of Dutch environmentalist Willem Geertman in Pampanga on Tuesday, as it condemned the government for the unabated extrajudicial killings of activists in the country.

A wave of suicides at France Telecom that shocked France four years ago is back in the headlines. The ILO warns of a rise in mental ill-health due to stress at the workplace.

MANILA, Philippines – The electronics industry has slashed its export growth projection for this year, citing a weak global recovery which could affect demand for shipments. Semiconductors and Electronics Industry of the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI) president Ernesto Santiago said in a text message yesterday that it had cut its export growth projection to five to…

MANILA, Philippines – Workers in the country’s bustling business process outsourcing (BPO) sector are expected to earn P247 billion in total this year, a lawmaker said Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Weaker global growth has taken its toll on emerging Asia’s own growth prospects due to dwindling exports, Fitch Ratings said in a new report released yesterday.