Cooperatives have been more resilient to the global economic and jobs crisis than other sectors. The UN International Day of Cooperatives, which takes place this year on 7 July, offers a chance for cooperatives to reassert their position in the world economy. ILO News interviews Simel Esim, Chief of the ILO’s Cooperative Branch.

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Unlike their national counterparts, who can’t seem to live without it, lawmakers in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have eschewed pork barrel in passing the region’s Public Works Act, also known as Muslim Mindanao Act 229.

One of the things the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is supposed to do is help local industries so they can hire more people and reduce the country’s unemployment rate. But we haven’t heard much about DTI’s efforts in this area.

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels attacked a wood processing firm and burned its heavy equipment before fleeing in Barangay Zillovia, Talacogon, Agusan del Sur yesterday morning.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will no longer deploy overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to 15 countries considered as unsafe. Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Hans Cacdac said the POEA governing board has approved a resolution restricting deployment to 15 countries found not compliant with the requirements of the amended Migrant Workers Act starting July…

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – A 67-year-old Dutch missionary who was reportedly assisting farm workers in Hacienda Luisita was executed in front of his office in Barangay Telebastagan here at past noon yesterday.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio yesterday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to give the public freer access to records submitted by organizations wishing to participate in the 2013 party-list elections because as it is, their system is prone to corruption and abuse.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) today signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), an attached government agency under the Office of the President, to ensure that an estimated 16 million to 20 million indigenous people are registered and qualified…

Lacking much to boast about for President Aquino’s two years in office, his propagandists have turned to Morgan Stanley managing director Ruchir Sharma’s raving over him in his book “Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of Economic Miracles.”

STANDARD & POOR’S (S&P) has raised the Philippines’ credit rating to one notch below investment grade, citing the country’s prudent fiscal management, strong external position and stable economic growth.

Contact centers struggle with retention in Egypt. CAIRO: The Contact Center industry in Egypt is booming. With the onset of the social media revolution and the ever-changing profile of today’s customer, contact centers have gone to great lengths in recent years to keep their service levels in line with escalating expectations. Whilst technical upgrades and…

MANILA, Philippines – The government continues to implement the measure of providing the power-rate discounts to “lifeline” or marginalized electricity consumers even as Malacañang said it got no control over power rate increases.

What’s in a number? When it comes to your health, the answer is plenty. That’s because knowing and understanding certain numbers can keep you from being caught off-guard by many serious illnesses, and help you maintain or even improve your health. Here are the numbers that matter the most.

MANILA, Philippines – Banks and other lending institutions are no longer allowed to offer flat interest rates on loans as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) implements circulars updating rules of a 1963 law that enforces transparency in credit lending.

The following are the achievements of the President after 2 years: 1. He has maintained a clean record without a taint of corruption.

Manila, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has asked people alleging that fixers are operating at the poll body to substantiate their claims.

Manila, Philippines – Filipino workers might be deployed to Iraq and Libya soon. In a statement, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said yesterday the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) might amend the previous non-certification of the two countries.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced the release of P1.166 billion to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm) with regards to the extension of its memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

Buyers are being warned of the toxic contents of silver jewelry, the Ecowaste Coalition said. Many are unaware that cyanide-laced cleaning solutions are openly sold in jewelry shops and malls in Makati City, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Manila, and Quezon City, according to Thony Dizon, coordinator of EcoWaste’s Project Protect.

Developers, brokers, and contractors are now required to obtain permits from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board before they could sell housing units. Vice President Jejomar Binay said that the rules are intended to deter pre-selling fraud.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has listed 32 foreign countries as compliant to international requirements for the protection of foreign workers, thus assuring overseas Filipino workers of good work conditions and safety from possible abuses.

ABHA — Negotiations between the Saudi Ministry of Labor and its counterpart in the Philippines to lift the months-long recruitment ban of domestic helpers have reached a deadlock due to new requirements from the Philippines.

In March this year, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) claimed that it had been reinvigorated by the addition of several new affiliates, some of which had previously been ideologically opposed to it. The following month came the news that some 40 unions and federations, including a new center named Sentro, had formed…

Manila, Philippines – Rep. Arnel Ty of the party-list group Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association yesterday urged sexually active Filipino sailors to test for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to safeguard their partners here at home.

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Acting Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman signed Tuesday the ARMM’s Human Rights Act, a regional law meant to complement the humanitarian components of the national government’s Southern peace process.

Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The hospital has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to four Filipino employees who accused to hospital for discriminating against them for speaking Tagalog at the workplace.

Ford Motor Co. recently announced that it will close its manufacturing plant in Sta. Rosa, Laguna at the end of the year. This comes at a time when signs are looking up for the Philippine economy’s near term future.

The growth of the local real estate sector over the past few years was likely the fastest pace the country has ever experienced. “This has raised concerns for both optimists and skeptics as to where this growth is eventually headed,” real estate consultant Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services Inc. said in its latest report.

SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile gives the two-year-old Aquino administration a passing grade, saying the economy is performing well based on the stability of the exchange rate, inflation and interest rates. He says that while employment generation has been sluggish, that is due in part to the economic problems of industrialized countries, including some members…

Construction accounts for about 9% of total economic output. It is two-thirds private and one-third public. Hence, robust growing public construction coupled with an anemic (falling) private construction would likely result in a zero (negative) growth industry. In the first quarter of 2012, public construction zoomed 62.2% while private construction contracted 9.9% — overall construction…