STATE SPENDING remains well below programmed amounts for the year despite significant year-on-year gains as of May, data from the Budget department showed.

THE Philippines and the Euro-pean Union (EU) are expected to sign the landmark Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) next month at the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Regional Forum in Phnom Penh. The agreement is expected to move forward negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA) that will facilitate trade and investments and…

MICHIGAN-BASED Ford Motor Co. announced that it is shutting down its 30,000-unit capacity manufacturing plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna, at the end of the year due to its failure to achieve economies of scale and the lack of parts supplier base in the country.

THE NUMBER of Filipino families that consider themselves poor has declined, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in a new report where it also noted self-rated food poverty gains. A May 24-27 survey, the results of which were made exclusive to BusinessWorld, found 51% of the respondents — equivalent to an estimated 10.3 million households…

MANILA, Philippines – Suspected communist rebels burned three trailer trucks carrying copra products in Algeria, Surigao del Norte last Monday night, the military said.

Some three million children in the Philippines, aged 5 to 17, are exposed to dangerous work environments, a survey of the National Statistics Office said. The results of the October 2011 Survey on Children were released Tuesday at the launching of “Batang Malaya,” a nationwide campaign to fight child labor.

The four leaders also agreed to push for a pan-European tax on financial transactions Leaders of the eurozone’s four biggest nations have agreed in principle to measures to boost growth equal to 1% of the currency area’s economic output. Germany, France, Italy and Spain outlined plans to push for a 130bn-euros (£104bn; $163bn) package.

Perceptive observers of economic development discussion in the country will notice that these days, there is much reference to “inclusive” development. This terminology is only of recent origin.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of child workers in the country has increased, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday. “As of October 2011, there are 5.49 million working children aged five to 17 years. More than 55.1 percent or 3.02 million were counted as child labor while 2.99 million are exposed to…

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MANILA – Over the past decade, the incidence of child labor in the Philippines increased by almost 30 percent from 4.2 million in 2001 to 5.5 million last year, the 2011 Survey on Children of the National Statistics Office (NSO) indicate, alarming both the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

MANILA, Philippines- The national government on Tuesday announced that it will have reduced child labor by 75 percent in 2015, with the ambitious goal of making every barangay in the country child labor-free. During the launching of Batang Malaya program, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Aquino administration is “very determined” to eliminate child labor…

MANILA, Philippines- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved on Tuesday a $350-million loan to help the Philippines in policy reforms aimed at developing skills among out-of-school youth.

BANGKOK – The United Nations, in its latest global report on drug use and trafficking, says Asia is facing increasing trafficking and use of amphetamine type stimulants as well as a revival in the production of opium in Burma and Laos. A senior U.N. official says the illicit production and abuse of drugs is a…

The Department of Energy (DoE) warned the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) that any postponement to the proposed 600-MW coal plant inside the freeport may lead to massive blackouts in Luzon within the next five years.

For occupying and converting Sabsaban Falls into an eco-tourism resort without a clearance from the Palawan Council Sustainable Development (PCSD), charges have been filed against the ABS-CBN Foundation (ACF) and 18 local government officials, PCSD legal chief Adel Belena said.

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MANILA, Philippines — Improving women’s access to jobs and economic opportunity could significantly boost worker productivity in the Philippines and the rest of the East Asia and the Pacific region by as much as 18 percent. A new World Bank report entitled, “Toward Gender Equality in East Asia and the Pacific,” said that while gender…

Dole Philippines will send its first ever shipment of Cavendish to the United States, the Department of Agriculture said Monday. The company is prepared to ship the bananas as soon as the US releases the paper work covering the deal, according to a Dole official who asked not to be named, as he is not…

The Philippines urged Canada this week to recognize the academic degrees earned in the Philippines to boost the hiring of Filipinos. Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said this would help fill the projected one million job vacancies across Canada by 2021 in sectors such as mining, oil, and health care.

“We need to be exporting our products, not our jobs,” says Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) who, with Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), recently introduced the Bring Jobs Home Act (S. 2884 and H.R. 5542). Union and community activists are building support for that bill, as well as the Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act (H.R.…

Filipino students may be outperformed by their Asian peers in international science and mathematics tests, but young Pinoy scientists are showing that, in terms of actual work, they can do better.

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A Catholic pro-life organization noted an increase in the number of overseas Filipino workers in Cebu infected with the (HIV) human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

Manila, Philippines – The Manila regional trial court has declared unlawful the mass layoff of 1,197 employees of the Manila City Hall and ordered their reinstatement and payment of their back wages.

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – With the 6.4 percent economic growth in the first quarter of this year, the government plans to infuse an additional P9.02 billion for “priority poverty reduction projects.”

MANILA, Philippines – After years of working in a sugar plantation in Negros Occidental, 100 young workers have abandoned their farm tools and trooped back to school.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite opposition from some lawmakers, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not alphabetize the list of party-list groups on ballots in next year’s elections. Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the alphabetized system is confusing.

Manila, Philippines – More beneficiaries of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are turning to savings but are investing less, a survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Despite the millions of dollars in foreign aid as well as pesos from the government coffers spent on maternal health in the Philippines during the last decade, why are we seeing a rise in the numbers of mothers dying from giving birth?