THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY grew by 6.4% in the first quarter — way above market expectations as well as the official forecast — amid a “revitalized” service sector, higher exports and a jump in state spending. Growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) was the fastest since the 7.3% seen in the third quarter of 2010.…

MANILA, Philippines – Records of the Department of Health (DOH) showed that a total of 233 new cases of HIV/AIDS were recorded in April, surpassing the 1,000-mark for this year alone. The DOH said there are now 1,032 HIV/AIDS cases in the country.

PRESIDENT Benigno S. C. Aquino III has ratified an International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention protecting rights of domestic workers. “I have the honor to submit, for the Senate’s consideration and concurrence, ILO Convention 189 (Convention concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers),” Mr. Aquino said in a letter to the Senate dated May 18.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The government underscored today its commitment to lower by 75 percent the worst forms of child labor in the country by 2015.

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The Philippine government may have taken steps to protect human rights in the country, but it needs to step up its game. This was the emerging view among local and international groups, including the European Union (EU), on the human rights situation in the Philippines, as the country undergoes a second round of a universal…

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is the most attractive global provider of IT-BPO services in Asia, followed by China and India – in that order – according to the results of a survey by the Economist Corporate Network (Economist). Forty-five percent of respondents said the Philippines was an attractive services provider, while 35% said the…

DESPITE the euro-zone crisis, the head of the European Union in the Philippines said it will not reduce grants on human rights in the Philippines, currently at P128 million, as the situation has not improved in terms of prosecuting those behind the extra-judicial killings, torture and disappearances.

Filipino Workers Face Sacrifices In Korea, New Land Of Opportunity MANILA, Philippines — To many Filipinos, South Korea beckons as the new land of opportunity. And the key to the gate of that land is the Employment Permit System (EPS).

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is fast-tracking to hire new labor compliance officers in order to increase its roster of labor inspectors for the effective and efficient enforcement of all labor laws, including Department Order No. 18-A which addresses the issue of contractualization.

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MANILA, Philippines – The 138,825-member Philippine National Police (PNP) has deep-rooted institutional deficiencies and continues to suffer from a widely held and accurate public perception that corruption remains a problem, according to the latest annual US State Department human rights report on the Philippines. The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 released yesterday…

Employment will rise in the Philippines as a result of investors being drawn to his administration’s adherence to good government, President Aquino said on Thursday.

THE health-care system in the Philippines is considered generally to meet global standards, with hospitals and other medical centers in the country able to pass accreditation tests given by international organizations.

A faction of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has asked the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) to review a recent decision granting Metro Manila workers a P30 cost-of-living allowance (Cola), saying the measly increase is not enough to meet a family’s daily needs.

MANILA, Philippines – “There has been a 587% increase in the number of new cases of HIV in the Philippines from 2007 to 2011. This is simply unacceptable. The DOH (Department of Health) has not seen an epidemic rise this quickly,” Dr Genesis Samonte, chief of the HIV Surveillance Unit of the National Epidemiology Center…

THE subsidy to incoming Grade 7 students enrolling in private high schools outside Metro Manila has been increased to P6,500 from P5,500, the Education Department said Wednesday.

LEADERS of the Philippine sugar industry met with the American government officials at Washington, DC, USA on Tuesday to lobby for the retention of the country’s sugar quota with the favored US sugar market.

THE International Labor Organization (ILO) on Wednesday said  lingering jobs crisis have increased the vulnerability of youth in the Philippines alongside poorer states of Bangladesh and Ghana where many households have to resort to selling possessions and borrowing from friends due to erratic wages.

(Reuters) – Large-scale crop plantations are expanding at a rapid pace across southeast Asia, with multinational firms often benefiting the most at the expense of local communities and the environment, two U.N. rights experts warned on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The Philippine economy is seen to grow 4.2 percent this year on back of strong domestic demand, investment, and increased government spending amid a global slowdown, the World Bank said Wednesday.

THE WORLD BANK has urged the Philippines to take advantage of its resilience to global economic uncertainty to make much-needed investments for long-term growth. “The external environment looks bleak and uncertain, but the Philippines is in quite a strong position to absorb these shocks,” World Bank Lead Economist Rogier J. E. van den Brink said…

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MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, May 23 (PIA) — As soon as the Technical Assistance Visit (TAV) orientation is conducted in the province, the local bus drivers and conductors will finally be subjected to minimum wage pay.

Youth joblessness is almost back at its peak following the outbreak of the global economic crisis and is unlikely to ease until at least 2016, the International Labour Organization warned Tuesday. The ILO said nearly 75 million youths or 12.7 percent of people aged 15 to 24 will be out of work this year, up…

When it rains it pours. After record-high poverty and hunger rates, here comes record-breaking adult unemployment rate. The Promised Land is fading fast, or at least, looming more distant than ever before. And unless the government of the day gets its act together and move much faster and bolder, this sad state of affairs is…

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DAVAO CITY—More young males are coming out to seek testing for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as government statistics have begun to show a widening spread of the virus among males who have been having homosexual contact for the last four years.

MANILA, Philippines – The military will not discriminate against gays who seek to enter the service as long as they comply with the necessary requirements imposed on all applicants.

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