A newly formed group composed of various labor unions on Monday said that the power shortage being experienced in Mindanao should be blamed on wealthy families, including that of President Benigno Aquino 3rd, who are in complete control of power generation, distribution and supply of electricity in the country.

The government hopes to improve the country’s competitiveness this year to boost the economy, Guillermo Luz, the co-chairman of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) of the Philippines said during an exclusive roundtable with The Manila Times on Monday.

American Jimmy Sieczka had a list of the 20 things he hated about the Philippines after living here for 3½ years. Well here’s a list to counter it―from someone who has lived here 10 times as long as that (36 years). Mind you he had some good points, even if aggressively delivered, the government and…

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III came to power as a leader who could bring about reforms and make a clean break from the past administration, but people had become impatient after his two years in office, a political analyst said on Tuesday.

DAVAO CITY — The blackouts lasting for six hours or more belie the Energy Department’s claim that Mindanao only experiences 30 minutes to 2 hours of power outages a  day, says a resolution passed by the Kidapawan City Council. Energy Undersecretary Josefina Patricia Asirit on Tuesday said that the media had blown the power crisis…

The satisfaction rating on President Aquino dipped to a low of a net 49 points during the impeachment trial period with the Social Weather Station (SWS) survey held between March 10 to 13 showing 68 percent respondents satisfied with his performance against 19 percent dissatisfied.

Dr. Bernardo Villegas, one of the high priests of dead-end economics, on March 24 pronounced himself “more bullish than the government in forecasting a GDP growth of 6 to 7 percent for 2012” (Manila Times, “Geared toward faster growth”).

Power consumers in Mindanao will have to bear electricity rates that are higher by as much as 50 centavos per kilowatthour with the government’s plan to use power barges which uses expensive fuel as a stop-gap solution to the brewing power crisis in the region, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said yesterday.

A prominent human rights watchdog has voiced disappointment over the slow-paced progress in addressing human rights violation and extra-judicial killings under the government of President Aquino.

MANILA, Philippines – Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group hiked anew its economic growth forecast for the Philippines, this time raising next year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth on the back of improved political stability and the take off of the government’s major infrastructure program.

The Philippines since time immemorial has shown its vulnerability and subservience to the variations and fluctuations in the price of oil products. Our submissiveness to the price

Saudi Arabia has set a minimum wage of SAR600-800 (US$160-213) for foreign domestic workers in the Gulf state. Officials in the GCC’s largest country set the cost of recruitment fees at SAR15,000 – 17,000, local media reported citing Saad Al-Badah, chairman of the national recruitment committee at the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The Philippines has been quite successful in taking advantage of opportunities offered by the global labor markets probably more than have many other developing countries. Thanks to its wide bench of human capital formed by prior decades of investment in education which, in turn, had been motivated by the value Filipino families ascribe to schooling.

If I am writing a lot about Mindanao these days, it’s because I’m thoroughly convinced of its vital importance to the nation. I see that island region as the focal point and driver of the entire Philippine economy in the near future, if it is not already. Mindanao has in fact managed to outgrow the…

LOW STATE SPENDING in higher education may be blamed for the deterioration and underperformance of state universities and colleges (SUCs), a state-run think tank said, even as it lauded government for pushing reforms in basic education such as the K+12 program.

HEALTH and work-quality issues are pushing Filipino workers to leave call centers in the Philippines for locations abroad in an apparent exodus that may hobble the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry to meet its jobs target by 2016.

A labor leader has warned that increasing tax rates on tobacco and alcohol excessively will exacerbate problems on unemployment, poverty, and crime incidence in the country.

ALTHOUGH the Philippines was the world’s biggest rice importer in 2010, the country may no longer have to import rice next year as government officials are confident that rice sufficiency will be attained by the end of 2013.

The information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry is looking to fill approximately 120,000 jobs this year in a variety of increasingly value-driven segments such as healthcare, engineering, animation and accounting.

UBS Investment Research projects Philippine economic growth at 3.3 percent in 2012 and will further grow to 4.7 percent in 2013. Paul Donovan, UBS deputy head of global economics, said the 2012 projection is still below the considered good growth level of 3.7 percent and .3 percent is lower than general indications/consensus.

Dear PAO, I have a two-unit apartment near our house. The tenants of one of the units have not been paying their rent for six months now. What shall I do to ask my tenants to vacate my apartment so I can lease it to others? As much as possible, I don’t want court proceedings…

Jojo Borja, one of the major owners of Iligan Light and Power who is at the forefront of the crusade to expose the anomalies of the power privatization caper, reports that a number of his Mindanao colleagues got wind of broadcast interviews where Serge Osmea called for the privatization of the Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric complex. As…

Cash transfers seem to be the way to go for the administration of Noynoy in winning the hearts of Filipinos. In principle, it works to allow the government to keep close tab of those who are availing of subsidies from the government. The conditional cash transfer (CCT) for the poorest Filipinos, for instance, is bankrolled…

MANILA, Philippines – More beneficiaries of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are shifting to investments and savings but at the same time are keen on undertaking major purchases such as the acquisition of houses and motor vehicles, a ranking official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

MINDANAO SUPPLY SHORTAGE SEEN SPREADING TO LUZON A bigger power crisis that will spread from Mindanao to Luzon is expected within two years if the Aquino administration continues to vacillate on the needed policies to meet rising power demand, Sen. Edgardo Angara yesterday said.

To the Business World Editor: May we clarify some points contained in the article titled “Leadership still an issue with TUCP’s two camps,” by Ms Aubrey E. Barrameda published on 01 April 2012:

In 1987, the late Energy Secretary Ronnie Velasco warned the Cory government of a severe power shortage as a consequence of the cancellation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Before he could explain why, a Cabinet official reeking with newly acquired “arrogance of power” told Velasco, on nationwide television, to “shut up” and just explain…

ONE OF the two opposing camps within the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has rejected an international trade union organization’s recognition of the validity of the other TUCP faction led by former solon and TUCP General Secretary Ernesto F. Herrera.

MaluFernandezFifteen years ago my first article was about aging. The article poked fun at how you could tell someone’s age by the way they danced, wore their clothes and acted in public. At that time I was 29 years old. Now 15 years later, I’m still poking fun at people who are middle aged but…

THE blackouts in Mindanao had grown worse since President Benigno Aquino III came to power two years ago, lawmakers and the environmental group Greenpeace said Sunday.