COMMUNITIES in Southeast Asia face serious food shortages after flooding devastated rice paddies and other crops from the start of September and aid deliveries were disrupted, the United Nations has said.

THE residential condo market in the key districts of Metro Manila is exhibiting sideways demand amid a backdrop of increasing supply and a weakening economy, according to an industry report presented last week by Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu at a housing finance forum organized by Home Guaranty Corp.

MANILA, Philippines – The police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) urged lawmakers yesterday to strengthen the laws against cyber crimes to prevent foreigners from using the country as “safe haven” of Internet criminals.

Manila Electric Co., the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. have asked National Power Corp. to extend a power rate discount until December next year.

MANILA, Philippines – An international study has shown how large-scale corruption through bribes, embezzled state assets and other “official” criminal proceeds is being kept under wraps via legal entities such as foundations, trust funds and others.

DEATHS FROM REBEL ATTACKS GROW TO 35 Muslim rebels believed belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) shot dead three more soldiers and five rubber plantation workers yesterday in the latest bout of violence that brought the number of deaths blamed on the MILF to 35 since last week in what is the deadliest…

THE GOVERNMENT should address bottlenecks that tend to drag the country’s achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a United Nations official said yesterday.

THE GOVERNMENT is hoping to ratify an international agreement that sets standards for work conditions for domestic workers, a Cabinet official said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines may not be able to attain all of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but the United Nations is encouraging the present administration to keep up its “intent” and efforts to accelerate achievements and promote inclusive growth, UN resident coordinator Dr. Jacqueline Badcock told reporters Monday at the sidelines of an event celebrating…

THE BEST is an acronym of a program that was just recently organized and hosted by the Baguio City National High School which means Basic Entrepreneurial Skills Training Program. This project is one of the components of the Reach out Community Development: Care and Serve (Recode Case) Project, the flagship program of the Chamber of…

Indigenous women of Koronadal City ask PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd recently approved the military proposal to allow mining companies to form and fund militias or Special Civilian Active Auxiliary units.

Last Tuesday, I was a speaker at a forum for high school and grade school students of my alma mater, La Salle Greenhills. It was a good homecoming for me, seeing how much the school has changed — and improved — since I spent my high school days there from 1984 to 1988. There were…

[This article is being reprinted here courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation, USA. It has the title “Mercury Pollution from Coalfired Power Plants: A Dangerous Threat to People and Wildlife” in the NWF website www.nwf.org/cleanairact.]

MISCOM: Malacañang initially blamed miscommunication for the killing of 19 soldiers by a superior force of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that ambushed an army platoon last Tuesday (Oct. 18) in Al-Barka town, Basilan.

MORE and more neutral voices that are not those of anti-business leftists or those of environmental advocacy militants have joined the call for the government to reverse the policy on coal-fired power plants. It will not be an easy about-face to maneuver.

JAKARTA – A United Nations body believes that the social networking media-based information campaign on HIV/AIDS used in Indonesia can work in the Philippines because of the similar geographical make up.

MANILA, Philippines—A top Philippine National Police official said the country has become a “haven” for transnational organized crime syndicates involved in cyber pornography, cyber sex dens, illegal online gambling, credit card fraud and identity theft due to weak laws against cyber crimes and the poor technical know-how of law enforcers.

MANILA, Philippines – Four of 10 babies born in the country are illegitimate, data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on Thursday called for sobriety and mutual respect from the contending parties following reports of a clash outside the Philippine Airlines’ Inflight Center in Pasay City on Wednesday where protesting PAL union members had set up camp.

MANILA, Philippines – An expert from the AIDS Society of the Philippines (ASP) yesterday expressed concern that the increasing use of the Internet and text messaging will further propel HIV/AIDS cases to soar in the country.

CEBU, Philippines – Members of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Unions Congress of the Philippines and their dependents leaving in Cebu who cannot afford to pursue a college education can now avail of scholarships from the Technical Education and Skills Development (TESDA) through the ALU-TUCP Workers College Foundation, Inc.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  – Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels stormed the headquarters and torched equipment of a Japanese-owned banana plantation in Laak, Compostela Valley early yesterday morning.

MANILA, Philippines – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has directed all distribution utilities (DUs) to submit reports on discounts given to senior citizens.

PALO, Leyte, Philippines –  Four members of President Aquino’s cabinet have been tasked to craft Philippines’ mining policy, which is aimed at preserving the country’s natural resources and at the same time make use of minerals without sacrificing the environment.

To stimulate an economy you need to create jobs, to get money into consumers’ hands, to build infrastructure that encourages businesses and farmers to get their products to the market.

MANILA, Philippines – Although people would waste no time poking fun at Marikina’s eyeliner-shaded, hands-gesturing emo youth, the notion of depression is serious talk for it can lead to suicide, or even worse, a culture that glamorizes it.

CITING the lack of support for the 40-year-old birth control program, several groups have joined forces to ensure the family planning program achieves results.

Quezon City is really one of the richest cities in the country today. It may not be the main business hub, but its coffers have a huge surplus amounting to billions of pesos, thanks to the prudent and competent fiscal management of the past administration under former Mayor and now Speaker of the House of…

THE Philippines, already at the bottom of the list, fell two places further to rank 136th out of 183 countries in the world in ease of doing business during the first year of the Aquino administration, the World Bank and the International Finance Corp. said in a joint report Thursday.

COMMUNIST rebels attacked a Japanese-managed banana plantation in Compostela Valley Thursday, setting fire to heavy equipment worth P5 million before fleeing with six firearms, the military said.