This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s power rates are now the fifth highest in the world, Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza of the party-list group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said yesterday.

New cases of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the country reached an all-time high of 204 in July this year, the highest number of new cases recorded by the Department of Health (DOH) in a month to date.

THE controversial expanded Annual Income Return, or AIR, that was supposed to have been suspended is back and will be enforced in next year’s filing season.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III’s House allies on Sunday were accused of manipulating a probe of the P10-billion Poverty Eradication and Alleviation Certificates or Peace Bonds that taxpayers must begin paying for on Oct. 16 this year, and at a total cost of P35 billion.

The walkout by members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) from their jobs last week at the height of typhoon “Pedring” may be considered an act of desperation.

Last of two parts TUWID na Daan, Lunod na Bayan. That could well be the sad commentary on the past year, when urgent flood control projects were delayed by rebid-ding, denying flood-prone areas of Luzon the needed repairs on dikes, seawalls, riverbank protection, and other rehabilitation work to safeguard lives and livelihoods in the event…

THE Supreme Court (SC) has given reprieve to business tycoon Lucio Tan by recalling its earlier resolution ordering him to pay P3 billion to the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association (Fasap) of Philippine Airlines (PAL) when it declared as illegal the 1998 retrenchment of 1,400 flight attendants of the flag-carrier.

MANILA, Philippines – The government will save P11 billion annually once reforms are implemented in the military’s retirement system, an official of the Armed Forces Retirement and Separation Benefits System (RSBS) disclosed yesterday.

FORMER President Gloria Arroyo’s program to hire out-of-school-youth may have had a noble intention but its implementation was riddled with irregularities that even the Commission on Audit (COA) cannot say if the beneficiaries received the salary promised them.

MANILA, Philippines –  The government needs P187.1 billion or about 10 percent of the proposed P1.8 trillion national budget for 2012 to implement 184 laws passed by Congress since 1991, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a report to the House of Representatives.

MANILA, Philippines –  The country’s top corporations and giant conglomerates are unperturbed by the downturn in the world economy.

Philippine migrant groups in the United Arab Emirates have called on the government to scrap a travel guarantee document required of Filipino visitors to the UAE, branding the regulatory measure as “state extortion.”

Inside Business Agenda MANILA, Philippines — When the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011, it painted a picture of the global economy at a time characterized by significant uncertainty.

Alyansa Tigil Mina expresses its deep regrets and anguish to the resulting social disorder brought about by the NPA attacks to the Taganito Mining Project in Claver, Surigao del Norte.  Beside the destruction of equipment and damaged structures, our alliance is disturbed that the communities in and around the mining site are the biggest losers…

A total of P100 billion has been tagged by budget  activists in the 2012 National Expenditure Program as potential climate change-related funds which can be used to strengthen the country’s institutional capacity to adapt to climate change next year.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) should conduct a thorough investigation on the “tragedy” at the Keppel Shipyard in Subic, Zambales where at least six workers were killed and many others were injured after a huge, tons-heavy steel platform in the area collapsed, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday said.

CODE-NGO TO COST GOV’T P35B BY OCT. 18 MATURITY The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said it would impose a 20 percent final withholding tax on the controversial P35 billion PEACe Bonds, which the government will be required to pay on Oct. 18 when its 10-year maturity falls due, the Department of Finance (DoF) said…

The ground crew union of Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Saturday urged the Tourism Congress to look into passenger safety issues at the national flag carrier after it laid off 2,600 workers from its call center reservation, catering and ground handling service departments.

THE WORLD BANK has joined other multilateral institutions in trimming growth forecasts for the Philippines, citing a weaker-than-expected first half and renewed global turmoil.

A nationalist business group appeals to all Filipinos to patronize locally-made products as it launches its “Buy Philippine Made” campaign. Bayan dela Cruz, president of the National Economic Protectionism Association, told GMA News Online over the weekend that the Buy Philippine Made campaign, which the NEPA launched last Sept. 27, aims to demonstrate that the…

MANILA, Philippines – Doubling the broadband speed for an economy increases gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.3 percent, a new report conducted jointly by Ericsson, Arthur D. Little and Chalmers University of Technology in 33 OECD countries revealed.

Government should harness the millions of indigent families under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in national environmental programs starting at the barangay level to cope with the growing threat of climate change.

MANILA, Philippines – Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo is pushing for the amendment of the Local Government Code (LGC) to increase the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of local government units to enable them to promptly respond to calamities and support the implementation of development projects.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) should conduct a thorough investigation on the “tragedy” at the Keppel Shipyard in Subic, Zambales where at least six workers were killed and many others were injured after a huge, tons-heavy steel platform in the area collapsed, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday said.

The move to amend the Constitution has the possibility of going beyond the economic provisions despite the insistence of House leaders who are pushing Charter change (Cha-cha) that the proposed amendments will be made strictly to enhance the competitiveness of the economy.

New data from the Women’s Health Initiative indicate that hyperinsulinemia is an independent risk factor for breast cancer. This observation goes a long way toward explaining the well-established association between obesity and increased breast cancer risk, said at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Right. Reforming our investment laws is not a silver bullet. I don’t think advocates ever said that. There are other things to do and reform to make the Philippines investment friendly. Removing rules that discriminate against direct foreign investments is a good starting point for reforms.

MANILA, Philippines – The Catholic Church yesterday joined the growing clamor for an immediate end to the prevailing labor dispute at the country’s flag carrier.

MANILA, Philippines – The US government has granted $15 million for the education and other services of Filipino children engaged in hazardous forms of child labor.