TO PROTECT PUBLIC FROM PREDATORY PRICING A member of the House of Representatives is seeking the creation of a special body to monitor the prices of petroleum products to protect the public from possible predatory pricing, or mispricing of pump prices by the oil companies.

Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday said the reinstatement of the “au pair” program in other European countries would bring employment opportunities to Filipinos, especially in view of the tight labor situation arising from the political unrest in the Middle East.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s Moro secessionist movement in the south, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has been included in the United Nation’s list of armed groups that recruit children in warfare.

Redundancy is one of the authorized causes for the dismissal of an employee. It exists where the services of an employee are in excess of what is reasonably demanded by the actual requirements of the enterprise. This case of Manny explains when it can be considered as a just cause for dismissal.

DAVAO CITY, Sept. 13 (PIA) — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is optimistic to sustain this zero strike situation until the end of this year.

The Philippines scored well this year in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) as measured by the World Economic Forum. From number 85 among 142 countries, the country surged past 10 other countries to number 75. Even though this improved ranking is welcome, the country has a long way to go to close the gap with…

MANILA, Philippines – To promote local employment, the country’s largest labor group pushed for the passage of a measure eliminating old liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in the country.

Foreign investors looking to invest in real estate-related businesses have ranked Manila as their last choice among various key cities in the Asia-Pacific.

MILAN, Italy – Many Filipino workers in Italy are against the imposition of a 2% tax on remittances sent by foreign migrant workers to their countries of origin. The new tax is part of the Italian government’s austerity measures, as it attempts to stave off a debt crisis in the eurozone’s third largest economy.

Stops synchronized ARMM polls THE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday stopped President Benigno Aquino 3rd from appointing new officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as it issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of a law synchronizing the ARMM elections with the 2013 national polls.

Ralph Recto is right. P-Noy and DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas will have to think of a better excuse to raise MRT fares than to say that it is unfair to the provincianos. Conceptually, P-Noy and Mar are looking at total taxes collected nationwide when they make such policies like subsidizing anything. From that perspective, it…

Philippine exports continued to decline in July, the National Statistics Office reported on Tuesday. The NSO said export revenues amounted to $4.43 billion, a 1.7-percent slide from $4.51-billion export earnings in the same month in 2010.

The Department of Education (DepEd) in Makati City reported that several students in the city recently garnered top spots in international academic competitions. In a news release published on the Makati City government website, DepEd Makati Superintendent Elena Ruiz said the distinctions won by bronze medals won by the following students: Jannylie Suhayne Cayabyab of…

Impatience is starting to creep in among local businesses as they complain that the 15th Congress under the Aquino administration has so far passed into law only three economic reform bills.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has revised its yearend target to 11-11-11 following a robust performance in first eight months.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDI) grew 16.4 percent in the first half of the year on the back of favorable investor sentiment, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday assured the public transport sector that it was ready to implement the second tranche of the Pantawid Pasada or fuel subsidy program even as it again called on various transport groups to reconsider their planned strike.

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) strongly favors the passage of a House bill that would progressively eliminate some six million worn- out liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders circulating in the open market, and replace them with new ones.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit (COA) has found various irregularities in the implementation of the Out of School Youth Serving Towards Economic Recovery (OYSTER) program of the previous administration.

MANILA, Philippines – Education Secretary Armin Luistro reported yesterday that the Department of Education (DepEd) had doubled the number of public science elementary schools from 100 to 200 this school year to expand the elementary education program with a strong emphasis on science.

MANILA, Philippines – More Filipinos are optimistic that their lives will improve in the year ahead, according to the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS). The SWS poll, conducted from June 3 to 6, showed that 36 percent of respondents believe their lives will get better in the next 12 months compared to…

Senators are slowly coming out in the open expressing their opposition to the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill, one of them even described it as deceitful.

The XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work to be held in Istanbul on 11-15 September provides a major forum to discuss the latest safety and health challenges in the world of work. ILO Online spoke with Seiji Machida, Director of the ILO’s Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment…

The labor group, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, urged the Department of Justice through its press release to investigate Petron Corp. for what it called extreme acts that have hampered smaller rivals from freely conducting business.

The Philippines moved up in “global competitiveness,” as it now ranks 75th worldwide in the recently-released Global Competitiveness Index, moving up 10 places from last year overtaking countries like Romania, Egypt, and Greece.

MANILA, Philippines — The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has joined the opposition against the planned shorter work-week bill in Congress saying such move will not address the unemployment problem of 11 million Filipino workers and the competitiveness issues affecting the country.

MANILA, Philippines – Consumers have no choice but to tighten their belts in the wake of runaway increases in the prices of oil. This is what the Aquino administration has been doing, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday.

I was visited by an old Asian friend who lived here 10 years ago. I was floored by his observation that though we have lots of talented people, as a whole, we continue to be shallow.

THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) submitted to the government panel a new proposal to keep the peace process going, along with a demand that may again stall negotiations—a new agreement on ancestral domain.

Gina Lopez, the untiring managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. and stalwart champion of environment causes including No to Mining in Palawan movement and the Save Palawan movement, left with me a fair amount of reading materials on why mining must be banned in Palawan.