MANILA, Philippines — For 2010, Department of Labor and Employment information says that our unemployment rate was estimated to be 7.9%. IMF website points to the two important reasons for the high unemployment rate namely rapid population growth and increased labor participation.

MANILA: While HIV infection rates have been dropping globally, the number of new HIV cases in the Philippines continues to increase. Since the first recorded HIV case in the Philippines in 1984, there has been a steady increase in the number of Filipinos being infected with HIV.

MALACAÑANG yesterday affirmed a decision to support Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) outsourcing plans, rejecting a union appeal. The decision came as the flag carrier announced a loss of $10.6 million for the quarter ending in June, which it blamed on increasing fuel prices and events abroad.

The local equities market stands to be a “net beneficiary” of global investors’ heightened interest in emerging markets like the Philippines, according to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

CEBU, Philippines – Two helpers were rescued last Saturday afternoon after they were imprisoned for over a week in the property of their employer in Barangay Guadalupe.

THE Department of Trade and Industry has begun consultations with civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders on the implementation of the Philippine Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA).

In general, all income earned by individuals are subject to income tax under Philippine laws. However, Republic Act (RA) No. 9504 exempted minimum wage earners (MWEs) from the payment of income tax on their compensation income, including holiday pay, overtime pay, night shift differential pay and hazard pay. A minimum wage earner refers to, among…

MANILA, Philippines – Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hit a new monthly record level of $1.737 billion in June despite the political tensions in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, the “Saudization” program of the government of Saudi Arabia as well as the debt crisis in Europe.

Dear PAO, Good day po! I would like to inquire if an employee with a supervisory level position is entitled to a legal holiday premium pay. Because our company pays a legal holiday premium pay to our employees which is equivalent to daily rate for a legal holiday that falls on a Saturday/Sunday except for…

Under Article 282 (b) of the Labor Code, the services of a regular employee may be terminated for gross and habitual negligence. Can an employee however be dismissed for gross negligence even if it is not habitual? This is answered in this case of Mando.

Despite the volatile market, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) registered an 18 percent jump in net income for the first six months to P174.8 million, up 18 percent from P148.3 million in the same period last year.

MANILA, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday urged former North Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piñol not to push through with his plan to question before the Supreme Court (SC) the continued reference to the failed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) in its proposal to form a sub-state.

Exporters are again up in arms over the surging strength of the peso and expectations that the local currency will further appreciate against the US dollar as a result of worsening problems in the American economy as they urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to take decisive actions to stem the the peso value.

Former President Joseph Estrada yesterday said that entertaining the idea of a Bangsamoro sub-state, if not handled with caution, may borderline on treason. “Peace must be attained but not at the cost of our territorial integrity,” Estrada said. Estrada clarified that he never gave the Aquino adminis-tration any advice on this issue, stressing that he…

Can the role of our overseas workers in the economy be enhanced to make them true-blue “mga bagong bayani?” Besides spending their hard-earned money on food, appliances, real estate and other nonproductive or dormant assets, can OFWs be enticed to go into business or other productive activities that generate continuing income for them, their families…

Can we use opinion polls in determining what is right or wrong, what is true or not, what is good or bad or what is lawful or unlawful? Can these issues be determined in a popularity contest? Definitely not; we cannot say that crossing streets anywhere or jaywalking, jueteng or illegal gambling are right and…

MANILA, Philippines – Nearly 5,000 workers in Metro Manila lost their jobs following the closure of various commercial establishments in the National Capital Region, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

WASHINGTON – Support for Save Our Industries act among US legislators is growing and the measure, which seeks to allow Philippine-made apparel using US fabrics to enter the United States duty free, could be taken up by the US Congress in the coming months, said Philippine ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia.

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – A 40-year-old man died while 10 others were hospitalized after they were electrocuted in a western Cagayan town Saturday morning, reports said.

MANILA, Philippines – While traditional voice-based business process outsourcing (BPO) will continue to contribute substantially to the growth of Philippine BPO, non-voice, complex services are expected to be the principal engine of growth for the industry.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Women who smoke are more likely to develop heart disease than men, says new research released on Wednesday. After reviewing data on 2.4 million people and 44,000 cardiac events, the article’s authors found female smokers have a 25 percent greater risk for coronary heart disease than males who smoke cigarettes.

MANILA, Philippines – The Board of Investments (BOI) said it expects the record high investment commitments to be exceeded as early as third quarter this year as the agency was able to attract P270 billion worth of investment commitments in the first seven months of the year, a 20-percent increase compared to the same period…

MANILA, Philippines – The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) released a report touting the dominance of the Philippine contact center industry in the global outsourced voice services market with revenue growth outpacing the global benchmark by almost twice the rate and its global market share growing to 24 percent, or almost 50 percent…

LIQUOR companies and loan sharks are making a killing from the government’s P21.9-billion dole to the poor, an administration ally in the House said Sunday as he joined calls to reject an 82-percent increase in the program’s budget next year.

HATE crimes against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and the transgendered (LGBTs) is currently on the rise, a partylist lawmaker said over the weekend.

MANILA, Philippines – The multisectoral Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade) has recently filed a motion with the Supreme Court (SC) asking for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of the Japan Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) because it allegedly violates the Constitution and the trade between Japan and the Philippines did not improve in…

MANILA, Philippines – The government is aggressively campaigning for its Private-Public Partnership program as the centerpiece of its economic development strategy. Those projects include big-ticket infrastructure projects such as two airports, extension of the Metro-Manila light rail system, a highway that connects the north and south superhighways which have been lined up for bidding by…

MANILA, Philippines — The domestic garment and textile industry has opposed a plan by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to transfer the function of Garment and Textile Industry Development Office (GTIDO), the agency which oversees the industry, to the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the government’s export promotions arm, saying…

FOUR OUT OF FIVE Filipinos are hopeful of peace between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in a new report, even as public satisfaction with the administration’s handling of reconciliation with the Muslim rebels is judged “moderate.”