The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday renewed its call to all remaining Filipinos in strife-torn Yemen to leave as tension in the Middle East state continues to escalate.

SINGAPORE: There is a “strong potential” that persistently high oil prices could derail the global economic recovery, the International Energy Agency (IEA) chief economist warned Tuesday.

The two legislative leaders of the country – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker of the House Feliciano Belmonte Jr. – agreed to place on the legislative agenda this year the amendment of restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution. If this enterprise succeeds, it will be a momentous achievement for the nation.

There is a website soliciting signatures for the cause of making foreign aid programs transparent. The website, www. makeaidtransparent.com points out that citizens, of donor as well as receiving countries, have a right to know how aid money is being spent. Citizens of donor countries are paying hard earned money as taxes to finance foreign…

MANILA, Philippines – Two Mindanao lawmakers urged the Bureau of Immigration yesterday to grant special visas to investors and expatriate workers in Japan who are relocating here.

MANILA, Philippines – Spending on social services and infrastructure will be the priority in the government’s 2012 budget, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said yesterday as he expressed optimism President Aquino would approve next year’s financing plan.

Finally, nearly four years after the passage of the Renewable Energy Act, the Congress-approved law gets off the ground, that is, on a hopeful note. President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III unveiled his administration’s roadmap to move the Philippines toward a more sustainable use of clean or “green” energy in the ceremonial launch of the National…

Overweight is a growing concern among urbanites. They size up others’ figures and ask, “How come you’ve slimmed down and I can’t; what diet are you on?” A strange reply I got recently is the GM (General Motors) Diet. Supposedly you can lose 10-17 pounds in seven days.

MANILA, Philippines –  President Aquino signed into law yesterday the bills extending for 10 years the subsidy on electricity charges for poor households, providing mandatory immunization to infants and children, and lifting the prohibition for women night workers.

MANILA, Philippines –  President Aquino’s public approval rating continues to drop as he prepares to mark his first year in office. A recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed the President’s net rating slipping from a record high of 64 in November last year to 46 this month, with 64 percent of Filipinos…

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO held a side event during the conference (on 22 June at 13:00) to highlight the impact of pesticide exposure on children, and child labourers in particular. ILO News spoke to Paola Termine, ILO Technical specialist on child labour in agriculture, who is…

Representative Juan Edgardo Angara on Wednesday hailed President Benigno Aquino III’s move to sign into law the measure rationalizing nightwork prohibition on women workers

STATEMENT TUCP  VICE PRESIDENT ALEJANDRO C. VILLAVIZA WORKERS’ DELEGATE, PHILIPPINES 100th INTERNATIONA LABOR CONFERENCE, GENEVA Introduction Mr. President, on behalf of unions, workers and their families in the Philippines, let me express complete support for the call of the ILO and the Director General’s vision of sustainable development for social justice. Certainly, “the world needs…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines wound up third overall in the 12th ASEAN + age-group chess championships, winning 17 gold medals at the Indoor Telaga Kramat Stadium in Tarakan, Indonesia last Sunday.

Lilibeth Masamloc is all of 22. She started working as a maid at13. At the International Labor Organization meeting in Geneva, she prodded member countries to adopt a convention that would curb serf-like treatment of 53 million domestic workers worldwide.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz has taken note of the demand of the Negros Panay Alliance of Labor for a review of Wage Order No. 19, that grants a P12 a day Emergency Cost of Living Allowance for three months only to minimum wage earners in Western Visayas, NPAL convenors Wennie Sancho and Randy Ronquillo said…

This is the seventh and last of a series of environmental columns that I started writing last April, right at the time the world was celebrating Earth Hour. Using how Western and Chinese thought have classified the elements of the world (the subject of the first column), I have written about Earth (agriculture and land),…

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Loren Legarda has put passion into another new advocacy of hers; she wants Human Rights subject to be included in the school curricula, whether private or public. This is to ensure that all students will be made aware of their rights and to prevent them from becoming victims of human rights…

THE boycott of Coca-Cola products to be launched by consumer group, Sugar Watch, in Negros Occidental on June 22 is seen to cut more than 50 percent of the company’s gross sales in the province.

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III signed into law several pro-poor bills, including the mandatory immunization for children and the extension of the lifeline electricity rates for poor consumers.

10 Tips to Help Make a Great Fist Impression Show me a person who wears jeans and a sweatshirt to an interview, and I’ll show you someone who won’t get the job. What you wear to a job interview matters. Period. Whether you’re applying for a job as a  cashier or as an account executive,…

All the savvy preparation in the world will come to nothing if a candidate fails to use common sense at the most critical point in the process — the actual job interview.

Israel relies on cheap labor from migrant workers from other countries. Those workers are being forced to live under new, increasingly stringent laws. This story was originally covered by PRI’s The World. On a recent Saturday in south Tel Aviv, hundreds of children and their mothers gathered in Levinski Park. In a festive spurt of…

MANILA, Philippines – The government needs P120 billion for 10 years to support a new and reformed military retirement system and to address its pension arrears, an official of the armed forces’ Retirement and Separation Benefits System (RSBS) said.

MANILA, Philippines – One firm empowers waste hauling trucks running on used vegetable oil, while another converts its shampoo sachets and detergent bar wrappers from plastic wastes into cement pavements.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino domestic helpers are widely abused in Middle East countries because they are not covered by labor laws in these nations, a labor attaché said recently.

MANILA, Philippines – More young workers and other jobseekers are opting for local employment, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano has warned under-spending agencies of severe budget cuts in 2012 if they would not spend their present allocations for important projects.

HONG KONG – Environment-friendly coffee cups and food boxes made from corn cobs and rice stalks produced by small-scale farmers won for a team of young Philippine entrepreneurs the “Best of the Best Award” at the 2011 Young Entrepreneur Awards (YEA) Regional Finals of the HSBC last Monday here.

MANILA, Philippines – Facebook has figured in crime news lately as some victims reportedly met their assailants on the popular social networking site. But an information technology (IT) expert said Facebook is not the only playground of bad elements. Criminals are everywhere.