SOME 250,000 Filipino families struggle financially each year with high costs of health care, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

IN WAKE OF MIDDLE EAST, JAPAN CRISES THE Philippine central bank revised downwards its economic growth forecast for the country, as the Aquino administration’s economic managers braced for a slowdown amid the political tensions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as well as the disaster in Japan.

MANILA, Philippines – The government is projecting that 20 percent of business belonging to the electronics sector will be affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

MANILA, Philippines – Secretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) stressed that the message of the Earth Hour event is really a long-term call against global warming.

MANILA, Philippines – A prominent think-tank is backing President Aquino’s aggressive push for the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program to fund big-ticket infrastructure projects, but raised concerns on whether Malacañang had done its homework well to ensure their viability and attractiveness to the private sector.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has thrown its regulatory muscle behind the Kabataan party list group in an effort to stop private higher education institutions (HEIs) from imposing the “no permit, no exam” policy much decried by college students and their parents.

MANILA, Philippines – Academicians and scientists decried the misuse of science and the abuse of power by some educators in waging a propaganda campaign against House Bill 4244, the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill now being deliberated on in Congress.

MANILA, Philippines – The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has junked the four-strike policy on taking the civil service examinations for those who would like to work in the government or earn a promotion.

Amidst all the news about the earthquake and the tsunami in Japan as well as the troubles of migrant workers in the Middle East and North Africa, there is a local issue that should be interesting, if not equally important, to every Filipino especially small-time borrowers and entrepreneurs.

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has slapped a P5 million fine to the contractors and subcontractors of the Eton Residences project in Makati City for their failure to pay the right wages to their construction workers.

BEFORE he goes any further in declaring his support for plans to activate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), Secretary Mario Montejo of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) would be well advised to confer with experts at his old alma mater, the University of the Philippines.

A business group said yesterday two House bills seeking to rationalize the income tax system have provisions that are biased against individual businessmen or professionals.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd on Tuesday announced that government was inching closer to fulfill the advocacies of the Millennium Development Goal Achievement Program (MDG F-1919) of providing potable water to every Filipino in the country.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the largest business organization in the country, has expressed concern over the differences in the treatment of taxes for corporate entities and sole proprietors in Congress.

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration is keeping the economic growth targets for the year at seven percent to eight percent despite the huge blows that the economy may experience as a result of the earthquake that battered Japan last March 11.

MANILA, Philippines – Japanese firms in the country will continue their operations here and will not lay off any workers, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said.

In Manila, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said a number of Filipino workers in Japan have lost their jobs as a result of the twin calamities.

BANGKOK (Xinhua) – ASEAN economic integration will expand trade and investment opportunities among the regional grouping’s members, but a full-fledged integration is not seen in the next few years, speakers at a regional conference said on Monday.

According to the latest World Bank Quarterly Report for the Philippines, the rapidly rising BPO sector in the country will be able to build its natural comparative advantages for Philippine economic status. These advantages are technology-savvy young labor force, cost-competitive platform built around an English-speaking talent pool, a favorable economic zone environment and readily available…

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines – Fisherman Abner Abrigo used to enjoy feasting on dolphins and turtles until he realized they were more valuable as tourist attractions.

THE Bureau of the Treasury on Monday allowed the cost of three-month borrowing to rise, underpinning expectations that the central bank would tighten monetary policy on March 24.

Dear PAO, I am writing in relation to our very bad experience when we brought our mother in a certain hospital in Manila, when she had one of her attacks.

MANILA, Philippines – Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is considering giving tax incentives to investments that has a minimum of five-percent value added.

Lawmakers yesterday filed a bill seeking a P9 billion supplemental budget to augment the government’s depleting funds for the evacuation and repatriation of Filipino workers in disaster-stricken Japan and in strife-torn countries in the North African and Middle Eastern regions.

MANILA, Philippines – The impact of the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that recently hit Japan is not expected to affect the Philippine economy in the near term but its long-term effects is a cause for alarm, the World Bank said. 

Most Pinoys approve of his performance MAJORITY of Filipinos still trust President Benigno Aquino 3rd and approve of his job performance, the latest Pulse Asia survey revealed on Monday.

The trust and approval rating on President Aquino slid by a substantial five points nationwide and by 12 percent in the National Capital Region in the latest Pulse Asia survey after public confidence fell on his administration’s perform-ance on six key issues including the equal enforcement of the law, creating more jobs and controlling the…

PULSEBEAT: Here is another measure of your and media’s perspective — some call it bias — in assessing public perception of the performance of President Noynoy Aquino in the last three months.

MANILA, Philippines – Senate finance committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon yesterday revealed that the government, specifically the Overseas Workers and Welfare Administration (OWWA), has about P13 billion in contingency funds to repatriate overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Japan and troubled Middle Eastern and North African countries.

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—Workers in Western Visayas are seeking a P97 increase in the minimum daily wage amid the sharp increase in prices of oil products.