Edgar Yu of Bagong Pilipino, a concerned consumer, sent us an e-mail hoping to enlighten readers on the “much-hyped and pushed CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) that are very dangerous to health but they are not saying.”

CREDIT RATES: Concerned consumers, meanwhile, are asking the House committee on banks and financial institutions to focus on making the terms more equitable for credit cardholders reeling from high prices and costly credit.

MANILA, Philippines – The government will not impose price controls despite the rise in the prices of basic commodities.

Year 2011 is fraught with immense challenges to the Aquino administration amid developments unfolding in the global landscape and the industrial relations area. Employers, for their part, are hounded by various issues that pose challenges to Philippine businesses. Some of the major concerns of employers are job creation, labor law reforms and greening businesses.

While we were not looking, a future epidemic was fast developing and threatening lives, especially of the adolescents. A recent report released by the National Epidemioloy Center reveals that HIV, or what is better known as auto-immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS, has increased tenfold in the last four years. In 2006 only 44 Filipinos were…

Brussels, 7 March 2011 (ITUC OnLine): Women are facing higher unemployment, underemployment  and reduced working hours as a second wave of the global economic crisis impacts female employment, reveals a new report issued by the ITUC today, International Women’s Day.  The report, “Living With Economic Insecurity: Women in Precarious Work” http://www.ituc-csi.org/living-with-economic-insecurity.html  shows that while the…

CEBU, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) will file a petition before the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board tomorrow for a P100 across-the-board wage increase in the Visayas.

MANILA, Philippines – Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has filed for a P75 across-the-board wage increase in Metro Manila, citing the string of increases in oil and food prices as well as utility rates and fares.

THE purpose of Philippine Foreign Policy is to secure the national interest in our dealings with foreign nations, regional organizations and international bodies. This has been done through its three long-established pillars, namely: 1) promoting national security; 2) enhancing economic diplomacy; and 3) protecting the rights and welfare of Filipinos overseas. In terms of a…

MANILA, Philippines – Unrest is hounding Philippine Airlines anew after its employees on Monday filed a formal notice to go on strike due to management’s refusal to bargain.

THE PHILIPPINES remains near the bottom of a list of areas rated yearly on having policies conducive to mining investments.

MANILA, Philippines – The government is looking at removing from the Board of Investments (BOI) the power to grant incentives and instead give this right solely to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

WASHINGTON – Employers hired in February at the fastest pace in almost a year and the unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent – a nearly two-year low.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines emerged as the world’s fourth biggest recipient of remittances in 2010, behind India, China and Mexico, according to a report released recently by the World Bank (WB).

The Department of Energy (DoE), true to form of its being labeled as giant oil companies’ mouthpiece, yesterday said oil prices may increase anew this week due to the Middle East political turmoil.

Everybody’s talking once again about high gas prices. So far, service stations’ pump signboards have shown as much as P5 per liter increase since the start of the year, and Filipino consumers are animatedly talking about how this is hurting their spending.

Joey Sarasola, a former PNR general manager, sent me further clarification on the role of Japanese assistance to PNR during his watch.

The events of the past weeks, from the turbulence in the Arab world to the earthquake in New Zealand, have clearly driven home the message that government has to be better organized to serve the OFWs better. The finger pointing and blame throwing we hear in the evening newscasts can’t do anybody any good.

In the government hierarchy, it does not necessarily follow that those higher in rank are brighter, more sensible, more competent and qualified than those occupying lower (or lowly) positions especially the elected ones. Some Barangay councilors may deserve to be in Congress much more than some of those now sitting there who may really be…

PRESS RELEASE TRADE UNION CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES                    07 March 2011 TUCP-PGEA Compound, Maharlika cor. Masaya Street, Diliman, Quezon City For inquiries please contact: ERNESTO F. HERRERA, PhD, General Secretary (Mobile: 09198621717_ ROY SENERES, SR., National Spokesperson     (Mobile: 09287886514) RAFAEL E. MAPALO, Director for Education (Mobile: (+63) 9285047052) Tel. No:…

A Filipino seafarer who suffered a slipped disk while serving aboard an international vessel has received P3.1 million in disability claims after a conciliation process.

Empowering the Filipino People MANILA, Philippines – The recent domino-like outcomes of people’s uprisings in many closed societies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), caused the collapse of the 23 year-old dictatorship of Tunisia’s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the 30-year regime of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak. These replicas of our…

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has signed and endorsed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said.

CONGRESS HAS moved to lift the ban on night work for women with the House committee on labor and employment having approved a bill seeking to lift the prohibition under the Labor Code of the Philippines in a bid to provide equal employment opportunities.

SINGAPORE – The unbridled manufacture and use of pesticides in Asia is raising the spectre of “pest storms” devastating the region’s rice farms and threatening food security, scientists have warned.

MANILA, Philippines – U.S. authorities have raised labor and intellectual property rights issues of the Philippines as deterrents to an early passage of the proposed garments and textile bill “Save Our Industries Act”, which seeks to revive the textile and garments industries of both the U.S. and the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PhilExport) has called for the immediate suspension of the implementation of the total log ban, citing dire consequence to the lucrative wood-based industries.

MANILA, Philippines — Good news for Filipinos with disabilities. Starting next month, they may avail themselves of a 20-percent discount on all purchases of medicines and medical supplies from all outlets of Mercury Drugstore, Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello said.