VNEconomyNews.com – Economic ties between China and the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) boomed as a result of the free trade zone agreement put into effect in January 2010. That, experts say, will not only boost the regional economic integration in Asia but also benefit the world economy as a whole.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) will look into reports that Filipino nurses are paying hospitals to allow them to gain experience in order to work abroad.

MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers are pushing for the creation of a broad multisectoral alliance to boost the campaign to amend the 1987 Constitution.

There’s a fine line between being Big Brother and keeping employees from wasting too much time on the Internet. And as we all know, there are plenty of ways to waste time on the ‘net: Facebook, Twitter, chatting, shopping, scores… you name it. But how do you manage control of your employees — and what…

INTERNATIONAL TRQDE UNION CONFEDERATION ITUC Online Brussels/Washington 13 January 2011 (ITUC OnLine): The international trade union movement has criticised today’s World Bank report on Global Economic Prospects  (GEP) http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTDECPROSPECTS/GEPEXT/0,,contentMDK:22804940~pagePK:51087946~piPK:51087916~theSitePK:538110,00.html  for advocating fiscal austerity in the face of high unemployment.  However, the report’s call for “the re-regulation of the financial sector” is welcome.

CAVITE, Philippines – The Cavite Provincial Health Office (PHO) has recommended the creation of a Council for HIV-AIDS that will oversee year-round the province’s awareness and prevention program for the contagious and incurable disease.

MANILA, Philippines – Amid rising commodity prices and fare hikes, a labor group will seek a P55 hike in the minimum wage for workers in Metro Manila.

THE WORLD BANK has again revised its 2010 growth estimate for the Philippines, raising it to 6.8% from the 6.2% outlook issued last October.

MANILA, Philippines – The country is still considered “mostly unfree” in a global index that measures commitment to free enterprise and capitalist system.

THE departure by four members of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) would cause vehicle sales to stay flat this year, according to an industry source. “In my personal opinion, because of the reality that Campi and TMA won’t get reports from the four companies that are not anymore Campi members,…

LOCAL share prices dropped for the third straight session as the pessimism of the week’s opening session spread to Tuesday’s trades. At the Philippine Stock Exchange, the composite index fell 80.21 points, or 1.95 percent to 4,032.37. The broader all-shares index lost 44.12 points, or 1.47 percent to 2,965.60.

SO Philippine vehicle sales are up this year by 27 percent (to over 168,000)—apparently led by Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Toyota. Well that is good news for the car workers of Korea and Japan, for the toll fee collectors, for the oil companies, for the banks who readily lend money for vehicles but not for new…

FILIPINO workers stand to lose some 6,000 to 7,000 potential “good-paying jobs” in Afghanistan as a memorandum from the United States Military Command directed US contractors there to stop the hiring of third-country nationals whose domestic laws have deployment bans to the war-torn country. Filipino recruitment consultant and migration expert Emmanuel Geslani said that the…

THE Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda) said the safety training and technical orientation of an initial 50,000 public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers is set to begin soon.

FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo met with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, boost investment and trade and enhance development cooperation to aid the Philippines in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

VATICAN CITY: Sexual and civic education in schools in Europe is an “attack” on religious freedom, Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday in a traditional annual address to foreign diplomats to the Vatican.

A question asked at the beginning of any year concerns what to expect about the economy. Some of the answers given are often based on guesses. There are however intelligent answers as there are uninformed.

MANILA, Philippines – Investments at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) are expected to hit P297 billion by 2014 after posting a P204 billion worth of investments in 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is laying the groundwork for the creation of a Philippine Rainfed Agriculture Institute (Philrai) that will institutionalize strategies of government agencies on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

MANILA, Philippines – Proponents of Charter change (Cha-cha) at the House of Representatives are unfazed by Malacañang’s pronouncements that amending the Constitution is not a priority of the administration.

MANILA, Philippines – The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) board approved yesterday a hefty fare increase for the EDSA-bound Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Railway Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, pegging the maximum fare at all three rail lines at P30 to take effect on March 1.

MANILA, Philippines – More Filipino families claimed to have experienced hunger at least once in the last three months, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

MANILA, Philippines – The Civil Service Commission (CSC) issued a ruling yesterday that Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta and her deputies could keep their posts since they do not need career executive service (CES) eligibility.

MANILA, Philippines – An umbrella organization of government employees yesterday asked the Aquino government for a P6,000 increase in their minimum pay amid looming increases in toll fees, transportation fares and oil prices.

One out of every four Filipinos diagnosed HIV positive is an overseas Filipino worker (OFW). A total of 1,501 overseas Filipino workers have tested HIV positive, and they now comprise 26 per cent of the 5,729 reported cases in the National AIDS Registry as of the end of October, according to data reaching the Trade…

QUEZON CITY, Jan. 11 (PIA) — Employees who will be affected by mergers, consolidations and acquisition of businesses need not worry about losing their jobs if a bill filed in Congress is approved.

RIYADH: A delegation from the Philippine Congress met with the Filipino community on Sunday night and, although they did not promise anything, listened and took note of grievances relayed to them.

MANILA, Philippines – Government workers can expect another round of salary increase this coming July to help them cope with rising prices of some goods and services, Malacañang said Tuesday.

Do business owners have the right to monitor employee’s internet or phone usage?

ANGELES CITY health authorities reported 10 new suspected cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Dr. Teresita Esguerra, chief of the social hygiene center of the city health office, also noted an eight percent increase in cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among thousands of women registered as workers in local bars and other tourist-oriented establishments…