FILIPINOS no longer have long weekends to look forward to next year after President Benigno Aquino III dumped former President Gloria Arroyo’s holiday economics, an order that allowed the moving of holidays to the nearest Monday—except those that are religious in nature—to give workers longer weekends.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguin­danao – The heavy presence of soldiers and policemen along highways thwarted an attempt the other day by suspected Moro extremists to bomb a bus plying the Bukidnon-North Cotabato route, authorities said.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines  – Pakistan has replaced the Philippines as the “Deadliest Country For Journalists” this year.

MANILA, Philippines – The tourism department is optimistic of achieving its target of 3.3 million tourist arrivals this year, even after a deadly bus hijacking and terrorism warnings by key Western nations.

THE ELECTRONICS industry, the country’s largest export earner, could double its sales in six years with pledges for new manufacturing investments and expansions stacking up and 2010 performance so far bouncing back from 2009’s slump, an industry group said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has dubbed its new counter-insurgency campaign plan as “Bayanihan” which is people-centered and focused more on the whole-nation approach to finally end the decades-long communist insurgency problem in the country.

CALL centers in the Philippines are seeing growing business not only from overseas clients but also from domestic firms, industry official said. In a briefing, Bong Borja, Aegis PeopleSupport Inc. president, said an increasing number of contact centers are now serving local clients during daytime, with most foreign clientele served at night.

EXPORTERS expect this year’s shipments to match pre-crisis levels with growth coming from nontraditional destinations. In a statement, Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) president, said exports by yearend would reach about $50 billion, up by 30 percent from $38.4 billion last year.

HERE’S a no-brainer: With nine out of ten Filipinos expecting things to get better next year, even as economic growth is tipped to be slower, will satisfaction with the government go up or down?

Dear PAO, I have been working for seven years in a company in Marikina. Ever since I have worked here, our company has religiously paid our 13th-month pay. However, there has been a rumor around the office that we won’t be receiving it this year because, allegedly, our company has sustained losses. Can they do…

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates has eased its tough rules for foreign workers who want to change employers, loosening the controversial “sponsor” system in force in the Arab states of the Gulf. “An employee with an expired contract can obtain a new work permit and shift to another employer” without having to wait six…

THE Catholic Church admitted Sunday that it has abandoned the youth. Legazpi diocese Bishop Joel Baylon, the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Commission on Youth, made the admission during the formal launching on Sunday of the “Year of the Youth” for 2011. “Many of them feel abandoned by the institutions…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is in an excellent position to grab a bigger slice from practically all aspects of the rapidly growing global health and wellness industry that has hit a record $2 trillion last year.

MANILA, Philippines –  Ford Motor Co. Philippines (FMCP) is looking at making the country its export hub for either its sports utility vehicle (SUV) or pick-up model.

MANILA, Philippines –  The Philippines nearly lost its champion in the Save the Industries Act after a US senator almost withdrew his support because a group of Filipino war veterans sued the US government.

MANILA, Philippines –  Monetary authorities said there was no urgency to adjust key policy rates due to the benign inflation outlook amid the surge in capital inflows into emerging markets including the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines –  Sen. Edgardo Angara cited yesterday the possible danger on the P21-billion conditional cash transfer (CCT) program the Aquino administration will implement for some 2.3 million indigent families.

THE Davao City government on Friday stopped the test planting of genetically engineered eggplants at the University of the Philippines’ Mindanao Campus in Bago Oshiro on fears they posed risks to health.

SAN FRANCISCO, California, United States—Two Filipino homecare workers reached a settlement over unpaid wages with which they will be paid over $70,000 in unpaid wages and penalties by their employer.

CITIZENS groups called on President Benigno Aquino 3rd to integrate environmental sustainability, climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk reduction plans in the overall anti-poverty program of his administration. The “Caucus to Green the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan [MTPDP]” initiated by the La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga) issued the call during a press…

Huddled together in the dark sooty hulls of their ships, often abandoned to their Somali pirate captors by governments and shipowners, as many as 650 seamen await their fate on the edge of the Indian Ocean.

WITH the release of the so-called “Morong 43” the other day, Rep. Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis party-list over the week end said that he smell the end of communist insurgency next year. “It’s highly possible. With the way President [Benigno] Noynoy [Aquino 3rd] is doing, we can see light at the end of the tunnel,”…

NAVAL, Biliran, Philippines – Although it is considered still a priority, the House of Representatives is not rushing up the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill now pending with Congress.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino recognized the winners of the 8th Search for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) in ceremonies at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang recently.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is developing eight municipalities into climate change resilient communities using a $4.97-million grant from the World Bank.  DENR was provided the grant under the Global Environment Fund of the World Bank to develop communities resilient to the effects of climate change in the agricultural…

MANILA, Philippines – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said it is ready to draft new rules on the rate structure for nuclear power development once government approves a nuclear energy program.

MANILA, Philippines – A party-list lawmaker warned Friday the country’s multi-billion-peso coconut industry is in danger of collapse unless the government steps in and saves the sector, which has been the source of livelihood for some 24 million Filipinos for decades.

MANILA, Philippines – The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) will seek the removal of the Philippines from the watchlist of the US Trade Representative as a country that sells counterfeit goods.

After the enumeration we had on The Eight Habits of Investment Literate People, I feel obliged to elaborate more on some of the said habits or at least, discuss something closely related. For this post, I would dwell on something related to the 3rd habit: the issue of credit card charges and why we should…

MANILA, Philippines – The $600 million global investments of state-run pension fund manager Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) earned $70 million in almost three years despite the financial crisis in the US as well as the debt crisis in Europe, the agency’s head reported yesterday.