TOP GOVERNMENT officials yesterday vowed to speed up support systems for renewable energy development, admitting that progress on this front in the power sector has been slow.

THE GOVERNMENT has started preparations for next year’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program by forming a task force to ensure effective implementation, a Palace spokesman said yesterday.

WITH the government yet to firm up its medium-term economic plan, foreign businessmen in the Philippines are recommending to President Benigno Aquino 3rd a roadmap that would boost seven industries seen driving the country’s growth in the next decade. In a statement, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines said it has come up with…

MANILA, Philippines – There is no decision to ban or place obstacles to the importation of Philippine bananas into the Iranian market, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

A private think tank has urged economic managers to fine-tune the flagship public-private partnership (PPP) program and rid it of key provisions that will only turn off prospective investors, weaken the constitutional checks-and-balances system and shove the Philippines deeper in debt.

METRO Manila bested most other key cities in emerging Asia in terms of cost of living for expatriates, according to the latest report by ECA International. In ECA International’s 2010 Cost of Living Survey, Metro Manila ranked 33rd, with its cost of living lower than in the capital cities of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South…

Majority of Filipinos are satisfied with the general performance of the current administration, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed on Thursday. The survey said that 73 percent of respondents are satisfied with the performance of the administration of President Benigno Aquino 3rd while 9 percent are dissatisfied, for a record-high “very good” net…

MANILA, Philippines – One of 10 HIV patients does not undergo anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment to suppress progression to AIDS, the Department of Health said yesterday.

While Malacañang patted the backs of its allies in the Senate for approving the P1.645-trillion national budget almost intact and promptly, op-position sena-tors described the govern-ment appro-priations next year as a “stag-nation budget” which greatly scrimped on basic services.

The Reproductive Health (RH) bill, now being pursued by its advocates in the House of Representatives, is unconstitutional as it goes against the fundamental rights of the family to be free from state regulation, former Sen. Francisco Tatad said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – They may have given up lucrative family businesses to join President Aquino’s administration, but even in government, family ties still run deep for many Cabinet members.

We have lately seen protesting crowds of bus and tricycle drivers and operators who have gone to the streets and public places, blocked traffic and caused so much inconvenience to a lot of people. Obviously 6 or 7 or 8 out of 10 of them believe that it is their right to earn a living…

The Philippines and its ASEAN partners have agreed to work together in the implementation of industrial relations practices as embodied in the ASEAN Industrial Relation Guidelines adopted during the 21st ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam last May 2010.

A joint summit resolution was signed by the concerned heads of different government agencies in the Metro Manila Transport and Traffic Entry Summit held on Friday, signifying their commitment to fully support the crafting of the Metro Manila Traffic and Transport Action Plan.

MANILA, Philippines – The report of more than 1,000 cases of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who tested positive for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) will be investigated to determine how the workers contracted the disease.

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday asked government agencies and concerned groups to help raise HIV awareness among overseas Filipino workers (OFW) amid the growing number of them infected with the deadly disease.

Fewer people are dying because of AIDS but the challenges remain, said Joseph Deiss, President of the United Nations General Assembly (UN-GA) on Wednesday.

An official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Wednesday called for a stop to surveys, particularly on the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

MANILA, Philippines – The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) on Thursday urged the Aquino administration to continually promote the country as the world’s premiere hub for call center operations.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has assured students there will be no tuition increase in state universities and colleges (SUCs) next year.

For the third time now, agitated members of militant student organizations have tried but failed to attract the attention of President Aquino — in their continuous pursuit to oppose his fiscal policy involving the 2011 budget of state universities and colleges (SUCs) — as the Chief Executive just evaded their presence when they attempted to…

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada broke inter-parliamentary courtesy as he slammed members of the House of Representatives for their inaction on “kasambahay bill,” the measure prescribing decent employment terms for house helps.

THOUSANDS of students and teachers demonstrated in Metro Manila Wednesday to protest the alleged cuts in the budgets of more than 100 state universities and colleges next year.

CEBU, Philippines – The Visayan Electric Company Employees Union is contemplating to file another notice of strike amidst the alleged defiance of the management to the order of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz for the payroll reinstatement of the union president.

The country director for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on Wednesday welcomed results of a recent survey that showed nearly seven of 10 Filipinos standing behind the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill pending before Congress.

THE proposal to phase out public utility buses which are 10-year-old and above has received a big boost from clean air advocates led by Cabinet officials, lawmakers and various nongovernment organization leaders, as they push for the use of green vehicles to help stop the alarming state of outdoor air pollution in Metro Manila and…

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd promised a reform budget for 2011 but debates and deliberations indicated that it was a stagnation budget, Sen. Joker Arroyo charged on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has overtaken India as the world’s number one country for shared services and business process outsourcing (BPO), according to IBM’s Global Locations Trend.

MANILA, Philippines – Profitable business process outsourcing companies in the Philippines will enjoy multi-billion-dollar profits and will continue to help pump prime the local economy in the years to come, President Aquino predicted yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Police District (MPD) policemen fired tear gas and used water cannons yesterday to disperse a rally by drivers and operators of motorized pedicabs (kuliglig) protesting the mayor’s order banning them from major roads in the city.