MANILA, Philippines—The House committee on civil service and professional regulation approved on Wednesday House Bill No. 28 which seeks to grant security of tenure to casual or contractual employees in the government who have rendered at least 10 years of service.

TAGUM CITY, Philippines—Christmas came early to some 120 inmates of various prison facilities in Southern Mindanao as the Supreme Court’s Justice on Wheels dismissed the charges against them.

MANILA, Philippines—A laborer at a building under construction died Friday night after he fell from the 16th floor of the structure in Libis, Quezon City.

INVESTMENT PLEDGES approved by four promotion agencies went up by 82.9% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said Friday.

Even as fireworks manufacturers have been ramping up production for the fast-approaching holidays, the Philippine National Police reminded them against employing minors to keep up with demand.

MANILA, Philippines – A group of Social Security System (SSS) members filed yesterday a suit at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court seeking to compel the current SSS leadership to recover the huge bonuses allegedly received by former officials of the agency.

IN MARKET economies, business activities are largely carried out by the private sector. Goods and services are produced by private firms for consumption by the households. The participation of government in economic life, on the other hand, is relegated to the provision of public goods and services (roads, parks and public health among others) as…

MANILA, Philippines – Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan are seeking for an exemption from the mandatory insurance coverage imposed by the Philippine government, saying that it would lead to non-hiring of OFWs in Taiwan.

THE Metro Manila Development Authority on Thursday asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to take action against the 80 bus operators who joined a transport strike Monday, but board chairman Nelson Laluces said the case against those involved could drag on to next year.

THE government has postponed the fare increases on the Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit lines to the first quarter next year because there’s little time to do it, Transport Secretary Jose de Jesus said Thursday.

THE public must brace for higher oil prices that could go beyond $100 a barrel, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said Wednesday.

Main countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) need to increase their competitiveness in line with other member countries, an official said here on Thursday. “Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines face challenges to improve their competitiveness as other member countries such as Vietnam has emerged to be an important investment destination in…

MANILA, Philippines – A migrant workers’ group in Taiwan has scored the Philippine government for passing a law that requires insurance coverage for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

When a young woman living in a small village in India became ill, the treatment she received reflected how microinsurance can bring technology that improves health and reduces poverty even to the remotest places. ILO Online reports from India on how micro-insurance providers using technology are paving the way to poverty reduction and sustainable development.

ANGAT PINOY: A VIVA EVENTS JOB FAIR November 23-24, 2010/10am-6pm, Mega Trade Hall 3, 5th Level, Mega B, SM Megamall (SSS will conduct orientation and issue SSS numbers to all new applicant)

MANILA, Philippines—Like Somalia, the Philippines may become a failed state in 40 years if the reproductive health (RH) bill is not passed by Congress and the country’s rapid population growth is unchecked, an American population expert said Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines – Amid ongoing changes to the government’s joint-venture guidelines and issues surrounding the build-operate-transfer (BOT) implementing rules and regulations, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) gave assurances on Thursday that the agency can already approve public-private partnership (PPP) projects in only 6 months.

NEW YORK — Women with stressful jobs that offer little room for decision making or creativity have an increased risk of suffering a heart attack — and this is even worse than stressing over losing a job, according to a study.

The government is proposing a 13.6-percent increase in the budget of the Department of Health (DOH) for 2011 mainly to build more health centers and provide health insurance to poor families.

DALY CITY, California – Over 100 nurses and hospital workers held a picket at the Seton Medical Center in Daly City. They said it is unjust for management to layoff workers during the holiday season.

CEBU, Philippines – The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) 7th Division encourages the Visayas Clergy Discernment Group (VCDG) to mediate in the dispute between the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) management and the Visayan Company Employees Union (VECEU).

The fatal flaw in the new tourism campaign is not so much the slogan being in Tagalog. More importantly, it misses the point about why people become tourists in the first place.

PARIS: The global recovery shows signs of easing on slowdown in emerging economies but remains on track for 4.6-percent growth this year, dipping to 4.2 percent in 2011, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday. Many countries must work harder and faster to cut budget deficits next year and some may…

Officials of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector as well as the government have agreed with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) observation that the sunshine industry on its own cannot drive the country’s economic growth.

As much as I respect Secretary Ping de Jesus, I must confess that I was very disturbed when he, as a member of the Cabinet, said that his office “would consider” the idea that bus drivers should be given salaries instead of commissions.

MANILA, Philippines – A US-based population and health expert yesterday warned that the Philippines could be as impoverished as Somalia because of its ballooning population.

MANILA, Philippines – Business confidence in the country reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter on expectations of sustained economic improvement and strong domestic demand, fueled in part by the steady stream of remittances from overseas Filipino workers and higher capital inflows.     

REPRESENTATIVES FROM the government and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) met Friday to lay down the framework for dialogues on reproductive health.

protesters yesterday tried but failed to break inside the Marriott Hotel in Pasay City where President Aquino and his team of economic managers were launching his administration’s pet project that aims to attract the biggest local investors to infuse fund into major government projects, the first 10 of which are already worth a total of…

The Department of Energy should fully exercise its oversight powers on the country’s oil players following the latest round of oil price hike allegedly to even out losses while one big oil player publicly announced that it posted a 59 percent increase in profit from January to September this year.