by Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star), 14 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Cabinet officials and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the construction sector have raised alarm over moves to allow the unregulated entry of foreign contractors in the country, which they said could spell the local firms’ demise.

by Julie M. Aurelio, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The House labor and employment committee has approved a measure providing a 14-day paid pandemic leave to workers in a bid to give them further relief amid the crisis.

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—By 2022, pedestrians and commuters can hop from one public transport to another along Edsa, Metro Manila’s main and congested thoroughfare, safely and seamlessly through what project proponents describe as greenways to be financed partly by an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan.

Read more here.

by Julie M. Aurelio, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 13 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The country faces a postpandemic skills and employment gap that may leave 2.4 million skilled jobs vacant and unfilled if there are no significant reforms in education and training of workers.

by Raymund Catindig (The Philippine Star), 12 Dec 2020 TUGUEGARAO, Philippines — Eighteen health workers of the Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC) and six linemen of the Cagayan Electric Cooperative were among the latest confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 recorded in this town yesterday.

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12 Dec 2020 Foreign-led projects approved by the country’s investment promotion agencies (IPAs) in the third quarter fell 83 percent to P31 billion amid prolonged COVID-19 quarantine.

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 11 Dec 2020 Amid weak recovery in consumer confidence and spen­ding, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) further downscaled its outlook for the Philippines, saying the economy will suffer from a steeper drop of 8.5 percent this year.

Read more here.

By: Consuelo Marquez, INQINQUIRER.net, 10 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education on Thursday said it is addressing the education quality by investing in educational facilities and reviewing its curriculum after a 2019 study showed the country’s poor performance in math and science tests.

by Daxim L. Lucas, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—Long tern investments in the Philippines declined by over a tenth last September after four consecutive months of double-digit year-on-year growth as the lockdown in the preceeding month curtailed investor activity, according to the central bank.

Read more here.

Read more here.

By CNN Philippines Staff, 10 Dec 2020 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 10) – Filipino Grade 4 students finished dead last in an international study assessing their mathematics and science proficiency.

Read more here.

By Cai Ordinario, 9 Dec 2020 People from different walks of life buy basic necessities at a covered court in Sta. Lucia, Pasig City. The World Bank said a large share of breadwinners remained jobless even after the government started easing community quarantines.

https://www.facebook.com/100001525900971/posts/4472961806097972/?sfnsn=mo

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—The COVID-19 pandemic will make 2.7 million more Filipinos poor this year on top of a record slide in the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) or economic output in what could be the worst outturn post-war, the World Bank said Tuesday.

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—The influx of K to 12 graduates into the job market by the time the economy is seen still recovering from this year’s pandemic-induced slump will bloat the jobless rate to 7-9 percent in 2022, the country’s chief economist said.

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—The COVID-19 pandemic will make 2.7 million more Filipinos poor this year on top of a record slide in the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) or economic output in what could be the worst outturn post-war, the World Bank said Tuesday.

Read more here.

Read more here.

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines—Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that shed millions of jobs and shuttered thousands of businesses, the state-run pension fund Social Security System (SSS) on Monday (Dec. 7) said the scheduled increase in contribution rate to 13 percent from 12 percent at present will push…

Read more here.

by Cecille Suerte Felipe (The Philippine Star), 6 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Learning outcomes of Grade 5 students showed that a large number of Filipino learners are not proficient enough in reading, writing and math to advance to secondary school, a Southeast Asia-wide study showed, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

December – month of overseas Filipinos, human rights and youth in the Philippines. Monthly Observances: Month of Overseas Filipinos Energy Consciousness Month Weekly Observances: Dec 4-10 National Human Rights Consciousness Week Week 1: Family Week National Government Employees’ Week Week 2: Linggo ng Kabataan Daily Observances: First Monday: Parents’ Day Mother’s Day and Father’s Day…

December 6 is National AIDS Sunday National Sunday of PWDs! Nov 25 to Dec 10 is 16 days of activism against gender-based violence! #RatifyC190 #StopGBV #OrangeThe World #16Days #GenerationEquality https://bit.ly/39aWa2g

by Mary Grace Padin (The Philippine Star), 5 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has released the guidelines for the establishment of digital banks as it seeks to promote innovation in the banking sector and improve the accessibility of financial products to Filipinos.

by Catherine Talavera, Louella Desiderio, (The Philippine Star), 5 Dec 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Starting this Christmas season, the conduct of group events in hotels, restaurants and malls located in areas under general community quarantine such as Metro Manila will be allowed, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) said…

by Ben O. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 5 Dec 2020 The country’s factory output volumes and their values further contracted in October as 15 industries posted lower year-on-year production, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.