ONE OF the creepier stories in the TV news line-up filled with the bizarre and the weird (on the occasion of Halloween and All Saints Day) was the report about a seven-month pregnant woman found dead and naked in a provincial cemetery.

Vice President Jejomar Binay posted one of the highest satisfaction rating, with a predominantly “very good” rating among officials in the line of succession of President Aquino, a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The Palace said yesterday it is four-square behind Labor Secretary Rosalindo Baldoz’s decision favoring flag-carrier Philippine Airline’s (PAL) outsourcing of its businesses that resulted in the layoff of 2,600 employees while at the same time advising the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) to exhaust legal remedies to defend their rights.

These must be really slow days for both media and the police because the usual harassment—better known as raids—on bars, massage parlors, and other places condemned as places of sin by moralists and by those who stand to gain from exposing the supposed evil that happens in these places has started once again. The season…

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd’s undiminished popularity and the people’s continuing confidence in him as their leader apparently account for the “very high” Net Personal Optimism score recorded in the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (sws). The SWS conducted its Third Quarter 2010 Social Weather Survey on September 24 to 27.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is still keen on pursuing an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Rates for the bellwether 91-day Treasury bills (T-bills) went down by 17.5 basis points to 3.400 percent from 3.575 percent previously.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines ranks third after Burma and Indonesia in the list of countries in Southeast Asia with the most number of people displaced by internal armed conflict, according to Abante Mindanao party-list Rep. Maximo Rodriguez.

The Negros Labor Coalition condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent decision of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz upholding the planned outsourcing of services and consequent severance from employment of 2,600 affected Philippine Airline employees, NLC convenor Wennie Sancho said yesterday.

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—If you want a job, don’t go to college. This, in essence, was the message to students graduating from high school by the Eastern Visayas office of the Department of Education (DepEd).

MANILA, Philippines – Local carrier Philippine Airlines said it is willing to put to rest the messy labor row between the management and labor union with a P2.5 billion settlement.

SAN PABLO CITY, Philippines—They may be tourists abroad, but back home in San Pablo City in Laguna, spouses and children of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) play hosts to guests, either as tour guides or as home-stay operators.

THE large number of Filipino children living on the streets threatens the Philippines’ ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals, according to a joint study conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

MANILA, Philippines— The Department of Trade and Industry aims to secure around $8 billion in foreign direct investments for the country—the same level now enjoyed by Vietnam—stressing the importance of incentives in convincing investors to locate to the Philippines.

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SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela – Anti-mining activists in Nueva Vizcaya have urged the Commission on Human Rights to come up with the report of the investigation the agency conducted last year on human rights violations allegedly committed by a mining firm in the upland mining town of Kasibu.

In the year since the establishment of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission for Human Rights (AICHR), the overall human rights situation in the region has actually deteriorated. Worse still, nobody talks about it anymore because the conventional wisdom is that Asean now has a human rights body. According to normal procedure, it should be AICHR members…

MANILA, Philippines (PNA) — The Philippines ranks third after Burma and Indonesia in the list of countries in Southeast Asia with the most number of people displaced by internal armed conflict.

MANILA – The Philippines’s labor department reiterated its policy to reinforce centers for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) abroad by deploying more employees overseas.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole)-Central Luzon led the assessment of the national program against child labor and the formulation of the program’s action plan.

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A bunch of economists trooped over to the New World hotel last week to enjoy a free dinner (always a guaranteed crowd drawer), courtesy of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (Philippine office) and co-hosted by the Foundation for Economic Freedom. The FNF and FEF represent their respective countries within the Economic Freedom Network, a…

NEW YORK — The solution to manmade climate change depends on the transition to electricity production that, unlike burning oil, natural gas, and coal, emits little or no carbon dioxide — the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.

JAPAN — Countries in Asia Pacific have agreed to help establish next generation high-speed broadband networks by 2020, in an attempt to overcome the ‘digital divide’ between rich and poor nations in the region.

DAVAO CITY — The government and power companies should work on a clear plan to avert, or at least mitigate, the power supply lack Mindanao is expected to experience again during summer next year, the leader of the island’s main business chamber said during a meeting on the issue last week.

Two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia haled their employer to court for allegedly refusing to give them their exit visas and benefits six weeks after they quit their jobs.

STRONG SPENDING during the holidays, driven partly by remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFW), should help drive economic growth faster than officially projected, economists said yesterday.

ECONOMISTS expect 2010 and 2011 inflation to fall within official target ranges, a poll conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has called for stronger enforcement of environmental laws and greater cooperation between lawmen and other government officials under the Environmental Law Enforcement Task Force.

MANILA, Philippines – At least 70% of Filipinos are satisfied with the performance of Vice-President Jejomar Binay in his first 3 months in office, a new Social Weather Stations survey (SWS) revealed Tuesday.