The Supreme Court has ordered listed Manila Mining Corp. to compensate employees who were terminated after the shutdown of mining operations in Butuan.

TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has asked local government units to consider programs that will meet UN-sponsored Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in planning for their 2011 budget.

STATE ASSISTANCE to the automotive industry should be prioritized as it has the highest multiplier effect in generating jobs, an economist said yesterday.

SYDNEY, Australia — As other countries in the Asia Pacific count their gains in the war against the tobacco lobby, the Philippines remains a haven for the cigarette industry and its millions of loyal patrons.

Labor officials in Mindanao have drawn up an action plan to eliminate child labor – particularly the use of children in mining activities – there. According to Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 11 office’s plan focuses on the mines of Maragusan in Compostela Valley province.

Amid diverse and divergent views over efforts to implement a 12-year education program in the country, a school in a fifth class municipality in the Mountain Province may just be proof of how the plan can work.

President Aquino and his Budget chief Florencio “Butch” Abad will get what they want from Congress by way of its members no longer questioning the lump sum appropriations insisted on by Malacañang in the 2011 national budget, with former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo getting the biggest “pork barrel” from the Department of Public…

My Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) colleagues were in Brussels for the 8th Asia-Europe Peoples Forum (AEPF) this week. The AEPF is an interregional network of progressive civil society organizations across Asia and Europe. It emerged in the 1996 from a common desire and need among organizations across the two continents to open up new venues…

SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile on Friday renewed his call for the operation of a nuclear power plant to wean away the country from dependence on expensive fossil fuels.

Although various sectors of society have given President Benigno Aquino 3rd high marks for his first 100 days in office, at least one group said that he could have done more during that period.

Philippine business leaders on Friday gave a “high mark” to President Benigno Aquino 3rd for his first 100 days in office, welcoming his early moves to curb corruption, slash red tape and boost the economy.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) expressed support yesterday for the proper management of the population. “We are pro-management of the population,” PCCI committee chairman Samuel Lim said in a press conference.

WASHINGTON – The Philippines fell in the world’s economic freedom ranking to 76th from 69th previously among 141 countries surveyed, the Economic Freedom of the World 2010 annual report said.

Not too many are familiar with AANI, the acronym for Agri-Aqua Network International Inc. which started in the country fifteen years ago primarily to disseminate agricultural and aqua culture technology. This is the organization that is now actively promoting organic farming in the Philippines, supplying our small and medium farm enterprises with the technology needed…

Tomorrow is 10-10-10. Whatever that implies to many Filipinos, who are more and more inclined towards the intricacies of Feng Shui, here’s wishing everyone ø more prosperous year ahead.

‘The idea of conciliation as always is “take some and give some.”. It cannot be a take all and give none.’ MY simple understanding of the secretary of labor assuming jurisdiction over a labor dispute is that this is done only when the national interest is involved.

MANILA, Philippines – Well aware of the existence of “fake” pensioners, the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) has become stricter in granting pensions to retirees and war veterans.

MANILA– Facebook and other social networking tools are being used by sex assailants in the Philippines to lure their victims, contributing to a rise in such crimes, national police said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate committee on finance unearthed on Thursday more excessive salaries and bonuses at a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC). This time, it is the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) that has come under fire.

Manila was listed as one of 10 worst cities in the world to drive in. According to MSN.com, Manila along with Rome, Mumbai, Paris, Beijing, Seoul, and others were not ideal places for driving. The site told drivers to expect in Manila triple-lane changes, failure to signal, and breezing through red lights.

MANILA, Philippines—The Social Security System (SSS) may have to implement a loan penalty condonation program because of a public outcry over its sudden decision to suspend the grant of salary loans to employees of firms it has classified as “delinquent.”

President Benigno Aquino III said the administration may seek a supplemental budget from Congress for legal assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFW), which has been reduced to just P27 million for next years instead of P100 million as required by law.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Rich and emerging economies must dramatically change the way they trade with each other or risk throttling the global economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday.

With a 23 percent-plunge in his trust rating, former presidential son and now Ang Galing Pinoy Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo yesterday said President Aquino should start rethinking his line of governance and veer away from blaming the past administration for the country’s political and economic problems.

THE Philippines will offer 33 infrastructure projects for public-private partnership (PPP) in a road show next month, according to documents. A source from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the indicative cost for the 33 projects would hit P314.34 billion.

A New York-based human rights watchdog said President Aquino has yet to fulfill his campaign promise to address human rights abuses and eradicate private armies, which according to the group, “jeopardizes his stated commitment to justice.”

Every opinion maker and his blog seem to be in 100 Days mode this week, even though there is no way three months and a week of governance could be the basis of a fair assessment of the six-year presidency of Benigno Aquino 3rd. But there is sound reason to go over key actions of…

Nonetheless, call-center agent Jerson Beltran, who said that he neither smokes nor uses any prohibited substances and hardly drinks (except on special occasions), stressed that having vices depends entirely on an individual’s personal choices. Another business process outsourcing (bpo) employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, ranted on the findings, saying: “[Many] call-center workers do…

MANILA, Philippines – At least P51 billion in potential investments in bioethanol projects may be lost due to the failure of the government to assure investors that it will nurture the initially capital intensive bioethanol industry, a sugar industry leader said yesterday.