No ceasefire with Malacañang either The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Wednesday said that it had not issued a gag order to effect a ceasefire with Malacañang on the raging issues of artificial contraception and reproductive health, contrary to newspaper reports (none of them from The Manila Times).

Revising a curriculum is no easy task. After we find out which parts of the curriculum have to be changed, we have to structure the entire curriculum. It is like decorating a room. Let us say that you want to put up a painting on a wall. You have to remove whatever is on that…

Every year, many of the country’s fresh graduates join the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry as customer-service representatives. It is easy to see why: Most, if not all, find the high salaries that call-center companies offer to be very attractive. Never mind if they have to use very American names like Chelsea and Clint and…

NOT NEEDED: For the record, I am for personal and public health in general, for Reproductive Health in particular. But I am alarmed by the over-reaching scope of the proposed RH bill(s), and by the attempt to use the RH debate to cover up the mismanagement of our rich human and natural resources.

MANILA, Philippines – Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz issued yesterday an order barring flight attendants and stewards of Philippine Airlines (PAL) from staging a strike.

MANILA, Philippines – Seven out of 10 Filipinos are satisfied with the performance of President Aquino, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed yesterday.

ORGANIC farming advocates gave Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala a “two thumbs up” for signing the implementing rules and regulation (IRR) for Republic Act 10068.

Message of  His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III President of the Philippines On The First Hundred Days of his Administration (October 7, 2010, La Consolacion College, Manila) Isandaang araw po ang nakalipas, nagpanata ako sa taumbayan: Hindi ko tatalikuran ang tiwalang kaloob ninyo sa akin. Ang nakalipas na isandaang araw ang magsisilbing tanda ng ating…

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) group has welcomed the government’s plan to adopt the “K+12” proposal which integrates kindergarten and two additional years to basic education in the country.

It took American politicians almost seven decades to forget the lessons of the Crash of ’29 and the Great Depression that followed. The concentration of wealth in the 1920’s, which coincided with (and arguably was caused by) the loosening of standards governing financial markets, led to the complete meltdown of the U.S. financial system, with…

The six-month amnesty offered by Saudi Arabia for overstaying foreign nationals is limited to three categories and may not apply to all Filipinos now staying there, according to a news report. Saudi-based news site Arab News reported Thursday this clarification issued by the Saudi Interior Ministry following several queries on the matter.

Latin America is emerging as a top growth region for U.S. companies looking to outsource jobs, including positions that require considerable technology skills, according to a new survey from Capgemini. The region is No. 3 overall for jobs outsourced from the U.S., the survey reveals, and several factors are creating a rapidly expanding level of…

A BILL seeking to give 20-percent discounts on milk, diaper and medicines to an estimated 14 million single parents, especially those with infants and who are considered among the most “vulnerable” members of society has been filed in the House of Representatives.

Brussels, 5 October 2010 (ITUC OnLine): As the East African Community (EAC) is a creating a common market, the East African HTUR network, established last July in Nairobi as part of the ITUC HTUR programme, will meet in Kigali on 6 and 7 October to debate about the integration of a clause on human and…

Brussels, 6 October 2010 (ITUC OnLine): Trade unions have welcomed the section on “Social Cohesion” in the Chair’s statement to conclude the ASEM-8 Summit of 46 Asian and European countries, held in Brussels on 4-5 October.

BRUSSELS, Belgium—Two months before a key United Nations climate conference, European and Asian leaders pledged Tuesday to seek an urgent, legally-binding deal on global warming that would include deep cuts in emissions.

DFA ANSWERS THE QUESTION BRUSSELS, Belgium—For now, they are the 10 countries of Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Kuwait, Laos, Myanmar, Ireland, Saipan, Norway, Syria, and Vietnam.

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MANILA, Philippines – Bank lending rose by 12.5 percent in August from a year ago, registering its fastest pace in over a year, as improved consumer and business sentiments drove demand for credit and prompted banks to lend more.

MANILA, Philippines — The International Monetary Fund has again raised its growth forecast for the Philippines for 2010 and 2011, citing improving domestic demand and business sentiment in the country and the rest of Asia.

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 2) The Department of Health has set aside P400 million for the purchase of natural and artificial means of family planning, including two million condoms to be distributed next year, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said Wednesday.

I sat as a panelist in a round-table discussion on the mismatch problem at the annual conference of the Call Center Association of the Philippines last week. We had a very insightful exchange and I would like to synthesize the points of discussion in this column.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will make it a national policy to provide couples with an informed choice on family planning methods and triple the funding for population management, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Tuesday.

MANILA, 6 October 2010 (IRIN) – A humanitarian relief agency will soon begin using mobile phones to send cash to employees of rehabilitation projects in typhoon-hit areas in northern Philippines.

The international community’s historic commitment to slash worldwide poverty in half by 2015 — known collectively as the Millennium Development Goals — has resulted in real advances: Primary school enrollment is up, new cases of preventable diseases are down, and millions of people have climbed out of extreme poverty. Yet even with these steps forward,…

MANILA, Philippines – A deaf person will file a discrimination case before the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) after an airport immigration officer prevented him from boarding his flight to Qatar.

BRUSSELS, Belgium—International working group on indigenous peoples, mining, and climate change criticized the European Union for its policy on accessing raw materials, saying it makes indigenous peoples in developing countries like the Philippines and Indonesia poorer.

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Employers here may have to start laying off workers to avoid or stem losses, if the power situation in Mindanao does not improve.

The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has given final notation of the proposed memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), signaling the implementation of the P5-billion Strengthening Program for Rural Banks (SPRB).

WASHINGTON (Xinhua) – The financial rescue program launched two years ago has played a critical role in rebuilding confidence of the financial sector, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday.