LONDON, United Kingdom—The effects of hunger could be costing developing countries $450 billion a year, an aid agency warned Tuesday, ahead of a United Nations summit on development.

AS the global economic crisis of 2009 cut consumption and income in the National Capital Region and other regions in Luzon, the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) of households in the Visayas and Mindanao remained robust.

THE PHILIPPINES is poised to gain from the diminishing work force abroad but top managers will have to adopt key strategies to retain local talent in the meantime, an expert yesterday said.

PAYOUTS for members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)—those reimbursements for expenses for hospitalization and medicines—were lower last year and in 2008, but the salaries of PhilHealth employees almost doubled, according to local research group Ibon Foundation Inc. 

PHILIPPINE Airlines has sued 16 of the 25 pilots who resigned in July to work for other carriers, accusing them of breach of contract and abandonment of duty before a Makati court.

The Child Protection Unit (CPU) Philippines yesterday said emotionally abused children are likely to lead troubled lives during adulthood. “History of child abuse was linked with higher rates in adult life of depressive and anxiety symptoms, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorders,” CPU executive director Dr. Bernadette Madrid said.

MANILA, Philippines – Power utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has overcharged its customers by P14.2 billion in a span of five-and-a-half years, according to a consumer advocacy group.

THE bailiwicks of Vice President Jejomar Binay and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. are the richest cities in the country and with the highest spending in population control, health and education, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board. Romulo Virola, NSCB secretary general, said that the four consistently richest cities in 2008 were Quezon, Makati,…

MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. affirmed the House of Representatives’ commitment to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for the Philippines and called on lawmakers to pitch in to help end poverty.

MANILA, Philippines – Local businessmen are asking the government to restructure the tax system by limiting the allowable deductions in order to simplify the collection and ultimately collect more taxes.

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipina household service worker (HSW) in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia who was found in her employer’s kitchen was rushed to a hospital but died due to acid burns and stab wounds, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

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MANILA, Philippines – More than P532 billion had been appropriated for 14 government-owned and controlled corporations for this year, or roughly 37 percent of the P1.441 trillion total for the period, Sen. Franklin Drilon said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang may have set the stage for the abolition of the National Food Authority (NFA) with its decision to take away the agency’s P8-billion rice procurement subsidy and transfer it to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

MANILA, Philippines—A United States-based Filipino doctor who specializes in caring for premature babies or neonates yesterday warned against the use of pesticides and insecticides at home to combat mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria.

Each Call Center in the Philippines has their own personal lingo and vocabulary. Obviously, when a Filipino call center agent is talking to you, you would possibly not be able to comprehend him. Here’s a list of the most common used call center lingo in the Philippines:

Spotlight interview with Elizabeth Tang (HKCTU-Hong Kong) “Society’s attitude to domestic workers is starting to improve” Brussels, 14 September 2010 (ITUC OnLine):  The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) (1) is among the organisations most experienced in the defence of domestic workers in Asia. Its chief executive, Elizabeth Tang, looks back on the difficulties…

HONG KONG – Asian newspapers are defying the global print media meltdown while their counterparts in the West spill red ink and lay off staff in droves as readers flock to online news.

DYING INDUSTRY Asbestos kills at least 300 people every day. It’s time the industry was killed off, say unions and campaigners. A statement from a United Nations body confirming its desire to see the end of asbestos use worldwide is the ‘death knoll’ for a substance which claims one life every five minutes around the…

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Differences between the sexes affected by environment during first six months of life EVANSTON, Ill. — It seems the old nature versus nurture debate can’t be won. But a new Northwestern University study of men in the Philippines makes a strong case for nurture’s role in male to female differences — suggesting that rapid weight…

Asia has one of the fastest rates of spread of HIV/AIDS infection in the world. At present, HIV/AIDS infection is still virtually nonexistent amongst most of these populations in Bangladesh. But it is extremely likely that once it is initiated, it will spread rapidly through these extended networks of risk. Prostitutes exist at significant levels…

The secretary of education, Brother Armin Luistro, has declared a full month to honor our teachers. My two parents were mentored by American educators in what were then called normal schools, which trained teachers in the noble profession of teaching.

THE government has identified six potential “sunshine industries” in Mindanao that could help the region industrialize and lift millions out of poverty, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said.

SINGAPORE — Collaboration between governments, the private sector, and building owners are needed to increase the number of “green buildings” in the region, speakers at an international conference here said. The Build Green Expo 2010 opened yesterday with experts calling on national green building councils to provide a venue for stakeholders to collaborate in making…

THE PHILIPPINES should seek trade pacts with other developing countries to take advantage its peers’ growing markets, a trade expert yesterday said.

The World Bank on Monday said it has approved a grant to support the Philippines’ statistical system for the next seven years. In a statement, the Washington-based lender said the $150,000 grant will support the formulation of the Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP) for 2011 to 2017.

PHNOM PENH: Tens of thousands of Cambodian garment workers began a week-long strike on Monday—the latest mass walkout by employees in Asia who are demanding a bigger share of the region’s economic success. About 60,000 workers seeking higher wages joined the action at more than 40 factories, out of a total of about 470 across…

Foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Philippines up to the time President Aquino assumed office fell from a year ago, according to the central bank. In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said FDI inflows in the first half of this year reached $732 million, or 42 percent lower than the $1.270 billion…