MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved yesterday a $400-million loan for the Philippines to support the expansion of its conditional cash transfer program known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.

As of July 2010, the Philippines is the 12th most populated nation in the world with an estimate of 99,900,177 next to Mexico, according to the CIA World Factbook.

MANILA, Philippines- The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is another one of the Aquino government’s band-aid solution to widespread poverty and hunger in the country. It is a symptom of the many problems of the Filipino workers and people, among which are the high cost of education and health services. It also shows that the real…

MANILA, Philippines—Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez is seeking the abolition of at least 36 “underperforming” government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and government financial institutions (GFIs).

MANILA, Philippines—Former top officials of the Social Security System (SSS) received not only per diem allowances and directors’ fees but also millions of pesos in profit share from a private bank where the pension fund has a substantial investment, the Senate finance committee Wednesday said.

Employment effects of the recent global economic crisis have differed significantly across countries. An active public debate currently focuses on external shocks and the role of labor market policies as a driver of those differences. In this note, we analyze the roles of integration into the global economy and different labor market institutions during different…

The government needs to place more importance in the role of research to successfully implement programs and projects that would alleviate poverty. This was emphasized in a press conference of the Development Policy Research Month (DPRM) held yesterday to highlight the issues related to poverty reduction.

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Enrique Ona has expressed support for a provision in the reproductive health bill that calls for giving couples access to information on all forms of contraception and the right to choose which of these contraceptive methods would be most appropriate for them.

MANILA, Philippines – Couples should be free to choose modern family planning methods such as condoms and other artificial means to prevent pregnancies, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona said on Wednesday.

(Editor’s note: Without appropriate control by legislation more deaths from accidents will follow as noted by the author.) The death of five more PUB passengers in Pagbilao, Quezon, won’t be the last in the remaining months of 2010. We have hundreds of unexamined, untouched, and uninspected PU buses/jeepneys all over RP.

MANILA, September 2, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Philippine government is implementing a new marketing scheme developed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to push contraceptives on the largely Catholic population of the country.

The Cagayan de Oro (CDO) archdiocese in Mindanao has launched two books on natural family planning (NFP). CDO Archbishop Antonio Ledesma said this is part of the Catholic church’s promotion of NFP as an alternative to the artificial contraceptive methods.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is pushing for intensified language training for Japan-bound nurses and caregivers to give them a better chance of passing the difficult licensure examinations there.

BEIJING — Reports about labor shortages, wage disputes, and wage increases for migrant workers in China have abounded of late. They naturally raised concerns, or expectations, that China’s labor-cost advantages may be disappearing.

WEAK targeting systems that result in significant leakages in government antipoverty programs, as well as high inflation and the recent crises, are likely to worsen the country’s poverty situation, according to an expert from the state-owned think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). The situation is leading to rising numbers in the so-called transient…

Freedom House: When we weaken unions, we weaken the entire democratic fabric MANILA, Philippines—Communist-run nations around the world have been striking down workers’ rights and repressing labor unions, an international human rights watchdog revealed.

AT the current pace of progress in the country’s aim to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said there are more than 10 indicators and targets that will not be met in five years.

President Aquino’s economic team yesterday earned the ire of opposition lawmakers as Budget Secretary Florencio Abad tried to hide a big portion of the 2011 national budget from congressional scrutiny.

ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has resumed the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project or PEEP which aims to eliminate the use of incandescent bulbs and switch to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) as part of its National Residential Lighting Program. As many as 68 million incandescent bulbs are believed being used in the country today,…

SEVERAL officials of business groups in Mindanao, during a press conference for the coming 19th Mindanao Business Conference in mid-September, identified three major sectors—mining, energy and agriculture—that the Philippine government must address in order to bring lasting development to the region. Ruben Vegafria, conference director of the 19th Mindanao Business Conference that will be held…

DEAR PAO Dear PAO, What are the reasons why supervisory and managerial employees are not entitled to a 13th-month pay, and what are the legal bases aside from those that are written in the Labor Code?

THE Overseas Workers and Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Wed-nesday clarified that they had no control on deportation centers run by the host country. The clarification was made by OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon after her office is being blamed for the lost of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have decided to leave the center. The OFWs…

LIGHTING bulbs are now to return from where they came from. The Department of Energy now wants the producers of lamps and bulbs to take responsibility for the environmental and health impacts of their products throughout their life cycle. “True, we have switched from inefficient incandescent bulbs to efficient lighting systems such as compact fluorescent…

MORE Filipinos were expected to fall into poverty in 2009 because of recent shocks that hit the country, according to the government’s think tank. Celia Reyes, research fellow of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said that it is likely that poverty incidence among the population will rise more than 32.9 percent in 2009…

Malacañang will scrap the Kilos Asenso and Kalayaan Barangay programs, and the P1.5 billion in funds allocated for the two undertakings would be used to spur investment activities in local governments and augment the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) fund. “We are now rechanneling these funds to programs which have clearer rules and will have a…

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MANILA, Philippines – The number of crimes committed against foreigners in Metro Manila hit 94 last year, a leading risk consultancy firm said.

OVERSTEPPING: The media were among the victims of the hostage-taking fiasco at the Luneta last Aug. 23 — mainly with respect to news coverage allegedly interfering in, or even obstructing, negotiations and rescue operations.

MANILA, Philippines –  Indigent senior citizens aged 80 and above will receive a monthly pension of P500 starting next year as part of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – To provide more jobs for Filipino nurses, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is intensifying Japanese language training for those wishing to work in Japan.