President Aquino has set his austerity program in motion, ordering the abolition of task forces and Cabinet-level positions without portfolio, imposing a moratorium on new hires and reducing subsidy to state corporations.

Dumaguete City (27 August) — Negros Oriental is the first province in Central Visayas that has passed the Reproductive Health Ordinance that supports the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce maternal and infant mortality rate.

Successful family planning led by women is among keys to increasing the poor’s share in economic growth MANILA, Philippines—Backers of the long-unsettled Reproductive Health Bill now pending in the 15th Congress has found a supporter in the World Bank.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s leading supermarket chain has broken the country’s strict taboo on women working in public with a pilot program of women cashiers, a company official said.

EVEN SMALL businesses have to adapt to unavoidable changes in climate and help mitigate their adverse effects, experts said in a forum organized by the Institute for Small-Scale Industries at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman early this month.

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) will release for consultations next month the initial draft of the island’s 2020 peace and development framework.

CEBU/TACLOBAN — Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras has tasked all agencies under the Department of Energy to help come up with an interim structure that will address the concerns of electric cooperatives in the Visayas and encourage them to participate in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

COMPETITIVENESS issues continue to hound small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines but they are also among the most upbeat in the region, a United Parcel Service (UPS) survey showed.

MANILA, Philippines—Distribution utilities and electric cooperatives will soon be mandated to provide discounts and subsidies to senior citizens for the electricity they consume. This is in accordance with the Expanded Senior Citizens Act.

MANILA, Philippines — More than 400 workers have been left jobless and unpaid by an American businessman, who was allegedly forced to close his shop in Manila due to bankruptcy, a company employee claimed in a statement on Thursday.

Back in 1998, Victorico P. Vargas was in Bangkok as Citibank’s country human resource head, a job he held for two years and which allowed him every now and then to indulge in one of his early, pre-banking day passions – basketball.

ORMOC CITY—The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) wants mandatory membership among all doctors renewing their license and for all doctors to upgrade their skills regularly.

DA NANG, Vietnam—Economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) need to “take a risk” in investing among themselves, particularly in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in order to build resilience and create a vibrant single-market economy by 2015, said Asean Secretary-General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan.

AS economic growth in the second quarter and the first semester came close to hitting 8 percent, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) expressed belief on Thursday that full-year growth can still exceed the government’s targets barring any natural disasters and economic problems.

CEBU, Philippines – In the wake of recent reports on the state of tuberculosis (TB) control in the country, PhilHealth-7 reminds members of its benefit package for TB treatment.

Each of the Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS) board members received about P6 million in salaries and perks in 2009, an official of the state pension fund told a Senate inquiry Thursday.

SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) have turned more optimistic about economic prospects this year, according to two separate surveys on Thursday. In its 2010 Asia Business Monitor, UPS said about three-fourths of the SMEs polled expect “more opportunities” for domestic growth this year.

LONDON (AP) – World stock markets fell further Wednesday as another batch of disappointing U.S. economic data reinforced fears about the strenth of the global economic recovery.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) raised upwards its inflation forecast for next year due to the continued stronger-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first half of the year, higher oil prices, petitions for electricity rate hike, the imposition of the 12-percent value added tax on toll as well as…

MANILA, Philippines – Police believe drunkenness led to the death of a laborer who fell from the sixth floor of a building under construction in Ermita, Manila yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) director general Joel Villanueva said they are ready to give free skills training to Hong Kong-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who would be fired by their employers upset over last Monday’s hostage crisis in Rizal Park.

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives has formed its 12-member contingent to the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA). The commission is the body empowered to approve or reject major Cabinet appointments and promotions in the military and diplomatic service.

AFTER CONCILIATION-MEDIATION MANILA, Philippines—Seven cases of preventive mediation in one of the country’s biggest geothermal companies have been settled by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) following a series of conciliation conferences that resulted in the awarding of more than P120 million in retirement benefits.

ASEAN members are prodding the Philippines to ease limits on foreign investments to take advantage of increased inflows into the region this year, a senior trade official said.

If you are being beaten by a boyfriend or a spouse, then you need to read this. If you have a family member or a friend who is being physically battered, you might want to read this and give it to that friend or loved one.

For a start, what on earth is wrong with Sex Education? Answer: Truth to say, there are certain major things wrong with it. Strictly speaking, to put “Sex” and “Education” together neither jibes, clicks nor sticks — so to speak. For one thing, animals do not get “education” but they do “sex” — naturally and…

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has endorsed to Malacañang the creation of Consultative Council on Overseas Filipinos (CCOF) for the protection and promotion of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)’s rights.

State-run Social Security System (SSS) said it would file cases against delinquent employers who failed to participate in the pension fund’s recently concluded condonation program. Emilio de Quiros, the newly appointed SSS president, said after his leadership would strengthen the pension fund’s viability before looking into more long-term goals like improving social security.

TOKYO: Japan will provide English translations in a professional nursing exam to remove a language hurdle for foreign applicants after almost all of them failed the test this year, officials said Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines—The union of flight attendants and stewards of Philippine Airlines Wednesday accused the national flag carrier’s management of having a “beerhouse mentality” in seeking to retire flight attendants when they turn 40 or 45 years old.