MANILA, Philippines – The economy is poised to grow by 6.2 percent this year on the back of a recovering global environment, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in its latest report on the country.

SAYS ACTIVISTS FROM ASIA, EUROPE MANILA, Philippines—As trillions of dollars in stimulus packages are running out and as governments deliberate on new ones to stave off the inevitable collapse of the world economy, social movements belonging to the Asia-Europe Peoples’ Forum (AEPF) urge decision-makers to re-think their assumptions and actions.

Asean economies are rebounding well from the global financial crisis. According to JPMorgan Chase & Co., investor interest in the stock markets of Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia could increase because of the resilience they showed during the credit crunch, and the economic growth in the region. They predict that Thailand’s economy will expand…

THE PHILIPPINES needs to beef up defenses against a pandemic, a government official said, noting that a collective effort from the government and public is needed in such a crisis.

Today Malacañang submits to Congress the proposed P1.645-trillion national budget for 2011. According to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, the proposed budget is P104 billion higher than this year’s P1.541 trillion.

THE gas pipeline that is hoped to eventually transport natural gas from Batangas and Manila (BatMan-1) is targeted to be operational by 2013, according to Jesus Tamang, policy-planning director of the Department of Energy.

Two companies running two coal power plants in Cebu province have been temporarily disallowed from disposing their waste in areas near their facilities.

“ARE YOU a domestic manufacturer hurt by the sudden surge of imports?,” asked an ad for a seminar held last month. “Do you want to take action on these matters? Then this seminar is for you,” it continued. Apparently effective, some 20 businessmen and lawyers subsequently attended a course on raising trade disputes against competing…

Once again, heads are shaking over the size of compensation received by directors and top executives at government owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) and financial institutions (GFIs). I last wrote about this more than five years ago when reports about executive pay in government corporations similarly shocked the public. Then GSIS president Winston Garcia, for…

Three months ago when I visited Zamboanga del Sur the province was suffering from frequent and prolonged brownouts brought about by the dry spell. Rain has since fallen in sufficient volumes to bring up the level of water of Lake Lanao, the biggest source of electric power in Mindanao. The power crisis that crippled Mindanao…

An influx of American investments could pour into the Philippines because of confidence in the Aquino administration but restrictions in the professional and retail trade sectors may deter investors, an American business leader in the country said on Monday. “There is renewed interest in the Philippines. The Aquino administration is setting the right tone,” Robert…

Malacañang on Monday acknowledged a warning made by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and said that it would focus its economic development program on building and expanding the country’s middle-class. “The reality is we have not really expanded our middle class considerably. And this doesn’t compare favorably with the records of our neighboring countries in…

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines Tuesday disputed claims made by its flight attendants’ union that the flag carrier had unilaterally imposed unfair labor practices, saying current employment terms were approved by the employees’ union itself.

As usual, my Philippine STAR article yesterday (No need for a divorce law) elicited reactions arising from lack of proper understanding or simple refusal to see the adequacy of the remedies available to parties in an allegedly irreparable marriages already provided by the existing laws. It is quite clear that under the Family Code, aggrieved…

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipinos who expect their lives to get better in the next 12 months hit a record high during the remaining days of the Arroyo administration, a latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

MANILA, Philippines – The country must be consistent with its policies and must make major revisions on the Investments Priorities Plan (IPP) because uncertainty will scare foreign investors, the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (AmCham) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Are we prepared for climate change? No, according to the consensus arrived at yesterday during the opening of a two-day Government-Civil Society Organization La Niña Summit at the BSWM Conference Hall of the Department of Agriculture.

MANILA, Philippines – Investors swamped yesterday’s Treasury bill (T-bill) auction, ignoring a hostage-taking incident in Manila which involved a dismissed policeman and a bus of foreign tourists and their local guides.

Germs! The mere mention of the word is enough to make you sick, shriek or shrink in fear. They’re literally all over the place. Fact is, you harbor germs in your body. And as I type this, they’re probably lurking on my desk, on the computer keyboard, and mouse.

Key facts * About 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace. * According to WHO estimates, more than 107 000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposure.

EARLY this month, the UN special envoy for Burma (also known as Myanmar), Tomas Ojea Quintana wrote a letter to the chairman, Do Ngoc Son, of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) asking for a meeting to exchange views on their respective organisations and activities. The request was quickly turned down.

MANILA, Philippines—The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. is urging the government to put up a research and development facility that will enable the country to attract the billions of dollars in investments that are now being poured into neighboring economies.

Bangko Sentral employment index at all-time high MANILA, Philippines—More jobs may be available for Filipinos in the fourth quarter as the employment index, a key indicator of the plans of companies to hire additional workers, has hit an all-time high.

A survey debunking claims that Philippine wages are more expensive than those in China is the anchor of a Board of Investments’ investment promotion campaign aimed at attracting manufacturing industries that are not power-intensive.

A “zhorse” was recently born at the Manila Zoo—a beguiling combination of zebra and horse, brown as a horse, striped as a zebra! Zoo-keepers told news-reporters that the zoo had only one zebra left and when they noticed that it was going into fits of depression, they tried giving it a horse for a companion!…

There are things noticeably odd—and interesting—in the current debate on divorce. The proponents of divorce in the House of Representatives are women, belonging to the women’s rights party list, Gabriela. In the Senate, the champion of the divorce bill is another woman, Senator Pia Cayetano. The most vocal oppositionists of divorce, on the other hand,…

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed but nowadays when married people introduce themselves they seem obliged to describe the state of their marriage. I am sure you have been in some social function where someone inevitably introduces himself or herself as someone who is “happily married.” Some do it in jest, others in…

The Senate finance committee has summoned former administrator Romulo Neri of the Social Security System to a hearing on Tuesday to get his side on the allegation that he and ten others received P206 million in bonus as members of the board of directors of Philex Mining.

President Aquino has terminated a controversial anti-insurgency plan that militant groups have linked to summary killing of people identified with the communist movement.