MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) was “deficient, defective, and divisive,” meant to lower the expectations of Filipinos on his capacity to run the country, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines—Yes, they admit, the board directors are receiving P98,000 in salaries/perks a month plus travel and representation allowance of P28,000 a month. And yes, the employees have bonuses galore.

EMPLOYMENT in the electronics industry fell in 2008 due to the global economic crisis, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said. The NSO said total employment stood at 180,415 down from the 219,312 in 2006.

AFTER nine years of selling its power plants to settle debts, it’s back to square one for National Power Corp. (Napocor), as the current liabilities of the state-owned company remained as they were in 2001.

ILAGAN, Isabela: At least P15-million worth of heavy equipment owned by a logging firm based here were razed by fire by the New People’s Army (NPA) over the week, Army reports disclosed on Tuesday. According to Col. Loreto Magundayao, head of the fifth civil-military relations battalion based at Camp Melchor Dela Cruz—the headquarters of the…

MalacaÑang has rejected a proposal to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd on Tuesday said that the chairmen of almost 90 percent of the Senate permanent committees have been identified. The chairmanship of the finance committee, formerly held by Sen. Edgardo Angara, will go to Sen. Franklin Drilon. Angara will head the committees on science and technology and on education.

The camp of Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga on Tuesday downplayed claims of President Benigno Aquino 3rd in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) that there were irregularities during her nearly ten-year presidency. Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesman Elena Bautista Horn, a former head of the Presidential Management Staff, said that the government still has…

Many obsolete GOCCs, GFIs on chopping block The government is looking at abolishing government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and Government Financial Institutions (GFIs) that are not only obsolete but are also incurring ballooning liabilities.

The world is inevitably moving towards a low carbon economy. Most national governments have now accepted the need for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The levels of reduction vary, but the trend remains clear.

What about us? This was the sentiment of the labor and transport sectors who felt left out in President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III’s first State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) delivered Monday before the Joint Session of the 15th Congress at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

CONSUMERS MAY have to brace themselves for higher electricity prices as the government wants to start reflecting the “true costs” of power, given the bulk of pending applications for rate increases.

LESS THAN a third of the amount of daily pay increase that labor groups demanded have been approved by wage boards in two regions. In Southern Mindanao, workers are to receive a P21 increase in daily pay by August.

MANILA, Philippines – Job offers, not sanctions, are waiting for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), who violated the Philippine government’s deployment ban to Iraq.

A recent Harvard Business School survey of deans, executives, and recruiters that examines not only the value of MBA programs but also the mismatches between the skills learning of the MBA students vis-a-vis the realities of their workplaces has sparked fresh debate on the added value of MBA programs here and abroad. The HBS finding…

THE WAGE boards of Davao and Western Visayas have raised their regions’ daily minimum wage levels by P21 and P15, respectively, in the wake of Metro Manila’s own P22 increase which took effect on July 1.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A year after bouncing back from a brutal recession, the US economy is losing steam and may enter a long period of sluggish growth inadequate to ease high unemployment, analysts warn.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has just issued the much-anticipated Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 7-2010 implementing the tax privileges granted under Republic Act (RA) No. 9994, or the “Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.”

The cities of Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Angeles have the most dynamic economy while the cities of Davao, Olongapo and San Fernando (La Union) have the best quality of life, according to a study by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center (APC). Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Angeles were cited for generating…

Manila (26 July) — The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has revisited the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 8291, the law governing the pension fund, with a particular focus on disability benefits.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) successfully sold P8 billion worth of Treasury bills (T-blls) in an auction yesterday even as the average rates for the 91- and 182-day debt papers moved up slightly.

MANILA, Philippines – Power utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) yesterday said its net income surged 50 percent to P4.8 billion in the first half of 2010 from P3.2 billion in the same period last year on higher revenues from electricity sales.

For the dismissal of an employee to be valid, it must be for a just cause and with due process of law. This is again reiterated in this case of Pedro.

State of the Nation Address of His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III President of the Philippines to the Congress of the Philippines Session Hall of the House of Representatives July 26, 2010 [Batasan Pambansa Complex, Quezon City]

The International Labor Organization has created a stir in the call center world. The reports of its study on the BPO industries in countries India, Argentina, Philippines and Brazil have opened a hornet’s nest, if not Pandora’s Box. The contents of the reports, namely the working conditions of the answering service agents, have put the…

MANILA, Philippines—Migrante International, an alliance of overseas Filipino workers, families and advocates worldwide, today called on President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to make good his promise of stopping forced migration by generating more local jobs.

GENEVA — The World Trade Organization raised on Friday its forecast for growth of global commerce to 10% this year, with its director general saying that even this might yet “turn out to be too low.”

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) – President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is starting his presidency on a high note with 85% of Filipinos expressing trust in him, the highest trust rating ever recorded by any individual included in Pulse Asia’s trust probes since 1999.

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III’s Liberal Party (LP) dominates the chairmanships of various committees in the new House of Representatives.

MANILA, Philippines – What should be the first order of business for the Aquino administration? A new survey by Pulse Asia revealed Monday that many Filipinos want President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to prioritize job creation and lower inflation for the first 6 months of his presidency.