INVESTMENT FLOWS into the Philippines and the rest of Asia will likely strengthen this year but governments are advised to favor low-carbon projects to address climate change amid the expected surge in economic activity, a United Nations agency said in a report released yesterday.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – Two men died in an acetylene tank explosion on a fishing boat off a coastal village on Jolo island, police reported Friday.

I wrote this piece in July 2004 in the hope that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would listen and use it in her State-of-the-Nation Address. She didn’t, it can all be said again, with some amendments to bring it up to date and adapt it better to a new president. Let’s hope I won’t be able to…

New Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo who was supposedly appointed by President Aquino to a one-year term, did not waste time in earning the displeasure of his constituents in the local domestic industries who are now up in arms over his alleged sweeping statement that greatly favors imports and sub-standard products.

The Philippines is keen on joining the negotiations for the inter-regional economic integration as well as starting informal talks with the European Union (EU) for a possible bilateral trade pact, the Trade department said.

THE business process outsourcing (BPO) industry received billions of pesos in financial support from the government in 2008, according to official statistics. Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that total subsidies granted to BPO firms amounted to P1.014 billion.

No amount of money can buy the joy that a toy can bring to a child. This was the view expressed Thursday by the local distributor of Barbie dolls and other high-end toys who also said that the toy market in the country continues to flourish despite the hard times. Myrna Yao, Richwell Trading Corp.…

MANILA, Philippines – Employees of the Bataan Economic Zone appealed yesterday to President Aquino to review the midnight appointments of the chairman and board members of the newly created Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) in Mariveles town which they claimed hastily took over the freeport a day before President Aquino assumed his…

The COMELEC continues to have a badly damaged reputation simply because most of its collective decisions seem to go beyond ordinary human imagination even if stretched to the limit. Its recent ruling on the Ang Galing Pinoy Party list nominee who will assume a seat in the House of Representatives is the latest example of…

MANILA, Philippines – Cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the country have reached epidemic proportions, prompting health authorities to sound the alarm to stem the rampant transmission of the deadly disease.

MANILA, Philippines – Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo vowed to walk the talk on President Aquino’s “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” anti-corruption drive.

THERE ARE many misbeliefs or misconceptions about lightning. Some say that lightning will never strike twice in the same place. Others think that lightning will always strike the highest point. Still others say that their home is safe because it has never been struck. The overconfident individual says that it will never happen to him/her.

IN SCHOOL, speaking one’s native tongue (e.g., Cebuano, Ilocano, Bicol or Waray) is still considered by many an obstacle to learning, instead of an educational resource. Monetary, academic and even corporal penalties have been imposed in the false belief that, these will dissuade students from speaking the “dialect” in school.

HOW MANY surveys are needed before the gravity of the Philippine hunger problem is recognized by the government and other institutions, domestic and international, professing concern for the economic well-being of the people?

Last week, I started sharing with you, dear readers, my speech on the topic “the Role of CHED in Setting Global Standards for Higher Education in the Philippines” during the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) Institute Symposia and Fora on July 9, 2010 with the theme “Looking Global ……. Taking Actions . .…

THE Aquino administration wants to collect more taxes by cracking the whip on sari-sari store owners, market vendors, and the estimated 40 percent of Filipinos who work in the underground economy.

22 July 2010 – The Philippines reiterated its commitment to strengthen mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of all at the ongoing 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Ha Noi, Vietnam. One of the priorities of President Benigno S. Aquino III is providng greater…

MANILA, Philippines—To the younger OFWs who still have the next 10 to 20 years to work abroad, my advice is for them to look for opportunities in Asia, where the most dynamic economies will be (in contrast with the stagnating industrialized countries of the West and Japan).

UH-OH, LESS than a month into the Aquino (Part II) administration and already, tap water is becoming a political commodity. Now, the guys down here in my barangay must not only worry about tap water getting too costly. They must also contend with the problem of shortage.

MANILA, Philippines—A small group of Filipinos has begun training in preparation for the possible use of nuclear energy as the Aquino administration begins discussing measures to deal with an impending power crisis, the head of National Power Corp. (Napocor) said Wednesday.

In its recent meeting, the Development Budget Coordination Committee revised upward its GDP growth forecasts to 5-6% for 2010. But in a surprise move, the committee forecasts that economic growth will accelerate to 7-8% in 2011 by “harnessing innovative public-private partnerships.” The rosy prognosis for 2011 goes against the forecasts of both the International Monetary…

DESPITE all the talk about going green and the increasing “environmental advocacies” of companies, only 17 products in the country have earned the Philippine version of eco-labeling called the Green Choice seal.

VIENNA, Austria—The criminalization of sex workers, drug users, and men who have sex with men were highlighted as major sources of concern in the fight against HIV in Asia, at the world AIDS conference here Wednesday.

A LITTLE more than a tenth of Filipinos in 2003 could be considered poor under an expanded poverty index that will be used in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report scheduled to come out this October, the institution that crafted the method said in a statement.

CEBU, Philippines – A Mandaue City police official and at least three members of the Associated Labor Unions picketing the Chagrin Incorporated in Barangay Pagsabungan were criminally charged before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas for alleged violation of the rights of an arrested person and grave misconduct.

That silly party-list system will have to go, sometime in the near future, because clearly, it has been abused through the years, and will continue to be abused — even by the so-called “cause-oriented groups.”

The government will streamline its small and medium enterprise (SME) development efforts by placing all bureaus and agencies mandated to help the sector “under one roof.” On the sidelines of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines Inc. (FINEX) general membership meeting on Wednesday, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo told reporters that eight agencies have overlapping…

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has urged President Benigno Aquino 3rd to intervene in the labor dispute between Philippine Airline (PAL) and its employees.

Toshiba Corp. of Japan is keen on reviving the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Froilan Tampinco, National Power Corp. (Napocor) president, said that the Japanese firm has expressed interest in rehabilitating the Bataan plant since Toshiba already controls Westinghouse Electric Co., the company that constructed the 630-megawatt nuclear plant.

The rule is that an employer of a negligent employee or household helper shall be liable for the damages caused by the latter acting within the scope of their assigned tasks even though the former is not engaged in any business or industry. The exception is that said employer is not liable if he proves…