Due to the recent economic crisis, high cost of operations, low sales or other business reasons, some establishments have been forced to close shop. Consequently, job security becomes tenuous at best. One of the ways to provide safety nets for retiring employees is the setting up of an employees’ trust fund.

THE Philippines is likely to experience a construction boom within the decade because of the urgent need to address the country’s infrastructure constraints, according to an economist from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P).

A FIVE-PRONGED AGENDA for the Aquino administration’s first 100 days was bared yesterday by the country’s largest business group.

WHEN a credit card user does not pay the entire amount shown in his monthly statement of account, he is bound to pay more for his purchases because of interest and penalty charges. When this happens, the credit card issuers are the big winners because they make more money on unpaid bills. The smaller the…

CEBU, Philippines – ALU-TUCP yesterday denied former workers seized vehicles rented by Chagrin Inc., the company in barangay Pagsabungan, Mandaue City that is trying to shake off accusations of unfair labor practices.

VIENNA – Scientists on Monday reported a major stride towards a vaginal gel that can thwart HIV, a goal that would be of huge benefit to African women bearing the brunt of the AIDS pandemic.

UNLESS you have no idea what a car is—which is highly unlikely if you’re reading this column—you’ve surely heard of the “sudden unintended acceleration” that bedeviled Toyota from late last year to early this year, forcing the Japanese carmaker to recall millions of vehicles in the US alone. The complaints filed against the car company…

FOREIGN investors have taken a wait-and-see posture vis-à-vis the Philippine financial market pending a clearer policy direction from President Benigno Aquino 3rd during his upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA), according to Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Ltd. In a briefing, Stephen Corry, chief investment officer at the securities firm, said the Philippines has been…

HEALTH Secretary Enrique Ona is supporting the appeal of two concerned groups to release the 43 community health workers or the Morong 43, whom the military tagged as alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA). According to Ona he will continue the call of former Secretary Esperanza Cabral, the Alliance of Health Workers and…

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CMP) on Monday scored the Catholic Church for its “extremist view” against the exploitation and development of the country’s natural resources. In a statement, Nelia Halcon, the executive vice president Chamber of Mines, expressed disappointment over the letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to…

Water faucets in Metro Manila’s west zone or those serviced by Maynilad Water Services Inc. may end up dry in the next two months should the rains continue to miss the Angat dam in Bulacan. Herbert Consunji, Maynilad Water officer-in-charge, said in a press conference Monday that this is the likely worst-case scenario facing the…

HONG KONG (AFP) – Hong Kong on Saturday passed its first minimum wage law, a controversial issue that has divided the city’s business sector and labour groups for more than a decade.

MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Enrique Ona yesterday met with a group of doctors and medical professionals to discuss the issues confronting the health sector.

MANILA, Philippines – A group advocating climate change preparedness has urged President Aquino to undertake “immediate and full-scale changes” in the Climate Change Commission amid the possible diversion of a P10.5-billion French loan without its knowledge.

Echoing the guiding principle of President Aquino that the Filipino people are his boss, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said all schoolchildren, whether in public or private schools, are his boss.

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s satisfaction rating improved in her final three months in power but remained negative as it was in the last six years of her nine-year governance, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

President Obama today called on the U.S. Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to close the pay gap that leaves women earning only 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. He says the Paycheck Fairness Act is a common-sense bill that will help ensure that men and women who do equal work receive…

A friend scoffed, a bit haughtily I thought, when he read about how the President’s newly formed Communications Group (I know, the name sounds so generic and so nonspecific although it does have a businesslike ring to it) intended to use Facebook and Twitter as communications platforms to bring Malacañang and P-Noy closer to the…

It’s a big deal when children reach the age of seven. Here in the Philippines, a more festive than usual birthday celebration greets a seven-year-old boy or girl. Old folks say that it is upon the seventh year that a child becomes less vulnerable to sickness or any other external threat.

NEW YORK (AP) – Economists say the US recovery continued during the second quarter of this year with more businesses hiring workers and fewer cutting jobs, but the pace of growth has slowed, a new survey shows.

VIENNA (AP) – World leaders lack the political will to ensure that everyone infected with HIV and AIDS gets treatment, the head of a meeting dedicated to the disease said Sunday.

ATLANTA (AP) – Poverty is perhaps the most important factor in whether inner-city heterosexuals are infected with the AIDS virus, according to the first government study of its kind.

The Philippines is a nation serious about its commitments and which harmonizes its national interests with its international responsibilities.

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Agriculture’s high value commercial crops program (HVCC) seeks to expand rubber production and entice more foreign investors by opening up new areas in Palawan.

MANILA, Philippines—-The value of private-sector construction projects in the first quarter of 2010 jumped 59.5 percent year-on-year to P47.3 billion, according to the National Statistics Office.

DAEJON, SOUTH KOREA—The crippling financial crisis in Asia more than a decade ago was said to have turned from bad to worse because the governments in the region were forced to adopt the wrong foreign policies.

THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry is positioning its yet-to-be-finalized guidelines for the growing franchising industry as more voluntary than mandatory.

Illicit list? Arroyo’s 977 ‘midnight’ appointees LAWYERS at the Palace have been burning the midnight oil scrutinizing nearly a thousand appointments made by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in various government agencies, including state-run corporations, from January this year until she bowed out of office on June 30.

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Thousands of Filipino domestic helpers are still getting jobs in Jordan despite a two-year-old deployment ban there for such occupation, a Philippine Embassy official said.