THE SOCIAL Security System (SSS) has collected a total of P212.88 million from a program that forgives employers who failed to remit the premiums of their employees, a statement read yesterday.

VIEWPOINT He works for a legislative strengthening project in Afghanistan funded by USAID and implemented by the State University of New York. He may be reached at vcuyco@yahoo.com.

HONG KONG – They held elections within days of each other: The Philippines, a lively democracy where politicians get shot dead in the street and Britain, the rock solid ‘mother of all parliaments’.

Bangko Sentral is confident it can manage the inflationary pressures of an economic growth of up to 8 percent, as long as the government does not resort to huge borrowings and wasteful spending.

MANILA, Philippines – Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. cringes at being called the “Little President.” He does not intend to strut around and make people know the hat he’s wearing, no matter how flattering it may be sometimes.

President Aquino III’s move to form a Truth Commission that will investigate Gloria M. Arroyo’s alleged wrongdoings committed in nine years of her presidency raises public expectations way above government’s ability to meet. Right now, there are courses of action that can be taken by independent groups serious with the prosecution of the discredited former…

Been rejected over and over? Maybe you’re looking in the wrong places Not everyone who began a job search last January has a job now, and chances are, if you’re reading this article, you’ve been rejected, or want to find a better job than the one you have. we looked over the Classifieds’ archives over…

Don’t let them get you – and your career – down Workplace bullies come in all shapes. forms and sizes. You’ve most likely encountered bullies at some point in your life, maybe at work or way back when you were still in school.

An incentive package that is skewed to attract investors to locate in the poorer areas in the country would be the focused of the refinements of the old Fiscal Incentives Harmonization Bill that Senator Ralph Recto is going to refile in the Senate.

HOUSTON—Good employees are hard to find. So more companies are figuring, why not rehire the former workers we like?

CAR sales rose 37.1 percent to 82,147 units in the six months to June as a result of higher consumer confidence and attractive financing packages, a group said Friday.

About 20 stranded Filipinos, including four children, have been staying in makeshift shelter beside the Philippine Consulate General’s (PCG) office in Jeddah, a Filipino migrants’ rights group there reported.

The Japanese Shipowners’ Association would continue hiring and training Filipino seafarers — a move the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said would boost President Benigno Aquino III’s plan to support and protect sea-based workers.

A 78-year-old leader of a local peasant group was gunned down Friday afternoon inside a military reservation in Central Luzon, and militants have pointed to the military as suspect.

VANCOUVER, Canada—There are about half a million Filipino immigrants in Canada, most of them living in the big cities of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal.

Conclusion To Commission on Audit (COA) Director Rizalina Mutya, head of the agency’s Cluster B that is assigned to the courts, the judiciary could well make things simpler for itself by decentralizing its budget, accounting and audit processes. Mutya said that right now, “nearly all their transactions . . . have to be reported to…

Newly installed Northern Police District (NPD) director Chief Supt. Rodolfo Magtibay ordered a full-blown investigation into an explosion inside a paper factory at dawn yesterday in Malabon City.

President Aquino’s administration will look for incentives to curb exodus of nurses and doctors from the Philippines to other countries.

As in her mother, former President Corazon Aquino’s administration, President Aquino had resorted to dream targeting for the economy.

Easy tips to save on your electric bill Electricity price hikes are common, yet few individuals know how to efficiently utilize their consumption of electricity. As a result, monthly electricity bills are higher than regular consumption. It becomes costly and expensive. However, it can be avoided through awareness on how to use electricity well.

NOW that President Benigno C. Aquino is settled in Malacañang the attention of his bosses (The People) is shifting to Congress. The Senate leadership remains a tight battle as this piece is being written. But the speakership of the House of Representatives is virtually conceded to Rep. Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte, not only because former President…

WASHINGTON: The US economy will lose steam as the year progresses but will not slide back into recession, even though unemployment is unlikely to fall significantly, according to a survey released on Saturday.

CONCERNED that a disaster similar to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could hit the Philippines, government and private sector executives have begun the process of tightening safety and contingency measures in the petroleum industry. Ramon Oca, Energy secretary, said in a recent forum organized for this purpose that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill highlighted…

MANILA, Philippines – Identifying industries with the biggest potential and investing heavily in them may hold the key to robust job generation, according to newly appointed Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo.

MANILA, Philippines – Labor leaders asked President Aquino yesterday to junk the contractual system in the labor industry, saying that this is against his 22-point platform and policy for labor.

FAIRFAX, Virginia – The Maryland Department of Labor reversed an order that withheld unemployment benefits from one of three Filipina nurses who were fired from a Baltimore hospital for speaking Tagalog.

Business leaders yesterday called for a productivity-based wage increase. “We should correct the system on salary increase. And this should only be based on productivity and capability,” said Eric Ng, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).

MANILA, Philippines – Six people were hurt in a predawn blast that shattered a 5-story building inside a paper mill compound in Malabon City, Saturday.