A new bill circulating through congress has one call center services provider up in arms. Senator Charles Schumer of New York recently authored a bill that would impose strict fees on businesses that outsource customer service operations to offshore providers. Hit Rate Solutions, a U.S based outsourcing company with contact centers in the Philippines is…

THE Ejercito family, businessman Enrique Razon Jr., Estrada classmate Antonio Evangelista, a certain Jaime Dy, and gaming friend George Antonio have emerged as the biggest campaign contributors in the Joseph Estrada’s failed reelection bid.

ABOUT 3.1 million workers, many in the agriculture sector, lost their jobs during the first four months of the year due to the severe drought brought by the El Niño weather phenomenon.  This number was 300,000 more than the 2.8 million who lost their jobs from January to April 2009.

Paid sick leave plays a crucial role especially in times of crises where many workers fear dismissal and discrimination when reporting sick. A new ILO study shows that paid sick leave is not only affordable but pays off in terms of health and economic gains for employers, workers and the economy at large. ILO Online…

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, who placed second in the May 10 elections, spent a total of P235.5 million—P227.5 million of which came from donations from business executives—during the whole campaign period, according to his poll expenditure report. In his statement of election contributions and expenditures submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Estrada said…

A week before she steps down from office, President Gloria Arroyo gave her farewell address to the nation Wednesday evening. President Arroyo’s five-minute speech was aired live at 7 p.m. over the Presidential Broadcast Center in Malacañang and patched through state-run network NBN 4 and sequestered television stations RPN 9 and IBC 13.

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MANILA, Philippines – The country is looking at more than doubling the current investment approvals in a span of five years and attract P2.405 trillion worth of investments by 2014, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced yesterday.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION ITUC OnLine Vancouver BC, 24 June 2010: Unions from all over the world are to adopt today an ambitious resolution on climate change. In the framework of the 2nd ITUC Congress, unions have debated their role in the fight against climate change, the means to create green and decent jobs and…

Maternity protection has been a primary concern of the ILO since its creation, in 1919, when the first International Labour Conference adopted the first Maternity Protection Convention No. 3. A new publication on the state of maternity protection in the world (“Maternity at work”) has just been released by the ILO. It sheds light on…

THE Philippines ranks No. 4 in 10 countries in Southeast Asia that flunked in their campaigns to control corruption in government in 2010, an antigraft group said on Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Some lawmakers score what they call attempts to blur the issue of incorporating sex education into the elementary and high school curricula.

MANILA, Philippines – More names have come up as possible heads of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Department of Health (DOH) under the administration of President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

GENEVA — A controversial plan to allow developing countries to raise tariffs temporarily to cope with a destabilizing flood of food imports or drop in food prices would actually have little impact on trade flows, a new study shows.

A ROAD MAP to market the Philippines as an investment destination and accumulate P2.405 trillion worth of projects in the next five years was unveiled yesterday to guide the incoming administration.

The President-elect said over the weekend that he would review the Department of Labor and Employment’s decision giving Philippine Airlines the go signal to outsource some of its non-core business functions. PAL had been bleeding heavily in the last few years on account of a combination of factors—most notably the drastic fluctuations on the prices…

Unknown to the Catholic Church, the Department of Education (DepEd) has been teaching “Sex Education” to students but under a different name.

As hard as it is to imagine, nationalist and Filipino tour guide Carlos Celdran made it possible during his Second Transitio 1945 tour. Together with good friend and columnist Ana Santos, the duo initiated the concept of having Maria Clara advocate reproductive health. Both believe that Maria Clara, being the epitome of Filipina purity, innocence,…

Politics is the battlefield of diverse interests. The clashes of opposing interests have made political activities, especially lawmaking, an arduous task. A bill may be meant for the public good but if it runs against the interest of some affected groups, expect those groups to give the bill a rough sailing in Congress. It is…

AMONG the accomplishments of the outgoing administration is the doubling of the budget for education. When President Gloria M. Arroyo took office in 2001, the budget for state colleges, the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) was only P90 billion. This year the budget…

Dear PAO, I am employed as an Administrative Staff for a company engaged in taxi business. Two weeks ago, my boss approached me and informed me that they needed to terminate my services because the operation of the business was going downhill. He told me that it would be better if I resign because that…

MANILA, Philippines – Business think tank Universal Access to Competitiveness and Trade (U-ACT) called on incoming President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III to initiate talks for the negotiation of a Philippine-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to attract more investors from Europe.

MANILA, Philippines – New York-based Moody’s Investors Services said yesterday that the outlook for sovereigns and banks in Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines remained mostly stable despite the full impact of the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – The recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) signals the start of its smooth implementation that would define the role of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to intervene in disputes and other cases under the social justice program.

BALTIMORE, Maryland – Four Filipina ex-staffers of a Baltimore City hospital haven’t gotten over the shock of being summarily fired from their jobs, allegedly because they spoke Pilipino during their lunch break.

The Philippine auto industry is on the threshold of major changes and reforms that could lead to the full development of what remains one of the country’s few major industries.

The International Maritime Organization will strengthen and overhaul a three-decade-old seafarers’ convention and code to improve sailors capacity and protect them against security risks, such as recurring piracy attacks off Somalia.