In our presidential system of government, the authority to appoint is one of the President’s foremost powers. It is exercised either exclusively or with the consent of the Congressional Commission on Appointments (CA) or upon recommendation of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

Policy positions differ in the trade union movement, both at national and international levels concerning the use of temporary work agencies. Views vary from total bans on such agencies, to partial bans, to strict regulation. There are also differences as to on what basis workers should be covered by collective bargaining agreements. However, there are…

Talks between China and Taiwan to complete the free trade agreement between them appear to have stalled—because the negotiators are “stuck” over some “items,” Taiwan’s prime minister said in a statement. As a result, it now doesn’t look like the two economies would not be able to conclude the agreement during this month.

MORE than 3,000 inmates have been released since 2008 under a Supreme Court-initiated project to declog court dockets and decongest jails, Chief Justice Renato C. Corona said on Friday.

CEMENT PRICES in the Philippines are among the highest in East Asia, Board of Investments (BoI) data showed. The data were made public late on Friday, a week after the 2010 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) was unveiled with provisions granting incentives to new entrants into the cement industry which the state agency said would encourage…

Rising prices, global recovery cited; value of Q1 output up 28% THE PHILIPPINE MINING INDUSTRY could be headed for a good year given higher metal prices and the prospect of more investments, officials and analysts said.

THE Arroyo administration has revised the new Motor Vehicle Development Program (MVDP). Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Elmer Hernandez told reporters last week that the President signed Executive Order 877-A on June 3.

SINGAPORE — Wealth in Asia-Pacific grew faster than in other regions around the world in 2009, according to a new global study. The region, excluding Japan, added 22%, or US$3.1 trillion, to its coffers from the end of 2007, a study conducted by US-based business advisory firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) stated.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona has vowed to provide those who have less in life with more where the law is concerned. The chief justice over the weekend said that beside the existing programs and reforms that had been instituted by his predecessor, retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno, more would soon be implemented to…

Hybrid rice is the answer to the country’s perennial cereal supply problem, according to Henry Lim, chairman and chief executive officer of SL Agritech Corp., who added he is of the strong belief that the Philippines would achieve rice self-sufficiency in three years “if the government would aggressively push its hybrid rice propagation program.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) foresees the further decline of insurgency in the country, if not its decimation, through more effective governance by local chief executives who should take the lead role in the counter-insurgency campaign.

COMELEC, SMARTMATIC NOT OFF THE HOOK YET Just when the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its supplier Smartmatic were about to breathe in relief after exhaustive probes into the conduct of the automated polls last May 10, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. sought the continued impounding of the 60 precinct count optical scan (PCOS)…

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) is urging the House of Representatives to ratify the Special Education Act of 2010, as the passage of this bill will finally give due attention to the education of 5.49 million children with special needs (CSN) and people with disability in our country.

(Conclusion) In our last column, space limitations had curtailed the printing of the latter part of a to-do list of the issues that incoming President Noynoy would have to face once he starts his six-year term on July 1. We are continuing the list and adding a few more in today’s column.

MANILA, Philippines – More and more consumers are turning to their credit cards instead of using cash to pay for goods or services acquired as banks’ credit card receivables went up four percent as of the end of the first quarter this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported over the weekend.

MANILA, Philippines – The impact of the tariff reduction on imported petroleum products has yet to be felt by consumers, a top oil company official said. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. country chairman Edgar Chua told reporters over the weekend that as far their company is concerned, there is still no signed guideline for the implementation…

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is keeping a close watch on the fringe benefits and bonuses of institutions supervised by the central bank following the highly publicized outrage of American taxpayers on the exorbitant bonuses paid to key officers of bankrupt American International Group (AIG) over a year ago.

MANILA, Philippines – More and more Filipino nurses are now opting to work in the United Kingdom than in the United States, according to local recruiters.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) yesterday announced a million Filipino families have received cash assistance from its Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

MANILA, Philippines – The Central Credit Information Corp. (CCIC) is expected to start operations by the third quarter of 2010. Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) president Pascual Garcia III said the formation of the bureau would make access to credit easier.

MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday welcomed the move of human rights advocates to bring the cause of the “Morong 43” before a global forum.

Other commitments expected after result of EO review DRUG COMPANIES have started to voluntarily offer lower product prices although their number has not reached a level that will allow new price cuts, the latest of which was implemented last March 31, a Health official said.

President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III rode on a campaign slogan that endeared him to the Filipino people, making them stake all their bets on him. Despite having nine other contenders to the presidential post, President-elect Noynoy, won by a landslide. His slogan? “Walang mahirap kung walang corrupt” (There is no poverty where there is no…

Catholic bishops have expressed their desire to talk with President-elect Benigno Aquino III on the proposed module for sex education for public school students from the fifth grade to fourth year high school. The Education Department has earlier announced its intention to start its sex education program, on a pilot-test basis, in 79 high schools…

WASHINGTON — A strong global economic recovery — led by Asia — is under way, and is unlikely to be thrown off course by European debt woes or the improbable event of the bursting of an asset bubble in China, a top US Federal Reserve official said on Monday.

A friend sought professional advice from me last week. A manager who reports to him had been griping openly about not getting what he believed were rewards that were due him such as a promotion and a pay increase. I asked my friend if the complaining manager really deserved a promotion and a pay increase—in…

Non-government groups are up in arms against tobacco companies and those representing their interest for their shameless attempts to undermine the campaign being waged by the Department of Health to warn the public of the hazards of smoking.

ITALY – Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) based in Italy are forced to take a second job aside from their regular work to support the education of their children in the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines—A probing study on Philippine labor migration to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was recently released by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank based in Washington DC, analyzing the movement of people worldwide.

MANILA, Philippines—Leaders of 13 organizations in Australia and 12 in New Zealand condemned the death of labor leader Edward Panganiban and challenged the incoming administration to render justice to him and other human rights victims.