MANILA, Philippines – More than 50 renewable energy (RE) projects are currently being evaluated by the Department of Energy (DOE) to potentially add to the country’s power needs.

MANILA, Philippines – More beneficiaries of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are shifting to investments and other major purchases such as the acquisition of motor vehicles, a ranking official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

MANILA, Philippines – The United States is looking  at forging a trans-Pacific partnership with Asian countries including the Philippines after the proposed ASEAN-United States multilateral agreement failed to gain ground.

MANILA, Philippines – The real estate industry has unveiled a four-point wish list for the new administration, including a more proactive move to support the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) because this can bring in an additional $1 billion worth of investments in the industry.

The Department of Energy said interest in renewable energy projects remain strong, as it pointed to as much as 50 proposals awaiting its approval. Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan said these “40 to 50” contracts include solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal and other green power projects.

DESPITE a recent wage hike order, the Philippines’ full-year inflation is likely to be lower on the back of easing oil prices and recovering domestic food supply, according to Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. In its latest research note, Metrobank said its sees inflation easing to 4.7 percent this year from an earlier forecast of…

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday reported that 344 foreign investors from 39 countries availed themselves of the agency’s job visa program since April last year.

DOMESTIC auto parts makers want the government to grant perks to assemblers that would source their components from the Philippines. In a position paper submitted to the Board of Investments, Antonio Gimenez, Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP) executive director, said both the government and the local automotive industry should aim for…

Justice delayed, they say, is justice denied. If that is the case, then our justice system is in dire need of reform. It is not uncommon for the resolution of a case to be pending for years on end.

MANILA, Philippines – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is considering to file legal actions against the Department of Education’s move to teach sex education in public schools, an official said.

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Edgardo Angara is refiling in the 15th Congress the Philippine Respiratory Therapy Bill in response to the rising health concerns involving the respiratory system.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

MANILA, Philippines – President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III urged fellow Filipinos over the weekend to do their part in helping regain the nation’s greatness. Aquino said the fight for the country’s true freedom still had a long way to go.

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.