ECONOMIC managers on Tuesday doused fears that the latest wage hike order would fuel inflation. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said its baseline forecast of manageable inflation for this year and 2011 could likely hold despite the P22 increase in the minimum wage for Metro Manila.

If Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral ever needs a new career, she should apply for the position of Senior Lightning Rod in the next administration or in a public relations firm.

Despite the P22 across-the-board wage increase, minimum wage earners in the National Capital Region (NCR) will still be exempted from paying income tax, an official of the Department of Labor and Employment said Tuesday, adding that the increase in monthly salary of workers in the private sector and government office will be implemented on July…

MANILA, Philippines – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Metro Manila has approved the P22 increase in the daily take-home pay of two million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila. Beginning July 1, the minimum monthly basic pay of Metro Manila workers will go up to P13,042.                                

MANILA, Philippines – Small and medium scale drugstores are opposing the exemption of the elderly from paying the 12 percent value added tax (VAT) on goods and services, including medicines, under the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

AFFLUENT young Filipinos are expected to spend more time surfing the Internet through mobile phones because of attractive tariffs and demand for social networking, according to Nielsen Media Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines – Whether or not they would like to work abroad in the future, high school students may soon find themselves studying lessons on safe migration and overseas employment.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will tap volunteers to audit the statements of contributions and expenditures filed by winning and losing candidates in the May 10 polls, an official reported yesterday.

PARIS — Electric cars offer a chance to develop lucrative new technologies, and suppliers would benefit from grabbing more of this work — but they will have to fight car makers keen to hold on to control of future profits.

MANILA, Philippines – An environmental group yesterday welcomed the promise made by the Department of Education to investigate the use of toxic chemicals in school supplies and products for children.

COMBINED profits of listed companies ballooned by more than three-fourths to P357.84 billion last year due mainly to one-time gains and some improvements in performance, the stock exchange said yesterday.

AN ESTIMATED 4.6 million senior citizens are expected to enjoy a full 20% discount tax-free for goods and services, particularly medicines as the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 or Republic Act 9994 will be out this month.

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THE central bank on Tuesday indicated the P22 wage hike decreed by the Metro Manila regional wage and productivity board for the metropolis would not have as great an impact as feared on inflation, but the modest rate has grimly disturbed employers. Malacañang Palace indicated the rise is reasonable under existing conditions, when business recovery…

CAR SALES this year are now projected to top 2009 levels by 11%, better than the 4% growth forecast made earlier, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) said in a statement yesterday.

BAGUIO CITY: Two young farmers died and six others were hurt when a lightning struck them while planting rice in Purok San Bernabe, Barangay Malayugan in Flora, Apayao province.

Filipino men could be as vain as women, according to a recent survey conducted by global market research firm Synovate. The survey showed that 91 percent of men living in Metro Manila (National Capital Region) believe “looks are important,” so they see the need to use beauty and personal-care products.

MANILA, Philippines – The European Union (EU) and the Philippine government have agreed on the final text of a partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) between the two parties, EU Ambassador Alistair MacDonald said yesterday.

A number of business opportunities have opened recently with the passage into law of Republic Act 9856, known as the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Act of 2009, and the issuance by the Securities and Exchange Commission, pursuant to Section 22, of the implementing rules and regulations. The tax authorities have yet to issue their…

LOCAL manufacturers of small-automobile spare parts may grab the lion’s share of the business to be generated under the Asean-Australia-New Zealand Free-Trade Area (AANZFTA).

SYDNEY, Australia—Weather-related catastrophes brought about by climate change are increasing, the top UN humanitarian official said Sunday as he warned of the possibility of “mega-disasters.”

MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino woman leading an Asian migrants group called on the International Labor Organization to pressure governments, as well as workers and employers group to work for a convention setting international standards for domestic helpers.

MANILA, Philippines—Filipinos in Portugal will soon be able to avail themselves of the Portuguese social security benefits in the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

THE Philippines rose to 39th place—from its previous ranking of 43rd­—in the 2010 World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) of the Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Center (WCC).

The Philippines ranks 39th out of 58 economies in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Scoreboard. [IMD is the International Institute for Management Development.—Ed]

Sen. Edgardo Angara proposed yesterday to amend the provision of Articles 27 and 88 of the Revised Penal Code which mandates imprisonment or house arrest of one to 30 days for minor offenders.

The honorable congressmen of the House of Representatives needed no more than two minutes to ratify a constitutionally mandated and long overdue bill which people have been awaiting for more than 14 years and they blew it big time.

Domestic truck assemblers have asked the government to delay for three years the tariff reduction on certain trucks and buses, as provided for under Manila’s commitment to the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

WEAK US jobs data and fresh fears that Europe’s debt crisis is spreading across the continent pulled down the peso and Philippine share prices on Monday. At the Philippine Dealing System, the peso shed more than 50 centavos to close at 46.835 to the US dollar from last Friday’s 46.30 finish.

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur: Lawmakers from Northern Luzon are calling the new administrative order issued by the Department of Health (DOH) a “violation of the law.”