MANILA, Philippines – A Catholic bishop on Friday morning could not help but kiss Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral as he approved of her suggestion that sex education should be taught at kindergarten level.

GENEVA — Market volatility and the European debt crisis are putting at risk efforts to cut unemployment which hit historic highs in 2009, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said Tuesday. In a report on the eve of its annual conference, the ILO said there were growing concerns the sovereign debt crisis could hit growth prospects.

Erap lawyer objects, Binay lawyer pushes compact discs count The National Board of Canvassers, despite clear irregularities marking the provincial election officials’ documents in the ballot boxes, such as the absence of electronically transmitted Election Returns (ERs), double Certificates of Canvass where the figures were conflicting, and no CoCs, went on with the canvassing yesterday,…

WITH the changing face of the modern workplace—where high-tech is the operative word—Sen. Edgardo Angara is urging the incoming Aquino administration to legislate an integrated computer education starting in elementary level.

Manila (June 3) — The Formal Labor and Migrant Workers Council of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (FLMW-NAPC) passed a resolution recently urging the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards to immediately act on petitions of wage increases filed by labor groups early this year.

On May 22, newspapers all over the world carried a story saying UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had urged the UN Security Council to consider taking tough measures against countries and insurgent groups that recruit and use child soldiers.

The story on our front page yesterday did not surprise anybody who has been watching the labor-export phenomenon in our country. Father Edwin Corros, the executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said 60 percent of the families…

Dear PAO, If a marriage is already annulled, can the former wife demand 50 percent of the former husband’s salaries and benefits as support for their children? Can the husband instead decide the amount of support to be given to his children? Until when are children entitled for support? Racquel (2)

PRIVATE schools are jacking up their tuition by as much as 15 percent for the coming school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Thursday.

CEBU, Philippines – Workers affiliated with the ALU-TUCP yesterday staged a picket in front of their company, R & Y Auguosti, a furniture firm in barangay Pagsabungan, Mandaue City, accusing management of being a run-away shop, unfair labor practice, and violating the economic provisions of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

HANOI (Xinhua) — Inefficient border administration and inadequate infrastructure are major barriers to trade in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), World Economic Forum (WEF) report said on Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines – Monetary authorities now sees lower inflation forecasts this year and next year in light of the reduction in power costs, lower oil prices, steady commodity prices, moderate liquidity growth, and the continued strengthening of the peso against the dollar.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has decided to keep its key rates at record low for eighth consecutive policy-setting meetings since July last year amid the ongoing debt turmoil in Europe, the growing tension between North and South Korea, and the stronger-than-expected gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of…

MANILA, Philippines – The Climate Change Commission yesterday appealed to all government units as well as public-private partnerships to take part in conserving the numerous protected area networks across the country and help advance actions to effectively address global warming and climate change.

MANILA, Philippines – The El Niño phenomenon that dried up farmlands in most parts of Luzon has finally ended, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) announced yesterday.

FREE CALL CENTER TRAINING-Global Communications Training (Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, National Capital Reg, Southern Tagalog, Western Visayas)

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino migrant workers’ group has called on president-apparent Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to appoint labor officials who would truly look after the welfare of workers.

THE Asian Development Bank has raised red flags over possible irregularities in a $150-million agricultural project aimed at improving the incomes of nearly 1 million poor farmers in Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Mindanao.

THE Bangko Sentral has included in its inflation forecast a minimum wage increase of less than P75 a day, Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said Wednesday.

“Fantastic” corporate earnings in the Philippines will drive stock valuations back toward levels in December, when multiples touched the highest in almost two years, according to ATR KimEng Asset Management Inc.

AFTER crossing swords with the Catholic Church over condoms, Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral is ruffling religious feathers again with a move to introduce sex education in schools.

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) – Health secretary Esperanza Cabral said sex education should be taught as early as kindergarten, and not when a teen is already pregnant.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said that it has been alerted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) of some 253 “low performing” nursing schools in the country based on their graduates’ performance in the PRC nursing licensure examinations for 2009.

MANILA, Philippines—The International Labour Organization (ILO) head in the Philippines hopes that the next administration would focus on creating policies that will strengthen domestic employment in the country, so that overseas work will no longer be a necessity, but not an option.

SINGAPORE – India, Indonesia and the Philippines have Asia’s most inefficient bureaucracies, with red tape a constant blight to citizens and deterrent to foreign investment, a survey said Wednesday. Regional financial centres Singapore and Hong Kong have the most efficient bureaucracies, according to the survey of expatriate business executives by the Political and Economic Risk…

MANILA, Philippines—Filipino consumers are spending more than P75 billion a year on food and herbal supplements, which the health department said do not have therapeutic effects and, worse, may have “harmful side-effects.”

SINGAPORE—India, Indonesia and the Philippines have Asia’s most inefficient bureaucracies, with red tape a constant blight to citizens and deterrent to foreign investment, a survey said on Wednesday.

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Horacio Ramos stressed the need to reform the country’s land-administration system to help boost the country’s socioeconomic development.

FIRMS have pledged roughly two-thirds more investments to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) as of end-May versus year-ago levels, data released yesterday showed. Planned investments in economic zones amounted to P46.349 billion in the first five months, up 67.8% from the same period last year but slower than the 111% increase recorded as of…

THE business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry is expected to meet its 26-percent growth target this year despite concerns generated by a proposed US bill seeking to tax heavily US companies that engage in outsourcing, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) said on Wednesday.