(Fourth of five parts) The more specific macroeconomic benefits of privatization are:

MANILA, Philippines – Treasury bill (T-bill) rates fell across the board as investors swarmed the first auction of government securities for the second quarter of the year, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The outlook of local businessmen on the economy for this year is the most upbeat in 14 years, based on the Makati Business Club’s Executive Outlook Survey.

Suddenly, it’s summer! The heat is on. And we don’t really mean the frenzied presidential campaign, with elections just around the proverbial bend. Also making big news is our water shortage problem due to the decline in he water level in Angat Dam, which supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s raw water, due to the…

MANILA, Philippines – Fewer Filipino nurses and other professionals are getting hired abroad, the local recruitment industry reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Business outlook for 2010 is the most upbeat in 14 years as the economy recovers from the global crisis, according to a survey conducted by the Makati Business Club (MBC).

Filipinos have been familiar with HIV and AIDS since the 1980s. Remember movies made about Sarah Jane Salazar and Dolzura Cortez? Even so, the knowledge of the existence of this condition did not alarm most people at the time. The Philippines was thought to be a low-prevalence country, compared to other countries especially in Africa.…

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  — Unions and their allies in the General Assembly have cleared a first hurdle for legislation setting new rules for how telephone call centers are staffed.

A SENATE version of the US bill that would provide preferential treatment to certain Philippine-made garments has been filed, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Older workers who can’t retire comfortably are likely to be needed in the workplace as the economy grows, easing threats of an entitlement load.

COMMITMENTS to invest in the Philippines grew by more than two-fold in the first quarter of the year, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY: Tuna catch is declining in the southern Philippines as the warm climate continues to affect the ocean’s temperature.

For tourist destinations, the initiative is to have gun-free zones and discipline zones. The targets are: 10 percent in 2010; 50 percent in 2020; and 100 percent in 2030.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) ordered all first-level courts in the country to hear small claims cases, giving complainants wider access to a litigation system that does not require a lawyer.

MANILA, Philippines – Eight rural electric power cooperatives in the Visayas have called on the national government to honor its standing 75-25 agreement in sharing power with its energy-generating facility, if only to end daily two-hour blackouts in the region.

MANILA, Philippines – Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III vowed yesterday to nullify all the illegal appointments made by President Arroyo during the election ban.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Two supporters of the Bantay party-list group of Rep. Jovito Palparan were found dead in separate places in the region on Good Friday, more than two weeks after they were abducted in this city.

MANILA, Philippines – Sumisho Motor Finance Corp, the country’s first motorcycle financing company, expects the Philippines to soon join its neighbors in the ASEAN region which have shifted to motorcycles as the preferred mode of transportation.

MANILA, Philippines – State-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) has barred banks or its directors, officers, and employees from marketing and promoting transactions that constitute or emanate from unsafe and unsound banking practices.

MANILA, Philippines – The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has issued a resolution setting the 2010 installed generating capacity and market share limitations in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids and the national grid to level up the playing field in the power industry. 

MANILA, Philippines – The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) will push through with the privatization of the Agus and Pulangui hydroelectric power plants.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s current account surplus posted a more than two-fold increase last year due to higher remittances from overseas Filipinos as well as higher investment inflows, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported.

The TUCP Party-List, the largest worker’s party in the Philippines criticized the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for recently allowing 94 electric cooperatives to increase their electric charges by 50 to 85 centavos per kilowatt hour which has added to the burdens of consumers particularly in Mindanao.

A WARNING against immediate pay hikes was raised yesterday by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), ahead of Metro Manila wage board consultations scheduled to start on Thursday.

Scientists are looking for the first time at the sleeping habits and its health effects on Filipinos, especially shift workers. Their work on sleep-wake behavior and its relations to the body clock has deep implications for mostly young workers in call centers that blaze in lights all night long.

PARIS, France—Countries gather this week in the hope of erasing bitter memories of the Copenhagen summit and restoring faith in the battered UN process for combating climate change.

Fragmented parties an obstacle to victory MANILA, Philippines – The sheer number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can send more than 1 representative to Congress. In the past party-list elections, many groups, both land- and sea-based, have attempted to win seats, but have so far failed to get the needed votes to propel their representatives…

MANILA, Philippines—A former leader of a local transport group was shot dead by four gunmen at a jeepney terminal in Quezon City on Sunday afternoon because of a suspected dispute within the organization.

MANILA, Philippines—Emmanuel Y. Angeles is quick to stress that he is not a businessman. Instead, he says he is a lawyer, having practiced law for 50 years. He is also an educator, having built a school in Angeles City, Pampanga and transforming it into the first university in Central Luzon.

But RP still biggest threat to industry’s top two MANILA, Philippines—While still ranked among the top providers of information technology and business process outsourcing services in Asia Pacific, the Philippines will have to do something about its perceived weak political and economic environment if it wants to be a step ahead of the competition.