IS IT A TIE?: Postscript has questioned some partisans’ calling a “statistical tie” the close ranking of presidential bets Noynoy Aquino (36 percent, Liberal) and Manny Villar (34 percent, Nacionalista) in the Feb. 24-28 nationwide survey of the Social Weather Stations.

MANILA, Philippines – The ratio of bad loans of universal and commercial banks to the industry’s total loan portfolio improved in January after falling to its lowest level in 13 years last year on the back of the country’s resilient eco-nomy that enabled household and corporate borrowers to pay their outstanding financial obligations.

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has expressed elation over the positive assessment it got from the US State Department on some aspects of the Philippine government’s handling of human rights cases but it acknowledged that much more could be done to prevent abuses by state forces.

SWS SURVEY MANILA, Philippines—Four of 10 registered voters, or 38 percent, will vote for candidates who favor the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey.

Violence against women remains an all-too common crime, United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines–Reviving the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant today or building new nuclear facilities would be the quickest solution to the shortage of electricity most felt in Mindanao and make power rates attractive to investors, according to Department of Energy officials here.

MANILA, Philippines – Majority of the so-called Morong 43 have no certification from the Department of Health (DOH) to qualify them as medical workers, police said yesterday.

WASHINGTON – It was tit for tat between government forces and rebel and terrorist groups last year. The US State Department, quoting military sources, said 219 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and 227 insurgents were killed in action throughout the country. Additionally, 27 police and 23 insurgents died in other fighting.

MANILA, Philippines – Most Filipino voters will support candidates who favor the Reproductive Health (RH) bill in the May 10 elections, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

MANILA, Philippines – The United States assailed yesterday the Philippine government for failing to implement the law imposing criminal penalties for corrupt officials that encouraged graft practices with impunity.

THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry called on the government Friday to review the merits of nuclear power as a long-term option to address outages in the country.

SOME 87 percent of Filipinos will vote for a presidential candidate who advocates a reproductive health program, while 64 percent will elect one who promotes modern methods of family planning, a new survey shows.

Dear PAO, I underwent a company training for a period of time. In exchange for this training, I was required to sign a service agreement where it was provided that I have to work with them for a period of “X” years.

About 28 percent of young Filipinos think that acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by HIV is a curable disease.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) expects to lose up to P6 billion this year from the Optional Standard Deduction privilege allowed under RA 9504 or the Minimum Wage Law.

Given the archipelagic nature of the country, it has always concerned me that there is so little government attention being given to improve the use of our waterways for the transportation of people and goods, or for that matter, in the crafting of laws that would encourage industries related to shipping.

It is really sad to note and quite troubling to see the continuing growth not only of the culture of corruption but also lately the culture of deception in our society today. More alarming here is that the government itself and our leaders or some of those aspiring to be leaders are the ones allowing…

THE Philippine central bank on Thursday tightened its rediscounting facility in a move seen as a prelude to an increase in its key interest rates.

Independent survey ranks Teodoro No. 2 It is now a three-man race to Malacañang, according to an independent survey whose results were released on Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines – Two men were injured when an explosion occurred in a chemical factory in Pasig City Thursday, fire authorities said.

Saying that emergency powers are not needed, Deputy House Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella said yesterday the creeping power outages threatening the country, especially Mindanao, could have been avoided had the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001 been faithfully implemented.

EXPORTERS are bracing for a quicker recovery than earlier expected, with demand returning to pre-crisis levels in the first month of the year. Sergio Ortiz Luis, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. president, on Wednesday said they expect revenues to match pre-crisis levels by the end of this year.

The Social Security System (SSS) remained the top government agency in terms of sincerity in fighting corruption for the second straight year, according to results of an annual survey of Filipino business managers across the country.

Earlier this week was International Women’s Day. While the Philippines has made great strides in the area of women and children’s rights, there is a lot of work to be done. In need of address are human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of Filipino women and children. In 2009 the US government put the Philippines…

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Much has been made about Gov. Joey Salceda’s remarks about the poverty rate earlier this week. Those who made much about it laced the remarks with undue political speculation.

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – All 17 Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards (RTWPB) nationwide will gather in Baguio City on March 25 and 26 to explore the possible increase in minimum wages in various regions.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is in the process of negotiating its second bilateral economic partnership agreement (EPA), this time with the European Union (EU) in an attempt to beef up trade and attract more European investors to come to the country.

MANILA, Philippines – Prices of consumer goods are not likely to increase despite an increase in the cost of power and the problems brought about by the El Niño, outgoing Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila said.

MANILA, Philippines – Investments in the country’s electronics sector went up 20 percent in 2009 compared to the previous year as the global economy starts recovering from the recent financial crisis, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) reported.