MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) will start the training of elementary and high school teachers to teach “personal safety lessons” (PSL) to make public schools and even homes safe for children.

MANILA, Philippines – After bombarding voters with his rags-to-riches story, Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. faced yesterday a critical business group to declare his commitment – and capability – to steer the country out of poverty.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDIs) managed a 5.5- percent growth in the first 11 months of last year despite plunging by 61 percent in November due to weak equity placements and higher withdrawals, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite having gone through several politically-tumultuous events in the last nine years, the Arroyo administration will have a “strong finish” as far as the economy is concerned, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said yesterday.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY , Philippines  — Only one-eighth of the earth’s surface will remain as dry land by 2020, unless governments worldwide succeeded in bringing down greenhouse gas emissions to 2 degrees Celsius by 2017, an environment science professor at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños said.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is looking into the veracity of a report alleging that some Filipino household service workers (HSWs) have been maltreated by their employers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The swelling public deficits in Portugal, Spain and Greece have plunged the eurozone into the biggest crisis in its 11-year life, presaging years of belt-tightening, analysts warn.

Migrant workers told to report abusive employers MANILA, Philippines—As Filipino household service workers (HSWs) continue to be abused by their employers abroad, the Department of Labor and Employment on Wednesday bared its plan for an Internet-based, onsite monitoring of the profiles of overseas Filipino workers, as well as those of their foreign employers and foreign…

WASHINGTON DC, United States—Immigration enforcement takes a heavy toll on children, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute.

MANILA, Philippines—Two truck drivers were abducted by a still unidentified group in Sulu province last Monday, the provincial police chief said on Wednesday.

The number of Filipinos shying away from saying “till death do as part” rose between 1980 and 2000, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

MANILA, Philippines – Though more gay and bisexual call center workers are getting infected with HIV due to unprotected sex, according to a study by the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), health experts say there is inconclusive data to prove that call centers are “breeding grounds” of HIV.

MANILA, Philippines  Unidenified assailants kidnapped 2 Filipino construction crew who were driving a truck used for a US-funded road project in Barangay Lunggang, Maimbung, Sulu last Monday.

Pulse Asia disclosed that fewer Filipinos know about the party-list system, with just a few months before the May 2010 national elections.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said yesterday that the creation of more jobs should be the top priority of the government at this time and should continue to be a priority of the next administration.

MANILA, Philippines — Around 100 migrants of other nationalities have joined the 200 Filipino workers who staged a job stoppage in different job site for alleged labor malpractices of their employer, Al Arab Company based in Saudi Arabia, a migrant workers’ group disclosed said today.

Apparently pressured by TV Patrol’s constant hammering on rising sugar prices, Agriculture Secretary Art Yap called me one evening shortly after the newscast went on air, to sound me out on some options they are considering. Not surprisingly, price control is on top of their agenda, as is tax free importation of sugar to flood…

Repayment rates are falling at the world’s most famous microfinance institution, Grameen Bank. David Roodman is worried:

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology expects the business process outsourcing and information and communications technology sectors in the Philippines to post robust growths this year.

The cost of 91-day and six-month debt papers rose in Monday’s auction amid investors’ concerns on the forthcoming elections and the fiscal deficit.

CANBERRA—Australia tightened its migration rules Monday in favor of English speakers and professionals, saying the country had been attracting too many hairdressers and cooks and too few doctors and engineers.

MANILA, Philippines – The Business process outsourcing sector (BPO) saw sales slow down last year — due to the caution that prevailed among businesses in the first half — but still managed to meet its full-year target.

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines—Three medical students from Metro Manila were killed Tuesday in a fire that gutted a community clinic in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, police said.

Under what law, regulation or jurisprudence is the Labor Secretary authorized to order labor and management to execute a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) “for records purposes only?”

A visiting British trade official yesterday warned that the Philippines stands to lose more foreign investments to its Southeast Asian neighbors if the government fails to institute economic reforms and strategies that will boost the country’s attractiveness in the world market.

OFFICIALS from the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector and the government on Monday talked up the Philippines’ prospects in this global industry, as a number of companies announced expansion plans in the country.

LAST week, while touring the country’s so-called cyber corridor, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo bragged that she would be turning over to her successor a $7 billion call center industry that is second only to India globally.

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan , Philippines  — The province is opening its doors to the establishment of a nuclear power plant on its coastline.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) claimed it has already neutralized 10 private armed groups and arrested 80 suspected members since police intensified their campaign last Jan. 10.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and the European Union (EU) have made a great deal of progress during the fourth round of negotiations on most trade issues in the proposed Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) that will serve as the general framework of relations between the Manila and the EU.