The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has denied a petition of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) to be accredited as a citizens’ arm, citing the group’s partiality to certain political sectors. In a nine-page resolution promulgated on January 29, the commission en banc junked Namfrel’s petition, saying that it failed to qualify because of…

(Part 2 of a series on EFA-ESD Call for All…) The Consultation Meeting facilitated by CHED Commissioner Dr. Nona Ricafort, who is also the Education Committee Vice Chair of the Philippine UNESCO NatCom, for the SEA-CLLSD (Southeast Asian Center for Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development) two weeks ago was attended by the major education agencies…

MANILA, Philippines – With the presidential elections three months away, Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. are now “statistically tied” in a survey released by Pulse Asia yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Members of credit cooperatives are now exempted from the payment of the 20-percent withholding tax, the Supreme Court has ruled.

MANILA, Philippines – International credit rating firm Standard & Poor’s has retained its stable outlook and BB- rating for the Philippines, citing the country’s strong external liquidity position and its track record of resilient economic growth.

MANILA, Philippines – Toyota cars sold locally are not affected by the accelerator-pedal recall implemented in the United States, a top official of Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) said.

THE savings and time deposits of members of credit cooperatives are exempt from the 20-percent withholding tax, the Supreme Court has ruled.

There was a news report published in the inside pages of this paper last week, which was sadly largely ignored by other media networks.

MANILA, Philippines—Aside from call center agents, policemen are also vulnerable to getting infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to the nature of their work, the Philippine National Police revealed.

MANILA, Philippines—Cancer deaths worldwide would more than double in the next 20 years if people do not change their lifestyles, according to the World Health Organization.

MANILA, Philippines—The government housing finance institution has expanded its mandatory coverage to include Filipino workers from formal and informal sectors here and abroad, it was learned Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – Magazine editor Wanggo Gallaga, a person living with HIV, warned the youth against having sex with strangers they meet through the internet.

MANILA, Philippines – Relatives of  13 journalists slain in the November 23, 2009 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao brought a landmark suit Wednesday before the newly-established ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to hold the Philippine government accountable for the carnage.

SINGAPORE: Longer lifespans, falling fertility rates and growing ranks of elderly people in Asia can pose problems as serious as the impact of climate change, a leading expert warned Monday.

THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has recommended a fare hike of at least P2 for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 to cover operating expenses.

Impressed with the electric version of Jeepneys now plying a few routes in the country, some financial institutions have expressed interest to implement similar programs in other countries, according to Philippine Utility Vehicle (PhUV) Inc. Vice President Rommel Juan.

CEBU, Philippines – The National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health clarified that it did not intend to imply that call center agents per se are at higher risk of getting infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Senior citizen or not we are all victims of LIED. In the war against terrorists, most soldiers will tell you that the thing they fear the most is an IED or an Improvised Explosive Device. There is no sure way to detect it and the only certain thing about an IED is that its kill…

MANILA, Philippines – With only one session left today, the House of Representatives has shelved the Church-opposed reproductive health bill.

MANILA, Philippines – There might be fewer sugar products on store shelves in the coming days as supermarkets plan to pull them out due to rising prices, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Re-electionist Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. has topped the latest survey on senatorial bets of the Social Weather Stations (SWS), taking the lead from Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada.

MANILA, Philippines – A severe El Nino weather pattern this year could cut the Philippine paddy rice harvest by more than 800,000 tons, a senior official said on Tuesday, which could mean more rice imports.

FOR BLAMING BABY BOOM FOR HACIENDA WORKERS’ WOES Four of the biggest rural-based organizations in the country yesterday assailed the sisters of Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer in the forthcoming presidential elections, Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III for blaming the lack of family planning among tenants and farm workers of Hacienda Luisita as the reason…

Transmission fiasco feared with 5,000 signal jammers Alarmed by reports that 5,000 signal jammers have been imported into the country, possibly to disrupt transmission of the election data on the scheduled polls date, Commission on Elections spokesman James Jimenez expressed fears on prospects for their use yesterday, but nevertheless assured the public that the Comelec…

Korea Electric Power Corp. has estimated the rehabilitation cost of the mothballed 600-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong, Bataan at around $1 billion, a government official said Monday.

I won’t go through the rest of the litany of the Arroyo administration’s supposed achievements. I will just talk about a few that caught my eye.

SENATOR Manuel Villar Jr. is statistically tied with Senator Benigno Aquino III in the race for the presidency, according to the latest Manila Standard Today poll conducted Jan. 20 to 27.

Taxpayers would have to cough up another billion dollars to rehabilitate the mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant, according to a study commissioned by the government.

After a long delay, the two houses of Congress have finally approved a consolidated version of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act that would exempt elderly Filipinos from the 12-percent expanded-value added tax (EVAT) allowing them to enjoy the full 20-percent discount on goods and services.

When I met Cerge in October 1992 he was a Cebuano with capital C and Cebu was the center of his universe. I remember telling him that there are many other nice places in the Philippines but he insisted that there was no place like Cebu. A couple of years later he scolded me when…