MANILA, Philippines – Public satisfaction with the performance of the Arroyo administration fell to a “poor” -23 in the last quarter of 2009, its lowest approval rating in nine years, a survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

MANILA, Philippines – Smartmatic International Corp.-Total Information Management Corp. has finished manufacturing nearly half of the 82,200 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the May 2010 polls.

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate should pass a bill that will create a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) that would pave the way in making the Philippines the premiere location for IT-enabled services in Southeast Asia, foreign businessmen said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy is forecast to grow by a more respectable 3.8 percent this year, driven by election-related spending and a continued construction boom, top economists said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Investors swarmed the government’s Treasury bill (T-bill) auction yesterday, with total tenders reaching at least twice the offer size across all tenors as cash-rich investors remain hungry for lucrative investment facilities.

If you’re like most people, you’ve already forgotten the resolution you made on January 1. Fact is, it’s not easy to change habits, unless you’ve just had a heart attack or some other traumatic event. You may know what you should eat, how often you should exercise, and when you should see a doctor and…

MANILA, Philippines—The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday unveiled new safeguards for whistleblowers in a crackdown on corruption.

GINGOOG CITY, Philippines – A Higaonon “alimaong” (warrior), who had been leading an anti-logging campaign, was shot and killed by unidentified men in the village of Minalwang here on Christmas Eve.

Outsourcing providers around the world predict that demand for their services is expanding rapidly, and they are adding staff and investing in new services to meet expected growth, according to a new survey from Duke University’s Offshoring Research Network and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

‘Marriage is null and void if not renewed’ MANILA, Philippines – Unsatisfied with your marriage? Then simply wait 10 years for your marriage to “expire.”

A lawmaker is seeking a raise in the termination pay of employees separated from employment because of sickness.

State-run pension fund Social Security System has earmarked P2 billion for investments this year in listed companies with relatively smaller capitalization.

Leading indicators point to an economic recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009, but the impact of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng restrained the pace of expansion in the last three months last year.

THE Supreme Court has stopped a Quezon City Regional Trial Court from quickly enforcing its order to the state-run National Power Corp. to pay P33.75 billion to the 5,648 employees that it dismissed illegally in 2003, saying that could bankrupt the power producer and the government as well.

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – The military claimed it has succeeded in reducing Communist rebel forces in Eastern Visayas.

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The military has claimed success in reducing communist rebel forces in Eastern Visayas.

MANILA, Philippines – As sugar prices continue to increase, the government said they will be importing sugar immediately in order to provide affordable sugar to consumers.

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate ended 2009 by standing up to President Arroyo’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao following the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in the province.

MANILA, Philippines – The local auto industry had a banner year in 2009 as it experienced sales growth across categories, except Asian utility vehicles (AUVs), and finished the year with a 6.4-percent sales increment from 2008 for a full-year total of 132,444 units.

State pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) said its Consolidated Loan (ConsoLoan) program, a loan window that consolidates five different loan packages into one, provided the country with a much needed economic stimulus last year.

Sen. Loren Legarda wants the Senate to immediately pass the bill she authored creating the Migrant Workers Hospital so that returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can avail themselves of medical care.

Last week, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) warned cement makers that the government would impose a price cap on the construction material barring a return to normal price levels.

THE upcoming national elections may put potential investors on a “wait-and-see” stance, Trade Secretary Peter Favila warned. “[The influx of investments] this year will depend on the outcome of the elections—who is the next president and the credibility of the polls,” he told reporters Friday night.

THE Department of Finance will launch the National Strategy and the Regulatory Framework for Microinsurance on January 29 with the theme “Magpaseguro Para Protektado.” The milestone documents will outline the government’s policy thrusts and directions in providing the poor access to insurance products and services.

Dear PAO, I have been working for seven months now as an instructor in a language school in Cebu. I have no salary deductions for my Social Security System (SSS) and PhilHealth contributions, because of this my employer said that I am not entitled to 13th month pay.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) opened a total of 33,000 new jobs for Filipinos to help the job industry cope with the financial crisis that hit the globe.

(Editor’s note: In the first part, Father Gaston shows how worldwide the total fertility rate has declined, with richer countries having more older people than young people. He explains that in general, a total fertility rate, or children per woman, of 2.1 is necessary to replace a country’s population. In the Philippines, where mortality rates…

Half a year before the event, election violence has begun—horrifically, in Maguindanao province, and more mildly in eight other provinces so far.

CLARK FREEPORT, Philippines – Because of the sound economic agenda instituted by the administration of Clark Development Corp. president Benigno Ricafort and the support of the state-owned firm to the various crisis-affected firms, most Clark locators are able to recover from the economic meltdown.