I do not know if there were any last minute second thoughts but the schedule for making the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) operational is Jan 1, 2010. I wrote a column last Dec. 14 that pointed out some of the dangers of this arrangement to Asean economies for so long as the Chinese yuan…

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) jumped by nearly 20 percent to a new record high of $45.033 billion as of December last year due to strong inflows, government deposits, and the increasing value of the central bank’s gold holdings.

Spain prime minister has proposed setting binding economic objectives for the EU’s member states under a 10-year plan to boost growth and competiveness.

After meeting with several unemployed San Diego workers this morning, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spoke at a rally of workers, union, community and faith leaders calling for creation of a local jobs program.

International ratings agency Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) noted the government’s failure to adopt measures to address the worsening fiscal situation after officials recently announced that the budget deficit for next year is expected to match this year’s P300 billion.

The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) yesterday reported it set a new record for the most number of passengers for a single year.

The year’s end was as usual capped with the usual yearend greetings—this time sent via SMS and Web 2.0 updates in Facebook. As the revelry subsided, it became apparent that some telcos continued to send announcements and advertisements that went unnoticed until the number of personal messages dropped to its normal rate. Some friends adviced…

Asian car makers dethroned Detroit as the biggest sellers in the United States in 2009 after General Motors and Chrysler succumbed to the strain of the economic crisis, industry data shows. Total industry sales fell 21.2 per cent to 10.43 million vehicles in 2009, according to Autodata.

MANILA, Philippines – This is a reaction to the news article titled “Free trade bad for Asean, warns solon” last January 5. Aside from this the sectors that the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will primarily hit will be the millions of farmers and fisher folk in the region. It will also worsen the impact…

FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY: When a buoyant majority of Filipinos polled recently said they awaited the New Year with optimism, I suspected that they were mostly expressing Hope.

MANILA, Philippines – American banking giant Citigroup sees the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) implementing an exit strategy earlier than expected in light of 2010 election-related spending and the conversion of offshore inflows.

Short training period just won’t work, says group MANILA, Philippines – With the postponement of the training for teachers who will serve during the automated elections, a group expressed fear that the teachers are being set up as scapegoat in case confusion mars the exercise or if it fails completely.

MANILA, Philippines – The administration Lakas-Kampi-Christian Muslim Democrats party should worry more about its standard-bearer’s platform than his packaging.

Transport authorities have set harsher punishments for erring seafarers and will require them to render local service before allowing them to work abroad.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has allotted P893 million as cash dividends last year to be given to its eligible members after the system again recorded earnings from its life insurance fund in 2008.

The year 2009 was a banner year for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in terms of its improved human rights record.

Sen. Edgardo Angara yesterday underscored the need to invest more in early childhood education to enable the country to gain competitiveness in the global arena.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has taken upon itself the task of addressing the concerns of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) members and is working closely with the state insurance entity to address members’ issues that were brought to the attention of the CSC and subsequently communicated with the pension fund for appropriate action.

The latest result of the online survey in Facebook that showed Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro leading over the other presidential contenders in the May elections bolsters his camp’s claim that the Lakas-Kampi CMD standard-bearer continues to dominate the cyberspace surveys.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday said the number of registered voters for the 2010 national elections has breached the 50-million threshold even without the addition of the December registrants, which reached more than 258,000.

MANILA, Philippines – Some of the newly delivered precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the upcoming elections have failed in initial test, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) confirmed yesterday.

GENEVA – ONE in 10 of the some 130 million births around the world each year is premature, the vast majority in poorer countries where chances of survival are low, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.

Members of the Vicmico Industrial Workers’ Association will stage a picket in front of the Department of Labor and Employment provincial office in Bacolod City tomorrow, an official of VIWA said yesterday.

Republika ng Pilipinas KAGAWARAN NG KATARUNGAN DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE M a n i l a DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR NO. 98 IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION ACT OF 2004. Whereas, pursuant to Section 52 of Republic Act No. 9285, otherwise known as the “Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004″ (ADR Act”), the Secretary…

FIFTY years ago, this was the time for monetizing the sugar quedans. It was the middle of the milling season and the planters knew, more or less, the total tonnage of the year’s sugar crop. Then, the big planters would go to the usual destination, the car showrooms to order the latest models. Then, to…

To ensure that all the election paraphernalia and the 82,200 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines will be delivered to their destinations on time, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is forming a technical working group (TWG) that will outline plans for such poll undertakings.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Factories in Asia stepped up production in December, with China’s output growing at its fastest pace on record, suggesting economic activity is gathering pace in the region that is leading the global recovery. China Manufacturing activity hit a seven-month peak in India last month and it also rose in South Korea, where…

The US manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in December, its fifth consecutive month of expansion, adding to hopes of economic improvement in 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – The nationwide inflation rate rose to an eight-month high of 4.4 percent in December due to higher oil and food prices, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.

Of the many predictions made concerning the new year, probably one of the most sobering has experts saying that the Philippine population will reach 94 million in 2010. The reckoning was made based on an estimated increase of two million new births during the period, at a growth rate of roughly 2 percent annually.