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.

WORKERS will have nine long weekends this year under Proclamation 1841, which lists all the regular and special holidays for 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – The Liberal Party tandem of Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel “Mar” Roxas II has topped anew a recent nationwide pre-election survey conducted by an independent group.

The Citigroup sees the Philippine economy growing 3.7 percent this year, driven mainly by election spending, higher exports growth and inventory restocking.

MANILA, Philippines – Gay party-list group Ang Ladlad is still intent on asking the Supreme Court (SC) to review the case for their party-list accreditation.

MANILA, Philippines – In the wake of a global economic crisis that brought the Philippines to its knees, the country is one with the world in looking forward to a recovery in 2010. And the year’s main event—the national elections—can’t come at a better time.

SINGAPORE – Asia is leading the world out of global recession, but the financial crisis may yet have a dangerous sting in the tail — the risk of social unrest as unemployment and inequality rise even as economies recover.

AMELITA, 33 YEARS OLD, USED to work as a server in a restaurant, while her 59-year-old husband was a taxi driver. Between them, the couple managed to save enough to begin building a house on a vacant piece of land.

MANILA, Philippines — Police records show that in 2009, the Philippines had a higher crime solution rate compared to other countries like United States and Japan.

MANILA, Philippines—A Greek court directed the owner of MV Aetea Sierra to pay higher salaries to its crew that includes 12 Filipinos, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement Monday.

MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) drew flak on Monday for allegedly allowing the suspects in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province last Nov. 23 to live like kings while under detention at the police headquarters in General Santos City.

MANILA, Philippines — The United States and South Korea have lifted travel limits against people with HIV from entering the two countries, it was learned Tuesday.

global imbalances, read here

MANILA, Philippines – Agrarian reform beneficiaries in Davao will be the most affected sector if the ban on aerial spraying in banana plantations pushes through.

So, did you pig out or throw diet caution to the wind during the holidays? And now, it’s time to repent and do penance — it’s do or diet! After all, all you want for the new year is a healthy new you. While you’re at it, here’s absorbing food for thought from Yahoo! Shine…

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino nurses, caregivers and factory workers can look forward to more jobs in Japan and South Korea.

MANILA, Philippines – The government is open to moving the privatization of various real estate properties including the Bilibid property in Muntinlupa to 2011 to prioritize the sale of big-ticket items this year, a Finance official said yesterday.

Last Aug. 14, 2009, yet another free trade agreement (FTA) that would shape the course of trade in the Philippines, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and India took flight from Bangkok. As with the case of FTAs preceding it, the event took place without much fanfare. ASEAN Trade Ministers signed on to the…

MANILA, Philippines – Microfinance enjoyed strong growth in financing from a widening pool of donors and investors last year, according to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

MANILA, Philippines – Another round of mergers, acquisitions and consolidations is expected to occur in 2010, albeit not as grand as the previous years.

MANILA, Philippines – In 2009, more than 10 public school teachers and officials were kidnapped in Mindanao on five separate occasions, and one of them was beheaded. In the last quarter of the year, typhoons “Ondoy”and “Pepeng” destroyed billions worth of public school property. These unforeseen and unwanted events shook the country’s already struggling education…

MANILA, Philippines – For the first time, and perhaps the last time during her presidency, President Arroyo, placed the entire country under price control after tropical storm Ondoy hit Metro Manila and some surrounding provinces. She regulated the prices of basic goods and services.

THE global economic slowdown may not have hit the Philippines as hard as developed nations such as the United States and Japan, but it has almost crippled the country’s biggest export dollar earner—the semiconductor industry.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) created on Monday Task Force Ampatuan to secure Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. for Tuesday’s arraignment, which will be held in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday there will be “no sacred cows” in the department’s probe into the alleged anomalous purchase of Influenza A(H1N1) testing machines.

ON Sunday, we ran a special report on how credit-cardholders are vulnerable to abuse by third-party collectors hired by card companies. In that report, we narrated the ordeal faced by simple folk—including a minimum wage-earner and a government employee—who despite their limited financial capacity easily gained access to credit cards by virtue of the aggressive…

Editor’s note: In the first part of this yearend report on the House of Representatives, the article reported the achievements and challenges faced by congressmen in 2009. Following is the continuation of the list of vital measures that were enacted into law during the Third Regular Session. Conclusion

Let us pause a moment, take a deep breath and consider what is the single most important test the nation must hurdle in order to have a fair chance of success in 2010 and beyond. Some will say that it is electing the right person—their preferred presidential candidate naturally—as the 14th president of the Republic.…

The Supreme Court has ruled that intra-corporate disputes are not within the authority of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) to decide on but subject to the jurisdiction of the regular courts. The Supreme Court Second Division, in a decision written by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, affirmed an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeals…