MANILA, Philippines – Nacionalista Party president and standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar has again narrowed the lead of his rival in the presidential race from 19 to only 11 percentage points in a span of three weeks, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) Special December 2009 survey results showed.

MANILA, Philippines – A seasoned diver of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) sacrificed his life yesterday afternoon while helping in the retrieval of the remains trapped inside the sunken ferry M/V Catalyn B.

MANILA, Philippines – The government will implement the first wave of the controversial Unified Multipurpose Identification System (UMID) cards in March, initially for members of the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

MANILA, Philippines – Sales of the local automotive industry expanded by 6.4 percent to 132,444 units in 2009 due to higher replacement rate of typhoon damaged vehicles coupled with stronger-than-expected growth in overseas Filipino workers’ remittances.

NINETY-two percent of Metro Manila residents have rejected the controversial Reproductive Health bill pending in the House of Representatives, former Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza said Friday.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza yesterday blamed the series of sea tragedies, eight of which were recorded in the past two years, to “human error.” Mendoza said such cause was traceable to lack of competent seafarers and ship maintenance crew.

The Wack Wack Golf and Country Club was hit by a wildcat strike Wednesday after the entire wait and kitchen staff picketed over the sudden outsourcing of the money-losing food and beverage department to Carte Blanche, which is part of the Skyline Group.

I’ve been arguing for a long time now, without much success I must admit, that the traditional methods of measuring an economy miss the most important factor: People. And with Christmas just past and a new year starting, now is a good time to think of people.

The Social Security System will release the first two million unified multi-purpose identification cards in March, with four other state agencies adopting it for their common use.

WITH less than six months left in office, President Arroyo turned on the aid spigot Thursday, signing a law to condone P280 billion in penalties for employers who failed to remit the social security premiums of their employees and seeking to make permanent a P15,000 dole to one million of the poorest families.

A lawmaker called Thursday for the passage of a proposed law that would put a cap on credit card interest rates and surcharges on both purchases and cash advances made by card holders.

Many hope 2010 holds a brighter economic future than last year’s sliding profits and mass layoffs. A recent survey of 2,700 HR professionals conducted by CareerBuilder.com shows companies are revisiting strategies, headcount and cost containment to position for measured growth in 2010.

THE Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Central Visayas has started accepting a second batch of caregiver and nursing applicants for Japan.

CEBU, Philippines – Some of the 57 contractual and casual employees under the Office of the Vice Governor claimed they will continue to work even if they are not paid salaries after their contracts were not renewed by the governor.

CEBU, Philippines – The Philippine Nurses Association of America assured Filipino nurses dreaming to work in the United States that talks are going on between nurse communities and senators in the US to include in their health care reform the end of visa retrogression.

British Ambassador Stephen Lillie has called for continued competitiveness-enhancing reforms through legislation since such laws have the potential to boost the economy.

CLARK FREEPORT: The worldwide financial stress may have taken its toll inside the Freeport, especially on the number of workers, which declined by close to 3,000—from 57,790 in December 2008 to 54,829 workers in April 2009.

First of three parts I would like to share my speech on the topic “Critical Issues and Concerns on Campus Leadership” during the Annual Convention and Seminar Workshop for Campus Advisers and the 13th Annual National Convention and Seminar Workshops for Student Leaders held in Baguio last year attended by more or less 600 faculty-advisers…

President Gloria Arroyo signed on Thursday Republic Act 9903 condoning penalties on delinquent remittances of premium contributions to the Social Security System (SSS).

MANILA, Philippines – A 47-year-old woman died while her husband was seriously injured when they were hit by a steel roller that broke from a ship about to leave the port in Manila yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The principal proponent of the reproductive health (RH) bill in the House of Representatives vowed yesterday to block the renewed Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative unless the RH bill is passed.

MANILA, Philippines – A party-list group representing separated and abandoned women proposed yesterday the enactment of a law that will mandate a 10-year marriage validity to spare incompatible couples the expense of lengthy legal proceedings before their marriages are annulled.

MANILA, Philippines – Local businesses are more optimistic this year after the country avoided going into recession in 2009, an international consultancy group said.

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…