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.

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.