MANILA, Philippines – Almost all firms located in the economic zones operated by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) that closed shop because of the global financial crisis have already resumed operations and has even started hiring new employees, the government reported.

How do you get along with people? Well, listen to this story: Two people had adjoining farms, one raised wheat and had children and large dogs. The other raised sheep.

Good corporate governance among listed firms matter to stock market investors, a recent study by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) revealed.

SENATOR Jinggoy Estrada has emerged as the top candidate for the Senate in the second Standard Today Poll, with Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago a close second.

SENATOR Benigno Aquino III has maintained a double-digit lead over Senator Manuel Villar Jr. in the race for the presidency, the latest poll commissioned by Standard Today shows.

PETER Drucker (1909 to 2005), the famous American management guru was vocal about the distinction between efficiency and effectiveness when he told us that “efficiency is doing the job right, effectiveness is doing the right job.”

DESPITE low interest rates, Philippine banks have remained liquid yet cautious in extending loans to consumers and businesses since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, resulting in a gradual slowdown of credit growth the following year.

The sinking of the ferry MV Baleno-9 near the Philippine city of Batangas, which has left at least three dead and 22 missing, is the latest in a long list of shipping accidents across the Philippines. Millions of Filipinos, many of them too poor to afford air travel, use the seas and waterways to travel…

They get the most of what there is to get Our elite of power and wealth are extremely diverse. Their members range from the genteel remnants of the colonial hacendero families to the grossest political-warlord clans such as the Ampatuans of Maguindanao, who are accused of slaughtering 57 people in just one morning.

MANILA, Philippines – Companies prepaid $975.8 million worth of foreign-denominated obligations in the first 10 months of the year to take advantage of the stronger peso and lower interest rates.

MANILA, Philippines – How do you keep sane when money flies out of the window and the bills just keep on coming? You look at your wallet and see nothing in it and then you count silently when the next paycheck would come and you realize instantly that you have a shortfall. It’s difficult and…

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is set to push for the further reduction of remittance fees this year to help advance the welfare of the families of Filipinos working overseas.

MANILA, Philippines – National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Roberto Rosales said among the Metro Manila police’s accomplishments he is proud of is the neutralization of the Alvin Flores robbery gang and 219 other crime gangs in 2009, but said he is still not satisfied and vowed to do more next year.

MANILA, Philippines – Thousands of jobs await highly skilled Filipino workers in Australia next year, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque announced yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Seventy-nine members, or nearly one-third of the House of Representatives, are “graduating” from Congress on June 30, 2010 after the May elections.

Contact center executives concerned that a recovering economy may force up wages and benefit costs and staff turnover thanks to competition for labor from other employers need not worry about it.

FAMILY FACTOR: The Expat Explorer survey of HSBC was conducted last February to April among respondents from the US, Europe and elsewhere who have lived in more than two dozen countries and on four continents.

New leader to balance  present with  past MANILA, Philippines – In the aftermath of Ondoy’s devastation and amid the continuing fallout from the global economic decline, a vast majority of Filipinos—86%, according to a Pulse Asia survey—are entering 2010 with hope, much more than those who said they were optimistic about 2009.  

MANILA, Philippines – In a flurry of international recognition for the Philippines, two prestigious publications, CNN Traveller and Asia Spa, add three more accolades to the country.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has pushed back the implementation of two international standards aimed at strengthening the risk management of commercial and universal lenders.

TOKYO: Worries mounted Friday that Japan’s economic recovery is running out of steam as data showed the jobless rate rising and deflation continuing to hobble the World’s No. 2 economy.

THE capital of the country’s banks improved nine months after the Lehman Brothers collapse, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet: In an effort to strengthen the coffee industry in the Cordillera Region considering natives here are coffee lovers, some concern sectors are pushing for its development and the need for its sustainability. Brewed coffee as they say is good source of anti-oxidants, it also warm human bodies especially now that December breeze…

ADMINISTRATION party’s standard-bearer, Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, has said that overhauling the health-care system of the country could help stop the migration of medical professionals to other countries.

Saying that there seems to be an influx of party-list groups gearing to win a seat in the House of Representatives, a high-ranking official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that the poll body might only approve one-third of the total number of party-list petitioners. Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said that there might only…

CEBU, Philippines – Lack of safety measures has been blamed on the firecracker blaze that killed at least three people – including two children – and injured six others in Mandaue City on Christmas Eve.  

GENERAL SANTOS CITY , Philippines  – The local tuna industry, in limbo over the last couple of months, is in for harder times following a ban imposed by the Western and Central Pacific Commission (WCPC) on all fishing operations in the high seas, or beyond the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EZZ), beginning January next…

MANILA, Philippines – The acquisition of more than P2 million worth of access cards for cheap rice for the poor during the food crisis last year was unnecessary and the funds could have just been used to directly purchase the staple, a Commission on Audit (COA) report stated.

MANILA, Philippines – Only a third of the 306 party-list groups that filed for candidacy in the 2010 elections can actually run, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino nationals transiting through New Zealand en route to other destinations are now exempted from securing transit visas, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.