This is one for Ripley’s. The total number of registered voters for the May 2010 polls has climbed to more than 49 million, or some 54 percent of the total Philippine population and rising.

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Manuel Roxas II asked major cellular phone companies yesterday to comply with the “per pulse” billing system required by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

MANILA, Philippines – Is there lead in the paint of your house? A local waste and pollution watchdog yesterday sought the elimination of lead in paints, as it warned the public against the high lead content in household paints being sold in the Philippine market based on a recent worldwide study conducted by the International…

MANILA, Philippines – At least 49.1 million voters have registered for next year’s elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the figure does not include voters in 22 municipalities that have not yet submitted their official list of voters.

MANILA, Philippines – The Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) is starting to render wide-ranging benefits to both countries as seen in the 24-percent increase in Philippine banana export to Japan due to tariff reduction and the dispatch of more than 300 Filipino candidates for nurses and caregivers to Japan this year, according to Japanese Ambassador…

LONDON (AFP) – Ratings agency Moody’s warned on Tuesday of a “fiscal crisis” lasting “several years” in Britain, France, Germany and the United States, but saw no immediate threat to their top AAA credit assessments.

President Barack Obama laid out a slate of job-creating ideas in a speech at the Brookings Institution Tuesday – a sort of “stimulus lite” — but carefully avoided saying how much the new plans would cost.

OFFICE space is likely to remain in surplus next year with rents remaining steady as the global credit crisis trims demand and builders boost supply, the multinational real estate services company CB Richard Ellis said Wednesday.

SAYS TUCP MANILA, Philippines — The money sent home by overseas Filipino sailors rose by $108 million or 4.51 percent to a new record of $2.501 billion in the nine months to September this year, from $2.393 billion over the same period in 2008, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said.

MANILA , Philippines – The country’s real estate companies maintained strong sales throughout the year despite the effects of the economic crisis and recent typhoons, according to property consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).

MANILA, Philippines – Global investment bank Goldman Sachs said the Philippines performed better than most of the next 11 emerging economies (N-11) during the global crisis. “Within the N-11, Indonesia and the Philippines have positively surprised,” Goldman Sachs said in its latest Global Economics Paper.

NEW YORK, United States — The Philippines overwhelmingly won another three-year term in the Committee on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW), the Philippine Mission to the United Nations said in a statement Wednesday.

The Philippine National Police yesterday assured the workers of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of their personal safety and security, more particularly during the conduct of field investigations and other official activities.

An illegally dismissed employee is entitled to reinstatement as a matter of right. But if the relation between employer and employee is already strained, it is more prudent to order the payment of separation pay in lieu of reinstatement. This case of Rey explains the meaning of “strained relations”.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Economic and Development Authority has allayed fears that a full-blown financial crisis could occur in Dubai and displace Filipino workers.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos continue to suffer from hunger and malnutrition despite efforts of the Arroyo administration to reduce poverty, a latest government survey revealed yesterday. A survey conducted by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) showed that “the nutrition situation of Filipinos has not improved from 2005 to…

MANILA, Philippines – Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has again topped the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations on the preferred presidential candidates of Filipinos in the May 2010 elections. Aquino’s candidacy for the highest position in the land was approved by 47 percent of 1,200 registered voters, surveyed from Nov.…

MANILA, Philippines – The local auto industry is on track to surpassing its target this year, with sales from January to November growing by 3.7 percent, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Finance (DOF) has reiterated its previous position that a bill seeking to grant hefty tax perks to publicly-listed companies operating as a real estate investment trust (REIT) would translate to billions in yearly losses for the government.

MANILA, Philippines – The combined earnings of companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) surged 60.8 percent in the first nine months of the year to P283.76 billion on the back of improving global conditions, a new study on the performance of the publicly traded firms revealed.

HIGH operating costs would push call centers to consolidate, according to an industry-commissioned study.

The local contact center industry will grow slower this year because of high operating costs and a shrinking customer base, the industry’s organization said in a press briefing late Monday.

Two weeks ago in this space, in an article called “Getting dramatic over climate change”, I wrote about the Philippine position that our delegation would be bringing to Copenhagen, Denmark during negotiations for carbon-emission cuts. The resulting climate change pact—if one could be arrived at—would pick up from where the first commitment period of the…

MANILA, Philippines—Starting November 30, Filipinos transiting through New Zealand en route to other destinations have been exempt for securing transit visas, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

COPENHAGEN—(UPDATE) The first decade of the 21st century is set to be the warmest on record, the head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said at UN climate talks Tuesday.

GENEVA—Climate change is already forcing people to migrate, with most moving within their countries or to a neighboring country, a report by the International Organization for Migration said Tuesday.

The Constitution says that “the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved” (Art. III of Section 14(2). This is a time honored principle recognized in every civilized, fair and just society. It is a recognition of the inherent goodness in every man.

MANILA, Philippines – One in two Filipino adults is dissatisfied with the performance of the Arroyo administration, bringing its new net satisfaction rating to -20, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in its recent survey.

Nothing is certain except death and taxes. In the Philippines, the inevitable burden of taxes cannot be more emphasized by the fact that estate tax even ensues at the time of death.

IMANILA, Philippines – Yields on the government’s Treasury bills (T-bills) moved sideways during yesterday’s auction as investors are on a wait-and-see stance ahead of the meeting of the Monetary Board next week.