An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission currently in the country has placed the country on the multilateral financing institutions watchlist amid the government’s falling revenue collections and the widening budget deficit.

THE November 2009 results of the first Manila Standard Today Poll show Benigno Aquino III as the primary choice of registered voters nationwide for the highest national elective post, and three weeks before the filing of certificates of candidacy with the Commission on Elections. Beyond the race, it is important to know the rationale behind…

THE Ombudsman has scolded a former woman judge for trying to put down the image of the Philippines in its fight against corruption.

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino has received international recognition for his innovative effort in educating poor children. Efren Peñaflorida, who started the “Kariton Klassroom” to bring education to poor children, has been named CNN Hero of the Year, the cable news network announced yesterday.

TUCP  Statement at the Meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) held on 23 November 2009 at the IMF Conference Room, BSP, Pasay City, PHILIPPINES We thank IMF for inviting the TUCP to this meeting. We note the Communiqué of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the Board of Governors of the IMF released on…

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The House of Representatives has no plans of passing a bill proposing the banning of aerial spray in the country within its term and opposing parties would have to wait for the next Congress to push for it.

MANILA, Philippines – Employees will be receiving their bonus on top of their 13th month pay this year as local firms report full recovery from the global financial crisis, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said.

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asia’s airline industry is beginning to pull out of a severe slump sparked by the global recession with signs that passenger numbers have started to recover, a regional body said.

MANILA, Philippines – More business enterprises are looking at hiring more workers in the first quarter of next year in light of the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts of the government as well as the global economic recovery.

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Labor and Employment’s hotline for information on local and overseas jobs won an award from International Association of Business Communicators, it was learned over the weekend.

MANILA, Philippines – It’s the season to be jolly. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry. This was the warning of an environment group at the forefront of a campaign against hazardous chemicals as it cautioned the public against “indiscriminate shopping” for holiday gifts.

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals (CA) has given the government clearance to allow the importation of Liberty Link Rice 62 (LLRice62), an allegedly genetically modified rice variety.

MANILA, Philippines – Party-list groups should now come out of their closets. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ordered all party-list organizations taking part in the May 2010 elections to make public their nominees.

MANILA, Philippines – A New York State Supreme Court justice has ruled that the 10,000 human rights victims during the 20-year rule of the late President Ferdinand Marcos can lay claim to the $35-million Arelma deposits to partially satisfy the $2-billion indemnity awarded to them by a jury in 1995.

PAYING taxes in the Philippines became more burdensome this year, according to a survey done by the World Bank and PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. This as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was supposed to have raised concern about the country’s ballooning budget deficit and the lack of a clear government plan on how to arrest the deterioration…

THE Philippines was singled out for praise by the United States for exerting “special efforts” to respect religious freedom and tolerance, as well as promote interfaith dialogue in the world arena, according to a recent report by the US State Department.

MANILA, Philippines–Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases among Filipino youth “have been increasing at an unprecedented rate,” the United Nations representative’s office in Manila has warned.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) said it expects more than 1,800 megawatts (MW) of additional power to be generated from clean coal power plants in the near term.

MANILA, Philippines – Local autoparts makers said the proposal of the government to extend income tax holidays and allow the duty-free importation of raw and semi-processed materials will help rev up the local auto industry.

A partylist representative who is known for his successful ventures in the field of education filed on Thursday a resolution for the creation of a separate licensing authority for technical-vocational skills workers in the country. A-Teacher partylist representative and legislator Atty. Ulpiano “Ulan” Sarmiento 3rd filed House Bill 7705 to push for the passage of…

On CHED’s ETEEA Program After reading your article (September 11, 2009) CHED’S Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program, I decided to check out the CHED website and found some useful information. My three children have all graduated from college and I figured it was about time that I finally got that college degree that…

LETTERS We would like to clarify the article, “Jobs, incomes fell in second quarter amid slowdown” which appeared in the November 10, 2009 edition of Manila times.net. The article cited a report from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) which was culled from the Quarterly Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (QSPBI) of the National…

THE projected increase in information technology (IT) spending in the next four years would create more jobs in the Philippines, according to Information Data Corp. (IDC).

MANILA, Philippines – Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez turned the tables on a former judge yesterday for saying that corruption in the country is still bad despite receiving a better ranking in this year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report by Transparency International (TI). The Philippines now ranks 139th among 180 countries perceived to be the most corrupt…

MANILA, Philippines – The First Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) denied yesterday the petitions of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and the union of government employees Courage for accreditation of party-list groups in the May 2010 polls, citing the lack of constituents. In two separate resolutions, First Division presiding commissioner Rene Sarmiento…

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union: Sandy soil, which eroded easily when dug deeply caused the death of a deep well digger near the coastal area of Barangay Dalumpinas Oeste, here, Friday afternoon after rescue operations failed to save him on time.

Automotive industry workers have expressed concern that they might lose their jobs with the lowering of tariffs starting next year under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.

With much awaited climate talks in Copenhagen in December, the World Bank and its supporters are positioning the institution to play a significant, if not dominant, role in future climate finance.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says growth and recovery are expected in 2010 in just about all world regions. For its 30 member countries, rich nations including the US and UK, it has more than doubled its growth forecast to 1.9% for next year, from 0.7%.

Global Networking CALIFORNIA, United States—Senator Noynoy Aquino leads in all the presidential polls that have been taken in the Philippines in the last month, receiving more preferential votes than all his opponents combined.