DO you want to know what’s wrong with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs? I’ll tell you right away—some companies are using it only for tax avoidance, if not for public relations.

The Supreme Court has granted in part a petition of female   flight attendants of the country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) seeking to remove a gender bias provision in their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that sets the retirement age for women five years earlier than that for their male counterparts.

THE Philippines may be the call center capital of the world, with its vast pool of English speakers, but it lacks the management talent that the business process outsourcing sector needs to fill higher-level positions in the industry.

The jobless situation in the Philippines was likely to worsen this year and next year because of the trade contraction resulting from the global crisis, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap).

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may find itself no longer on top of mind among companies wanting to outsource and offshore some of their functions if nothing is done to boost global awareness of what the country has to offer.

Last week’s article on the possible health dangers of cell phones elicited a deluge of comments from our readers — including my colleagues in the medical profession, even my own patients, former classmates, and friends. They raised more valid concerns on other health issues about cell phones that I decided to devote an additional article…

MANILA, Philippines – A group of ethanol producers are calling for the increase in tariff for ethanol from one percent to 20 percent to encourage investors to put up more ethanol plants and meet the mandated five percent enthanol blend mandated under Biofuels Law.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) yesterday called on employers to grant their workers non-wage benefits in the absence of salary hikes.

ILOILO CITY—A confederation of government workers and the supplier of overpriced training equipment of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have scored the agency’s findings that pinned the blame on 14 employees and the supplier but virtually exonerated the director-general, Augusto Syjuco.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has expanded the coverage of its program which provides free legal assistance to policemen who are facing charges related to their duties.

MANILA, Philippines – Government agencies will hire some 93,000 unemployed or underemployed Filipinos this year for a P1.77-billion roadside maintenance program in line with President Arroyo’s call for agencies to strengthen the country’s economic foundation in the face of continuing uncertainties in the global economy and international labor markets, Malacañang announced yesterday.

Just because some people have had ample experience in administering something does not mean they get better at it; or that they actually learn while doing it. Put another way, some people not only do not learn, they actually get worse each time.

MANILA, Philippines – The 29 largest business process outsourcing (BPO) providers in the Philippines, mostly engaged in contact center activities, reported P94.4 billion in combined revenues in 2008, up 21 percent or P16.1 billion from the P78.3 billion they posted in 2007.

The spirit of volunteerism is alive and well, weeks after the devastation wrought by two destructive weather conditions. The volunteers in ABS-CBN’s Sagip Kapamilya, for example, came from all age groups and varying backgrounds. Most of them arrived in groups — families, officemates, barkadas, among others — all standing up to bring help or to…

MANILA, Philippines – Environmentalists yesterday vowed to get to the bottom of the toxic pollution incidents that downed residents of a village in Silang, Cavite, demanding that a hazardous waste treatment company there make a “full disclosure” of what chemicals, and in what quantities, have spilled out to the environment.

MANILA, Philippines – Banks continue to pass on to their borrowers the cumulative 200 basis point rate cut implemented by monetary authorities since December last year to boost the economy and check inflation, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported over the weekend.

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – A labor representative on the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has said he will seek another wage increase in Western Visayas following the oil price hikes this week.

MANILA, Philippines—An advocacy group has called on concerned government agencies to draft better provisions that would strengthen the rights of Filipino migrants working in different countries across the world.

Follow Obama’s lead, states told UNITED NATIONS, New York, United States—UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday hailed US President Barack Obama’s removal of a decades-old travel ban on HIV-positive visitors, and urged other countries to do the same.

MANILA, Philippines–While they comprise almost half of the country’s population, children hardly figure in the budget and allocation for their concerns and needs remain measly every year, according to the report of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child.

CORN and wheat are set for the biggest monthly gain after the US economy returned to growth, boosting optimism about demand for grains as rain delays harvests in the United States.

MANILA, Philippines—The combined revenues of the country’s 29 largest business process outsourcing (BPO) providers reached almost $2 billion in 2008, said Catanduanes Representative Joseph Santiago Sunday.

Amidst the unemployment problem, certain jobs are hard to fill and remain unfilled for unbelievably long period. As a result, 41% of employers in a recent survey struggled to find qualified candidates due to a dearth of talent.

MANILA, Philippines – Banks in the Philippines have reduced lending rates much faster than those in most Asian countries, thus contributing more to efforts to pump-prime the economy amid the lingering global economic crisis.

ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY: Six established Filipino companies, including an electric cooperative in Western Mindanao, have been named regional winners in the prestigious Department of Labor and Employment’s 2009 Productivity Olympics. The six winners were Julies Bakeshop, Philippine Pioneer Rubber Products Corp., Pagadian City Springland Resort, Vic Engineering and Drilling Services, Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative, Incorporated…

The newspapers report the vast devastation in our agricultural sector wrought by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. Rice fields have been inundated, rice warehouses in the North flooded. Thousands upon thousands of sacks of rice were rendered inutile, unfit for human consumption, and there are talks that we may need to embark on hefty importations again…

Apply the SOS approach, as an initial and interim measure. This is the essence of the reply I got from former Optical Media Board chairman Edu Manzano in reaction to my column of October 17. That piece raised the possibility of an upsurge in the exploitation of women and children — especially the latter —…

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo has ordered all government offices to use only the E10 blend of gasoline for their vehicles as part of the state’s contribution to the promotion of bio-fuels.

MANILA, Philippines – Multi-player online role-playing games, social networking sites, and pornography are officially banned on public high school Internet stations.

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) announced yesterday that effective today the benefit package for normal childbirth or “spontaneous delivery” done in accredited hospitals and maternity clinics will be increased from P4,500 to P6,500.