MANILA, Philippines—Storms worse than “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” will hit the Philippines in the coming years, but the country is one of the least prepared nations in Southeast Asia to cope with natural disasters, a United Nations official warned Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines—The Liberal Party standard-bearer, Sen. Benigno Aquino III, topped a survey conducted by Ibon Foundation Oct. 2-8, but he had a much smaller lead over his fellow presidential aspirants.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to push through with the demolition of illegal structures that contribute to the deterioration of Manila Bay. In a resolution, the court said that its order to clean up Manila Bay was not a license to evict any individual without observing the law.

Group suggests tackling global health risks GENEVA, Switzerland — Global life expectancy could be increased by nearly five years by addressing five factors affecting health—childhood underweight, unsafe sex, alcohol use, lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene, and high blood pressure, according to a report published by WHO today.

GENEVA, Switzerland — The Philippines ranked ninth in the top 10 ranking of countries where women face the least discrimination, the World Economic Forum said Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Environment and health activists called on authorities to conduct an open and exhaustive investigation into “toxic incidents” in Silang, Cavite, where almost 60 people, including children, fell ill.

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank has put up a catastrophe bond which developing countries can tap as insurance and developed countries can invest in.

SINGAPORE – Oil prices lingered below $79 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after three days of losses as investors eyed a volatile US dollar.

MANILA, Philippines – Around 375,000 workers displaced during the global financial crisis as well as new jobseekers got new jobs and alternative sources of livelihood in the first half of the year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

THE government has placed an order of 200,000 metric tons of rice from Thailand on condition that Bangkok would agree to the Philippine position for a slower tariff reduction on the commodity, Manila said yesterday.

WASHINGTON DC, United States — The US could cut greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of France’s total annual emissions by getting Americans to make simple lifestyle changes, like regularly maintaining their cars or insulating their attics, a study showed Monday.

SINGAPORE – While intensifying weather disturbances due to climate change hound various parts of Asia, carbon market promoters here see escalated carbon trading in the region to boost global undertaking to reduce carbon emissions.

BENCHMARK interest rates moved sideways across all tenors as the market remained uncertian on the government’s fiscal position, the Bureau of Treasury said on Monday. The 91-day Treasury bill (T-bill) fetched 3.849 percent, or 4.8 basis points lower than the 3.897 percent the debt paper fetched on October 12.

Executives warn of ramifications, supply shortage The government warned that it would not hesitate to file charges against oil companies if they failed to comply with Executive Order 839 that rolls back pump prices in calamity areas to October 15 levels. In a radio interview on Monday, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that the Department…

MANILA, Philippines – Employees of the largest savings and loan agency for military and police personnel have threatened to stage a strike due to a deadlock in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), an official said.

Even if a strike is valid because its purpose is lawful, it may still be declared invalid where the means employed are illegal. This is the ruling applied in this case of an employees union (EASA) and 17 members including its president who are employed in an aviation company (ASA) engaged in providing transportation to…

TRANSCO OWNERS: Transparency dictates that the public be told the identity of the influential persons involved in the conglomerate that is taking over the state-owned National Transmission Corp. or Transco.

“Anxiety is not fear, exactly, because fear is focused on something right in front of you, a real and objective danger,” writes Robin Marantz Henig in her “New York Times Magazine” article, “Understanding the Anxious Mind.”

Warren Buffett, known to many as the Oracle of Omaha, is considered one of the world’s greatest investors.

Asian leaders meeting in Thailand are discussing plans to “lead the world” by forming an EU-style community by 2015.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has won the 2009 Offshoring Destination of the Year category at the 4th National Outsourcing Association (NOA) Awards held last Oct. 15 at Park Plaza Riverbank in London.

The valiant efforts of the champion of the Reproductive Health bill, Rep. Edsel Lagman, seems to have fallen on barren ground at the House of Representatives. With two weeks prior to recess, the bill seems to have been de-prioritized and shelved — virtually a cold bill.

MANILA, Philippines—Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are laying the groundwork for a permanent emergency rice reserve mechanism in anticipation of more calamities hitting the region, Malacañang said Sunday.

HUA HIN, THAILAND—ASIAN leaders barely mentioned Burma’s (Myanmar’s) democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at a weekend summit, making a mockery of the region’s grand claims for its new rights body, analysts said.

TACLOBAN CITY — A seaman who returned to the country last October 17 has revealed that 10 Filipino seafarers are still awaiting repatriation back to the Philippines after their ship was stopped by the Nigerian government from sailing back to their port of origin due to a violation of a local law.

SAYS RECRUIT CONSULTANT MANILA, Philippines—The closure of 177 nursing schools that have failed to pass a single graduate in the nursing licensure exams will address the glut of some half a million board passers in the country, recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani said in a statement Monday.

HUA HIN — Asian leaders barely mentioned Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at a weekend summit, making a mockery of the region’s grand claims for its new rights body, analysts said.

MIAMI — Driven by fluctuations in oil prices, and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are ramping up efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: Pond scum.

Amid the lingering problem of corruption in government, the Philippines is poised to secure an additional $5.5 million grant from a US government aid agency to allow the government to conduct studies on investments and cost estimates of projects that will best benefit the marginalized, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has said.