HUA HIN, Thailand–Southeast Asian leaders were strongly criticized on Friday after launching a widely derided human rights body and barring activists from a key meeting at a regional summit.

HUA HIN, Thailand: Southeast Asian leaders launched a widely criticized new human rights body on Friday at a regional summit where they will also grapple with plans for economic and political integration.

Like many people, I’ve become cynical of politicians’ promises so I have a suggestion. Each of the presidential aspirants must commit to 10 major policy changes he will implement within the first two years of his presidency. The commitment should be made publicly, in the form of a covenant with the people.

HUA HIN (AFP)– Southeast Asian leaders are to officially launch a “historic” human rights body on Friday, despite criticisms that it will be too soft on members such as military-ruled Myanmar.

Despite the prevailing context of worsening global economic and financial crisis, over the course of 2009 governments must reach an agreement on climate change to succeed the current Kyoto Protocol; an agreement that will put our world on a path to protect our societies, their environment and the generations to come.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published research which establishes a link between past asbestos exposure and later onset of ovarian cancer. As with other asbestos cancers there is typically a long latent period between the time of exposure and onset of the disease.

Parañaque City Rep. Eduardo Zialcita yesterday sought the urgent enactment of Comprehensive Senior Citizens Act of 2009 (Cosca) to alleviate poverty and improve the well-being of more than 20,000 senior citizens in Parañaque City and the total 4.6 million elderly throughout the country.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US economy is showing more signs of firming but improvements are “small or scattered,” the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its Beige Book survey of current conditions.

The United Nations urged Asian nations to make their new regional human rights body “credible” Thursday, as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) prepared for its official launch.

THE market share of the Philippines and other first-wave country-hosts of business process offshoring fell because of new attractive locations, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade Development (UNCTAD).

CEBU, Philippines – The Free Legal Assistance Volunteers Association yesterday pointed out two areas that need to be improved as far as the role of the barangay is concerned in protecting the welfare and right of children.

MANILA, Philippines – Fewer Filipino nurses are seeking employment in the United States, the country’s largest trade union reported yesterday.

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Congress may not know it, but the Supreme Court in GR 175490, Ileana Macalinao vs. BPI promulgated on Sept. 19, through its Third Division with Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. as ponente, put a 2-percent cap on monthly interest rates by banks and credit institutions.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes has ruled that the recent oil price increases have been reflective of world market trends.

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank said the Philippines would need to grow between six and seven percent on a sustained basis to help arrest its rising poverty incidence.

I was surprised the other day to find in my e-mail a press release from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) saying that effective March 2010, survivorship pensions extended to spouses of deceased members will be stopped if they are gainfully employed in government or the private sector.

AS property firms grapple with the effects of Typhoon Ondoy, they may be in for another drubbing after the government cut its tourism outlook for next year.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects to implement the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) Law next year after various government agencies signed its implementing rules and regulations yesterday.

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – At least five people were killed and eight others were injured when a 40-foot shipping container carrying hundreds of boxes of Cavendish bananas fell into a Mitsubishi L-300 passenger van along the highway in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley Tuesday afternoon.

BAGUIO CITY , Philippines  – The Philippines’ ranking in the World Press Freedom Index of Reporters sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders) has improved from last year’s 139th place to 122nd this year.

MANILA, Philippines – Dividends remitted by state-run firms to the government rose to P11.067 billion in the first nine months of year, already surpassing the full-year target of P4 billion, Finance Undersecretary Jeremias Paul Jr. said yesterday.      

Bangkok—Non-government organizations from Southeast Asian nations have pressed developed countries to shoulder the burden of climate change effects in the region as they use the Philippine experience during the onslaught of Ondoy and Pepeng to push for more financing and cooperation.

TSUKIJI and three sister restaurants on Arnaiz Avenue in Makati were temporarily shut down after revenue officials cited them for tax violations.

I just read an Internet posting that talked about an ongoing reverse brain drain to India and China. The post was by Vivek Wadhwa, an entrepreneur turned academic who is now a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, among other positions. He talked about attending a meeting organized by the Think India Foundation, a think-tank in Silicon…

MANILA, Philippines – Militant party-list lawmakers Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casiño and Liza Maza pulled out their application for accreditation of a joint political party before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

MANILA, Philippines – Public transport groups condemned yesterday the latest increase in the pump prices of gasoline and other petroleum products.

WARY of a scenario in which wage hikes could be spurred by politics due to the election season, employers emphasized this early that current conditions are still not ripe for a new round of increase in the workers’ minimum pay.

MANILA – As the global economic crisis forced most companies to cut down on costs by moving their businesses offshore, the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is looking at new areas for expansion.