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.

BANGKOK — Southeast Asian nations are set to unveil a landmark human rights watchdog this week, but critics charge it will be a toothless body that includes in its membership one of the world’s worst human rights offenders—military-ruled Burma (Myanmar).

But none seems to consider maternal health as priority Five presidential aspirants on Tuesday declared their position on highly sensitive issues such as birth control and abortion—with most of them favoring state funding for the former and unconditional opposition to the latter—but they hardly impressed reproductive health specialists.

WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cautioned Asian economies against prematurely withdrawing fiscal stimulus measures, saying the current fragile global recovery may stall.

PARIS: French health watchdogs, in a precautionary move, recommended on Thursday reducing exposure to mobile phones and other portable wireless devices. The guidelines are an interim step pending the outcome of wider research into any impacts from health from radio frequency fields.

THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) wants the government to set up a development fund to assist micro, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) amid the recent typhoons and global economic crisis.

LOS ANGELES: Scientists at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have found that web surfing for middle-aged and seniors with little Internet experience have boosted their brain function. “We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance…

MANILA, Philippines–Repatriated workers are consulting with Migrante International organization lawyers about the filing of a case against the inaction of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) officials on their illegal recruitment cases. According to Garry Martinez, chairperson of the largest organization of Filipino migrants, there are many illegal recruiters victimizing Filipinos right under the noses…

PASAY, Philippines– 14 students from ten Philippine schools received the highest honors in the 2009 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) and were awarded at the Sofitel Hotel. The AMC is a correspondence type exam aimed at highlighting the importance of the subject matter and discovering individuals who display excellent knowledge in mathematics.

The weak US dollar and rising unemployment in America threaten the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in the Philippines, an expert said. But another outsourcing industry executive also said that diversification of portfolio was the key to combating looming protectionism of traditional outsourcing markets, like the United States.

While they are against abortion, at least four contenders for president in the 2010 elections are in favor of making safe contraceptives accessible to the public in order to help the country achieve the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs. The Catholic Church, which strongly opposes the use of contraceptives to curb population growth, has warned…

MANILA, Philippines – American banking giant Citigroup has scaled down its outlook on Philippine growth this year due to supply shocks caused by tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng.

MANILA, Philippines – International lender World Bank (WB) is set to upgrade the country’s economic outlook and is now looking at a growth instead of a contraction after a strong recovery in the second quarter of the year.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court has upheld the ruling of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) declaring illegal the mass appointment of 89 city hall employees by an outgoing Dumaguete City mayor who lost in a re-election bid in 2001.

THE Lopez-controlled Energy Development Corp. will take over the 192.5-megawatt Palinpinon and 112.5-MW Tongonan geothermal power plants this month.

European businessmen and investors are “cautiously optimistic” that the Philippine economy will rebound by next year as the agri-business, business process outsourcing (BPO), electronics, property development, retail and tourism sectors show growth potentials. “We are looking at 2010 with guarded optimism,” Henry Schumacher, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) executive vice president, said…