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…

MARIVELES, Bataan: President Gloria Arroyo on Sunday launched a component of the multimillion-peso Bataan Information Hub (iHub) project at the Mariveles National High School with an eye to getting all public high schools in the country connected to the Internet.

MANILA, Philippines—A group pushing for the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill on Tuesday called on presidential aspirants for the 2010 election to keep their commitment in supporting a reproductive health program amid a strong lobby from the influential Catholic church.

THE Philippines was cited by the United Kingdom’s National Outsourcing Association as the “Best Offshoring Destination of the Year” for 2009.

Lucena City , Philippines  – Former governor Eduardo Rodriguez, proponent of the 300 MW Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant project explained the safety of the said power plant in reaction to the press statement released by the fisherfolk group Pambansang Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) stating the adverse effects of the project because of…

The number of mobile phone subscribers in the Philippines has soared from over 22.5 million in 2003 to over 57.3 million in 2007. It continues to rise daily at a very fast clip, allowing us to maintain our dubious claim as the text capital of the world. On the other hand, statistics in the United…

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign businessmen said they will remain cautious in deciding to invest in the country next year.

MANILA, Philippines – Powerful storms that claimed nearly 1,000 lives in the Philippines have also taken a heavy toll on the nation’s economy, which is expected to take years to recover.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is facing the worst of times, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said yesterday as he announced that the country’s budget deficit has widened to P237.5 billion during the first nine months of this year, a sharp 345 percent increase from the P53.4 billion deficit incurred in the same period last year…

SURVEILLANCE: Some media friends and I got to talking last week about the high-tech RFID (radio frequency identification) tags that must be installed on motor vehicles upon registration starting January 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – Asian countries, including the Philippines, are touted to dominate the global outsourcing industry, forecasted to reach a $1.3 trillion by 2020, according to an Indian executive.

A year ago, at the height of the financial panic, the world yearned for a profitable and confident financial sector. It now has what it wants, but hates it. As joblessness soars and the hopes of hundreds of millions of people are blighted, the financial sector’s survivors are thriving. Even bonuses are back. Policymakers have…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines business process outsourcing industry (BPO) can raise revenues of up to $100 billion by 2020 by properly developing the talent pool and increasing the value chain of services, Indian outsourcing officials said on Monday.

PRICES of construction materials in Metro Manila rose for the second consecutive month in September, hurting government and households who will undertake rehabilitation following the damage caused by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. The National Statistics Office (NSO) said the retail prices of selected construction materials in Metro Manila went up at a slower pace of…

With many dying from leptospirosis in flood-hit areas in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) on Monday announced that it would pay for confinements arising from the animal feces-borne disease.

MANILA, Philippines – The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will start suspending the monthly benefits of the spouses of its deceased pensioners who are found to be gainfully employed or have other sources of income.