MANILA, Philippines–Local banking giant Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. sees the economy expanding by 1.5 percent this year, aided by reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” and Typhoon “Pepeng.”

VARIOUS groups have been asked to offer their recommendations for “radical lifestyle changes,’’ including coastal landscaping and moving the opening of classes, to better prepare for calamities related to climate change, an official said yesterday.

MANAGING FOR SOCIETY It’s surely meant well, the proposal of Rep. Rufino Biazon of Muntinpupa urging education authorities to record the volunteer work of students and credit it toward their National Service Training Program (NTSP) requirements. It makes even more sense these days when everything feels a bit like the 70s again—the floods, the sense…

The state-run Social Security System (SSS) relaxed loan-application procedures to help its members who were affected by recent storms to apply for emergency credit, the pension fund announced in a statement Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – 10 tips in preventing back pain: • Don’t sit too long If your work requires you to sit all day, force yourself to get up from your chair. Do not sit for more than one hour without getting up. Prolonged sitting puts stress on your spine and compresses the intervertebral discs, which…

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – The Merardo Arce Command of the New People’s Army admitted responsibility for the massacre last week of the three Tulang siblings who were found dead in Barangay Dominga, Calinan District, this city.

MANILA, Philippines – Treasury bill (T-bill) rates went down across the board yesterday as investors swamped the auction following a rejection of bids for Treasury bonds (T-bonds) last week.

MANILA, Philippines—A Canadian news service has exposed the maltreatment of four overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at a fastfood restaurant in Manitoba province.

In face of crises, disasters MANILA, Philippines — ASEAN must put people’s human rights, particularly to social protection for the poor who are most affected, at the center stage of its response to both the global financial meltdown and the series of disasters that have visited some member-nations of the regional bloc.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said recently that the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the worst among the post-Edsa 1 administration when it comes to government’s revenue generation efforts.

Manila North Harbor workers on Monday demanded a memoran dum of agreement that will guarantee zero job cut and recognition of existing unions in light of the port terminal’s looming privatization.

CEBU, Philippines – The Regional Tripartite Wage and Productively Board has decided to refer back to the Cebu Labor Coalition the latter’s petition for a wage hike owing to some technical requirements that the labor group reportedly failed to comply.

The past five years have brought discovery and advancement in all aspects of breast cancer. More importantly, these advances have resulted in not only better diagnosis and treatment but more individualized care as well. There’s no longer a one-treatment-fits-all approach to breast cancer. Instead, a team of doctors from various specialties is able to work…

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is giving rural banks at least one year reprieve to comply with stricter regulations in meeting capitalization requirements.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDIs) breached the $1-billion mark in the first seven months of this year, rising by 33.8 percent to $1.239 billion from $926 million in the same period last year.

MANILA, Philippines – Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Rubens Fedele dubbed as misleading the article that came out in The STAR’s issue last Saturday, Oct. 10, titled “Italians define ‘Filippina’ as ‘cleaning woman’.”

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines dropped from 48th to 50th in ranking among 55 of the world’s leading financial systems and capital markets, according to the World Economic Forum Financial Development Report 2009.

MANILA, Philippines – Health officials warned the public yesterday of an increase in cases of leptospirosis and other water-borne diseases in calamity areas that are still flooded after Luzon was ravaged by tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” in the past two weeks.

MANILA, Philippines –  State-run pension funds, which have been swamped with loan applications after the destruction brought by two killer typhoons, are now bending over backwards in an effort to service the growing number of claims.

This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998. But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.

AN environment group on Monday blamed the government for the “miserable implementation” of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, making the country vulnerable to serious problems brought about by perennial flooding during heavy rains as what Metro Manila experienced when Typhoon Ondoy hit the country last month.

NEGROS-based groups on Monday condemned the alleged human-rights violation committed by members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (NPA), who are reportedly targeting unarmed civilians.

Manufacturers of construction materials want the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to clarify whether the price ceiling on their products should be based on the average prices in the last three months, or on the prices just before the state of calamity was declared. Jesus Arranza, Federation of Philippine Industries president, said that manufacturers…

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), rising from villain to savior through the fires of the global economic crisis, faces steep hurdles in trying to transform into the champion of the new world order. The IMF’s annual meetings with the World Bank in Istanbul last week showcased the newfound punching weight of the major…

To help members, especially those hit by tropical storm “Ondoy,” get back on their feet, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has said it will give borrowers of housing and consolidated loans the chance to hold off monthly payments for one year.

MANILA, Philippines – Moody’s Economy.com, the economic research and analysis arm of New York-based credit-rating firm Moody’s Investors Service, said the impact of tropical storm Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) and typhoon Pepeng (Parma) on the country’s domestic output is minimal.

MANILA, Philippines – State-run Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) is allotting at least 3,000 residential units, mostly sequestered assets, for victims of the two typhoons that recently battered the country.

MANILA, Philippines – The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the state-owned pension fund for employees in the public sector, is giving borrowers of housing and consolidated loans the chance to hold off monthly payments for one year.

MANILA, Philippines – The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the business information arm of The Economist Group, ranked the Philippines third overall worldwide in terms of microfinance business environment.