The handling of the Ondoy disaster is a massive managerial failure. And it does not speak well of a government that has been in power for almost nine years. So you cannot say this government is a novice. The first failure is the failure of information. Pagasa (the weather bureau) didn’t know what was coming.

THE local business process out-sourcing (BPO) industry sees bright prospects and more jobs in the knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) sector, but the lack of qualified workers in the country remains a problem, according to an industry-commissioned survey.

THE Philippines is no longer on track to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015, with the series of natural disasters undermining development efforts, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the United Nations (UN) said.

Camp Crame has received reports that government troops arrested three minors during an encounter with the communist rebels in Catanduanes province on Tuesday morning. The New People’s Army (NPA) has consistently denied using minors in their combat exercise against the state.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo’s banner project, the Accelerated Hunger-Mitigation Program, focuses on reducing and eventually eradicating hunger in the country. The program is implemented by the Anti-Hunger Task Force (AHTF) composed of about 30 government and non-government organizations led by health chief Francisco Duque.

Istanbul (AFP): Finance chiefs from around the world focused on mapping out recovery from the global economic crisis at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank here on Tuesday, with a plea to include the poor.

MANILA, Philippines – The demand for knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) is increasing as majority of the industry players said they will be hiring more workers in the coming months, a survey conducted by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) and Outsource2–Philippines (O2P) showed.

(Second of two parts) As the German federal government continues to drive renewable energy (RE) developments through incentives, subsidies and regulation, several German companies have established technological leadership on the global front in the key areas of wind energy, hydropower, solar energy, geothermal and biomass.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) reached a new record high of $42.3 billion in September as a result of government foreign borrowing and the increase in the price of gold, the central bank reported yesterday.

Labour Behind the Label, a group that campaigns for garment workers, has calculated a wage it says should be used as a minimum for workers in Asia. It says that a single Asian “floor wage” would prevent countries competing at the expense of workers. ‘

Envoy finds few convictions ‘regrettable’ MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) The European Union on Thursday said it would give 3.9 million euros (about $5.8 million or P270 million) to the Philippines to help the government stop extra-judicial killings and disappearances of activists.

There are many, many sources and places of exposure to asbestos. Here’s a list:

GENEVA – Once just a simple telecommunications tool, the mobile telephone has in recent years become a driver of economic growth in emerging countries, experts said at one of the industry’s biggest fairs.

MANILA – Philippine courts are not cooperating in the investigation of vigilante killings that have claimed nearly 1,000 lives in the country’s south, Human Rights Watch said.

Zero-waste advocates scored the dumping of 80,000 metric tons of garbage from storm-hit cities even as the Metro Manila Development Authority assures residents of enough suitable sites to prevent a crisis.

THE Supreme Court has ordered the labor arbiter to compute the compensation due some 1,400 cabin crew that Philippine Airlines retrenched in 1998 after the flag carrier was placed under corporate rehabilitation.

Allowing for migrationboth within and between countrieshas the potential to increase peoples freedom and improve the lives of millions around the world, according to the 2009 Human Development Report.

Not only will the Arroyo-declared state of calamity be in force for a full year, even after President Arroyo steps out of Malacañang on June 30, 2010, but also warrantless arrests of businessmen will be the practice of the administration if they are caught resorting to overpricing of goods which have a mandated price ceiling.

THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the two recent typhoons that hit the country could further dampen economic growth this year. Dennis Arroyo, NEDA-National Planning and Policy Staff director, told reporters that Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth may be cut by 0.2 percentage points to between 0.6 percent and 1.6 percent this…

The Supreme Court has affirmed with finality its ruling that found the Lucio Tan-owned Philippine Airlines (PAL) guilty of illegal dismissal. The court’s Special Third Division, in a 31-page resolution written by Associate Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, denied with finality the motion for reconsideration filed by the country’s flag carrier seeking a reversal of its assailed…

Vice President Noli de Castro has approved a three-month moratorium on housing-loan payments for Pag-IBIG Fund members to alleviate the borrowers’ burden from recent flooding. “We are heeding the clamor of Pag-IBIG members to alleviate their debt burden in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy by extending a three months’ moratorium on payment of their amortizations,”…

I had a rather long telephone conversation last Monday with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Peter Favila. He called me up after reading my column “Favila hits the ceiling” which appeared on that day. Favila explained to me where he was coming from when he took a swing at media while briefing President…

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s top housing agency is offering loans to members whose homes were severely damaged during the recent onslaught of tropical storm “Ondoy.”

MANILA, Philippines – Some of the victims displaced by tropical storm “Ondoy” have developed a fear of water, hampering efforts to get them back to their residences, an official of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Administration and opposition congressmen approved last Monday night a measure that provides financial relief to victims of tropical storm “Ondoy” through the suspension for 90 days of payments for government loans.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines ranked 105th out of 182 countries in the human development index (HDI) that shows the country’s development and growth rate compared with those of other nations.

MANILA, Philippines – Resistance to the government imposition of price ceilings on basic commodities has turned violent with Trade Secretary Peter Favila receiving threats and some of his personnel being harassed by angry traders and merchants.

MANILA, Philippines – American businessmen are now generally more satisfied with the business environment in the Philippines than last year, although major concerns such as corruption continue to weigh on their business plans, results of a survey on business expectations by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) showed.

Shocking video from the National Labor Committee on one of the hidden costs of globalization: the human toll of “shipbreaking” on workers in Bangladesh.

There is an asbestos referral center at the Lung Center of the Philippines’ Outpatient Department under the supervision of Dr. Dina V. Diaz, head of Pulmonary Medicine. The center handles patients suspected of suffering from asbestos related diseases.