The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the Philippines was still suffering from lack of infrastructure that held back growth, even as the lender reported that the global crisis could keep millions of Asians poor. In the study “Infrastructure for a Seamless Asia,” the ADB reported that during the 1997 crisis infrastructure programs were among the…

Dear PAO, I had remaining five days of vacation leave. I applied for a two-day vacation leave. However, I extended my leave for another two days, and informed our Human Resource Officer about through text but I did not receive any reply. My employer deducted from my salary my extended leave of two days. Does…

State-run pension funds and a government financial institution announced on Monday that they were planning to extend calamity loans to their members who were affected by tropical storm Ondoy.

CEBU, Philippines – Senator Pia Cayetano yesterday said that 10 or 11 Filipino mothers die daily in the country because of childbirth complications primarily due to lack of information and services by the government.

Did you know that September is National Cholesterol Education Month? And instead of harping on those big fat claims that “high levels of cholesterol significantly increase the risk of heart disease,” the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit nutrition education organization, enjoins everyone to celebrate the month by learning about the vital roles of cholesterol…

Long-term medical conditions compound the sexual issues that men and women face during the natural aging process. Heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are just some of the illnesses that can have a serious lasting impact on your sexuality. What’s more, the emotional aspects of an illness often weigh as heavily as the physical ones. One…

MANILA, Philippines – Quasi-banks and their trust departments may now engage in derivatives activities without the need for prior approval by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), according to the latest amendments approved by the policy-making Monetary Board (MB).

MANILA, Philippines – The chairman of the House committee on information and communications technology  has urged the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) providers, mostly contact centers, to avail themselves of gainful tax benefits by donating computers under the Adopt-a-School Program.

MANILA, PHilippines – Worldwide shipments of personal computers fell 2.4 percent in the second quarter of 2009, while shipment value was down 19.1 percent over the same period, according to the International Data Corp. (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture has given in to the demand of corn farmers to adhere to a P13 per kilogram buying price for corn following a three- hour heated discussion with members of the Philippine Maize Federation (PhilMaize) last Friday at the DA head office in Quezon City.

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Francis Escudero called yesterday for a three-month freeze on loan payments to the Government Service Insurance System, Pag-Ibig Fund and the Social Security System in Metro Manila and other areas ravaged by tropical storm “Ondoy.”

(Second of three parts) Statute of limitations on TP assessments; penalties The draft RR does not provide for the statute of limitations for assessments involving TP adjustments. However, since a RR should be consistent with the provisions of the NIRC, any assessments involving TP adjustments should follow the general statute of limitations provided under the…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) set yesterday price ceilings on basic commodities to prevent unscrupulous traders from raising prices in the wake of the devastation caused by tropical storm “Ondoy.” “The prices of goods today must be the same as last week’s. This is effective in all the areas under…

HANOI (AFP): The global economic crisis will keep more than 60 million Asians in poverty this year, the head of the Asian Development Bank said on Monday, urging a greater focus on social welfare including healthcare. “This crisis should be seen as an opportunity to take proactive measures that lay the groundwork for inclusive and…

STANDARD and Poor’s (S&P) said Philippine economic growth will hit the high-end of the government’s target range for this year and next year. Despite this, the credit rating agency said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would hold onto current interest rate settings amid expectations of weak exports until 2010.

Dear PAO, I am working in a representative office of a Singapore-based company here in the Philippines. It has only two employees and is being funded by the head office in Singapore. The head office decided to close our office due to the high cost in maintaining it. Are the employees entitled to a separation…

A THREE-MEMBER mission from the International Labor Organization (ILO) will meet with lawmakers to discuss legislation related to the Philippines’ application of international standards on the right to organize, the Department of Labor and Employment said on Sunday. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the ILO mission with meet with the committees on labor and human…

A PARTY-LIST representative has filed a bill seeking the implementation of a community-based sex education program that will advocate both abstinence and contraception. Rep. Narciso Santiago of the Alliance for Rural Concerns (ARC) said there is a need for a comprehensive sex education program to provide full, complete, and accurate medical information on sexuality, contraception,…

The latest corruption tag on the Philippines by Germany-based watchdog Transparency International (TI) is seen as another blackeye on the country, a senior Filipino diplomat yesterday said.

Manila, Philippines — The chrysotile industry will be consulted next on the proposed national program for the elimination of asbestos related diseases (NPEAD). This was agreed on in a consultation spearheaded by the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) held on 28 September 2009.

Quebec is the last place in Canada to mine asbestos, a known carcinogenic substance. The miners who used to work extracting the needle-like fibre might be coughing up blood and dying by the dozens, but Ottawa and Quebec City continue to promote the sale of asbestos.

A party-list representative in the House of Representative who was once a hardcore member of the communist rebel group is contemplating on filing a bill in Congress seeking the labeling of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as a terrorist organization.

MANILA, Philippines – Countries in the Southeast Asian region, including the Philippines, are expected to post steady recovery in the latter part of 2009 and in 2010 if governments continue to put in place fiscal and monetary support, Standard & Poor’s said in its latest report on the region.

The International Monetary Fund foresees a stronger than anticipated recovery from the economic crisis, with global growth approaching three percent in 2010, world leaders said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines ranked 12th in the Asia-Pacific and 51st out of 66 countries worldwide in terms of information technology (IT) competitiveness, according to a new study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

MANILA, Philippines – German shipping firms are still hiring new Filipino workers in spite of the effects of the global financial crisis, a ranking official said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A reminder that the path to an economic recovery will be a slow and bumpy one emerged Friday from weaker-than-expected data on US durable goods orders and new home sales.

MANILA, Philippines – The plan of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) to double the mandatory monthly contributions of its 7.4 million members from P100 to P200 would cost workers an extra P8.9 billion, Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago said yesterday.

Author David Michaels shows that the same techniques used to successfully delay legislation and regulatory action on cigarettes have since been used on any number of other public-health problems, including today’s major global warming concerns. A growing trend disingenuously demands proof over precaution, always disputing conclusions that might support regulation because industry has learned that…

The International Labor Organization (ILO) is sending a three-man mission to the Philippines to look into labor laws and policies that relate to the country’s application of international standards on the right of workers to organize.