BUSINESS groups have called on the two chambers of Congress to immediately enact key economic legislation, before most lawmakers shift their focus to their individual bids for the upcoming 2010 elections.

For the World Bank to say that doing business in the Philippines is about the same level of difficulty as doing business in Cambodia is an indictment. Of course it depends how you measure it and the World Bank has, as is to be expected, taken an intelligent view on its assessment method. I would…

THE number of unemployed Filipinos rose in July as both the government and the private sector generated fewer jobs amid an increase in those seeking work, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said Tuesday.

A study conducted by an environmental organization in Sweden revealed that some branded flip-flops, sandals, clogs and other plastic shoes manufactured or sold in seven countries, including the Philippines, have high concentrations of phthalates and heavy metals that are highly toxic.

Prices of galunggong and rice rose faster than the income of poor Filipinos, hurting the quality of their life, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported Tuesday. Romulo Virola, secretary-general of the board, said that from 2003 to 2006, prices of rice and galunggong went up faster than per capita income, and that poverty worsened.

CEBU, Philippines – A year after the tragic sinking of the M/V Princess of the Stars, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines is urging the Maritine Industry Authority to lift the suspension order on the vessels of Sulpicio Lines, Inc.

MANILA, Philippines – Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) surged to $1.5 billion in July, posting the highest year-on-year growth for 2009 at 9.3 percent, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Local and foreign businessmen are pushing for the passage of 10 bills to boost economy.

MANILA, Philippines – To continuously attract foreign direct investments (FDIs), the Philippines needs to accelerate the expansion of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in the immediate future, a foreign economist said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday that the number of jobless Filipinos increased to 2.9 million in July, apparently due to the lingering effects of the global financial crisis.

The unemployment rate jumped more sharply than expected in July to 7.6 percent, with 2.9 million Filipinos out of work, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said yesterday.

The Department of Education (DepED) has reduced the learning hours for elementary students, citing the “alarming size” of student population as part of its revised classroom program.

A local migrant worker group yesterday urged President Arroyo to bring to the attention of the British government the intensified crackdown of illegal migrants by its immigration authorities in the United Kingdom during her two-day visit to the country this week.

Will Liberal Party standard bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino bow to the Catholic bishops’ pressure on him to toe the Church line against the Reproductive Health bill which the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philppines (CBCP) claims to be anti-life and anti-family and withdraw his sponsorship of the bill in exchange for the Catholic bishops’…

Henry Sy’s SM Group of Companies was asked to be investigated by a lawmarker due to alleged discrimination and anti-labor policies that prevents regularization of their employees. Ilocos NOrte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., said its been the practice of the SM Group for a long time to have an anti-labor contractualization program. Marcos urged…

A bus group is open to reducing the rolling stocks on Edsa from about 3,800 to 1,000 units, but enforcing it must be equitable.

By a vote of 11 to 3, the Supreme Court on Sept. 10 threw out the petition of a group called Concerned Citizens Movement to nullify the contract entered into by the Commission on Elections and the Smartmatic International and Total Information Management.

SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday doubted the constitutionality of a proposed legislation that would lay down the rules on presidential succession in case the 2010 elections, the first fully-automated polls in Philippine history, should fail.

THE Philippines, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest corn producer, will double planned state purchases of the grain to 600,000 metric tons this year to help support local prices and protect farmers’ incomes, an official said yesterday.

A year after Lehman Brothers collapsed, a think tank has warned the lessons of the crisis have not been learned. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says the rapid return to the City’s bonus culture shows that real reform has been “very limited”.

The fact that children raised in homes without a dad have sex earlier is down to their genes, say US researchers. The study tested for genetic influences as well as factors such as poverty, educational opportunities and religion.

Recently, Malacanang approved Republic Act 9502, known as the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 which not more than four years ago, enabled a mandated cap on retail prices to allow lower-income family access to these life-saving medications.

There is a bill that is progressing in Congress that many of the hospital membership may not even be aware of. This is the House Bill 6532, for House Bills 1025, 2031, 2404, 2453, 2491, 2519, 3609, 4317 and 2961 also known as “An Act Strengthening the Security of Tenure of Workers in the Private…

MANILA, Philippines – With still unresolved power problem in Visayas, Mindanao is now suffering from rotating brownouts. Government officials yesterday confirmed reports of scheduled power outages in major portions of Mindanao after several power plants in the area are currently on a “shutdown mode.”

MANILA – Filipinos are dissatisfied with how the government has responded to the global economic crisis, with a BBC World Service-commissioned survey placing their disappointment level as the third highest among 20 countries.

MANILA – Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on Monday said he is thinking of withdrawing support from Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III after learning that the lawmaker supports the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.

CHICAGO – SHOWER heads can deliver a face full of dangerous pathogens, according to a study published on Monday which found them to be ideal breeding grounds for bacteria.

Over the weekend, a group of 43 Filipino journalists led by editors and senior correspondents of mainstream media held a two-day conference entitled “The Frontiers of Transparency” on the occasion of the 6th Summit of the Philippine News Media at the Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo City.

NIGHTMARE: Those having nightmares about possible automated cheating and failure of election in May 2010 may want to pore over our technical information on the matter. No need to define “cheating” as all Filipinos of voting age know what this fact of life — the usurping of the popular will — means.