MANILA, Philippines – Overseas Filipino workers have started an online protest against the plan to impose a 5-centavo tax on every text message. At the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile vowed yesterday to block the passage of the bill.

MANILA, Philippines – The implementation of a single-tax rate for the so-called sin taxes would help minimize smuggling of imported distilled spirits, the European Commission (EU) and the European Chamber of Commerce said during a recent hearing at the House of Representatives.

COTABATO CITY: Educators in the Muslim Autonomous Region have agreed that to contribute to the attainment of lasting peace as well as economic development in the restive region of Muslim Mindanao is to strengthen the Islamic schools known as “madaris,” according to education official of the region on Monday.

A LOT of people are saying Noynoy Aquino lacks the charisma to be president. They say he doesn’t talk well. They say he doesn’t carry himself well. Some even say he doesn’t look very “presidential,” whatever that means.

A YEAR AFTER LEHMAN COLLAPSE The banking system today-a year after Lehman-remains stable. It has grown further in asset size and deposit base. It remains generally profitable as banks continue to lend, while delinquencies have stayed within manageable levels.

THE number of Filipinos in the informal sector will rise as more workers are laid off because of the economic crisis, according to pundits.

BERLIN – The global economic crisis isn’t over yet, despite positive signals from Europe’s biggest economies, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in comments published Saturday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may lose its edge against its competitors in the business process outsourcing (BPO) due to the country’s poor showing in business surveys.

MANILA, Philippines – A private polling and political advocacy group yesterday expressed doubts on the accuracy of surveys showing Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III leading by a huge margin among the 2010 presidential aspirants.

Text to any of the the two MMDA hotlines — the name and plate number of the PUV they flagged down to 0917-5618709 for Globe users and 0920-9472116 for Smart subscribers. The MMDA would soon distribute stickers bearing the Trip Tracker hotlines to create awareness of the program among commuters and PUV drivers.

The financial markets are showing signs of normalising, with interbank money markets recovering to levels not seen since early 2008, the world’s biggest central bank body said Sunday.

The Kabataan Party-list group said yesterday it would file a bill that would junk the “no permit, no exam policy” of schools as well as other regulations imposed by colleges and universities that only contributed to the already dire situation of decreasing access to education.

Australian medical groups on Tuesday slammed state government guidelines recommending sleep-deprived doctors should drink up to six cups of coffee to remain alert during marathon shifts.

MANILA – This is the result of the first presidential survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations that includes Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. The survey was taken between Sept. 5 and 6 and was commissioned by a number of private individuals, including some members of the business community.

Flights were cancelled, diverted or delayed for hours yesterday afternoon when the power went out at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The outage knocked out radar and communication facilities at the NAIA control tower, making takeoff and landing extremely dangerous.

MORE HOUSEHOLDS ARE NOW saving the money sent to them by relatives working abroad, a survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed. The quarterly survey involved 486 OFW households.

Over 200 government agencies and corporations have pledged to intensify implementation of their Moral Renewal Action Plans to boost public service and produce lasting results before President Gloria Arroyo’s term expires on June 30 next year, an official said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Internet connectivity has already become the standard in many work settings, and technology has been proven to enhance productivity and growth.

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines—For the past two years, the novel “Justice on Wheels” program of the Supreme Court has helped resolve more than 2,300 criminal and civil cases filed in courts across the country, Chief Justice Reynato Puno said here on Friday.

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines—Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno expressed alarm over a sharp increase in the number of traffic accidents in the country, especially in Quezon province.

The teamwork between the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has done wonders for the tourism industry as latest statistics showed the number of foreigners who arrived in the country increased by four percent in August compared to the same month last year despite the global economic crisis.

Sen. Manny Villar yesterday welcomed the high-level fact-finding mission of the United Nations’ (UN) International Labor Organization (ILO) to investigate labor rights abuses, particularly violations of trade union rights in the country.

By December 2011, the Philippines shall be the base for development and transmission of training programs via videoconferencing of policymakers in the Asia-Pacific involved in their countries’ technical and vocational educational training programs. This was according to Dr. Shyamal Hajundar, director general of the Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) for Technician Education, who spoke with…

Three UN agencies—Unesco, WHO, and Unicef—have been working for two years on guidelines on sex education with the aim of improving children’s awareness of sexuality in order to reduce sexually transmitted diseases as well as illegal abortions.

THE biggest pension fund in the US said it has not pulled out its investments in the Philippines despite uncertainties in emerging markets after the fall of Lehman Brothers a year ago.

The Jesuit educator, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, describes government’s neglect of elementary education as “our immense and largely invisible failure.” The fact is that education is not the only basic chore we’ve forgotten to look after. We are a country of immense and largely invisible failures: Our nation is like the proverbial frog inside the kettle…

Violence spawned by the communist insurgent movement in the Philippines has claimed more than 3,000 lives over the last eight years, figures released by the military on Sunday showed.

CEBU, Philippines – The Supreme Court has ordered the officials of a Cebu-based furniture factory to reinstate their former human resource manager after ruling that he was illegally dismissed by the company a few years ago.

CEBU, Philippines – There are currently 73,432 pending drug cases nationwide, according to Dangerous Drugs Board Undersecretary Paul Clarence Oaminal.