PORT RUMORS: At the North Harbor, while the business community has hailed the entry of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Harbour Centre in the modernizing and managing of the port, efforts continue to sabotage the awarding of the contract.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday called on the country’s private hospitals to reconsider their decision to raise fees as a response to the mandatory compliance with the Cheaper Medicine Law, saying this would be counter-productive.

We go out to the mall. We are entranced by countless displays of the latest models of laptops, mobiles and iPods. With a little push and persuasion from the salesperson, we buy these gadgets with reckless abandon. This consumerist hedonism has prevented us from stopping to think about the social consequences of the entire process…

THE Federal Government has been urged to set up a national taskforce to better manage the threat of asbestos in schools and other public places.The body could help pinpoint urgent priority areas for asbestos removal and develop a national strategy to deal with the “slow burn” danger of asbestos, the Australian Workers’ Union says.

A recent asbestos-related case in the United Kingdom has highlighted the risks associated with workers employed in the automotive industry. The latest case follows a similar suit involving Kelvin Parker, a former installer of insulation and suspended ceilings at the Longbridge site.

MANILA, Philippines – The military is turning over counterinsurgency operations in five provinces to the police and local governments, saying the defeat of the New People’s Army (NPA) by next year is imminent.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, says millions of people around the world are denied their human rights because of, what she calls, the “scourge of discrimination”. Pillay told the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, that women and ethnic minorities are among those who are most victimized by human rights abuses.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – – The recession in the United States “is very likely over” but its economy remains weak due to tough credit conditions and high unemployment, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has said.

On the edge of the Yellow Sea, bulldozers at Dalian’s sprawling new port plough the ground, paving the way for a second iron ore transport line. It will carry shipments of imported ore from China’s northeastern coast to steel mills in the interior. The air is dusty from mountains of black ore waiting to be…

The construction industry provides the widest asbestos threat. Asbestos products are used in houses, buildings and structures as roofing felts or related products, cement roofing and flat sheets and plywood substitutes. Asbestos poses danger as long as these materials are in place.

MANILA, Philippines — Australia is offering Filipino college students scholarships to study mining-related courses like mining engineering, geology, metallurgy, mine safety, environmental management, and community development, the Australian embassy here said.

A lawmaker has proposed to build a storage facility for “spent nuclear fuel” in the disputed Spratly islands. Rep. Mark Cojuangco of Pangasinan told reporters that Spratly islands is an ideal site for the proposed facility since it is not inhabited. The island group in the South China Sea is being disputed by the Philippines,…

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will consult other government agencies on developing a national program for the elimination of asbestos related diseases (NPEAD) starting 28 September 2009. The decision was announced in a DOLE and TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines) meeting on 16 September 2009.

THE number of unemployed Filipinos rose 6.3 percent to 2.9 million in July from 2.7 million a year ago despite an increase in the number of jobs, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.

FIVE ASEAN EXCHANGES—BURSA Malaysia, the Indonesia Stock Exchange, the Philippine Stock Exchange, Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand—have entered into an Accession Agreement with the Hochiminh Stock Exchange.

MANILA, Philippines – The World Bank has warned the Philippines and other developing countries that they stand to lose four to five percent of their annual gross domestic product if they fail to address the worsening problem of climate change.

CREDIT CARD USE IS EXPECTED TO PICK UP next year as the easing global economic crisis prompts more Filipino consumers to spend. Jose Rene Villareal, country manager of Mastercard, said credit card-funded consumption in the Philippines had managed to sustain growth, albeit at a slower pace, despite the hard times. He expects conditions next year…

ASIDE FROM AUTOMATED ELECTIONS MANILA, Philippines—Allaying fears of failure of elections in 2010, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it will prepare for manual balloting, especially for areas with problems in electricity and telecommunications network coverage.

DRUG PRICE REGULATION MANILA, Philippines—The president of a group of private hospitals Tuesday said its members had increased fees to recoup losses from 21 commonly used medicines whose prices were cut in half under the government’s drug price regulation scheme.

PARIS: Heart attack survivors who eat chocolate two or more times per week cut their risk of dying from heart disease about threefold compared with those who never touch the stuff, scientists have reported. Smaller quantities confer less protection, but are still better than none, according to the study, which appears in the September issue…

A House panel today is set to initiate investigations on allegations that agrarian reform funds are being diverted for nonagrarian reform projects in Vinzons, Camarines Norte.

The funds sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) grew faster in July as the global economy has started to stabilize, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced Tuesday.

TO SUPPORT RP ECONOMY, FINANCES The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it will extend a multimillion-dollar loan for the Philippines to improve its fiscal discipline and investment climate. In a statement, the Manila-based lender said its board of directors approved a $250-million loan to finance the Development Policy Support Program (DPSP) Subprogram 3.

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.