September 1, 2009 marks the 52nd Founding Anniversary of the Social Security System (SSS). With the Anniversary theme, “SSS@52: SOURCE OF SOCIAL SECURITY, STRENGTH AND STABILITY”, this year’s celebration will be headlined by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. as Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the Anniversary Program and Balikat…

The Saudi Arabian government yesterday urged Philippine medical clinics undertaking medical exams for overseas Filipino workers bound for the Middle East to undertake stricter measures in examining OFWs suspected of having the HIV/AIDS disease.

Here’s the skinny on a rather touchy subject: The ugly truth is that there are harmful chemicals hidden in beauty products, which a lot of us may not be aware of. While the incurable romantics swear that beauty is not skin-deep, our skin is our largest, thinnest organ. According to health activist Dr. Joseph Mercola,…

The 20s is a good time to start going on those regular medical checkups. MANILA, Philippines – Don’t be tempted to let your annual work-up or medical tests slip. Studies have shown that regular checkups and screenings can help you stay out of the doctor’s office for the rest of the year. Makati Medical Center…

Q. My doctor has told me everything that I’m NOT allowed to eat. But he didn’t tell me what food I can eat. Please tell me what I am allowed to eat. — Jon of Makati

More than 60 years ago, experts found that giving estrogen to women going through menopause could relieve some of the changes associated with this change of life — including hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. Later on, replenishing estrogen levels was thought to provide a range of other benefits for women once they no…

MANILA, Philippines – When she finally saw her father after five years since she left home to work for businessman Mariano Tanenglian as a maid, Mary Jane Sollano said her skin was so fair and her eyes were irritated by the sunlight.

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Manny Villar Jr. topped the two-stage sampling conducted by the Issues and Advocacy Center (The Center) from Aug. 18-23, 2009 among some 1,200 respondents nationwide from the different social classes and whose number were pro-rated based on the percentages relative to the number of voters in the last 2007 elections.

People in the provinces today are less poor than they were a couple of decades ago, thanks to the redistribution of incomes brought about mostly by the dispersal of economic activity, specifically of SMEs, but this is not to say that everyone is now well off in the rural areas. It would be safe to…

Instead of begging for more US development aid, the Philippine government should push for lower money transfer charges, which would essentially allow more remittances from migrant Filipino workers to flow into the Philippine economy.

GOVERNMENT officials who are eyeing elective posts have already spent at least P117 million in taxpayers’ money on their so-called infomercials, according to the Commission on Audit (COA), and that is not even the grand total because not all the disbursements and contracts for these infomercials have been submitted to the COA auditors.

BAGUIO CITY: President Gloria Arroyo this week ordered the Department of Energy and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to complete electrification of the remaining 743 rural barangay nationwide before the yearend.

SPACE occupied by retailers in Metro Maila shopping malls grew on the strength of non-traditional tenants, according to a property research firm.

The Philippines and Taiwan have extended the existing memorandum of understanding on the Special Hiring Program for Taiwan (SHPT), the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) said.

The government has provided jobs for more than 300,000 unemployed Filipinos from January to August of this year under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP), the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) reported Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – Call center agents working the graveyard shift are no strangers to crime.

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu ranked no. 4 among Asian island destinations, according to Travel + Leisure magazine, which recently rleased the results of its World’s Best Awards 2009, a listing of the best hotels, airlines, cruises in islands and cities all over the world.

MANILA, Philippines — Are overseas migrant workers eligible to apply for permanent settlement after five years of continued stay in the United Kingdom even if there are gaps in their employment and stay in the UK due to changing UK migration policies?

Women in same-sex relationships can now register both their names on the birth certificate of a child conceived as a result of fertility treatment.

Sykes Job Fair September Schedules

It’s been on many people’s lips: “The way Manny Villar is buying up everyone and everything with his money in clearing his path to the presidency. He’ll be worse than Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo” who has bought with corruption money everything from elections and watchdogs, to police and AFP generals, princes of the Catholic Church and other…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines ranks 72nd in the world in Internet connection speed, according to recent test results from speedtest.net.

MANILA, Philippines – At least 50,000 Filipino construction and other skilled workers are set to be hired in Guam to construct a large military base in that US territory, the government said yesterday.

It was apparent from the Asian Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) held at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the USAID sponsored Private Financing Investment Forum held in Manila during the same week last June 15-19, that energy efficiency is enjoying an increased attractiveness for investments, like its more popular cleantech cousin, renewable energy. More than…

MANILA, Philippines—Manila is among the world’s cheapest cities but is also one of those that pay the lowest hourly wages, according to a study comparing the purchasing power of 73 cities around the globe.

In the current world financial crisis, businesses are beleaguered to lessen their expenditure without sacrificing quality. In this sense, information technology (IT) organizations must meet demanding user expectations and superior levels of performance, while IT budgets stay essentially flat. This is why businesses need to realign their IT strategy to find a balance between maximizing…

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) released P15.20 billion in pension benefits in 2008, conveniently disbursing bulk of the amount through a pioneering service called eCard Plus.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) has warned that granting the wish of foreign shipping firms to be excluded in the cabotage law could result in the death of the local shipping industry, similar to what happened in Indonesia.

Filipino workers may soon have a hard time landing any of the thousands of job openings in Guam due to a US lawmaker’s recent proposal for 70 percent of the employment opportunities in the American territory to be allotted to US citizens and the rest to be filled by foreign workers.

WASHINGTON — Household income in the United States is essentially stagnant, raising doubts about whether consumers already hurt by job losses can sustain an economic recovery.