MANILA, Philippines – Ayala-controlled Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), one of the country’s biggest lenders, has voluntarily turned over 475 hectares of foreclosed properties worth about P242 million to the government.

Yes, there is a law that stipulates in plain and simple words that there are speed limits to be observed when driving a vehicle. But heck, who exactly wants to follow these. Driving, or crawling, on EDSA and C-5 can make these speed limits irrelevant.

DESPITE mounting calls for regulation of the retail petroleum sector, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes stood behind the law giving oil companies a free hand in setting fuel prices.In a statement, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Republic Act 8479, or the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act of 1998 is working for the country and that the…

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Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. yesterday called attention to the reported recruitment of maids from the provinces by local employment agencies for the purpose of making a lot of money off their “innocence.”

MANILA, Philippines – An official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) yesterday said that based on the latest geophysics research, it appeared that the Philippine land mass is moving toward mainland Asia at an average of seven centimeters every year.

Henry Sy is once again the country’s richest person. MANILA, Philippines – Many of the country’s tycoons have gotten richer. In the Forbes magazine edition released Aug. 26, retail magnate Henry Sy, once again the country’s richest person, was the biggest gainer.

The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) has cited the social benefits that the Filipino women can get out of the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) besides economic and political empowerment.

MANILA, Philippines – The Lopez-controlled Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has committed to maintain its impressive safety records at its geothermal project sites.

Election fever is here again, and an old question once more comes to the fore: the involvement of the Church in politics. Granting that the hierarchy itself should not be involved in partisan politics, the following questions have been asked: 1) Can Associations of Christian Faithful—either public or private—engage in partisan politics? 2) If Public…

Why is there a surge of “religious politicians”? Do the appearance and political prominence of Gov. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga, a Catholic priest suspended from exercising his priestly faculties (powers and functions)—and Protestant Brother Eddie Villanueva, leader of the Jesus Is Lord Movement, and Brother Mike Velarde of the El Shaddai Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement—improve…

GOOD NEWS: THE ECONOMY APPEARED to show overall improvement in the second quarter, bucking recessionary trends worldwide. The second-quarter growth figures released last week indicate that we have managed to avert a recession, meaning, we were able to avoid having two quarters of successive contraction of the economy. The data show a rebound in the…

THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM’S “Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009” puts the Philippines in a very uncomfortable 74th place (out of 137 economies surveyed), behind such countries as Botswana (59th), Indonesia (58th), and Brunei Darussalam (42nd). The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009 puts the Philippines at 43rd place among 57 countries. The country’s ranking by other international…

Young Pinoys want to save more than their elders Penny-pinching Filipino yuppies are poised to outdo their older counterparts—even their parents—in saving more for the proverbial rainy day.

Zuellig leads way with planned P7-B Makati HQ MANILA, Philippines – Borrowing a phrase from the fashion world, green is the new black. This goes for energy, transportation, and yes, even buildings.

MANILA, Philippines — The 15,000 up to 20,000 job openings in Guam being eyed by the Philippine government for overseas Filipinos workers are imperiled by a United States legislator who wants most of the jobs given to US citizens, according to a consultant for overseas job recruitment.

MANILA, Philippines—The number of Filipino maids who run away from their Muslim employers swell during the Ramadan, when they are also required to fast, an alliance of overseas Filipino workers’ organizations in the Middle East said Sunday.

MANILA, Philippines — The number of distressed overseas Filipino workers sent home by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in the first seven months of 2009 reached over 5,000, a 23-percent jump from the recorded number of repatriated Filipinos during the same period in 2008.

MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Human Rights (CHR) head Leila de Lima will personally lead an investigative mission this weekend in Surigao del Sur, where 1,700 people, mostly Manobos, have reportedly been displaced by the raging armed conflict between government forces and communist rebels.

MANILA, Philippines – Business-led trade policy think tank Universal Access to Competitiveness and Trade, in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC-Geneva) will release a program that will help people understand trade policies.

TWO Fridays ago, four delegates attending the Tenth Global Consultation on Child Welfare Services requested me to accompany them to places where children under the most difficult circumstances are situated. I brought them to multi-awarded Molave Detention Home in Quezon City that provides the best services for children in conflict with the law relative to…

INTERNATIONAL human rights groups on Friday called on the Philippine government to join other nations in ratifying the treaty that would end enforced disappearances in the country and in the world.

According to the 2009 Forbes Asia Philippines Rich List that ranked 40 of the wealthiest in the Philippines, mall mogul Henry Sy remained to be the country’s wealthiest with a net worth of $3.8 billion. Sy is the chairman and founder of the SM Group of Companies.

MANILA, Philippines – The government yesterday advised overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with abusive employers to seek help, not run away from their employers.

SCIENCE and technology have gifted us with numerous conveniences of daily living, inventions and innovations meant to improve our quality of life, if not actually extend it.

These are some important facts about exposure to asbestos fibers that you should know.

Industry stakeholders are losing ground in the asbestos debate in the Philippines as a result of actions taken by various sectors of civil society. On April 20, 2009, civic officials from Benguet, 348 km north of Manila, launched a lawsuit against the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation for its secret dumping of six truckloads of asbestos-containing…

WASHINGTON – Researchers and students at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a website which allows users to calculate their risk of dying.

Predicting the future is tough enough given the reality that we mere mortals aren’t directly connected to God, deregulation of telecoms not withstanding. But the less uncertainty there is, the easier it is to run a business successfully. The President, by not making a clear categorical statement that she would not try to extend her…