MANILA, Philippines – Health experts have warned that dengue is becoming a global public health threat, owing to rapid urbanization, growing population, increasing international travel and climate change.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Human Rights announced yesterday the creation of a team to investigate the disappearance of 13 members of the National Democratic Front (NDF), the political arm of the communist rebels, as an apparent confidence-building measure to convince the rebels to resume peace talks with the government.

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo has made sure that there is “pork” for every lawmaker in her proposed P1.541-trillion 2010 national budget.

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the government raised its allocation for education next year, adding the sector would get nearly half the budget set aside for social services.

MANILA, Philippines – The government lost P125 billion in potential tax revenues from January to July this year as a result of an economic slowdown and the implementation of several tax relief measures, a ranking finance official said.

PORT UPGRADE: The modernization of the decrepit North Harbor in Manila, now a mere shadow of the crown jewel of the transport industry that it used to be, is long overdue.

MANILA, Philippines – A new movement pushing for a moral force aimed at combating widespread corruption in government was formally launched yesterday with its founder, Chief Justice Reynato Puno, calling on Filipinos to choose leaders who are “true, good and right” in next year’s polls.

Thirty officers and organizers from different unions conducted a leafleting at Sun Life Financial’s headquarters in Makati City , Philippines last August 20, in unity with the protest of Filipino workers at the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki .

MANILA, Philippines – An acting sheriff of the National Labor Relations Commission was arrested by police late Monday for alleged extortion, a police official said on Tuesday.

More than a year after the last wage, a labor party-list solon has called for a quick review of existing wage rates.

The US manufacturing sector grew in August after 18 consecutive monthly declines, a survey from the Institute of Supply Management showed Tuesday.

Sen. Manuel Villar led the choice among 1,200 respondents in a survey on the preference for president for next year’s elections conducted by The Center with 20 percent followed by former President Joseph Estrada and Sen. Francis Escudero in a tie for second and third places both with 16 percent, which comes to an almost…

Mining has always been repugnant to the residents of communities surrounding the mining sites. And this is true in the case of large-scale nickel- mining operation on Mindoro island which is being strongly resisted by the local folk. They fear the venture would cause environmental havoc. Indigenous peoples, farmers, fishermen, political, religious and civil society…

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.