Secretary Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco, director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), and Sonia Lipio, president of the Tesda Association of Concerned Employees (Tesda-ACE) sign the collective negotiation agreement (CNA) between the management and employees association. Witnessing the agreement signing are Tesda deputy director general Rogelio Peyuan and David Bungallon, chairman of…

MANILA, Philippines – Officials of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a global partnership comprising 178 countries, international institutions, private sector groups and non-government organizations committed to address global environmental issues, lauded the Philippines for its high absorptive capacity in carrying out projects funded by the institution.

WASHINGTON (AP) – US employers sharply scaled back layoffs in July, and the unemployment rate dipped for the first time in 15 months, sending a strong signal that the worst recession since World War II is finally ending.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has deferred the implementation of the Rule on Mandatory Legal Aid Service from July 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – Only seven percent of Filipinos believe that the judiciary is tainted by corruption, the 2009 Global Corruption Barometer reported.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) is proposing the creation of a trust fund to subsidize the cost of palliative health care and end-of-life care services for indigent patients afflicted with life-threatening ailments.

President Arroyo has ordered Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz to make sure that all public schools (primary to tertiary) are connected to the Internet so that students will have a deeper grasp of the world around them and upgrade their knowledge and appreciation of global developments.

Investors to the country are expected to flood in now with the recent release of the guidelines for the awarding of the renewable energy (RE) contracts.

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill making the provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (ENRO) a mandatory regular plantilla position.

More than 100 party-list groups have so far sought accreditation from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to enable them to participate in the 2010 national elections, but the Comelec expects the number to rise to surpass the 153 party-list groups that ran in the 2007 midterm elections.

CEBU, Philippines – The management of the Visayan Electric Cooperative and officers of the VECO Employees Union signed a Memorandum of Agreement last night, which averted a planned strike by the union.

CEBU, Philippines – Forty-four workers of electronics factory Celestica at the Mactan Export Processing Zone I have filed illegal dismissal charges against the company before the National Labor Relations Commission.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections has set up registration centers in schools, barangay halls and other public facilities to urge voters to register for next year’s elections.

PLARIDEL, Bulacan, Philippines — President Arroyo signed into law yesterday a measure extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for another five years beginning July 2009 and allocating P1.5 billion for its implementation.

WASHINGTON – The Philippines will submit a report card to the Millennium Challenge Corp. later this month on steps it has taken to curb corruption to enable it to avail of up to $500 million in US aid.

Transparency and strong public-private partnership led the City of San Fernando to be the first city in the Philippines to achieve a Performance Governance System (PGS)-institutionalized status.

THE Department of Agriculture said local fresh bananas may be able to enter the US mainland if the Philippines puts mitigating measures against quarantine pests the USDA has identified.

STATE-RUN Social Security System (SSS) said it cut the interest rates of its social and business loans to encourage more businesses, schools and hospitals to avail of its credit facilities as well as spur economic activity.

Carper Law grants P150B in support for farmers President Gloria Arroyo signed into law on Friday a bill extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) for another five years beginning July 2009.

THE Public Attorney’s Office in Quezon City is groaning under the weight of a heavy case load, with 43 lawyers each handling an average of 300 cases.

PLARIDEL, Bulacan, Philippines–President Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday signed into law a bill extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program for another five years beginning July 2009.

MANILA, Philippines—The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has condemned the latest murder of a journalist in the Philippines and called for the perpetrators of the crime to be brought to justice.

MC2009-109 click here

The global climate treaty slated for completion by year’s end will be crippled without “strong commitments” from rich nations on slashing CO2 emissions by 2020, the UN’s top climate official said Thursday.

A big-time syndicate could be behind the rampant sale of “abortion pills,” known as cytotec, in the Quiapo area, according to a high ranking priest who urged authorities yesterday to bust the group.

Commission on Higher Education Chairman Emmanuel “Manny” Angeles said yesterday that courses like engineering, architecture, accountancy, pharmacy and physical therapy will undergo major curriculum reforms to be at par with current world standards.

Secretary Emmanuel Angeles, chair-man of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), enunciated his plans for the higher education sector in several fora. One of these fora was the 2009 Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) General Assembly held in Cebu on June 24. I have devoted my last two columns to the first…

CEBU, Philippines – On the celebration of the province’s 440th founding anniversary yesterday, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was in a giving mood.

MANILA, Philippines – A coalition yesterday expressed its “strongest opposition” to the looming approval of a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that would facilitate the construction of a 200-megawatt, coal-fired power plant in Cebu.

MANILA, Philippines – Local corn farmers are blaming the government for “bad policy governance” that has caused domestic and international prices of Philippine-grown corn to drop.