SEOUL—The South Korean government is amnestying undocumented Filipino workers here after President Arroyo appealed to President Lee Myung-Bak on their behalf at the weekend.

BY ALL INDICATIONS, the Philippine economy is already in recession. With last week’s announcement of an insignificant 0.4-percent first quarter growth in the economy, government statisticians forthrightly described the economy as “teetering into recession.”

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang condemned yesterday what it said was the increasing atrocities of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) against civilians and communities.

A local migrant worker group yesterday assailed the planned signing of a labor agreement between the Philippines and Korea, saying the pact would put Filipino workers at a disadvantageous situation.

VARIOUS commodity manufacturers, including cement-makers, flour millers and bakers’ groups, trooped to the Tariff Commission last Friday, seeking relief amid the economic slowdown.

PROPERTY firms are shifting focus, with mall developers reinventing themselves and housing construction scraping at the bottom, to keep afloat as the Philippine economy teeters into a recession.

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Interior and Local Government has given local governments until June 30 to craft or “repair” their own Citizen’s Charter, the guide for residents on availing frontline services of government at the shortest possible time.

The Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), chaired by Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao, recently honored 15 companies in the Philippines as 2008’s top-performing organizations based on the 4th Corporate Governance (CG) Scorecard Project. The annual event aims to promote fairness, accountability, and transparency in all publicly listed business operations in the country.

In addition to risky assets such as equities, commodities, oil and gold, high-yielding currencies have performed strongly amid fresh signs that the worst of the global slump is behind us.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – If the friends of David Magan from Moriones, Tondo, can see him now, they are bound to be impressed. Dressed in his white coat tuxedo, David barks a few orders, some in Tagalog, to the waiters in the casual dining restaurant at the top deck of the cruise chip Celebrity Century.…

MANILA, Philippines – The total net earnings of companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) fell 29.4 percent last year to P198.91 billion, from P281.54 billion, in 2007, due to the ill effects of the global financial turmoil.

A worker was sent by his employer to a special school in Makati for a three-day certificate course to enhance his skills.

MANILA, Philippines – The government is re-opening its door for the hiring of new workers despite the planned rationalization program, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – An alliance of organizations against torture appealed yesterday to the government to declare a policy of “total elimination” of acts of torture in the country in the wake of the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT), which pressed for the enactment of the Anti-Torture Bill.

The government is offering strings of incentives to investors in the garments and textile sector who would put up their own business process outsourcing (BPO) operations.

Career officers and personnel from the Civil Avation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) have asked the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to look into the rampant hiring of consultants in the agency at the expense of more senior insiders.

Microsoft Philippines stepped up its campaign against child pornography in the country by holding an IE8 8-Mile Run on Sunday at the Global City The Fort in Taguig.

LEGAZPI CITY: The provincial government of Albay has infused P16 million to finance the education of poor but deserving college students this school year. The free education to poor but deserving students provided by the province is part of the priority programs which was presented by Gov. Joey Salceda before the national competitiveness council road…

South Korea, in a memorandum of understanding that iT signed with the Philippines on Sunday, guaranteed the hiring of 8,000 Filipinos to work in South Korea every year for the next three years.

MANILA, Philippines—Just in time for the opening of classes next week, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has announced that the distribution of grants to beneficiaries in provinces included in the so-called expansion areas of the government’s conditional cash transfer program will start in June.

MANILA, Philippines—The global economic downturn, which recently pulled the Philippines down to its slowest growth in a decade, will result in the country’s failure to meet its poverty-reduction goal by 2010 and is expected to increase the number of poor Filipinos.

The European Union joined other international organizations that have recognized the legal personality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is trying to build a regional economic community.

MANILA, Philippines – Some members of the Davao police are actually “involved” in the death squad behind the vigilante killings in the city, Commission on Human Rights chairperson Leila de Lima said yesterday, citing “confirmed information.”

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) batted yesterday for a monthly starting salary of P24,000 or Salary Grade 15 for new nurses as stipulated in the Nursing Act of 2002.

MANILA, Philippines – Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral will sign tomorrow the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of a law that hastens the adoption process of abandoned or neglected children, including infants.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Joel Maureal was a computer technician profiting from the high-caliber training he received from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda). The man is productive despite the fact that he lost an arm in a jeepney accident 20-years ago.

THE Department of Labor and Employment will be holding a three-day job and livelihood fair in 19 cities nationwide starting on Independence Day, expecting some 1,000 employers to participate in the event, including some from the overseas recruitment industry.

THE Philippines could gain $13 million in official development assistance from Korea to put up modern rice-processing systems in Pangasinan, Iloilo, Bohol and Davao del Sur, officials said yesterday.

Beth was a docile and submissive child. She lived in fear of her dominating father and he was addicted to buying the dirt cheap child pornography CDs that are widely available in the Philippines. It was perhaps inevitable that he would rape her and he did several times over two years ago in the province…

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