DBP, Landbank acquire 75% MRTC stake MANILA, Philippines—The government has completed the acquisition of a 75-percent stake in Metro Railway Transit 3 through state-owned lenders Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines in a deal worth about $800 million.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The rampant growth of urban slums in the Philippines and around the world as well as weather extremes linked to climate change have sharply increased the risks from “megadisasters” such as devastating floods and cyclones, a United Nations report said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Parents were warned yesterday against buying school items containing toxic chemicals.

Our legislators should be convinced by now to push aside and junk the pending RH Bill. Otherwise they will appear to have been deceived or pressured on a grand scale by foreign countries and international organizations; or blinded by the piercing glitter of gold.

MANILA, Philippines – The Arroyo administration is set to allocate P5.66 billion for a massive skills training and technical education program aimed at helping more than 800,000 workers find higher paying jobs and better employment opportunities this year, Malacañang said yesterday.

The number of confirmed swine flu cases has reached 8,451, a rise of nearly 1,000 in 24 hours, the World Health Organisation said on Saturday.

MANILA, Philippines – Software piracy remains a serious problem in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific as a whole, according to a recent study released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and research firm IDC.

Economies worldwide may only start to recover after two to five years, especially with the global economic crisis taking its toll on major industries, Japan’s former top currency official said Thursday.

More jobs just keep on coming to the Philippines this year as business process outsourcing (BPO) firms continue to expand their operations in the country amid the economic crunch.

Filipinos still flocked to the country’s most popular malls last year, but they didn’t shop, dine and watch movies as much as they did in 2007.

MORONG, Bataan: A big number of Morong residents on Saturday for the first time gathered at the town plaza, urging the government to activate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in Napot Point here. The plaza had also been the venue for anti-BNPP protest actions.

The Philippines has been stricken off the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) gray list of countries that committed to but have not yet fully complied with international tax standards, the Department of Finance said over the weekend.

Recruiters of overseas Filipino workers oppose the government’s plan to require domestic helpers to go through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for assessment before they can be sent abroad for placement as “supermaids.”

MELBOURNE–Tall people earn higher wages than their vertically challenged counterparts while being obese does not mean a slimmed-down pay packet, according to a new study in Australia.

MANILA, Philippines—Government on Sunday expressed outrage over what it called trumped-up charges Myanmar’s military junta has filed against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

MANILA, Philippines – The global crisis has adversely affected the investing climate in the Philippines as investment approvals for the first quarter of the year decreased by 52 percent, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is promoting its Special Visa Employment Generation (SVEG) by setting up a field office in the resort island of Boracay in Aklan.

Makati Mayor and United Opposition (UNO) president Jejomar Binay yesterday urged Congress and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prioritize the setting up of special voting precincts for senior citizens and the disabled.

Dear PAO, I wish to seek your advice or guidance in living or working in the Philippines. Is there any recruitment agency that hires people from abroad to work in the Philippines? Are there any consultants who process everything from work permits or sponsorships whichever are required for non-Filipinos to work full-time without any restrictions?

VICTIMS of pirates may sue their employers for damages, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said yesterday, as it demanded better protection for Filipino sailors in Africa.

RECORD-HIGH unemployment among Filipino adults is rising, from 11 million to 14 million in the first quarter of this year.

In the light of the results of the 2009 first quarter Social Weather Stations (SWS), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) clarified the official definition of unemployment as used in the Labor Force Survey (LFS) which is conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), which should be considered when conducting surveys.

The government has its count of how many jobless Filipinos there are. The IBON Foundation disputes these figures as an “underestimation.” In the foundation’s writings some malice is hinted at.

(Excerpted from the milestone paper by the Chief Labor and Employment Officer of the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), Department of Labor and Employment(DOLE), Manila, Philippines “Redefining the Labor Force Framework: Some Inputs from the Philippine Experience.” The paper was prepared for the seminar on “Employment and unemployment: Revisiting the relevance and conceptual…

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Asian Development Bank said Saturday the Philippines has failed to follow a commitment to reduce the number of state-run corporations that have been bleeding government coffers dry.

MANILA, Philippines—A construction worker died when he fell from a 25-foot-high scaffold, part of which collapsed while he and another worker were painting a covered court at a private school in Quezon City on Friday afternoon.

Reuters/AFP – U.S. economic data offered more evidence on Friday that the recession’s worst phase may be over, with April consumer prices unchanged and industrial output declining at a slower pace than in March.

AFP – A union representing the Philippines’ 350,000 merchant seamen on Saturday demanded better protection for the sailors in Africa and warned freed victims of pirates may sue their employers for damages.

BATANGAS CITY, Philippines – A brother of a militant labor leader was shot dead by two men while a 12-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet in the foot in Calaca town last Thursday night, police said.

The alleged suicide of Trina Etong, wife of broadcaster Ted Failon, brings into focus the tragic, but preventable, act of a person taking his own life.