MANILA, Philippines – One of the biggest call center firms in the country is in hot water. Seventy call center employees yesterday filed a legal suit against Dell International Services Philippines, a leading business process outsourcing company, for alleged illegal dismissal.

MANILA, Philippines – Technical experts from the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) are backing further and more comprehensive scientific research on the impact of aerial spraying on humans, given that a government-commissioned study has failed to establish conclusive evidence proving that this efficient mode of dispersing fungicide was directly responsible for certain discomforts…

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions has again assailed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for his alleged failure to comply with its recommendations that are aimed at putting an end to extra-judicial killings allegedly perpetrated by the dreaded Davao Death Squad.

DESPITE the current economic slowdown, listed companies raised the amount they paid out to stockholders at the end of the first quarter this year, based on data released by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The government on Wed­nesday said that the figures presented by the latest Social Wea­ther Stations (SWS) survey, which claimed 14 million Filipinos were without jobs, may not have met international standards considering the very small number of respondents it interviewed.

A high official of the National Economic and Development Authority certainly thinks a case can be made for saying so. Key indicators suggest that “the worst seems over … for the Philippine economy,” said NEDA Deputy Director General Rolando Tungpalan the other day.

NEDA: Global recovery will take time   The global crisis is not over, but the worst is over for the Philippine economy,” a senior economic official said on Wednesday.

The Health Department has apparently moved on after being ignored by Manny Pacquiao, who went home from his last fight despite a warning not to because of the swine flu scare. Now the department wants to ban the aerial spraying of banana plantations in Davao based on a three-year-old study of a small village that…

Local companies using chrysotile fiber in the Philippines and serving the construction industry, transportation industry, industrial process, mining and others for almost 50 years:

CEBU, Philippines – A construction helper suffered from third degree burns after he got electrocuted while working at a building in Banawa, barangay Guadalupe, this city past 10 a.m. yesterday.

CEBU, Philippines – Members of the Visayan Electric Company Employers Union held a candlelight protest yesterday in front of the VECO office in Banilad.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDI) reached a mere $16 million in February this year, falling by 82 percent from last year’s $90 million, bringing the two-month total 75.2-percent lower at $29 million compared with $117 million in 2008.

MANILA, Philippines – US-based Texas Instruments (TI) said its newly opened Clark facility will employ 3,000 workers and is expected to double the firm’s capacity in the region.

MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Prospero Nograles vowed “tough action” yesterday against oil smugglers who he said might have deprived the government of P93 billion in potential taxes, a figure which might even be an under-estimation considering the large scale of the smuggling operations.

MANILA, Philippines – Unemployment among adult Filipinos reached a new record high of 34.2 percent in the last three months, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Amid the global financial crisis, Filipino workers appear to be shying away from any work stoppage that could deprive them of their daily income.

MACTAN, Cebu, Philippines – President Arroyo has signed into law the National Tourism Policy Act of 2009, which aims to solidify the status of the tourism industry as an engine of growth and development.

The uninterrupted receipt of the monthly pension of old-age and survivorship pensioners of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) rests on their dutiful compliance with the annual renewal of active status (ARAS) requirement of the pension fund.

After having been exposed they have robbed the government of P93.3 billion in taxes from the period 2006-2008, Speaker Prospero Nograles yesterday bared Congress would make a much firmer stand against oil smugglers, saying any form of economic sabotage should be dealt with severe penalty.

cThe National Food Authority (NFA) yesterday said there is sufficient rice supply for the country’s requirements amidst the possible early entry of the monsoon season and with barely six weeks before the lean months start.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US home foreclosures reached a record pace in April for the second consecutive month, underscoring the deepening crisis in the housing market, private data showed Wednesday.

FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) inflows slumped in February amid a global financial crisis, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Philippine exports continued to decline for the sixth consecutive month, because of weak shipments of electronic products, the National Statistics Office reported Tuesday.

Govt sees end of global crisis for Philippines   The government admitted that unemployment figures were growing, with its data showing that jobless Filipinos numbered about 14 million in the first three months of 2009.

Men really do have an excuse for supposedly being wimpy about coughs and colds – their immune systems are not as strong as women’s, research suggests.

A “magna carta” for students is in the works in the Lower House. Party-list Representative Ulan Sarmiento, a colleague at San Beda, furnished me with a copy of one version. I will not comment on that proposal here, but on the proposal of a “magna carta” in general.

A reader asked in relation to our last feature on night cramps, “Which foods are rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium? I’m always on the go and usually have to eat out?”

During Earth Day last month, I noticed that aside from pesticide usage and a few other issues, most of us haven’t really worried much about the connections between our health and the environment. For our health, we work on our waistlines and fret over our cholesterol levels. For the environment, we recycle and maybe reduce…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines should allow more foreign products to enter the market to help badly hit nations recover from the global financial crisis, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said.

The World Bank said the Philippines’ two investment promotion agencies were “weak,” especially in inquiry handling and providing information to foreign companies looking to invest in the country.