A new report from the Guttmacher Institute and the University of the Philippines Population Institute reveals that low levels of contraceptive use in the Philippines result in high rates of unintended pregnancy and a broad range of negative consequences for women, their families and the national health care system.

CHEAPER POWER: After filing a bill lowering royalties on indigenous sources of energy to reduce the retail cost of electricity, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile now wants to grant tax exemption to distribution utilities to further cut power costs.

MANILA, Philippines – Some 2,600 mothers and 52,000 babies died in the country last year due to lack of sexual and reproductive health knowledge, a leading New York-based policy research group revealed in a study.

MANILA, Philippines – Public school teachers’ groups are opposing a move by the House of Representatives to cut a proposed P9,000 increase in their pay to P6,000, saying it will put them at a pay level below policemen and soldiers in the government’s salary scheme.

MANILA, Philippines – Green as far as the eye can see. This is what greets farmers every day at the Leonie Agri Corp. (LAC) farm, a 42-hectare verdant tract in the northern Nueva Ecija town of Sta. Rosa.

WASHINGTON – The recession is easing? Not so fast. An unexpected drop in sales of just about everything from cars to clothes sent a sobering message Tuesday: The economy is still vulnerable.

MANILA, Philippines – After stalling in January, inflows of remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) went up by 4.9 percent to $1.3 billion in February, bringing the two-month total to $2.6 billion, or 2.5 percent higher than a year ago level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Growing numbers of children of illegal immigrants are being born in this country, and they are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty than those with American-born parents, a report says.

The Joint Foreign Chambers has urged the government to also allow non-distressed companies, like business process outsourcing firms, to adopt flexible job arrangements to make them more competitive amid the global economic slump.

Remittances from migrant Filipino workers grew 4.9 percent in February to $1.32 billion year-on-year, as job layoffs slowed down and deployment increased, the Bangko Sentral said yesterday.

Foreign companies represented by four major foreign chambers indicated plans for reduced work hours to cope with a worsening global recession.

Delinquent borrowers of the old housing loan program of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) get a reprieve as the pension fund offers them a chance to save their homes from foreclosures or cancellation of their Deed of Conditional Sale under a new condonation program.

As the number of Filipino seamen being held hostage in Somalia has swelled to 120, the Philippine government remains clueless on how to provide protection to the thousands of Filipino seafarers sailing through the dangerous waters of Africa.

This is a reaction to The Times “Special Report: The Church and Human Life” article “Mala-cañang’s pro-Life stand mainly a matter of morals” published April 12, 2009, reported by Angelo S. Samonte.

Dear PAO,  My husband works overseas and he sent me an e-mail stating that he will no longer send money to support our minor children. I was told that I need to send him a demand letter. Where can I get a sample of a demand letter? Thanks.

Remittances from overseas Filipinos, both from migrants and workers, improved in February, marking a recovery from the virtually flat growth in January, the central bank reported Wednesday.

Intel reported a steep decline on Tuesday in first-quarter net profit but the head of the world’s biggest computer chip-maker said he believed personal computer sales had “bottomed out.”

THE Philippines’ huge population growth may shield the economy from contracting as domestic demand would boost growth, a high-ranking official of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

So what are old people to do? The inevitability of death is creeping up on them they cannot run from it for there is nowhere to run. Instead, they have no choice but to look at it in the eye and stare it down. This, even if they do all within the limits of their…

Numerous possibilities, few inevitabilities . . . that’s life. The sky’s the limit, but in that journey there are a few inescapable realities. Growing older is one of them. Aging not only happens, it happens fast . . .

April 15 (Bloomberg) — I have nothing against music. As long as it’s played in the privacy of a home, car or concert hall, or at low decibel levels in public places, music is food for the soul.

The 35-percent increase in state-managed healthcare benefits will cost the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. about P7 billion, said PhilHealth president and chief executive Dr. Rey Aquino.

CHIEF Justice Reynato Puno will preside over a forum on environmental justice in Baguio City today aimed at speeding up the resolution of at least 3,000 cases in 117 “green courts” nationwide and the validation of the rules of procedure for environmental cases.

Global PC shipments totaled 67.2 million units in the first quarter of 2009, a 6.5 percent decline versus first quarter 2008, according to preliminary data from Gartner.

MANILA, Philippines — Local and foreign firms operating in the country have resorted to cutting employee bonuses and benefits just to keep from laying people off.

The good news is that the Technical Education & Skills Development Authority is launching an on-the-spot-hiring fair for laid-off workers and new grads. TESDA will screen participants if qualified for training — and daily allowance of P60 for tyros and P150 for experienced.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang claimed yesterday that job losses have started to taper off now that businesses are starting to recover from the effects of the global financial slowdown.

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said yesterday 129 colleges and universities all over the country are pushing through with their plan to raise tuition fees for academic year 2009-2010.

MANILA, Philippines—A leading seafarers’ group called on the Philippine government Tuesday to lead an international response to piracy off the Somali coast.

MANILA, Philippines – Petron Corp. and Seaoil Philippines Inc. raised their gasoline prices yesterday by P1 and diesel by 75 centavos per liter.