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Given the structure of our social safety net, automation tends to increase poverty and inequality rather than unemployment By Ryan Avent, http://evonomics.com/automation-robust-social-safety-net-increases-productivity/ People are worried about robots taking jobs. Driverless cars are around the corner. Restaurants and shops increasingly carry the option to order by touchscreen. Google’s clever algorithms provide instant translations that are remarkably…

By: Julie M. Aurelio, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mar 25, 2017 A doctor at the Manila Medical Center (MMC) appealed to the government and employers to invest in ways to make work environments healthier for women.

By: Carla P. Gomez, INQInquirer Visayas, Mar 25, 2017 BACOLOD CITY — Labor and agrarian reform beneficiary groups in Negros Occidental passed a resolution on Friday declaring Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol “persona non grata”.

by Danica M. Uy, Mar 25, 2017, Businessworld POTENTIAL Japanese investors have noted a skills shortfall in the Filipino workforce which makes them hesitant to pursue projects in the country, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

By: Roy Stephen C. Canive, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mar 24, 2017 The call center sector is expected to hit about $20.4 billion in revenues in the next six years, accounting for over half of the total target of the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry.

By: Julie Alipala, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mar 24, 2017 ZAMBOANGA CITY –One person was killed while two others were injured when one of the compressors at an ice plant here exploded while being fixed on Friday.

by David Weil, Mar 24, 2017 Every day, many of us eat at restaurants, stay at hotels, receive packages, and use our digital devices with the assumption that the company we pay for these services — Hilton, Amazon, Apple, etc. — also employs the people who deliver them. This assumption is increasingly incorrect: Our deliveries…

WRITTEN BY ADMINISTRATOR, Mar 23, 2017 AFAIRFAX, Virginia — The forum on “Human and Labor Trafficking and Current Immigration Challenges,” organized by the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC), discussed immigration rights and options under U.S. laws, providing hope to undocumented Filipinos, as well as victims of human and labor trafficking and domestic abuse by U.S. citizen…

by Vivek Bapat, Mar 23, 2017 Banyans are among the world’s largest and longest-living trees — one in India is more than 200 years old and is reported to be the world’s largest tree. Bigger than the average Wal-Mart, it has a canopy of more than 19,000 square meters. Not surprisingly, this visual distinctiveness has…

with inputs from Danica M. Uy, Mar 23, 2017, Businessworld THE PHILIPPINES’ stature as one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing economies notwithstanding, human development in the country is below average in the region, according to a United Nations report released yesterday that used 2015 data.

By: Marlene Alcaide, News5, Mar 22, 2017 At least three persons were rounded up when law enforcement elements swooped in on a suspected human trafficking ring operation in Taguig City Wednesday.

Recent work by the International Monetary Fund suggests that countries which redistribute more and have lower inequality actually grow faster. Read or download the report here.

By Gerardo P. Sicat (The Philippine Star), Mar 22, 2017 The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has finally signed off on the “endo” problem with Department Order No. 174.

By Marichu A. Villanueva, (The Philippine Star), Mar 22, 2017 Whatever emotional ranting we hear from homeless families for being poor, this is not justification for any one of them to willfully take over and occupy vacant units in government housing projects. Legitimate owners of units in this government housing intended for public school teachers,…

The peso is down 8% and investors are dumping stocks amid doubts about Duterte’s economic agenda. By WILLIAM PESEK, Mar 22, 2017 Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he answers a question during a press conference at the Malacanang palace in Manila. You can spin voters and the media, but currency traders are a harder…

21 MARCH 2017 The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines and its allied labor federations, workers organizations, small farmer’s organizations and agrarian reform beneficiary organizations representing more or less 300,000 sugar workers and their families stand in firm solidarity with the other stakeholders of the sugar industry in condemning the…

Ralph Jennings, CONTRIBUTOR, Forbes, Mar 21, 2017 The Philippines is a democracy always being tested by violent anti-government rebel groups. You hear a lot about the well-armed Muslim fronts that want more autonomy in the majority Catholic country and don’t mind battling troops from Manila or slaying foreign tourists. But one of the most nagging…

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By Mary Grace Padin (The Philippine Star), Mar 20, 2017 MANILA, Philippines – Subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) went up in 2016, with the bulk of the amount going to health care services, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

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A new study shows that robotics investments pay off and the US is in the lead. By Kelly McSweeney, Mar 20, 2017 In many automotive plants, robots have taken over the heavy lifting and repetitive tasks. Investment in robotics has a greater positive impact on the economy than information technology, construction or real estate, according…

By Melissa Pandika, the Daily Dose, Oct 2, 2017 Because for the elderly, drawing a blank might stem not from a lack of information but an information overload. Let’s say you’ve met an attractive stranger at a wedding. As he starts talking about his job as a patent attorney, you overhear another guest chatting about…

By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star), Mar 19, 2017 MANILA, Philippines – An official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shrugged off yesterday the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines’ warning that Department Order No. 174 would lead to massive displacement of workers.

By: Julie M. Aurelio, Tarra Quismundo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mar 18, 2017 Workers’ groups on Friday questioned the labor department’s new order banning labor-only contracting, charging that it has failed to stop the unfair practice of contractualization.

Read more at https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/03/gone-soon-no-philippines-legal-route-end-hiv-epidemic/#RXsMQrsq6KjyoULm.99

GMA News Online, Mar 18, 2017 Thirteen minors who fell victim to a human trafficking ring allegedly being run by two sisters have been rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in an operation in Dasmariñas City, Cavite.

by Paul Sutton, Mar 17, 2017 Our economy and society ultimately depend on natural resources: land, water, material (such as metals) and energy. But some scientists have recognised that there are hard limits to the amount of these resources we can use. It is our consumption of these resources that is behind environmental problems such…

Philippine Daily Inquirer Investigation has arrested two sisters involved in child pornography and sexual trafficking and rescued 13 minors in Dasmarinas, Cavite province.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/world-bank-indirectly-backs-harmful-southeast-asian-projects-report [WASHINGTON] World Bank investments in commercial financial institutions are indirectly allowing land-grabs, evictions and pollution in Southeast Asia, a watchdog group charged in a report Friday. By investing in banks and other so-called financial intermediaries, World Bank funds can increase poverty, social strife and promote projects which hasten climate change, according to a report…