NTUC Blog

by Louise Maureen Simeon – The Philippine Star, 1 Sep 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Economic recovery for the Philippines will continue to be tough, with its return to pre-crisis levels seen only by late 2023, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

by Louise Maureen Simeon – The Philippine Star, 27 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy will have to wait until late next year to see a return to its pre-crisis levels as the pandemic continues to put a drag on the country’s much-needed rebound.

By Ben O. de Vera, 25 Aug 2021 The Philippines suffered from one of the biggest hikes in joblessness in the Asia-Pacific region last year, and many Filipinos continued to bewail lack of income amid prolonged COVID-19 quarantine, two multilateral lenders said.

By JAMIL SANTOS, GMA News, 19 Aug 2021 The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Thursday reported that a total of 654,546 overseas Filipino workers have already returned home amid the global threat of the Delta coronavirus variant.

By Daxim L. Lucas, 17 Aug 2021 Dollars sent home by expatriate Filipinos continued to rise in June resulting in a similar increase for the first semester of the year, defying the ill economic effects of the raging pandemic around the world, data from the central bank showed.

by Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star), 5 Aug 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Two-thirds of consumers saw their income negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the second quarter, with the impact more pronounced for Gen X and millennials, according to a survey by information and insights company TransUnion.

DOLE releases the number of displaced workers in NCR from Jan. To July, 2021. @BusinessMirror pic.twitter.com/6yFaaokuWM — Samuel Medenilla (@sam_medenilla) August 2, 2021

By Karl R. Ocampo, 29 Jul 2021 President Duterte had promised in previous editions of his State of the Nation Addressed that under his administration, the agriculture sector would be modernized, food prices would be lowered and that the “Plant, Plant, Plant” (PPP) flagship program would jumpstart urgently needed innovations in the vital sector.

by Helen Flores (The Philippine Star), 27 Jul 2021 MANILA, Philippines — About half of Filipino families rated themselves as “mahirap” or poor, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in its latest survey.

By Ferdinand Patinio, 27 Jul 2021 MANILA – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday has issued rules in determining the employment relationship between food delivery and courier riders and their respective digital platforms.

BREAKING: Billionaires have gotten $1.8 trillion richer, nearly all tax-free, since the pandemic began. Don't tell us we can't afford a bold reconciliation package that invests at least $4 trillion in jobs and families, paid for by fairer taxes on the rich and corporations. pic.twitter.com/FCj5evDZbV — Americans For Tax Fairness (@4TaxFairness) July 14, 2021

by Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star), 1 Jul 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Government agencies and business groups have signed an agreement to create one million jobs this year to help the economy bounce back from the impact of the pandemic.

(The Philippine Star), 25 Jun 2021 MANILA, Philippines — S&P Global Ratings has lowered anew its 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the Philippines to six percent as the reimposition of strict lockdowns further restricted economic activity.

Read more here.

by Mary Ann LL. Reyes (The Philippine Star), 20 Jun 2021 Defying predictions, remittance flows have proven resilient during the COVID-19 crisis, with officially recorded remittance flows to low and middle-income countries reaching $540 billion in 2020 or only 1.6 percent lower than the $548 billion recorded in 2019.

By Antoinette Capuz, Manila Standard Child labor remains prevalent in the Philippines along with the rest of South-Eastern Asia region, according to the International Labor Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund which on Thursday said that the worldwide tally has increased to 160 million amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

By: Nestor Corrales, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8 Jun 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) should rescind its new regulation raising the income tax on private schools by 150 percent and prevent more private education institutions from closing down, according to House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez.

By: Mariejo S. Ramos, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 31 May 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The COVID-19 pandemic not only worsened the shortage in public transport but also made it harder for Filipino workers to go to work as transport prices shot up, according to a study by transport policy researchers.

By: Ernesto M. Ordoñez, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 29 May 2021 On May 14, a total of 95 private sector organizations held numerous consultations, then conducted a National Farmer–Fisherfolk Congress. They subsequently signed a “Unity Statement in Saving the Plunging Livelihood of Filipino Farmers and Fisherfolk and Addressing the Critical Situation of Philippine Agriculture and Food…

by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 25 May 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may return to pre-pandemic level of economic output only by the end of next year, making it the laggard in the region as the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 outbreak, according to Moody’s Analytics.

By Ferdinand Patinio, 14 May 2021 MANILA – Over 540,000 overseas Filipino workers have so far been assisted by the government in going back to their hometowns, an official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Friday.

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by Business World, 12 May 2021 THE PHILIPPINE economy contracted more than expected in the first quarter, extending the recession to five straight quarters as the pandemic dragged on, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Tuesday.

by Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star), 7 May 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The number of unemployed Filipinos last March declined to its lowest level since the start of the pandemic last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

By Louise Maureen Simeon(Philstar.com), 23 Apr 2021 MANILA, Philippines — A global think tank expects the Philippines to suffer the most from the pandemic in Asia-Pacific as its continued failure to control COVID-19 infections is making a huge dent on the economy.

by Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star), 15 Apr 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Majority or 93 percent of Filipinos saw their household income negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by global and information insights company TransUnion.

By Meg Adonis, 13 Apr 2021 (Last of two parts)When the government began to implement its distance education program in October last year, it was met with uncertainty and worry from parents, students and teachers.

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by Louise Maureen Simeon, Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star), 31 Mar 2021 MANILA, Philippines — More Filipinos were looking for additional hours of work in February, while those totally jobless also increased even at a time when the economy had already reopened.

By Melissa Luz Lopez, CNN Philippines, 22 Mar 2021 PNP checkpoint along the boundary of Cainta, Rizal and Pasig City on day one of the ‘bubble’ Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 22) — Lockdowns cannot be the only solution to the worsening COVID-19 outbreak, private sector leaders said on day one of what authorities call…