NTUC Blog

The skirmish in the hikes in charges of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) intensified further when the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) tossed accountability on the distribution firm’s independent power producers (IPPs) as the ones contributing substantially in the hike in its generation charges.

Two decades after the Aquino government successfully rammed through the first major revision of the country’s Labor Code to the detriment of workers’ rights, the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) recently aired its desire to revise it anew. As with previous attempts to change the Labor Code, their stated reasons boil down to the…

MANILA, Philippines – Monetary authorities see merchandise exports and imports  accelerating at a faster pace this year after major markets led by the United States and  Japan were battered by the global economic crisis last year.

Chances are by the time this column sees print, the Comelec may have decided that the idea of having a parallel manual count is an exercise in futility. Of course the Comelec has to be proper in its actions and its language. But just in case some holdouts decide to put up a fight, here’s…

Last Monday, The Manila Times published a news story where Nacionalista Party senatorial candidate Susan “Toots” Ople urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to recall its Memorandum Circular 268, which allows banks to freely subcontract out in bulk jobs normally performed by their regular employees.

JAKARTA – Thousands of furious Indonesian factory workers set fire to cars and a warehouse Thursday after an Indian company executive called them “stupid,” police and media reports said.

PRIORITY AREAS the next administration should tackle within its first 100 days in office were identified yesterday by the country’s largest employers’ group at the conclusion of its annual conference.

THE International Labor Organization (ILO) said job-creation would lag behind the recovery of export markets.

When Filipinos go to the polls on Monday, May 10, we will be selecting one out of nine candidates for president, one out of 10 candidates for vice president, 12 out of 61 candidates for senator, plus, depending on where we live, a congressman, a governor and/or mayor, vice governor, and/or vice mayor, not to…

The SWS reported there are less Filipino families who feel poor, a level last seen 23 years ago even as hunger remains near record high. But before anybody starts jumping up and down for joy like chimpanzees in a banana plantation, read how SWS explained the seeming contradictory findings.

Employers’ group says flexibility needed in times of economic difficulty THE COUNTRY’S LARGEST employer group is poised to issue a resolution today calling for amendments to the Labor Code, including a provision that bars the reduction of benefits for workers.

Are we really simply a bunch of oversensitive humorless bleeding hearts who take offense at the most innocuous comments, or on the contrary, the problem is precisely that we do not assert ourselves enough, that we have gotten used to being ridiculed, embarrassed, humiliated in the global stage that the bullies in this world have…

The IMF’s first substantial study on unemployment revises upwards the Fund’s earlier predictions of joblessness in industrialized countries as a result of the current economic crisis. It states that there will be no decline in the unemployment rate before at least 2012 unless countries adopt “policies to jump-start job creation”. Today the Fund released the…

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Benigno Aquino III remains the choice of local and foreign investors as the presidential candidate who can best promote a stable investment climate, according to the latest investor survey of Dutch financial giant ING Bank.

Brussels, 15 April 2010 (ITUC OnLine): As forecasts warn of a continuing rise in unemployment on top of the additional 34 million people worldwide who have become unemployed due to the economic crisis, trade union leaders from the G20 countries will urge for more action on jobs when they meet with G20 Labour and Employment…

EXPORT growth held near a 14-year high in February as the global economic recovery boosted demand for the Philippines’ electronics goods, the government said Tuesday.

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.–As renewable energy gains steam, environmentalists are increasingly being asked whether to support their longtime enemy: nuclear power.

MANILA, Philippines – Corporate and individual borrowers continued to enjoy lower rates as banks have slashed interest rates by 2.22 percentage points since the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) started its easing cycle to boost the economy.

I’d like to share a letter e-mailed to me over the weekend which somewhat illustrates that, in our country where pirated DVDs abound and where few have moral or legal qualms about buying them, sometimes theatre owners are hardly helping the cause of the movie industry against piracy.

MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will not support a bill seeking to cap credit card interest rates, one of its officials said.

Twice last week, thugs were in the streets, upholding pigheadedness over reason, substituting demonizing in place of civil dialogue, replacing name-calling for abiding by procedures. Incidents like this can only impoverish our civic culture.

MANILA, Philippines – The economic crisis affecting the country is almost over, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

Last February 16, we held a conference on barriers to investment. It was a working conference that brought in a variety of groups that are involved in one way or another with wanting much greater levels of investment in the Philippines. It was to discuss a working paper we have done and have now finalized…

RP’s 10 biggest banks post combined profits of P50b The 10 largest banks in the Philippines posted a combined net income of close to P50 billion last year amid the recovery of the global economy in the fourth quarter.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Only 16% of the country’s total labor force will benefit from any legislated wage increases, Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), claimed on Thursday.

Much has been made about Gov. Joey Salceda’s remarks about the poverty rate earlier this week. Those who made much about it laced the remarks with undue political speculation.

I have always liked Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. For starters, when my Dad Louie Beltran passed away in 1994, Tito Sotto took over dad’s “Brigada Siete” on GMA 7. Tito Sotto did so with respect and sensitivity to our family.

MANILA, Philippines – The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) yesterday said a P75 across-the-board wage increase in Metro Manila will hamper the job creation process and will only help a small fraction of the population.

MANILA, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) yesterday filed a petition at the National Capital Region (NCR) wage board for a P75 across-the-board wage increase for workers in Metro Manila.

ROXAS CITY – Anti-Reproductive Health (RH) Bill advocates may support the vice presidential bid of Sen. Mar Roxas but will definitely campaign against Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and several others in May 10, 2010 election.