NTUC Blog

It was good to have met up with former Senator Ernesto Herrera just a few days from Labor Day. Herrera, a pillar of the Philippine labor movement, is the quintessential laborite. I had not seen him for a while but I was keen to hear his views in a financial crisis that has profoundly affected…

I can’t say I am ecstatic over the addition of more party-list congressmen as a consequence of the Supreme Court’s reading of the law.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The government is gearing up for a “rebound mode” following upbeat indicators in the global economy, officials said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The slowdown in the country’s growth and overseas sales is not directly related to the global economic crunch but rather the lack of competitiveness that has plagued the different industries for years, a top economist said.

WASHINGTON — Finance chiefs from the G7 powers said on Friday the global economy may be past the worst phase of a recession although recovery was not yet assured, and they pledged to make sure that big financial firms are sound.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday forecast a severe global contraction this year, sharply downgrading its already bleak outlook from earlier this year.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite efforts to simplify business processes in the country, the cost of doing business in the Philippines is one of the highest in Southeast Asia and very little protection is given to investors.

MANILA, Philippines — The worst shock waves from the global financial crisis and commodity price spikes may be over for the Philippines and other emerging markets which can now “decouple” from the slump in the West, an economist from British banking giant HSBC said yesterday.

With the Supreme Court (SC) opening the door to more party-list members of Congress, former Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, known to militants as “The Butcher” and being a top nominee of his party, Bantay, won a seat and is expected to join Congress soon.

MANILA, Philippines – As inflationary pressures drop this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) decided yesterday to cut its policy rates by another 25 basis points, bringing the cumulative reduction to 150 basis points since December 2008.

It’s becoming more evident that this crisis is not going to be as bad as feared—it’s going to be worse, the news that comes out each day is of ever worsening conditions. Now the expectation is that the world economy will shrink by 1 percent this year. A recovery in 2009 is no longer a…

WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund on Thursday forecast a prolonged, deep global recession in a crisis “nobody is escaping,” with recovery slow and difficult.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared April 21 to May 1, 2009 as International Labor Organization (ILO) Week, Malacañang said Friday.

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.

MORE Filipinos are poised to lose their jobs as the government is set to cut anew its economic growth target for this year, according to pundits.

This case of Tony, a Filipino seafarer, is an example of the judicial power of the Courts to review and declare as unconstitutional the acts of a co-equal branch like Congress.

MANILA, Philippines—Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto has announced that job losses resulting from the global financial crisis were “tapering off.”

Fear of losing their jobs has forced a growing number of migrant Filipino workers to save more, and lessen their home-bound remittances, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said. The TUCP now expects remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to fall by 5 percent to 10 percent this year, down from a prior…

Freddy and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord’s team was playing Satan’s team.

THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) sees even slower growth in 2009 and 2010 in light of the possible increase in export-earnings losses and rising unemployment for Filipinos here and abroad as a result of the global economic recession.

MANILA, Philippines—After a bad first quarter, the electronics industry seems to be showing signs of recovery, although at a very slow pace, according to an industry executive.

MANILA, Philippines – There is a Filipino in every country in the world.

Remember the good old days, way back in 2006, when the streets were paved with credit-gold as far as the eye could see and credit cards rained from the sky? Even the credit-destitute were treated like kings by the credit card companies and courted with lavish offers of unlimited credit.

One of the best e-mails I got in recent days asked: do you know how the Apostles died? The answers are verifiable historically or from church accounts:

Study says poverty threshold rose MORE than two million Filipinos fell below the country’s poverty threshold because of the increases in the prices of rice and fuel, according to a government think tank.

Brussels, 3 April 2009 (ITUC OnLine): The statement adopted at the London G20 meeting gives the chance for a new globalisation, with jobs at the centre and an end to the failed policies of the last three decades, according to the ITUC and the OECD Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC).  Key decisions taken at the…

Brussels, (ITUC OnLine): A call for a ‘Global New Deal’ was launched today in Brussels by a unique coalition of progressive politicians, trade unions and NGOs from over forty countries. ITUC affiliates from every region took part in the event.

One morning last December the headlines shocked the nation. Sixteen persons had been killed the night before in a shootout in Parañaque City.

MANILA, Philippines – Workers nationwide can look forward to better days, the Department of Labor and Employment said yesterday.

The new food pyramid, with emphasis on exercise, as shown by the man climbing the stairs (Source: US Department of Agriculture)