NTUC Blog

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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…

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By DR. SELVA RAMACHANDRAN, Manila Times, 14 Mar 2021 Almost a year has passed since Covid-19 hit, causing job losses and increasing poverty levels. Sadly, this has impacted people unevenly, particularly women, youth, the poor and informal-sector workers.

by Louise Maureen Simeon, Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 6 Mar 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Inflation quickened for the fifth straight month in February to a new two-year high of 4.7 percent as prices of meat and oil products continue to rise, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

by Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News, 17 Feb 2021 MANILA – A majority of Filipino teachers doubt whether their students learn under the current distance education setup, according to a survey conducted by experts, who raised concerns over what they called a “looming learning crisis.”

by ABS-CBN News, 8 Feb 2021 MANILA – The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) on Sunday called for social support for minors who have pregnancies after the state statistics bureau said births among girls ages 15 years old and below went up by 7 percent in 2019 compared to the preceding year.

by Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star), 6 Feb 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Job hunting will be harder for most Filipinos in the next two years as the economy recovers slowly and the influx of new graduates and returned overseas workers heighten competition for positions in a tough environment, the country’s economic planning agency said

More business groups (now 10) reject economic charter change at this time, says passage of the Public Service Act that eases foreign investment limits on some sectors will do for now | @meltlopez pic.twitter.com/bzRPcEseJ7 — CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) January 22, 2021

by Beatrice M. Laforga, 20 Jan 2021 THE PHILIPPINES needs to improve its technical and vocational education to offset the expected loss of 24% of the jobs in the business process outsourcing (BPO) and electronics manufacturing industries by 2030, due to increased automation, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

DOLE said the government has already repatriated over 400k OFWs, who were affected by Covid-19. @BusinessMirror pic.twitter.com/mjOCc6d3ZL — Samuel Medenilla (@sam_medenilla) January 17, 2021

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by Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star), 7 Jan 2021 MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is likely to be the last country in Asia-Pacific to fully recover from the pandemic-induced recession, with recovery seen only in the fourth quarter of 2022 while other economies are set to regain all of their lost output by the end…

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by Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star), 6 Jan 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Prices of basic goods and services went up for the third straight month in December to reach a near two-year high at 3.5 percent, driven by higher cost of food and transportation, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said yesterday.