The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) gave yesterday its full support for moves to lower money transfer charges. Read the rest of this entry »

THE Supreme Court has issued a writ of amparo against Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel allegedly responsible for the enforced disappearance of three persons, including two students of the University of the Philippines (UP). Read the rest of this entry »

The government has assured local car makers that the ban on the entry of used vehicles will stay when the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement takes effect. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines — Will signing the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) give Japan carte blanche to export its toxic and other hazardous wastes to the Philippines? No. The fact that with JPEPA the Philippines imposes zero tariffs on wastes from Japan (and vice versa) is immaterial, because Philippine laws and regulations — in particular Republic Act 6969 (“An Act to Control Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes, Providing Penalties for Violations thereof…” — prohibits such importation, and so does the Basel Convention, or the Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. Read the rest of this entry »

Organized labor wants an inquiry into reports that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) is nearing bankruptcy due to widespread fraudulent claims. Read the rest of this entry »

The presence of asbestos as a persistent pollutant in soil and water is of major environmental concern, but scientists at the University of Torino, Italy, may have found a way to clean it up. Read the rest of this entry »