IT’S business as usual. More than one year has elapsed and yet many medicines are still being sold at their usual price. Read the rest of this entry »
Medicines still costly year after cheaper drugs law out in place
July 26, 2009
A huge pharmaceuticals market
July 26, 2009
THE pharmaceutical market is large—and growing. Worth P47 billion in 1999, it grew to P70 billion by 2003 and is probably worth P100 billion now. Read the rest of this entry »
Pharma giants blink, slash prices in half
July 26, 2009
Government should be as decisive in dealing with other sectors
THE P100-billion pharmaceutical market has been breached, and drug giants blinked. Read the rest of this entry »
Reaction on the Laiban dam project
July 26, 2009
In the interest of fairness, we’d like to devote some space to the reaction of Administrator Diosdado Jose Allado of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to criticisms we had raised in an earlier column against the multi-billion Laiban dam project, conceived to address the long-term water requirements of Metro Manila as well as adjacent areas, which his agency now appears keen to award. Read the rest of this entry »
Forced to volunteer
July 25, 2009
The latest word out of the Department of Health is that the pharmaceutical industry in the Philippines has offered to voluntarily lower the prices of 42 branded medicines. The medicines fall under 16 of the 21 “essential drugs” categories that the DoH had recommended to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for mandatory price capping under Republic Act 9502, also known as the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act. Read the rest of this entry »
Gov’t plans to put up ICT hubs throughout RP
July 25, 2009
Firms look at cities, not countries,
THE COMMISSION on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) is bent on building an ICT hub in every province in the country, having seen the importance of ICT in economic development and nation-building. Read the rest of this entry »
Cash no longer king among BPO workers
July 25, 2009
MANILA, Philippines – The high wages being offered in the business process outsourcing industry may no longer be enough to convince mid-level executives to stay on in their jobs, as they now look for more “quality of life” incentives. Read the rest of this entry »
P500 million allocated to transport sector
July 25, 2009
CEBU, Philippines – Public jeepney drivers can soon avail of a soft loan to convert their diesel or gasoline-engine vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as government released P500 million allocation for such purpose. Read the rest of this entry »
Government prepares 2nd stimulus package for 2010 budget
July 25, 2009
MANILA, Philippines – The government is preparing a second economic stimulus package next year to ensure continuation of President Arroyo’s pump-priming program, a Cabinet official said. Read the rest of this entry »
A long way to go
July 25, 2009
Cases of unexplained killings have gone down in the past two years, but there’s still a long way to go before the government can boast of respect for human rights. As various human rights groups have pointed out, most of the previous cases remain unsolved. Where cases have been filed, the conviction rate is low and prosecution proceeds at the usual snail’s pace of Philippine justice. In Davao City, a surge in the executions of crime suspects has been compounded by the discovery of mass graves. Read the rest of this entry »
