MANILA, Philippines – Subsidies disbursed by the government to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and state-owned agencies rose to P12.56 billion from January to September this year, P1.81 billion higher than last year’s P10.75 billion. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s largest labor group yesterday sought public disclosure of a list of more than 160,000 delinquent employers who failed to remit government-mandated monthly contributions to the Social Security System (SSS). Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – Women’s rights advocates from Asia Pacific have pledged to initiate the fund raising is $1 billion to speed up the creation of an agency under the United Nations that is focused on the protection of women’s rights. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have launched a P3.2-million joint anti-hunger effort to help women in two of the poorest provinces in the country and in slum relocation sites in Metro Manila find affordable ways to augment the diet and livelihood opportunities available to their families. Read the rest of this entry »

Hua Hin—Thailand has accepted the country’s proposal for a slower tariff reduction on rice, but in return asked Manila to import more rice from Bangkok, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said. Read the rest of this entry »

When I left for Kyrgyzstan last month, a friend of mine, Dan Pinto, gave me a copy of 60zens: Tips on Senior Citizenship. I told Dan he needed the book more than I did, since he’s already at that age where he deserves discounts on the basic necessities of his former wildly (mis)spent life. Nevertheless, he insisted on me taking it, saying it would keep my nights in Bishkek, the capital city, warm. Read the rest of this entry »

Victims of forcible abductions and torture speak out

xistentialist Friedrich Nietzsche famously observed, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” To Axel Pinpin, an activist once allegedly abducted and tortured, knows all too well that this philosophy holds true. And he learned it the hard way. Nowadays, three years since his abduction, Pinpin appears to be in a better place. As a survivor, he now has the mental resolve to look at his story at a lighter note. Like all facts of life, He would even describe it as an “action movie” unfolding before his eyes. As a protester, he has now been assigned from being “a backstage man” to a frontrunner. He is currently one of the spokespeople of prominent human rights group, Karapatan. And as an advocate, his beliefs for his cause have evolved. From understanding the theories of rights violations, he now believes that he has the “field experience” that makes him even more credible. Read the rest of this entry »

The faces of wars have changed. According to estimates, almost 90 percent of the casualties of the modern wars are civilians, the majority of whom are women and children, compared to a century ago when 90 percent of those who lost their lives were military personnel. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk is poised to replace about 100 of their Danish captains with Filipinos as the firm expressed its deep satisfaction with the proficiency, skill and discipline of Filipino seafarers, an embassy report said. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The biggest organization of businessmen has urged President Arroyo to issue an executive order putting together a private-public Energy Program Commission (EPC) tasked to come out with an action program to solve two big problems in the energy sector – high electricity rates and a looming electric power shortage. Read the rest of this entry »