MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC) has been created by Executive Order No. 879 to help strengthen the bamboo industry in the country. Read the rest of this entry »

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines –  Environmental activists expressed alarm over the series of killings of known anti-mining crusaders in Cagayan, the latest of which took place on the eve of the election against a local leader of the Alyansa Tigil Muna. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – Four laborers working on a 27-floor condominium project’s elevator system were killed while another worker was severely injured after falling several floors below at the height of the heavy downpour on Friday night in Quezon City. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is one of the countries in Asia where HIV/AIDS cases are increasing at an alarming rate, an official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday night. Read the rest of this entry »

SAYS JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER

MANILA, Philippines—Japan should “open up” to the world once more, including to more non-Japanese nurses, Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said in a speech during the Sixteenth International Conference on the Future of Asia hosted by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on May 20. Read the rest of this entry »

Further adjustments likely following surprising Q1 GDP result

EXPORT GROWTH TARGETS have been revised upwards on the back of strong orders and could be hiked further following the economy’s better-than-expected performance in the first quarter. Read the rest of this entry »

THE PHILIPPINES is backing an updated Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) work program aimed at increasing competitiveness, with the country wanting to increase deployment of skilled workers. Read the rest of this entry »

THE FINANCE department has drawn up a “wish list” for the incoming administration in the hope that fiscal consolidation will continue to be pursued.

The items form part of a transition report submitted last May 21 to Malacañang for forwarding to the next Palace occupant. Read the rest of this entry »

AS in past election years, the Philippine economy surged in the first quarter of this year with a 7.3-percent growth, driven by the massive spending that accompanies every election, whether from government or otherwise. Also a factor but to a lesser extent has been the general recovery in rich economies from the global financial crisis, although this remains threatened by a possible domino effect of the Greek crisis in Europe. The global recovery has translated into a 43-percent jump in dollar export earnings in the first three months of the year, the fastest growth reportedly seen since 1991. But the real push came from investment and government spending, which grew 24.3 and 18.9 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, consumption growth has also gone back to normal, almost doubling its subdued 3-percent growth rate last year, a time when the global crisis induced people to hold back on spending. Read the rest of this entry »