NOT FOR BIRDS ONLY

MANILA, Philippines—After 36 years working as a warehouseman, Billy Vallejera believes sparrows are the most serious threat to the country’s rice granaries, their sharp, sack-ripping beaks more than the equal of tiny rice weevils. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines—Lawmakers on Thursday asked President Benigno Aquino III to reconsider the government’s decision to increase the premium of Philippine Health Insurance Inc. (PhilHealth), saying it is anti-poor. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines—More than 6,000 Filipino workers in Afghanistan face repatriation by the end of the year after the United States Central Command (Centcom) ordered the termination of all foreign workers whose domestic laws prohibit them from traveling to or working in Afghanistan. Read the rest of this entry »

MANILA, Philippines—The Kuwaiti government’s plan to scrap the “kafeel” or sponsorship system of hiring foreign laborers will mean that Filipinos and other foreigners working in the emirate will no longer be treated as indentured servants, according to the Migrante-Middle East. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, NBC launched a new show that tries to find comedy in the all-too-real conditions of outsourcing. While the first episode was witty—making light of age-old cultural clashes and stereotypes, there is nothing funny about the reality of outsourcing and the impact it has both on the American worker and their counterparts around the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Today:

sana may programang gawin ang mga bishops sa lahat ng kanilang parishes: example, sa bawat lampas sa 3 o 4 na anak kada pamilya, bukod sa magandang pangaral, ang simbahan ang (1) magpapakain ng masustansya at masarap sa mga bata (2) magbabayad sa dental, optical at medical expenses ng mga bata at (3) magbibigay ng full scholarships sa reputable schools or catholic schools hanggang makatapos sa college ang mga bata. Read the rest of this entry »

This question is being asked by concerned observers after the Senate committee on finance found out yet another questionable realignment in P-Noy’s 2011 budget, courtesy of Budget Secretary Butch Abad. This time the reduction involves the budget of the government’s housing agencies under the HUDCC by 50 percent — from P11 billion in 2010 to P5.6 billion in this year’s appropriations bill, ostensibly, the cut portion was reallocated to the DSWD (the luckiest agency under the proposed 2011 budget with a whooping 1000 percent increase) and the DILG, which in the message advised Congress, will undertake their own housing programs on a more focused basis, whatever that means. Of course, this sleight-of-hand operation did not sit well with Vice-President and HUDCC Chairman Jojo Binay who rightly advised the senators that the cut will definitely impact on the agency’s efforts to accomplish its targets for the year. Even the rationale advanced by Abad’s people that the DSWD is also involved in resettlement projects, especially those affected by last year’s devastating typhoons and that the DILG portion, will be used exclusively for the housing of uniformed personnel, i.e., police, firemen and jail employees, is flippant and unavailing. No less than finance sub-committee chairman, Sen. Ed Angara, decried the re-allotment saying: Why transfer the funds to agencies whose core competence and mandates are far removed from housing? Read the rest of this entry »

The Department of Education (DepEd) released its initial draft on its plan to add two more years to the current 10-year basic education cycle amid opposition from various stakeholders. Read the rest of this entry »

STATE-RUN Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) has pushed back to next year the completion of the project linking the country’s existing railways due to delays in construction. The LRTA said the EDSA loop or the connection of Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT 1) and Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3) will be closed by December next year. Read the rest of this entry »

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) said credit rating agencies and their rating methodologies may have inadvertently contributed to financial instability. In a report, the IMF said credit ratings influenced market prices, and that downgrades through the investment-grade barrier trigger market reactions, which were seen in the wake of the sharp downgrades of structured finance products during the recent financial crisis. Read the rest of this entry »