The much anticipated announcement on Labor Day will not be heard this coming May 1. Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) clarified that there will be no announcement of wage increase on May, despite Malacañang’s pronouncement before that it is coming out with a Labor Day gift to help workers [...]

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) barred 34 prospective overseas Filipino workers from leaving the country. The passengers were prevented from boarding a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight to Bangkok after confessing that they were OFWs disguised as business travelers after intense questioning from immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
BI airport operations chief Lina [...]

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) granted a P1 provisional fare increase for Metro Manila buses. The resolution was signed last Friday approving the fare adjustment for the first five kilometers. There will be no provisional increase on the succeeding kilometers though.
The increased fare would be P10 for the first five kilometers and [...]

The Philippine government wasn’t able to do much to alleviate the plight of the three Filipinos who were caught for drug smuggling in China. They have been sentenced to death and the date of their execution would on March 30, 2011.
According to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Spokesman Ed Malaya, the Fujian People’s Court and [...]

In Baguio City, enterprising housewives banded themselves together and formed a group which challenged the local government to send the city’s uncollected garbage to them. A challenge which have live up, up to this day.
These women from 10 barangay in the city have doing this for decades now – they have been converting trash into [...]

Presidential Consultant on Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III said the only solution to fight poverty is entrepreneurship. “The greatest problem is poverty and the only equalizer is to give these kids education,” he said.
That is why the government, in partnership with the private sector, has initiated a project that would teach millions of out-of-school youth (OSY) [...]

SONA 2009 PGMA (FULL HD) 1/7

Here’s a complete text transcript of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last Monday, July 27, 2009.
GMA’s SONA transcript

Will raising the tax rate really help the Philippines in this time of global recession?
That is how three economists from the University of the Philippines School of Economics think so. Dante Canlas, Benjamin Diokno and Felipe are proposing a reform in the country’s tax system that would increase the value-added tax (VAT) rate from 12 [...]

Efren Peñaflorida didn’t have to do spectacular things. He didn’t jump from tall building or rescue a cat from the tree, but Efren, Filipino, received citation from international news agency CNN as a modern-day hero.
When he started his mission, Efren wasn’t thinking much of getting any recognition – much less from CNN. He just wanted [...]

Believing that entrepreneurship is the answer to the looming effect of the global recession in the country, the government is taking steps to turn displaced Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) into entrepreneurs.
In a livelihood project that will be started by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, laid off OFWs can avail of a loan up to P50,000 [...]

The prospects of increasing the monthly pensions of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) pensioners are being studied. Although this proposal isn’t entirely to alleviate the financial situation of the pensioner-members, but rather to serve as a stimulus to encourage more spending in the household and somehow give a [...]

What is grassroots entrepreneurship? It is Milamdec’s answer to the ever growing disparity between the rich and the poor. They believe that, in order for the nation to grow, entrepreneurship should be developed in all walks of life. Because through entrepreneurship, we can create more jobs and opportunities for our countrymen.
Milamdec’s said that, big companies [...]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAT-6bctfi0
A state is a political association with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. Based on this definition, the basic requirements for a state to exist are: government, power, territory and people. If these requirements are met, a state is recognized as such, separately and distinctively. We can add international recognition to [...]

If it is stayed long enough, the crisis can seep into the Philippines economy. Exports of the Philippines are heavily affected if the market economy in the USA freezes. Mass lay off may occur if companies continue to shut down in America. Without jobs or lower pay, Americans cannot afford caregivers or maids and with [...]

“As it competes to more prosperous Asian neighbors and facing global financial crisis, Philippines should need to upgrade its business climate to allure foreign investors in investing in our homeland,” said by an international think tank.
Southeast Asia of the Economist Intelligence Unit director, Justin Wood said that the Philippine investment climate is “too dubious, too [...]

From Lifehacker: The credit crisis as an Antarctic expedition

Change is not always welcome in any institution, especially when every member of the company has grown accustomed to the ‘tried-and-tested’ ways of doing their things. That is why, they almost always resist a change in their routine.
Most people resist change because of fear. They fear failure. What they’re doing so far has been giving [...]

English has always been promoted as the medium of instruction in the Philippines. Because English has become the universal language so to speak, and to make the Filipino competitive, he should be able to communicate in this global language. However, this move has alienated us from own heritage which is our national language.
Up to these [...]

How senseless can we get? Killing an innocent creature for the joy and excitement of being a predator… yet, we are ones who are supposed to be the intelligent species who can think and reason. How come another eagle was shot last week by a creature that has a heart and a mind.
I was saddened [...]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2CzRFRHzVI

One World. One Dream. Such a beautiful slogan, one of unity and of one direction. But this picture shows otherwise. It actually shows two extremes divided by just a thin line – the fence. Perhaps a more appropriate title would be ‘The Two Sides Of A Coin” or maybe “Irony” would be more dramatic.
This [...]