THE latest unemployment data unveiled by government statisticians on Thursday showed a slight improvement but reflected risks confronting the Philippines in renewing consumer confidence, according to local economists.
The preliminary Labor Force Survey (LFS) results released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed 3.8 million Filipinos or 8.7 percent...
WHILE other liberalization measures may yet be enacted by the 18th Congress, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Thursday ruled out further Charter change (Cha-cha) discussions, particularly the lifting of the economic restrictions, during the term of this Congress.
During the 9th Arangkada Philippines Forum 2020 titled Foreign Investment in...
To retain or reduce export targets is the question bugging the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) before the year ends, as it reviews the road map for shipments to assess the feasibility of objectives set there.
Trade Undersecretary Abdulgani M. Macatoman on Thursday informed exporters the DTI is...
DESPITE looming calls from various departments and stakeholders, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III believes that pumping more fiscal stimulus into the economy is not the answer to boosting its growth prospects.
In the DBCC Virtual Press Briefing late Thursday, Dominguez said the Philippine economy does not need any further...
The Philippines remains on track to bring down its fertility rate down to the 2.1-percent replacement rate in less than a decade, according to the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom).
On Thursday, Popcom Executive Director and Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez III told the BusinessMirror that the replacement rate...
Around 5,000 household service workers (HSW) are victims of illegal child labor, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Citing the survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and DOLE last year, National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) Deputy Executive Director Patricia P. Hornilla disclosed these...
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Employees of a business-process outsourcing (BPO) firm here have found out rather too late that it was not yet okay to party.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said 25 workers of a company registered in this free port have been infected...
With new assets in the inventory of the Navy and the Air Force, the military carried out its amphibious landing and island defense exercises in Zambales where the Scarborough Shoal sits at a shooting distance.
The drills were carried out on Wednesday in the waters of San Antonio, Zambales...
Nearly 8 million Filipino women have availed of family planning as provided by the reproductive health law, according to a report, and this prevented 2.8 million unintended pregnancies through the use of contraceptives.
Based on the 2019 Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law Report, the number of women...
THE Cabinet-level Development Budget Coor-dination Committee (DBCC) expects the economy to sink deeper by 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent this year amid protracted lockdown measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This latest gross domestic product (GDP) projection is worse than its earlier forecast of 5.5-percent contraction.
THE Philippines has returned to the international bond market for the third time this year with a $2.75-billion dual tranche 10.5-year and 25-year Global Bonds to boost the country’s budget support.
In a statement, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the new 10.5- year global bonds were priced at...
LENDERS’ reluctance to lend and borrowers’ unwillingness to borrow is dampening the effectiveness of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) massive monetary policy easing, thereby weakening its ability to prop up growth in the midst of a global health and economic crisis.
In a press briefing on Thursday, BSP...
CREDIT rating agency Moody’s placed the Philippines as one of the four countries in the Asia Pacific Region as so-called “early adopters of 5G,” although it still has to make significant progress in four out of five facets.
Sitting well with peers such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia,...
PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Harry Roque on Thursday said the Supreme Court made a “regrettable mistake” when it ruled the local government of Palawan should not get a share of revenue from the Malampaya gas project.
In an online briefing, Roque said the location of the Malampaya gas project should be considered...
Sometimes when we look around us we can’t help but see and feel that there is just too much negativity around us. This may make us hopeless and weary. Heroes acknowledge the presence of evil, but they also believe in the good. They have the ability to see “the world as a place of possibility, not just pain.” Ninoy wouldn’t have gone and sacrificed his life if he did not believe that the good can win against evil.
It is a thought collectively recognized that the year 2020 has caught people by surprise. Different obstacles, from natural calamities to a widespread health hazard, have left many Filipinos in a painstaking situation to make ends meet....
A second experimental COVID-19 vaccine — this one from Moderna Inc. — yielded extraordinarily strong early results Monday, another badly needed dose of hope as the pandemic enters a terrible new phase.
Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from an ongoing...
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Eric Roman struts onstage in his torn jeans and grasps the microphone.
It’s midnight on a Friday and in normal times, he’d hear wild applause from this tightly packed hotel bar in one of the old neighborhoods alongside the Dubai Creek. Sweaty throngs...
Talk of lockdowns are especially sensitive. For one, they're nearly impossible for a president to enact on his own, requiring bipartisan support from state and local officials. But more broadly, they're a political flashpoint that could undermine Biden's efforts to unify a deeply divided country.
Public health experts say staying home is best to keep yourself and others safe from infection. But if you're thinking about flying for the holidays, you should know what to expect.
Flights are...
The US recorded on Wednesday its deadliest day ever, with Covid-19 fatalities reaching more than 2,700 to surpass the previous peak in April, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The total death toll in the country is at more than 273,000, the most of any nation, as hospitals in some...
The US House of Representatives approved legislation that could ultimately lead to Chinese companies—including behemoths like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc.—getting kicked off American exchanges if regulators aren’t allowed to review their financial audits.
The legislation won bipartisan support in the House after easily clearing the US...
HONG KONG—Outspoken Hong Kong pro-democracy advocate and media tycoon Jimmy Lai was refused bail on Thursday on a fraud charge amid a growing crackdown on dissent in the semiautonomous city.
Jimmy Lai of Next Digital, which publishes the Apple Daily newspaper, was among 10 people arrested August 10 on...
MOSCOW—President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a “large-scale” Covid-19 immunization campaign to start by late next week, with doctors and teachers set to be first in line to get a Russian-designed vaccine that has yet to complete the advanced studies needed to ensure its effectiveness and safety in line with established scientific...
UNITED NATIONS—Nearly 100 world leaders and several dozen government ministers are scheduled to speak at the UN General Assembly’s special session that opens on Thursday to discuss the response to Covid-19 and the best path to recovery from the pandemic, which has claimed 1.5 million lives and shattered economies in both rich...
Moderna Inc. said on Monday it was asking US and European regulators to allow emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection—intensifying the race to begin limited vaccinations as the coronavirus rampage worsens.
Multiple vaccine candidates must succeed for the world...
Vice President Mike Pence told governors on Monday that distribution of a coronavirus vaccine could begin by the third week of December, signaling that US regulators will swiftly approve an emergency authorization for the first shots.
“We strongly believe the vaccine distribution process could begin the week of December...
GENEVA—The UN humanitarian office says needs for assistance have ballooned to unprecedented levels this year because of Covid-19, projecting that a staggering 235 million people will require help in 2021.
This comes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and global challenges including conflicts, forced migration and the impact...
Nestlé SA, the world’s largest food company, said it will invest 3.2 billion Swiss francs ($3.6 billion) over the next five years in an effort to fight climate change.
The company will plant 200...
THE Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) said it is supporting the government’s efforts to achieve economic recovery in 2021 amid the uncertainties brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
From this year’s expected economic contraction of 8 percent to 10 percent, National Economic and...
Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG), the property development firm led by the Antonio Group, on Thursday said it is reallocating some of the proceeds of its P2.95-billion preferred shares offering it conducted earlier this year.
In its disclosure, the company said it will use P500 million of the proceeds...
With the endorsement of the Department of Tourism, the Board of Investments (BOI) recently approved the P4.1-billion Westin Sonata Palace Hotel project of Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) in Mandaluyong City.
The Westin Manila Sonata Palace Hotel is RLC’s first Marriott International Hotel brand, which is internationally renowned for topnotch...
Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) on Thursday said its board of directors has approved the company's P3-billion equity investment in Petrogen Insurance Corp., the insurance company wholly-owned by refiner Petron Corp.
“With the investment, the corporation will have direct equity interest in Petrogen...in addition to its current indirect equity...
Members of the House Committee on Ways and Means have created a technical working group (TWG) to prioritize and finalize the bill criminalizing bulk cash smuggling and tighten the country’s measures against the transit of large amounts of cash to and from the Philippines.
This was after House Ways...
The private sector arm of the World Bank, the International Finance Corp. (IFC), has appointed a new Country Manager for the Philippines.
In a statement, the IFC said it has appointed Jean-Marc Arbogast, who served as the adviser to IFC’s vice president for corporate strategy and resources. Arbogast helped...
The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) introduced on Thursday two new members of its board of directors, Rafael L. Reyes and Jeannie N. Sandoval, who both held top positions in the business sector.
Reyes is the founder and chief executive officer of FIGS Inc. He also held top...
Malayan Insurance Co. Inc. recently signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with 1 Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines (1CISP), to better serve the insurance needs of the Philippine cooperatives movement.
Likewise, the accord will enable insurance support services pertaining to claims, process improvements, distribution and sales, and product development....
Listening to the beautiful musical pieces and renditions of the artists and groups composed of Joey Ayala, Dipolog Community Rondalla, PNU Himig Kawayan, Pangkat Kawayan, Prof. Armando Solarza with the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ, Dr. Benicio Sokong, Dulag Karatong Festival Ensemble, Joseph Gara, Huni Ukulele and DOST-FPRDI Himig Agham Kawayan, one would...
The Philippines has been identified as one of the highest “overperformers,” second only to India, in frontier technologies, indicating the country’s propensity to adopt frontier technologies relative to its per capita GDP is high.
This was disclosed by Shamika N. Sirimanne, director of the Division on Technology and Logistics,...
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will hold its first-ever virtual celebration of the 2020 National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) from November 23 to 29.
With the theme, “Agham at Teknolohiya: Sandigan ng Kalusugan, Kaayusan, Kabuhayan at Kinabukasan,” the DOST and the different agencies and regional offices...
Temperature and Covid-19 symptom checks like the ones used at schools and doctor’s offices have again proved inadequate for spotting coronavirus infections and preventing outbreaks.
A study of Marine recruits found that despite these measures and strict quarantines before they started training, the recruits spread the virus to others...
The top government science agency is embarking into innovations and tech solutions that can aid for seamless distance learning for Filipino students as the blended modular and online scheme is being used amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a recent webinar, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) highlighted the...
TOKYO, Japan—A textile that quells the sources of odors? Yes, you read it right. Toray Industries Inc. announced recently that it has developed Mushon 4X that removes odor through nanotechnology.
The company applied proprietary nanotechnology in combining several functional processing techniques to deliver odor prevention and elimination, antibacterial and antioxidant...
Animated pre-school show “Tish Tash” will soon be enjoyed by children around the world after leading entertainment specialist CAKE inked a distribution deal with its producers—Korea’s Studio Gale, Singapore’s August Media Holdings, UK’s Karrot Entertainment and Philippines’ Synergy Entertainment Media.
“Tish Tash has huge potential—a fresh take on what...
Young Filipino innovators have until November 17 to register for the Innovation Olympics 2.0, a competition challenging the next generation of agriculture, business and technology leaders to develop innovative solutions to real-life challenges of urban and rural smallholder vegetable farmers.
The theme of the competition’s second edition is “Precision...
SENIOR officials from Asean and the European Union (EU) gathered virtually for the second round of their High-Level Dialogue on Environment and Climate Change.
During their meeting, the officials discussed their cooperation on shared...
BARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel made it 2-0 over TNT Katropa in the Finals series of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Wednesday night but the Gin Kings’ Head Coach Tim Cone came short of hating himself for that victory.
Isn’t that ironic?
“I sound like...
HOUSTON—Russell Westbrook is headed to the Washington Wizards and John Wall is moving to the Houston Rockets in a significant swap of point guards—one a Most Valuable Player, the other a No. 1 overall draft pick—just weeks before the season starts.
The Wizards shipped a future lottery-protected first round...
THE Games and Amusements Board (GAB) recently lauded the staging of the first of two tournaments marking the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) restart after an eight-month hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic and endorsed the staging of more pro golf events in the coming year.
PRINCESS SUPERAL is making it simple facing the difficult challenges in golf’s return in new normal, rewarding herself with a runaway five-stroke victory in the recent International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Riviera Invitational Challenge, the first of two Ladies Philippine Golf Tour events slated after an eight-month hiatus due to pandemic.
THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) eyes an April 2021 start for its Season 46—either in the same bubble setup or back to the normal three-conference format depending upon the Covid-19 situation prevailing in the country at that time.
PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said he is hoping for the best...
IT is not unusual to see players and coaches wearing masks on the sideline as the college basketball season gets going.
The DePaul and Creighton women’s teams have taken it a step further: Their players are wearing masks while they are on the court competing.
“The...
THE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) hopes Congress would act swiftly on the naturalization Kakou Ange Franck Williams Kouame so he would be available when the men’s national basketball team vies in the third window of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asian Qualifiers 2021 in February.
Antipolo City First...
Mike Saguiguit was officially appointed as head coach of the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta men’s basketball program recently.
Anton Tamayo, the school board’s liaison officer in charge of the athletic program, announced Saguiguit’s new responsibility which covers both the high school and college basketball programs. He took...
I JUST sold my old car. Since it was my nephew buying it, I practically let him have my Lancer, the pizza type, practically for a song.
My dear, old gray ride never gave...
HYUNDAI Asia Resources Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai Passenger Cars (PC) gives more this Christmas with the MerrygaLOW Promo. Get big cash savings for this season’s family favorites—the STAREX, KONA, ACCENT, and REINA—from December 1 to December 31.
The Hyundai STAREX has established a legacy all its...
NEW YORK—“No New ‘Movies’ Till Influenza Ends” blared a New York Times headline on October 10, 1918, while the deadly second wave of the Spanish Flu was unfolding.
A century later, during another pandemic, movies—quotes no longer necessary—are again facing a critical juncture. But it’s not because new films...
I DO not like shopping. More so during the Christmas season. I find it tedious doing a shopping list, much less going out and braving the hordes of shoppers jockeying for the best prices, or rummaging along rows and rows of endless aisles looking for the perfect gift for family and friends. I...
NEW YORK—Oscar-nominated actor Elliot Page, the star of Juno, Inception and The Umbrella Academy, came out as transgender Tuesday in an announcement greeted as a watershed moment for the trans community in Hollywood. “I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer,” Page said in a statement on...
THIS year is challenging, to say the least, for many sectors. Aside from the pandemic, we were hit recently by more devastating typhoons. Because of all this, there have been many debates running in my head about this holiday season. Do we still prepare presents? How do...
ONE of the most common myths about breastfeeding is that it comes naturally to all mothers. However, the fact of the matter is that many women experience challenges in doing so.
In the Sekaya Prescribing Nature Series: Mommy, Are You Okay?, Synnovate Pharma Corp., the natural products company of...
A LOT of people these days are into minimalist architecture, also known as minimalism. A quote from French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery sums it up—“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
Moreover, minimalist architecture sticks to...
SINCE the Covid-19 outbreak early in 2020, it’s been a challenging year for many local industries, including the property sector. Real-estate developers report about a decline in sales, project launches being put on-hold, and construction of ongoing developments being suspended or dramatically reduced.
On a positive note, however, the...
LONG before Covid-19 hit our planet, I had wanted to write about the widespread phenomenon spanning K-pop culture and the K-dramas it has spawned, amazed as I was by how it did not spare even the most jaded among my female friends. Not just a few former...
BEFORE I joined my current company, I had no idea what wastewater was. Apparently, I was not alone. According to a Maynilad-commissioned qualitative study in 2018, the public’s knowledge about wastewater—what it was, where it came from, where it all went—was little to none.
This poses a problem. How...
2020 may have been a challenging year for most of us, but we, at Megaworld Hotels believe that the best is yet to come.
With this, it is quite timely and significant that we gathered all our ten (10) homegrown hotels for the first time in one Christmas Tree...
THE country’s internet continues to improve based on a November report by Ookla, the global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence, testing applications and technology.
For fixed broadband, the latest report reflected the country’s average download speed at 28.69Mbps, a 262.71 percent increase from its download...
To complement the efforts of local governments to provide education for gainful employment, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime) together with SM Foundation, Don Bosco One TVET Phils. Inc and the City of Pasay launched the SM - Pasay Tech-voc Scholarship Program in line with the celebration of Pasay Day on December...
Identified as top performers in Philippine schools in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018, Pasig City Science High School and the Regional Science High School for Region VI shared best practices in their commitment to delivering quality education.
The representatives of...
DLSU lights up St. La Salle Hall, opens Lasallian 2020 Christmas Season
De La Salle University lights up the St. La Salle Hall to formally usher in the 2020 DLSU Christmas Season.
The lighting signaled the opening of the University’s activities this Advent under the program...
Eastwood Richmonde Hotel recently celebrated its tenth anniversary with a public virtual event streamed via its official Facebook page. Aptly entitled “Now and 10”, the online program commemorated a decade’s worth of warm, Filipino hospitality—from the time it opened its doors in 2010 to this day as it operates in the new...
Formed only this year, reon (stylized as all lowercase) is a duo composed of singer-songwriters Noah Glynn Alejandre and Reanne Julia Borela.
According to them, they got their name from Kanji characters (麗音)...
The rhythms of each passing day have lulled, pushed, pulled and shaken us each into our new (I won’t say normal) courses. Over months, we have taken to new realisations and revelations of the soul. Some who had never touched a wooden spoon before have now become masters of the oven. Some...
UE Jam Sessions, the music organization of the University East, recently launched the music video for the acoustic version of 'Lalaban Tayo' featuring chart-topping rapper, Gloc-9.
The original single champions the Filipino people’s unwavering spirit of bayanihan in solidarity with the health frontliners at...
For a talented singer who fascinates even the international audience, the opportunity to interpret a song written by an OPM stalwart is a major blessing in the same breath as wowing the likes of Simon Cowell and the British crowd, and especially in these difficult times.
Alisah Bonaobra’s latest...
“We will survive/We will never die” - Slapshock
Jamir Garcia wrote those words for the title track of his band Slapshock’s “Night Owls’ EP released in 2014. He did not live long enough to see his dream of deathlessness come true.
Last Thursday, Jamir was found...
By Ron Carucci
Fewer words in corporate vernacular induce a tighter wince than “accountability,” and for good reason. Companies and leaders have grappled with what it is and how to achieve it effectively for decades. Ask anyone if they look forward to their performance evaluation or periodic check-in with...
By Dana Sumpter & Mona Zanhour
It has become alarmingly clear that the Covid-19 pandemic is threatening women’s careers. In September 2020 alone, 865,000 women in the United States left the work force, compared to 216,000 men. Furthermore, 1 in 4 women in the country are considering leaving their...
By Rebecca Knight
Your employees’ needs are always varied. But right now, as many companies navigate a return to the office in some shape or form, your team members are likely contending with vastly different situations. Some have limited or no child care or are managing their kids’ online...
By Caroline Rees and Robert G. Eccles
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrust into the limelight the far-reaching effects that business has on vulnerable people in work forces and communities across the world, putting the imperative of tackling inequalities on a political par with climate change. What will this mean...
NOMADIC Bedouin tribes have flourished because of oases, where exhausted travelers take refuge.
After facing the wrath of a volcano and a deadly virus, the Filipino people could use an oasis these days, especially as cash flow is drying up. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) may have found...
THE world is your oyster; but don’t be one. For one, humans are far from being mollusks; for another, being sedentary doesn’t help, especially during lockdowns.
Being sedentary is doubly hard, and risky, for nearly four million Filipinos (3,993,300, according to the International Diabetes Foundation) with diabetes.
THE sky above the labor market has been shaded a light red as pink slips fell after the government attempted to sandbag a rampaging coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Latest data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported that as of October 25, 3.73 million workers were affected as lockdown...
THE Department of Energy (DOE) has repeatedly spread the gospel that full compliance with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) Act would result in profits, savings and sustainable economic development. The challenge, however, is how to compel government agencies and private entities to reduce their electricity and fuel consumption.
THE Embassy of Japan recently announced that its country’s new Ambassador-designate to the Philippines, Kazuhiko Koshikawa, set foot in Manila on November 26.
Upon his arrival, the diplomat expressed his firm commitment to build on the foundations of the long-standing partnership between Japan and the Philippines in a brief...
THE Swiss Embassy in Manila formally launched “Angels for Angels: A Christmas Solidarity Action” for the benefit of the Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation and the International Bazaar Foundation.
From November 21 onward, Christmas angels made from up-cycled materials will be sold at the Glorietta 2 Concierge, with proceeds...
IN observance of World AIDS Day on December 1, the Embassy of the United States in the Philippines announced the launch of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program, which will begin this month.
Through PEPFAR, the US government has committed more than P875 million ($18.2 million)...
