“ANZ is lying through their teeth by saying they have no involvement in the OceanGold Didipio Gold-Copper mining project. The bank is listed as one of the top shareholders in the latest OceanaGold Corporation annual report,” said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of militant environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE).
Kalikasan PNE was among [...]

Quality assurance management services expanding
(Manila, Philippines, September 5, 2008) – Rapid growth of the Philippines software development industry is catalyzing the development of related support sectors such as quality assurance (QA) management and testing, said Nora Terrado, country manager of Headstrong, a global consulting and IT services film.
According to the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), [...]

By Annie Rose A. Laborte

A record 6,533 law graduates are set to take the 2008 Bar examinations to be held on all four Sundays of this month (September 7, 14, 21, and 28) at the De La Salle University (DLSU) in Taft Avenue, Manila. The 2008 Committee on Bar Examinations is chaired by Justice Dante [...]

MANILA — International and national non-government organizations press for measures to arrest high prices of medicines and strict implementation of penalty provisions as they present to Health Undersecretary Alex Padilla today their proposal of the IRR of the Cheaper Medicines Bill.
The proposed IRR that also seeks transparency and clearer accountabilities of public officials and government [...]

Statement by Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
WASHINGTON, Aug 29, 2008 — For the second time in a month, Philip Morris International has had to withdraw sponsorship and promotion of a concert in a developing country after coming under international criticism for engaging in cigarette marketing that appeals to children.
This time, Philip [...]

Anakpawis party-list Representative Rafael Mariano today dared President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to immediately disarm and dismantle the armed vigilante group Reform Ilaga Movement in the province of North Cotobato saying “the resurrection of the dreaded armed group will only escalate the armed conflict in the region and lead to massive human rights abuses.”
“We demand Ms Arroyo [...]

Health advocates led by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Alliance Philippines (FCAP) hailed as victory for the health sector
the pull-out of a tobacco company from the much-awaited Eraserheads
reunion concert this weekend.
Amidst this, FCAP lauded the Department of Health for standing firm in
its position against the involvement of Philip Morris Phils.
Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI) in the concert.
[...]

Bangsamoro Youth Leaders Forum
Press Statement
August 19, 2008
MORO YOUTH LEADERS PUSH FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
The Philippine government is once more trying to dupe the Bangsamoro people in its persistent desire to suppress the Moro’s inherent and legitimate right to govern themselves in accordance with the prescriptions of the Holy Qur’an. Still not contented with giving us [...]

By Kang Wu, Fereidun Fesharaki, Sidney B. Westley and Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja

HONOLULU (Aug. 25) — Concerns about energy security affect economic performance and political stability all over the world, but nowhere are these issues more critical than in Asia and the Pacific - and oil is at the heart of the region’s energy challenge.
Countries in Asia [...]

By Fr. Shay Cullen
Mary Ann, the daughter of a man who migrated from Finland to Australia and after he made a successful business, he came to live and marry in the Philippines. He died in a tragic death and his wife left with another man who wasted the family resources on vice and drugs. The [...]

August 7, 2008

Undersecretary Zenaida Cuison Maglaya
Department of Trade and Industry
Inter-Agency Committee-Tobacco
Makati City
Dear Madame,
Re: An Urgent Call for the IAC-T to Take Appropriate Legal and Enforcement Action regarding Philip Morris’ Sponsorship of the Eraserheads Reunion Concert Set on August 30, 2008, in violation of Sec. 26, RA [...]

Olympics Open on Bloody Anniversary
(New York, August 7, 2008) – Twenty years after the uprising in Burma, the military government continues to sharply restrict fundamental rights and violently suppress dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. The anniversary falls as the Olympic Games open in Beijing, while the Chinese government gives crucial support to Burma’s repressive [...]

New York, August 7, 2008—Motorcycle-riding gunmen killed radio commentator Martin Roxas today in the second brutal shooting of a broadcaster in the Philippines this week, according to local and international news reports.
Two men shot Roxas in the back as he drove his motorcycle from DYVR station in Roxas City, on the country’s central Panay island, [...]

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A radio broadcaster was killed on 7 August 2008 by a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle in Roxas City, Capiz. Capiz is approximately 411 kms southeast of Manila.
Martin Roxas, program director of dyKR-Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) in Roxas, was shot in the nape. Roxas was himself on a motorcycle. He was pronounced [...]

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an international anti-smoking group, has likewise praised singer Alicia Keys for forcing ****** to withdrawal as sponsor of her concert in Indonesia.

Singapore & Hong Kong, June 18, 2008 –IDC announced today the results of a regional survey exploring the use and impact of online advertising in Asia, which showed that Internet ads are seen as informative but often relatively weak in prompting consumers to make a buying decision. The survey, which included both Asian consumers and [...]

Figures from the Department of Education (DepEd) show that participation rate at the elementary level, or the percentage of children aged 7-12 who are enrolled in public and private elementary schools, has fallen from 96.95% in SY 1999-2000 to 83.22% in SY 2006-2007.

PALAWAN, Philippines — Northern Palawan farmers whose only source of income was slash-and-burn agriculture that nets them 10 cavans of rice for each hectare annually now have a new livelihood, thanks to a non-government organization (NGO) led by a UP Los Banos graduate who never thought he would stay for keeps in the country’s last [...]