The reported trip of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the United States to meet with US president George W. Bush and presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will mark another low point in RP-US relations, according to the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.
“It will be an extravaganza of terror and economic plunder, the two [...]

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 [...]

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — A mayor of a mining-affected community and environmental groups today charged DENR Secretary Lito Atienza as favoring mining firms over local government units, after the latter issued a statement calling the provincial order by Nueva Vizcaya Governor Luisa Cuaresma to stop the mining operations of Oceana Gold “illegal”.
“Is DENR Sec. Lito Atienza [...]

In a statement to mark World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, WHO said the tobacco industry preys on the vulnerability of young people, knowing that they underestimate the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine. WHO called on policy-makers to support the ban on advertising, sponsorship and promotion.

MANILA, Philippines – Boos and chants greeted Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president Winston Garcia as he arrived at the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) compound in Pasig City for the annual Meralco stockholders’ meeting Tuesday morning. Read the story here.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is open to a meeting with advocates and stakeholders of biotechnology in a dialogue, according to Malolos Bishop Jose Oliveros.
Oliveros. who chairs the CBCP Office on Bioethics stressed a dialogue will [...]

Government System and Insurance Service president Winston Garcia has warned that, according to him, he would be “mobbed” and “jeered” in this morning’s Meralco stockholders meeting. He insists that for his own security, he be allowed to bring in a camera. Read the full story here.

MANILA, Philippines — The ease of doing business varies greatly among cities in the Philippines, according to “Doing Business in the Philippines 2008,” a new report launched today by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. The report addresses how cities can improve their business environments by sharing and adopting best practices. It [...]

Independent think-tank IBON Foundation criticizes the Department of Energy and Malacañang for passing the zero oil tariff cut, saying that reduced tariffs in the last three months has resulted in even higher prices of oil products.
Since the oil tariff was reduced from 3% to 2% in February and 2% to 1% in May, gasoline [...]

Pagbilao, Quezon, 24 May 2008–Greenpeace activists aboard Rainbow
Warrior, anchored alongside Pagbilao coal plant, painted the words ‘Quit
Coal’ on the hull of a 223 meter vessel ‘Sam John Spirit’ standing by to
unload yet another shipment of thousands of tons of coal at Pagbilao
power plant in the Philippines. The Rainbow Warrior is in the
Philippines on its [...]

They usually approach you in shopping malls and ask you if you already have a credit card. If you tell them that you don’t have one, they would then shove a paper in your hand, asking you to fill it up so you can enjoy the benefit of having a credit card. The banks have been increasingly using such a marketing tactic to encourage people to sign up for credit cards, which perhaps partly explains the explosion of credit-card use in the Philippines. But the next time one of these agents approach you, know this: a scam may have developed out of this aggressive marketing strategy by the banks.

San Miguel Corporation reported a strong start this year with first quarter consolidated revenues of P39.2 billion, up 11% over last year, driven by good results across the majority of its businesses.
Consolidated operating income of P3.85 billion is up 40% and net income of P11.0 billion is over four times [...]

San Miguel Pure Foods Company, Inc. (SMPFC) today reported both its 2008 first quarter and 2007 full-year results reflecting accelerated revenue growth, restructuring efforts and more efficient operations following a greater focus on innovation, productivity and cost controls.
Consolidated San Miguel Pure Foods revenues for the first three months grew by 18% to P16.05 billion [...]

iPhone will soon be available in the Philippines, thanks to Globe Telecom and its partner, SingTel. In a short statement on Monday, Globe said “Globe, SingTel, Bharti Airtel and Optus today announced that they have signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Australia later this year. More information will be released at a later date.”

This, of course, is great news to Filipinos who’ve been holding their breaths since iPhone’s launch.

A consumer group estimates that electricity customers in Metro Manila paid P84.6 billion to Meralco for so-called “system losses” from the period of 2003-2007. It says Meralco should not be passing on the cost of system losses to consumers and the government should not even be taxing it.