Union Debt Help
Paying off debt is a matter of making more money than you spend, and then allocating the extra funds to outstanding balances — easier said than done, right? To some it may be just that easy, but to most, debt is so common that it eventually becomes a way of life. In fact [...]

Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—One out of every five adult Filipinos is diabetic, according to the latest national survey on the prevalence of the disease.
And compared to a decade ago, more Filipino children may now be at risk of contracting diabetes due to the growing cases of childhood obesity, among other factors, according to a [...]

Reuters
Inquirer.net
LONDON, United Kingdom — Business leaders around the world back greater regulation in response to the global financial crisis, a survey showed on Wednesday, with support strongest for curbs on credit rating firms, hedge funds and structured finance.
Responses from more than 700 chief executives, chairmen, partners and directors across Asia, Europe and the United States [...]

Daxim Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—From “bad” to “really bad.”
This is the emerging sentiment among the country’s most influential businessmen and CEOs regarding the economic environment next year, results of a survey released Tuesday by the Makati Business Club (MBC) showed.
A big majority of businessmen expect a recession in 2009, a more difficult credit environment, and [...]

Philippine Daily Inquirer
SINGAPORE—Evidence of a weakening economy in China, rising bankruptcies in Japan, business confidence slumping in Australia and retail sales plunging in Britain reinforced fears of a prolonged global recession on Tuesday.
Investor optimism over China’s $586-billion stimulus package also collapsed in the face of dismal US corporate news including additional layoffs, a major bankruptcy [...]

Ron Nathan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES IN the US for the past two months were awful but this was expected and short sellers made money. For October, the figure was 240,000, about 40,000 more than expected, but the September figures were revised upwards dramatically to 284,000 so last month’s figure might well be revised to [...]

Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net
QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) has opened its seventh e-learning center in Loyola Heights under its eSkwela project.
The CICT through its Human Capital Development Group (CICT HCDG) launched in 2005 eSkwela to provide disadvantaged youth with educational opportunities to help reduce the digital divide and enhance their [...]

Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
Editor’s Note: Updated to correct figures in the story.
MAKATI City, Philippines – India’s Essar Group said it has completed its merger with US-based contact center firm PeopleSupport including operations in the Philippines.
The acquisition first announced in August was valued at approximately $250 million or $12.25 per share. This resulted in the merger between PeopleSupport [...]

Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
BRITISH banking giant HSBC sees developing countries in Asia in a much better position to withstand the current global financial turmoil than during the 1997-98 regional currency crisis.
While emerging Asia would slow down alongside the global downturn triggered by the US credit crunch, the region–the world’s fastest growing in the last few [...]

Honesto General
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Read part 1
IN THE FACE of this worldwide financial meltdown, a life insurance company has to grapple with its own unique problems.
If you own a factory with a heavy loan on it, and you are hopelessly unable to keep up the amortization, the bank could foreclose on the mortgage and take over [...]