FRENCH LIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES

LES SALAIRES   …   AUGMENTENT ? Ou diminuent ?   More than two million Filipinos should see a difference in their pay packets this month, after the authorities in Manila decided a cost-of-living allowance should be tacked on to the minimum wage. From this Thursday, an extra 22 pesos ($0.50; £0.31) will be added to the standard 404-peso daily salary, in recognition of the rising price of food and other essentials in the capital. Wage boards in the rest of the country are likely to adopt similar policies in the coming months. But while the additional money will undoubtedly be welcomed, it falls far short of what many low-earners had been hoping for. Labour unions had lobbied for a 75-100 peso wage increase. And unlike a rise in the minimum wage, the new allowance will apply only to basic earnings, not overtime or bonus pay. 'Hand to mouth' “Start Quote It's become much harder to budget than it was before” EvieStall owner It is not hard to see why people want more m...

The crime was described as "the rape of the ocean." Poachers decimated an entire "reef complex"--almost twice as big as Manila--off the coast of Cotabato province when they harvested more than 21,000 pieces of black coral and killed 161 endangered turtles and other marine life, officials said. One of the turtles killed was a male aged 80 to 100 years old. Bureau of Customs officials intercepted the contraband two weeks ago and recovered 134 bundles, or 21,169 pieces, of "sea fan" black corals and 15 bundles, or 196 kilograms, of "sea whip" black corals. "The Moro Gulf and the Sulu Sea off Cotabato are supposed to be unexplored reef areas but with this collection, we can see that they have also been disturbed," said Ludivina Labe, a senior marine biologist of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). "It's like a forest that has been cut down," Labe said. "One reef complex was decimated." Labe sp...

That's according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations, commissioned by the BusinessWorld daily, and reported in all major newspapers except one. According to the SWS survey undertaken March 4 to 7, 27.2 percent of respondents reported they were jobless. The downward trend is pretty clear: the unemployment rate was 23.5 percent in November 2010, and 20.5 percent when President Aquino assumed office. If the SWS findings are extrapolated to represent national data, the March jobless rate means that Mr. Aquino has presided over an economy in which in just nine months 2.8 million were added to the ranks of the jobless, now totaling 11.3 million. It will get worse by the time Mr. Aquino marks his first year in office. UP economist Raul Fabella was quoted as saying that the unemployment rate will rise in June as college students who graduated end of March normally do not immediately get work. Based on the SWS figures, Mr. Aquino now has the distinction of being the ...

CHEDENG  ...  EN APPROCHE ! Storm signal raised over several Provinces! State weather forecasters warned Metro Manila residents Wednesday they may feel the wrath of tropical storm "Chedeng" (Songda), which it said had been moving westward for the last few hours. Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) officer-in-charge and Science Undersecretary Graciano Yumul Jr. said there is a "scenario" that Chedeng may hit Samar, then Bicol, and then Metro Manila. "Kapag tumama sa Samar, base sa climatological record, ang susunod na tatamaan Bicol. At kung tumama sa Bicol, ang posibilidad na tatamaan ang Metro Manila ay naroon po. Yun ang second scenario para di mabigla ang ating kababayan na may ganoong posibilidad. Samar-Bicol-Metro Manila ang track line," Yumul said in an interview on dwIZ radio. He said PAGASA is still gathering data and may be able to better assess by noon the chances of Chedeng hitting Me...

CHINESE JETS INVADED THE PHILIPPINES AIRSPACE ? The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday (May 19) said it was validating reports that Chinese jet fighters had entered the country's airspace around the disputed Spratly chain near Palawan province but conceded it had no capability to detect and intercept the alleged intrusions. Philippine military chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban said the military was checking the intelligence reports, but admitted that the AFP does not have the capability to detect or monitor such intrusions, and even if it does, it has no power to intercept them anyway. "In terms of capability, No. 1, we don't actually have the detection and monitoring capability, we don't have radars to check if indeed they intruded into our airspace," he said. "No. 2, if indeed we have that capability, we need interdiction. We also have no capability to interdict or to intercept, which is why the first option is to lodge a diplomatic protest...

Mar Roxas sera-t-il le nouveau Messie, celui qui saura conseiller et orienter un Président un peu déboussolé ? The question of whether deposed Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos should be buried in a cemetery for national heroes is one President Benigno Aquino feels he cannot make for the nation that elected him to lead it. So instead, people can SMS their opinion on where Marcos should be buried, like voting for an American Idol contestant, to help decide the government's position. And it's not the only decision Aquino seems to be having trouble making. A reluctant president who won office in a landslide last year, Aquino has never really got out of campaign mode, fixated on pursuing the former administration and talking of major reforms without yet delivering a substantive agenda. The danger is that this becomes yet another lost opportunity for the Southeast Asian nation, as investors' initial optimism on Aquino fades and his main political strength of high p...

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III   was not home Saturday morning to receive the returning boxing hero Manny Pacquiao. At the invitation of the American ambassador, Mr.   Aquino   led senior members of his Cabinet on a hush-hush visit to the American nuclear-powered carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, from where terrorist Osama bin Laden was buried at sea following his killing by US Navy Seals on May 2. The warship, escorted by three other vessels, is scheduled to dock in Manila Bay on Sunday in what the United States Embassy said is a four-day "routine port call and goodwill visit that highlights the strong historic, community and military connections between the US and the Philippines." Mr. Aquino was given a special tour of the US Navy aircraft carrier while she was out at sea on Saturday, according to the US embassy. The aircraft carrier is coming from the North Arabian Sea, where it had received the US Seal teams who carried Bin Laden's body after killing the al...