Dispatches

Probe panel maintains President’s immunity to suits; complainants’ lawyer walks out

By Jesus Llanto
Researcher,Newsbreak

March 26, 2008–The Ombudsman’s investigating panel on the botched national broadband deal on Tuesday denied the motion to subpoena President Arroyo to its hearings, prompting the complainants’ lawyer to walk out of the session.

Lawyer Jose de Jesus, spokesman for the investigating panel, said that the panel ruled that it does not have the jurisdiction over Ms. Arroyo because she is immune from suits while she is sitting as President.

The President, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos, and former National Economic and Development Authority chair Romulo Neri are among the respondents to the complaint filed by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona.

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Sectoral groups, government officials and individuals supporting the administration of President Arroyo have spent at least P5 million in advertisements in three major broadsheets over the past three weeks.

Based on Newsbreak’s calculations, supporters of the Arroyo administration forked out P5.121 million for advertisements in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine Star, and the Manila Bulletin from February 16-March 10, 2008.

These advertisements have commonly expressed confidence in Arroyo’s leadership and called for sobriety in the wake of the National Broadband Network (NBN) corruption scandal. <strong>(abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak)

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By Jesus F. Llanto

Mindanao has remained the poorest of the three island groups in the Philippines in nearly a decade, and the government’s anti-poverty agency is blaming it on the war and the lack of basic infrastructure in parts of the South.

By Jesus Llanto
Researcher, Newbsreak
March 5, 2008

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is once again the poorest region in the country with more than half its families classified as poor, official statistics from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed.

Poverty incidence in ARMM, according to the 2006 Official Poverty Statistics, reached 55.3 percent, a 9.9 percent increase from 2003’s 45.4 percent.

This is not the first time that ARMM’s registered the highest poverty incidence. In 2000, the region was the country’s poorest with a 53.8 percent poverty incidence. Three years later, it was dislodged as the poorest region by CARAGA (Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur).

Statistics showed that the incidence of poverty in the pre-dominantly Muslim region is more than two times the national average of 26.9 percent.

Incidentally, three of ARMM’s six provinces—Tawi-tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur—were also among the ten poorest provinces in the country in 2006. Tawi-tawi had the highest poverty incidence of 78.9 percent among 81 provinces. This means that almost eight out of ten families in this province do not earn the minimum income to meet their food and non-food needs. Maguindanao had the third highest poverty incidence at 62 percent while Lanao del Sur ranked sixth with 52.5 percent. (Newsbreak/abs-cbnnews.com)

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By Jesus Llanto
Researcher, Newsbreak
March 4, 2008

Recruitment consultant says parents need to be convinced that there’s career growth prospects for their children at BPO companies.

It’s like asking for your girlfriend’s hand in marriage–you have to meet her parents, and meet their expectations.

Parents, according to a recruitment consultant, are a key for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to retaining skilled and talented workers, amid the industry’s growing problem with high turnovers.

In a recent forum on talent development and acquisition organized by JobsDB.com in Makati City, Jamea Garcia, executive director for talent development of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), advised BPO companies to give parents a tour of their facilities and acquaint them on the career possibilities that their children have in the industry.

“[Parents] think that work in the industry is simply answering phones and they do not know it involves a variety of work,” Garcia said.

The open house sessions, she said, should be an opportunity to convince parents that “there is a career in the outsourcing and offshoring industry.” (Newsbreak/abs-cbnnews.com)

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Photo Credit: Flickr

Human resources and recruitment specialists on Thursday said Philippine companies should adopt a “non-traditional” approach to keeping skilled and talented employees to minimize the high turnovers that have been experienced lately in at least seven industries.

In a forum on talent acquisition and development organized by JobsDB.com in Makati City, the speakers acknowledged that more and more companies are losing their workers due to more financially-rewarding opportunities in rival companies, in other industries, or abroad. It’s possible, they said, to convince workers to stay without always offering a heftier pay.

Cesar Baltazar, president of career training and consulting company iCareer Academy, said that most companies here still use the traditional approach in talent retention, where the emphasis is on preventing workers from leaving. Most of the time, this involves only offers of higher pay.

Companies, he said, should try another approach–giving workers reasons to stay with the company. These may include providing them incentives, professional development opportunities, and good working environment.

Baltazar said that while migration has brought “glowing opportunities” to Filipinos and has kept the Philippine economy afloat through remittances, it has left local companies scrambling for top talents in order to stay productive and competitive. (Newsbreak/abs-cbnnews.com)

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Photo Credit: Flickr.