I. BANNER STORIES
NFA rice auction fails
Tender for 675,000 MT attracts only 1 bidder
By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:56:00 05/06/2008
THE PHILIPPINES, THE WORLD’S biggest rice importer, failed to buy new supplies of the staple on Monday after its auction attracted only one bidder, plunging Asia’s rice market into uncertainty.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080506-134794/NFA-rice-auction-fails
Palace with GSIS all the way
By Marvin Sy
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Malacañang vowed yesterday to support the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) all the way in the pension fund’s clamor for full disclosure of the financial books of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505179
3. Manila Times
Lobby perils medicines bill
Health official sees concerted effort to stop law’s signing
By Ruben D. Manahan 4th Reporter
Foreign pharmaceutical giants in the Philippines might throw a monkey wrench into the signing into law of a congressional bill batting for lower-priced medicines.
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/may/06/yehey/top_stories/20080506top1.html
4. Malaya
675,000-ton rice tender scrapped
Lone seller found not qualified
THE Philippines yesterday scrapped a tender for 675,000 tons of rice but set an auction for 163,000 tons for the private sector later in the week.
Vietnam’s state-owned Vinafood II, the sole bidder at the tender, failed to supply a bank guarantee, said Ludovico Jarina, deputy administrator of the National Food Authority.
http://www.malaya.com.ph/may06/news1.htm
EVAT on electricity stays
Palace rejects move, says it will impair gov’t finances
Malacañang rejects calls to suspend EVAT on power
By GENALYN D. KABILING
Malacañang yesterday rejected calls for the suspension of the Expanded Value-Added Tax (EVAT) on electricity supposedly to lower energy costs in the country, saying it would do more harm than good for the people.
http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080506123749.html
Meralco management change target — Garcia
05/06/2008
Where earlier he categorically denied government’s plan to wrest control of Manila Electric Co., Winston Garcia, president of cash-rich state pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), openly spoke yesterday of “changing the present management” of dominant power distributor Meralco.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20080506hed1.html
7. Abante
PATI LUGI MAY TAX!
Nina BOYET JADULCO, ROSE MIRANDA, TINA MENDOZA, ERALYN PRADO, GRACE VELASCO at NOEL ABUEL
Mahigpit na hiniling kahapon ni Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero sa Malacañang na tigilan na ang “pangunguryente” sa ilang milyong electric consumers sa bansa.
Ayon Escudero, hindi umano makatuwiran na patawan ng expanded value added tax (EVAT) ang mga ipinapasa sa mga consumers na “systems loss” ng Manila Electric Company (Meralco) at ng iba pang hindi maipaliwanag na distribution charges ng kumpanya.
http://www.abante.com.ph/issue/may0608/default.htm
Bakla sa Santacruzan kinontra ng Cardinal
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Kung si Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales ang masusunod, ipagbabawal niya ang paglahok ng mga bakla sa tradisyunal na Santacruzan o Flores de Mayo.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Bansa&p=50&type=2&sec=54&aid=2008050560
10. Journal
MORE OIL PRICE HIKES
By: Vic Lopez
Gov’t helpless, Energy chief admits
ENERGY Secretary Angelo T. Reyes yesterday warned of more increases in local oil pump prices which will last until July this year.
In a meeting with top executives of the oil companies, Reyes was informed the firms still have huge under-recoveries. This means that local oil prices would continue to increase every week once these under-recoveries are implemented on a staggered basis. The adjustment could either be 50 centavos or P1 per liter.
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2008-05-06&sec=1&aid=58589
11. Business World
No respite from fuel price hikes
Oil firms claim at least P6/liter in ‘underrecoveries’
LOCAL FUEL PRICES will continue to increase, with oil companies yesterday announcing that they still had to recover at least P6 per liter in the coming weeks.
Industry executives, speaking at a meeting called by the Energy department, defended the latest price hike of P1 per liter as having been prompted by continuing world crude price increases.
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW050608/content.php?id=001
12. Business Mirror
Alert raised on fresh price surges
By Jun Vallecera
Reporter
THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is on full alert against price surges and vowed Monday to act decisively as or when inflation expectations unravel and so-called second-round effects begin to be felt.
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/05062008/headlines01.html
II. POLITICAL
Palace says Hanjin not pulling out of country
By Christine Avendaño, Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 01:58:00 05/06/2008
ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S biggest foreign investors, South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries Inc., has sent word it is “inclined to stay” in the Philippines after rejecting allegations of involvement in bribery.
GSIS planning to file fraud charges against Meralco
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:42:00 05/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines--The government service Insurance System is planning to file fraud charges against the Lopez-controlled management of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) over a P30-billion billing fiasco, GSIS Chair Winston Garcia told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday.
P6-P7 fuel price increase seen
By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:36:00 05/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Tighten your seatbelts.
After last weekend’s surprise P1-a-liter hike in the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, consumers will have to brace themselves for more price increases in the coming weeks, particularly, for socially sensitive diesel.
Joker: Only the Lopezes know how to run Meralco
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:37:00 05/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines--Nobody knows how to run Meralco except the Lopezes.
Administration Sen. Joker Arroyo made this declaration in the face of moves by the Arroyo administration, through the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), to wrest control of the country’s most coveted utility company from the Lopez family.
Arroyo move smacks of Marcos, say leftist solons
By Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:41:00 05/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines--It’s all about politics, not lowering power rates.
The leftist bloc in the House of Representatives yesterday said President Macapagal-Arroyo was simply following in the footsteps of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in her administration’s bid to take over the Lopez-owned Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
Cambodia leader allays fears of Asia rice cartel
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Agence France-Presse
First Posted 06:45:00 05/06/2008
Phnom Penh—Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Monday said that a proposed OPEC-style rice cartel in Southeast Asia would ensure global food security, rejecting concerns that such an economic bloc would aggravate hunger and poverty.
Malaysia FM, Romulo to meet on monitors
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:46:00 05/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim will hold talks in Manila with Filipino officials after Kuala Lumpur said it would pull out its monitoring team from troubled Mindanao, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Outgoing CHR chief scores gov’t
By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:51:00 05/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines--DESPITE THE ROSY REPORT ON THE Philippine human rights situation it presented before the United Nations, the government has failed to “promptly address” the rash of extrajudicial killings in the country, the outgoing chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Monday.
Hanjin staying in RP – Palace
By Paolo Romero
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Korean shipbuilding giant Hanjin has expressed its intention to continue investing in the Philippines despite a looming Senate investigation into allegations of bribery and extortion hounding its $2-billion shipyard project in Misamis Oriental, Malacañang said yesterday.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505181
No takers for RP tender for rice
By Marianne Go
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The Philippines failed to buy 675,000 metric tons of rice yesterday, compelling the National Food Authority (NFA) to declare a failure of bidding.
Only Vietnam took part in yesterday’s bid for a Philippine tender to buy the rice to increase its buffer stock.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505182
Multinational firms to block cheap drugs law implementation – DOH official
By Helen Flores
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Even as multinational drug firms are expected to block before the Supreme Court the implementation of the “Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008,” Filipinos can avail themselves of cheaper medicines by the end of the year, health officials said yesterday.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505183
CHR chief ends term, cites failures
By Katherine Adraneda
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Outgoing Commission on Human Rights chairperson Purificacion Quisumbing yesterday noted the CHR’s failure to find disappeared persons as among the constitutional body’s shortcomings in efforts to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505184
Razon takes exception to UN report on journalists
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. branded as inaccurate the report of the United Nations Committee to Protect Journalists that the Philippines is one of 13 countries that are the worst offenders in letting killers of journalists get away with murder.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505185
Nani accuses Ombudsman of violating his rights
By Edu Punay
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Former justice secretary Hernando “Nani” Perez accused the Ombudsman yesterday of violating his constitutional right to a speedy trial for the six-year delay of its investigation on the extortion case filed against him.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505186
SWS poll: Involuntary hunger dips in first quarter
By Helen Flores
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Filipinos who have experienced hunger in the past three months declined slightly even as a majority of them expressed dissatisfaction with the way the Arroyo administration is addressing the problem, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported yesterday.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505188
Public transport operators to get P2 fuel subsidy
By Rainier Allan Ronda
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The government may extend a P2 per liter fuel subsidy to all public utility vehicle operators for at least three months to help them cope with skyrocketing fuel prices.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505192
Esperon sees no more destabilization threats vs GMA
By James Mananghaya
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Outgoing Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon would leave the military service a week from now, with a more stable political situation after quelling threats from destabilizers who wanted to overthrow the government.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505193
Employers caution wage boards
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The business community yesterday cautioned the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) nationwide against the granting of excessive salary increases.
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080505195
House minority says no to Cha-cha
Ben R. Rosario
The minority bloc in the House of Representatives has reached a consensus to junk any move to amend the 1987 Constitution, including one that their Senate ally, Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel Jr., has initiated.
http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080506123757.html
Senate, House feud looms anew over Hanjin probe
By Angie M. Rosales
05/06/2008
Another “word war” is in the offing between the two houses of Congress as Senate probers yesterday vowed to pursue the alleged P400-million bribe offer made by Hanjin Heavy Industries Construction Co. Ltd. (Hanjin) while President Arroyo’s allies in the House of Representatives urged their colleagues in the Senate to keep their hands off the issue.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20080506hed4.html
Senado pinalalayo sa P400-M suhulan sa Hanjin project
SA pangambang mauwi sa pamumulitika na posibleng makadiskaril sa tiwala ng mga banyagang mamumuhunan, umapela ang mga kongresista sa Senado na hayaan na lamang ang Office of the Ombudsman, Departments of Interior and Local Government at Justice na magsiyasat sa napabalitang panunuhol at pangongotong kaugnay sa $2 bilyong shipyard project ng South Korean Hanjin Heavy Industries Inc.
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2008-05-06&sec=4&aid=58548
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