July 12, 2008 Mind Bullet Inc.
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I.BANNER STORIES

1. Philippine Daily Inquirer


Diesel, LPG prices up again
New rates take effect at 6 a.m.
By Abigail L. HoPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 23:56:00 07/11/2008
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MANILA, Philippines--After giving the public its first taste of a rollback in months, oil companies have hiked fuel prices yet again, this time those of diesel and kerosene by P1.50 a liter.
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices also went up by P1.00 a kilogram.
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Seaoil Philippines, Eastern Petroleum Corp. and Unioil Petroleum Philippines will charge the new prices at 6 a.m. this Saturday.
An industry source attributed the price increase to the continuing rise of diesel prices in the world market, coupled with a stronger dollar.
The source said there would be "no movement for gasoline this weekend.”
A number of oil companies last Thursday reduced gasoline prices by P1.00 a liter, saying they had made small margins that they said they passed on to motorists in the form of lower pump prices.
No such relief was possible for diesel, as its international price continues to rise, they said.
The source said it would be impossible at this point to give any price reductions for diesel or even to leave prices as they are.
According to data from the Department of Energy, the regional benchmark Dubai crude oil price jumped to a July average of $137.23 a barrel from $127.82 last month.
The price of unleaded gasoline based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) benchmark for refined petroleum products rose to an average of $144.12 a barrel in the July 1-10 period from $140.30 in June, and diesel surged to an average of $176.86 a barrel from $169.36 in June
18 times
Since the start of the year, gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices have risen 18 times, with increments totaling P18 a liter for gasoline and P19.50 a liter for diesel and kerosene.
Prices of premium unleaded gasoline are now between P58.75 and P60.98 a liter, diesel between P53.00 and P54.97, and kerosene between P57.10 and P60.30 a liter, inclusive of the 12 percent value-added tax.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080711-147919/Diesel-LPG-prices-up-again


2. The Philippine Star

De la Paz urged to tell allBy Aurea Calica Saturday, July 12, 2008
With her sudden exit from the Social Security System still shrouded in mystery, former administrator Corazon de la Paz is now being urged to bare all that she knows about the pension fund, including possible attempts by the Arroyo administration to use it for vested interests.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano issued the challenge as he called on De la Paz to do what retired Civil Service Commission chairperson Karina David did when she retired – she spoke out to denounce the “worsening politicization” at the CSC.
De la Paz’s recent resignation was fraught with controversy because her replacement turned out to be acting Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri, who clammed up and invoked executive privilege at a Senate inquiry last year to prevent President Arroyo from getting implicated in the national broadband network scandal.
Cayetano said De la Paz should make a final report and disclose where all the SSS funds were invested.
“We must know the financial health of SSS because even past administrations were known to have used the agency’s funds not just for political purposes but to help cronies financially,” Cayetano said. “This is one way to ensure transparency.”
Cayetano said De la Paz should identify congressmen, ambassadors and Cabinet secretaries who were not paying their premiums and those who were asking SSS to fund various political activities.
“We also hear about huge bonuses and salaries of SSS workers. This involves a lot (of private sector) money and we should all be aware of how funds are being spent, especially now when a lot of businesses may be in trouble,” Cayetano said.
But Dela Paz stressed there are enough safeguards against misuse of SSS funds.
“It is not easy to dip into the funds of SSS because there is an SSS commission,” she said.
Dela Paz earlier challenged Neri to do more than what she had accomplished during her seven-year stint at the agency, guard the funds of the SSS and ensure that these would not be misused.
Cayetano said Dela Paz still has until Aug. 1 to make sure that the SSS funds are safe despite the change of leadership.
In her resignation letter to Mrs. Arroyo dated June 18, Dela Paz cited personal reasons for her decision to quit.
But she also admitted having drawn the ire of certain quarters because of the widespread reforms she implemented in the agency.
“You do what is right... so we collect from congressmen, ambassadors, and even members of the Cabinet. Sometimes we bring them to court for not paying premiums,” said Dela Paz when asked if her actions disappointed people close to the President.
While saying that some of her actions might have angered some quarters, she refused to link this to her resignation.
She said she was getting old and “does not want to die in government service.”
In her resignation letter, she said she needed to “attend to her personal affairs.”
In her last press conference as SSS chief, Dela Paz urged the media to be vigilant in their coverage and make sure that SSS funds would only be used for its members.
She reported that the reforms she put in place have extended the life of SSS funds from the previous 2015 to 2036, even as she raised the contribution rate to 9.4 percent from 8.4 percent previously, the first increase in 24 years.
She reported that the pension fund’s net income in the first quarter of 2007 rose to P12.34 billion from only P2.01 billion in the same period last year.
The income included proceeds from the sale of the SSS stake in Banco de Oro amounting to P9.09 billion.
This year, SSS is eyeing a net income of P21.5 billion or a 13-percent increase from the P12.13 billion recorded last year.
Dela Paz also hoped that Neri would continue pushing for amendments to the charter of the SSS, particularly providing for a fixed term of six years for the SSS president.
At present, the SSS president does not have a fixed term. Dela Paz said this should be amended, as it would help ensure stability in the pension fund.
As of December, SSS funds amounted to P247.74 billion, she said.
No misuse of funds
Malacañang gave assurance yesterday that it would not use SSS funds to finance pro-poor programs of the Arroyo administration despite the appointment of Neri as its president.
“That (SSS fund) won’t be used,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told dzRH. “The thing is, President Arroyo believes that there should be one oversight over the social welfare projects.”
Ermita made the assurance after some lawmakers, including Sen. Manuel Roxas II, warned that President Arroyo might dip her hands into SSS funds for her programs.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. expressed suspicion over Malacañang’s unprecedented act of conferring a Cabinet rank to an SSS administrator, who is tasked to manage some P248 billion in investments and assets.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza told a news conference that the warnings of possible funds misuse were misplaced.
“Who says we are using the funds? You are just assuming it. As Cora de la Paz said, let us give Neri the opportunity to perform and he will be judged accordingly,” Dureza said.
He said the accusers “have to be specific” in their allegations.
The government earlier gave out P4 billion worth of subsidies and other forms of cash assistance for poor families funded by the increased value-added tax revenues on oil. These came in electricity and education subsidies, and scholarships.
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said the administration is poised to give out at least P4 billion more in assistance to the poor as the government continues to earn more from VAT as oil prices continue to increase.
MBC suspicious of Neri
The Makati Business Club yesterday expressed doubts over Neri’s independence and moral courage.
“In the Senate’s NBN-ZTE hearings, he chose not to heed the people’s clamor for truth in order to prevent the President from being implicated,” MBC said in a statement.
“Will he be able to resist the importuning from various administration allies to dip into the P248 billion in the pension fund’s coffers? Trust funds must be managed by the trustworthy for the benefit of the fundowners,” it said.
The MBC added that it is also questioning the inclusion of the SSS among the agencies whose social welfare initiatives will be consolidated under the National Social Welfare Program.
“Unlike the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DOH), the SSS is not a social welfare agency. The Social Security Act of 1997 states that the social security system shall ‘provide meaningful protection to members and their beneficiaries.’ Thus, SSS funds are reserved for the benefit of the 27 million SSS members, including minimum-wage workers, who give regular contributions and not meant to be used for government dole-out programs,” MBC stressed.
“It must also be emphasized that the money being managed by the SSS is private, and not government money, and is therefore not for the government to dispense with as economic or political exigencies demand,” it said.
The business group also emphasized that it is inappropriate for President Arroyo to choose the SSS administrator to head the National Social Welfare Program.
“Social security is not social welfare. The DSWD secretary would be the more logical choice to coordinate the government’s social welfare efforts. Or was the appointment made to justify Cabinet status?”
“How convenient that Mr. Neri will enjoy Cabinet rank in his new position, which allows him to continue to hide under the cloak of executive privilege and evade a full accounting of his knowledge of the President’s role in the anomalous NBN-ZTE deal,” MBC said.
“It is sad that the SSS may again fall prey to political interests, especially after (resigned SSS president) Cora de la Paz restored and strengthened the agency’s financial viability,” it added. With Paolo Romero, Michael Punongbayan and Iris Gonzales
http://philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=2008071184




3. Manila Times

Food prices to stay stable
Hikes forecast in canned goods, says DTI official
By Ben Arnold O. De Vera, Researcher
Prices of the majority of basic commodities are most likely to remain stable until the end of the third quarter of 2008, Secretary Peter Favila of the Department of Trade and Industry said Friday.
He had just finished consulting other government agencies and product producers and sellers during the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) meeting.
“We don’t see any price movements from July until September, after which the holiday season comes, and as what usually happens during that time of year, some products’ prices would increase,” Favila said.
The Trade department said in a statement that the current prices would prevail for pan de sal (Filipinos’ version of rolls) and other bread varieties; meat products, such as chicken and pork; eggs; fish such as bangus (milkfish), tilapia and galunggong (scad); vegetables such as carrots, eggplant, native pechay (a leafy vegetable), okra, tomato and radish; well-refined and brown sugar; and rice from the National Food Authority.
Canned goods prices
Prices of canned goods and processed-meat products, though, are likely to go up.
Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya confirmed that manufacturers of these commodities have proposed price adjustments for July. She said the manufacturers had cited increases in prices of imported raw materials. According to Maglaya, many local canneries use cans molded from tin plates bought abroad.
The Tin Can Makers Association of the Philippines said a 202-millimeter by 306-millimeter tin can usually used to pack sardines and luncheon meat now costs P3.40 apiece, from P3.05 in June.
Favila said stiff competition for raw materials used in steelworks, such as iron ore, which has been in great demand in China, could lead the local steel industry to adjusting steel prices. But Maglaya said the Trade department expects low local demand for steel from the country’s construction sector in next few months, the so-called lean season.
Price-hike mechanics
During the meeting of the NPCC, manufacturers and retailers who attended the meeting agreed that they would first consult the government on potential price increases for their products. The government would then study the producers’ reasons for their proposed price adjustments. If it deems the proposal as fair enough to both the manufacturers and retailers and consumers, it will help announce the price increases to the public.
“The manufacturers have promised us that they would immediately notify us so that we could inform the public of price movements,” Favila said. “We don’t want speculations, they confuse the public,” he added.
Maglaya said most people perceive that soaring oil prices directly result in increased prices of goods. Favila mentioned currency adjustments for imported raw materials and the economic crunch felt worldwide as two other reasons behind costlier products and services.
Maglaya clarified that the Trade department is not imposing price controls. She said that except in Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Iloilo, central provinces ravaged by Typhoon Frank and were placed under a state of calamity, there are no price restrictions elsewhere in the country.
She pointed out that under the law, price controls are implemented only when certain areas are declared as under a state of calamity and when there are unreasonable price increases. Since no such increases are happening in the country, imposing price controls is not necessary, Maglaya said.
Steven Cua, the president of the retailers’ group Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association, said they are open to the government’s request for the group to inform the government ahead of any price adjustments in the goods they sell. He conceded that consumers have been stretching their budgets as much as they could, and that manufacturers and retailers do not want to resort to increasing prices of their goods.
http://manilatimes.net/national/2008/july/12/yehey/top_stories/20080712top1.html


4. Malaya


Gloria 'addiction'to VAT slammedBishop says she is floating on Cloud 9
BY GERARD NAVAL
THE government is insisting on retaining the value added-tax on oil because it does not really know how its effects are making the common Filipino suffer, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said yesterday.
He said officials living in Malacañang are detached from reality.
"Hindi pa sila bumabagtas sa kalye, lumalakad kasama ang mga mahihirap. ito po ang hirap ng nakatira ... doon sa 'Cloud 9,'" Cruz said over Church-run Radio Veritas.
"Hindi nila alam yung tahanan ng mga tao na nagkakamay para masubuan ng kaunting kanin at ulam," he added.
Cruz said what has actually been happening in the country is contradictory to President Arroyo's declarations of moving toward better living conditions.
"Pitong taon na po ito na wala namang sinabi kundi para sa pag-unlad ng bayan. para sa mahihirap. para sa ganito. Pero, paano ba naman ito? Lalo pa tayong humihirap, lalo pa tayong gumugulo, lalong dumadami ang tao sa lansangan na naghi-himagsik at nagpuputok ang kalooban," said Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
The CBCP on Monday called on the government to revisit its economic policies, including the VAT on oil and the oil deregulation law, amid continuing escalation of prices of oil and basic commodities.
The CBCP also said government should study whether the income from the oil VAT is helping the people who have been suffering through high prices triggered by the tax.
On Wednesday, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Arroyo and her economic managers will meet with the bishops to explain to them the government's stand on VAT and what is being done to cushion the impact of higher prices.
"Among others, the government will explain to them the government subsidies, the windfall money from VAT and why we are opposed to lifting VAT. The bottom line is, it will be explained to them that the VAT helps generate funds for projects that in the end would help improve the lives of the poor," he said.
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said the meeting was set for next week.
On Thursday, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP president, said he was not aware of any meeting between the CBCP and Malacañang. He added any such meeting might be futile because bishops do not have enough competence to discuss certain economic matters.
Yesterday, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said there is ongoing effort to set up a dialogue between the CBCP and Arroyo's economic managers.
A meeting between Arroyo and some prelates led by Cebu Archbishop Cardinal Ricardo Vidal was held in Malacanang Wednesday night. But the discussions centered on health and reproductive issues.
The United Opposition reiterated its call for the scrapping of the oil VAT as it denounced what it said was the government's failure to come up with a plausible plan to forestall an economic crisis.
"For a president who claims to be an economist, the lack of preparation for increased oil prices is not only embarrassing but also reinforces people's doubts about her competence, both in the field of economics and in terms of leading the country," said UNO spokesman Adel Tamano.
Tamano said the Arroyo presidency is hiding behind "world market developments' as a catch-all excuse for its mismanagement of the economy.
San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, UNO-NCR chair, said the government's decision to "tenaciously hold" on to VAT shows the Arroyo administration and her cronies' "greed for cash at the expense of Juan dela Cruz."
"The lack of interest of the government to remove the burdensome EVAT on basic commodities including oil shows how insensitive GMA and her cronies are to the rock-bottom poverty of her countrymen," Ejercito said. - With Jocelyn Montemayor
http://www.malaya.com.ph/jul12/news1.htm



5. Manila Bulletin

Fishing industry appeals for help


Villar seeks fuel, livelihood subsidies for small fishermen Fishing industry seeks gov’t help, meets with VillarBy ED MAHILUMLeaders of the fishing industry met yesterday with Senate President Manuel B. Villar Jr. to appeal for his help in recovering from the effects of the recent typhoon and ever increasing cost of fuel.
Meeting with the officials of the Alliance of Philippine Fishing Federations at the Navotas Fish Port, Senator Villar assured the fishing industry, of which he used to be a part, of his help.
He said he will ask the national government to extend fuel and livelihood subsidies to the country’s small fishermen who are reeling from the effects of typhoon Frank and high fuel costs.
"Our fishermen are one of the most adversely affected by the calamities and they deserve help from government to enable them and the fishing industry to recover from the effects of the typhoon and the high cost of fuel," he said.
"Livelihood support and fuel subsidy are essential to be extended at this time to severely affected fishermen to allow them to cope with the trying times."
Small fishermen whose fishing equipment and bancas were destroyed by the typhoon especially deserve to be helped, he added.
After being forced to give up their livelihood for more than three weeks, fishermen in San Fernando town in Romblon staged a protest fluvial parade. The government had earlier imposed a fishing ban on San Fernando and neighboring towns after learning that the capsized ship contained a shipment of endosulfan, a toxic pesticide.
In Iloilo, the recent typhoon left the fishing industry poorer by at least 407 million, according to the Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office. Losses include at least R304.2 million in aquaculture and R112.8 million in municipal fishing.
The flooding brought heavy losses to fish producers and fish pond operators who lost dikes and fishponds to floods. Tons of ready-to-harvest fish stocks were lost after the fishponds overflowed, provincial agriculturist Ildefonso Toledo said.
Villar said fishermen also deserve diesel subsidy like that recently extended to public utility drivers. Almost 60 percent of the retail price of galunggong, dilis, tulingan, matangbaka, alumahan, tambakol, and bisugo represents fuel expenses, Villar said, referring to the top seven species of fish caught in municipal waters, the body of water witin 15 kilometers from the coastline.
"If the government was able to put in place a sytem allowing PUV drivers and operators to buy discounted diesel, it can do likewise for bancas and fishing boats which are fewer in number," the Senate president said.
The Alliance of Philippine Fishing Federations, a nationwide organization of subsistence and commercial fishermen, called for amendment of the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998m for the granting of loans to buy secondhand vessels, and for fuel subsidy.
The Alliance also expressed concern over the efforts of some non-government organizations which are "trying to break down the fishing industry."
Certain environmental groups want close Visayan Sea to commercial fishing, it said.
Mayor Toby Tiangco who also came to the meeting, expressed sympathy for the local fishing industry. He said something should be done to help the industry survive.
http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080712129578.html


6. The Daily Tribune



7. Abante


GUTOM NA, TINITIKTIKAN PA!
Nina JB SALARZON, BOYET JADULCO, REY MARFIL, BERNARD TAGUINOD at ROSE MIRANDA

Labis na ikinagulat at ikinadismaya ni Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero na sa halip na saklolohan ang naghihirap na sambayanan at latagan ang taumbayan ng kongkretong solusyon laban sa gutom at kahirapan ay pinatitiktikan pa ito ngayon ng pamahalaan.
Ito ay makaraang i­poste ng Malacañang sa bagong tatag na Energy Contingency Task Force (ECTF) ang mga tauhan ng Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), kasama ng ilang ahensya ng pamahalaan.
Ngunit ipinaliwanag naman ni ISAFP chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza na mayroong espisipikong tungkuling iniatang sa kanila bilang kabahagi ng task force at tinitiyak nitong hindi umano lalagpas sa misyong ito ang kanilang gagawing aktibidad.
Nabatid na partikular na pinatututukan sa kanila sa ibinabang Executive Order (EO) 731 ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ay ang ‘political unrest’ na maaaring iudyok ng maka-kaliwang grupo at ng mga kaalyado nito na hayag ang pagkontra sa pamahalaan.
“Nakikita ko kasi ngayon patuloy ang pag-exploit ng mga linyang kaliwa. They are projecting na napakalaki na ang problema pero ang nakakatuwa dito wala naman silang sinasabing alternatibo. Puro lang hinaing...wala naman silang initiative para gumawa ng paraan (para sa problema),” ani Prestoza.
Kontra food riots
Ang EO 731 ay nag-aatas sa ISAFP na paigtingin nito ang paniniktik sa mga aktibidad ng mga kalaban ng gobyerno na walang ibang layunin kundi palalain ang sitwasyon. Partikular umano sa hahadlangan ay ang posibleng pagsiklab ng food riots dulot ng pagtaas ng presyo ng langis at pagkain.
Ayon pa kay Prestoza, isinasalang na sa iba’t ibang klase ng oryentasyon ang mga tauhan ng ISAFP upang mas lalong maintindihan ng mga ito ang kanilang tungkuling nakasaad sa EO 731.
“Sini-seminar namin ang mga tao namin para maintindihan kung ano ba talaga itong food and energy situation at ang kaakibat nitong security, kasi threat sa national security din ‘yan at ‘yun ang aming mandate,” anang heneral.
Hindi ito ang tamang sagot! - Chiz
Maigting na tinutulan kahapon ni Escudero ang pagpoposte ng spy agents sa food and energy superbody dahil hindi umano ito ang tamang tugon ng gobyerno sa kumakalam na sikmura ng taumbayan.
“There is no need to spy on the people to know what they feel during these hard times for their pain is palpable, and their discontent is evident,” pagdidiin ni Escudero.
Ayon sa senador, kung titiktikan pa ng ISAFP ang paghihirap ng mga Pinoy, baka lalo pang magalit ang mga nag-aalboroto nating kababayan mula sa mataas na presyo ng pagkain at produktong petrolyo.
“I really hope that the government is not tapping ISAFP for a selfish political reason, that is to keep a tab on a patient people’s temperament. Because the paranoids among the guilty would like to know until when can empty rice pots remain overturned before the people will start moving to harangue its government for not doing anything about their plight,” ani Escudero.
Ipinaliwanag pa ng chairman ng Senate committee on justice and human rights na dapat umanong naging maingat ang gobyerno sa pagtapik sa ISAFP para tiktikan ang mga nagugutom na Pinoy.
“Are we already lacking of civilian government institutions that can be tapped for this particular situation of energy and food crisis? Or this is an admission of this government that the situation is already going out of hand that we need to call in military aid in an economic crisis?” dagdag pa ni Escudero.
Scare tactics?
Naniniwala naman si Sen. Panfilo Lacson na isa na naman ito sa mga ‘scare tactics’ ng administrasyong Arroyo upang unahan na ang mga kritiko at walisin ang sinumang magpapaalala sa taumbayan na ang kasalukuyang paghihirap ngayon ay resulta na ng matinding katakawan sa pera ng mga tiwaling opisyal ng pamahalaan.
Sa panig naman ni Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., sinabi nitong, “Ang nakakatakot lang dito, baka gamitin ang intelligence services at secret police na i-harass ang tao kahit mapayapa ang demonstrasyon. Doon ang medyo may duda ako.”
Mula sa Kamara, nangangamba si Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon na baka ang tunay na puntirya ng gagawing paniniktik ng ISAFP sa maskara ng food and energy superbody ay ang mga taga-oposisyon lalo’t palapit na ang 2010 elections.
Palasyo sumalag
Ngunit agad namang dumepensa ang palasyo sa mga batikos at diumano’y walang basehang insinuwasyon ng tunay na papel ng spy unit sa task force.
Habang sinisiguro ni Press Sec. Jesus Dureza na walang dapat ikabahala ang publiko sa pagkakaposte ng ISAFP sa ECTF ay hindi naman nito maidetalye ang eksaktong trabaho ng ahensya sa ilalim ng superbody.
http://abante.com.ph/issue/july1208/default.htm



8. Abante-Tonite

BUHAY IPINAGPALIT SA GAMIT SA ESKWELA
Ni Juliet de Loza

Kaawa-awa ang itsura na nakayakap pa sa kanyang bag ng matagpuan ang isang 13-anyos na first year high school student na nasawi makaraang ma-trap sa nasusunog na bahay nila sa kagustuhang maisalba ang kanyang mga gamit sa eskwela kahapon ng madaling-araw sa Sta. Ana, Maynila.
Nakasuot pa ang kanyang school ID nang matag­puan ang bangkay ni Francisco C. Leodones sa ikalawang palapag ng kanilang bahay malapit sa dingding sa 1725 Road 1 St., Punta, Sta. Ana.
Sa panayam kay Kagawad Alejandro Garcia ng Barangay 903 Zone 100, nakalabas na mula sa nasu­sunog nilang bahay ang biktima at inililigtas na lamang ng kanyang ina na si Jennifer Leodones ang mister nito na paralisado.
Hindi umano namala­yan nang bumalik din sa loob ng kanilang bahay ang biktima sa kagustuhang maisalba ang kanyang mga gamit sa eskwela pero hindi na ito naka­labas ng buhay.
Ayon kay Garcia, posibleng nagbabagsakan na ang mga nasusunog na bagay sa loob ng bahay at nabagsakan nito ang biktima kaya na-trap na ito sa naglalagablab na apoy.
Nadiskubre na lamang umano na na-trap sa nasu­nog na bahay ang biktima habang nagsasagawa ng clearing operations ang mga bumbero matapos ang sunog.
Nabatid kay FO2 Rogelio Melvis na naganap umano ang sunog dakong alas-2:55 ng madaling-araw na umabot sa ikalimang alarma at idineklarang fire out na makalipas ang isang oras.
Nabatid na nagsimula umano ang sunog sa kusina ng ikalawang palapag ng bahay ng biktima kung saan may apat na pamil­ya ang nakatira at mabilis na kumalat patungong ground floor.
Nadamay rin sa sakuna ang kalapit na Don Emilio Aguinaldo Integrated School. Sinasabing tatlong palapag ng gusali ng eskwelahan ang napinsala.
Maliban sa nabanggit na eskwelahan at dalawang palapag na bahay ng pamil­ya Leodones, bahagya rin napinsala ang apat pang kalapit na tahanan.
Sa pagtataya ng mga awtoridad, umaabot sa humigit-kumulang na P1 mil­yon ang halaga ng mga ari-arian na napinsala habang inaalam pa kung ano ang dahilan ng pagsiklab ng apoy. (With Aries Cano)
http://www.abante-tonite.com/issue/july1208/news_headline.htm


9. Pilipino Star Ngayon

Tipus, dengue umatake!Ni Doris Franche Saturday, July 12, 2008
Daan-daang estud­yante sa Romblon ang tinamaan ng sakit na typhoid at dengue bunga umano ng kontaminadong water supply sa nasabing bayan.
Gayunman, nilinaw kahapon ng Department of Health (DOH) na wa­lang kinalaman ang typhoid at dengue outbreak sa nangyaring paglubog ng MV Princess of the Stars ng Sulpicio Lines.
Ayon kay Dr. Eric Ta­yag, hepe ng National Epidemiology Center, ang typhoid at dengue outbreak ay bunga ng kon­taminadong water supply sa nasabing bayan.
Nabatid na umaabot sa 350 mga estudyante mula sa Romblon East Central School ang nag­kasakit ng typhoid at dengue habang 10 naman mula sa West Central School ang sinasabing dumaranas ngayon ng high fever.
Sa report naman ng radio station DZBB, agad na inutos ng mga local officials ang pagputol ng water supply matapos na mapatunayang ito ang dahilan ng typhoid fever at dengue.
“Hindi po. Talagang na­imbestigahan ‘yan, kon­taminado ang pinang­galingan ng tubig. Ibang isla ‘yan sa San Fernando sa Sibuyan kung saan lumubog ang ‘Princess of the Stars,” paliwanag ni Tayag.
Samantala, sinabi pa ni Tayag na nananatili ang pagbabawal sa pangi­ngisda sa bayan ng San Fernando bilang precautionary measure laban sa kontaminasyon ng endosulfan.
Ang fishing ban ay bunga naman ng pagka­kadiskubre na ang lumu­bog na MV Princess of the Stars ay naglalaman ng tone-toneladang endosulfan, isang pesticide ng Del Monte Philippines, Inc.
http://philstar.com/index.php?Bansa&p=50&type=2&sec=54&aid=2008071148


10. Journal

SAFE
By: Tess Bedico
SSS money won‘t be used for subsidy program -- Palace
NO funds of the Social Security System will be used for the pro-poor program of the government. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita gave this assurance amid concerns that the government would dip its hands into SSS funds with the appointment of Secretary Romulo Neri as chief of the pension agency and concurrent head of the Cabinet cluster that will oversee a P45 billion national social welfare program. President Macapagal-Arroyo only wanted Neri to oversee the welfare program and not to actually implement it, Ermita said. “Siguradong hindi magagamit yan…Sinabi ko nga kay Secretary Neri hindi nangangahulugan na ikaw ang magpapatakbo sa programa katulad ng DSWD, DoH, Land Bank at kung anu-ano pa,” he said. Ermita said the program will be funded with money from the value added tax collections. He cited the earlier subsidy program which had a budget of at least P4 billion from VAT collections. Neri also gave his word he would not allow himself to be pressured by anyone to divert the pension fund. Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Jr. earlier confirmed that P5 billion could be made available for another round of subsidies for the poor.
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2008-07-12&sec=1&aid=66343


11. Business World

Central bank reviewing impact of raised transport fares ahead of policy meeting
Government estimates on average inflation for the year are likely to be revised anew, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will once again review its forecast ahead of its policy meeting this July 17 to include the latest adjustments in transport fares.
"We will take a look at figures. We will know the changes in our forecast by next week. We will have to take in all the changes. We still don’t have the numbers," BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. told reporters on the sidelines of the BSP Stakeholders’ Awards 2008 yesterday.
BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said the central bank’s policy is still biased towards further tightening to take into account the continued hike in prices of oil and food as well as of transport fares. "[Price spikes in oil and food] would be taken into account and policy rates will be reviewed in light of all these recent developments," Mr. Guinigundo said.
In its meeting last June 5, the Monetary Board said inflation is likely to end the year at an average of 7%-9%, way above its target of 3%-5%.
The Monetary Board was prompted to review its inflation forecast after the public transport sector has called for another hike in fares in a bid to cope with the impact of high prices of oil products.
Ordinary buses in Metro Manila yesterday started charging P10 for the first five kilometers, from the former P9 minimum, plus 20 centavos per additional kilometer.
When implemented this Monday, the minimum jeepney fare will be P8.50, which was on top of a 50-centavo provisional adjustment granted to jeepney operators last May.
The impending 50-centavo hike was not factored in the revised average inflation forecast of 7%-9%, central bank officials said.
Inflation as of June hit 11.4%, the highest in 14 years, driven largely by increases in prices of food which constitutes more than 50% of the consumer price index.
However, monetary officials said inflation is likely to peak in the third quarter before it eases by the fourth quarter due to base effects following the high inflation rates in the same period last year, while prices of food are expected to stabilize during the harvest season this third quarter.
The Monetary Board has raised its key policy rates by 25 basis points — the first in almost three years. Monetary officials said the move was preemptive as the adjustment in daily minimum wage was only P22, still lower than economic planners’ assumption of P25.
Mr. Guinigundo also said the peso is likely to recover should the Monetary Board decide to hike its rates, and a stronger peso will help in cushioning high prices of imported products. — Gerard S. dela Peña
http://bworldonline.com/BW071208/content.php?id=001

12. Business Mirror


II.POLITICAL

Prices of canned goods up P0.35-P0.40, says trade chief
By Ronnel Domingo, Christine AvendañoPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:34:00 07/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Prices of canned goods have risen by P0.35-P0.40 because of an increase in the price of tin cans, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila said Friday.
Producers of meat products milk, sugar and flour had given assurances that they would keep prices at current levels, Favila said after a meeting of the National Price Coordinating Council.
“While prices of majority of basic goods have remained stable during the past three months, the rising cost of tin plates in the world market has inevitably led manufacturers of canned products to adjust their prices,” he said.
Data from the Department of Trade and Industry show the retail price of canned sardines ranges from P10.50 to P11.50 per 155-gram can.
The increase was due to a rise in the price of a 202x306 millimeter tin can used in packaging sardines and luncheon meat to P3.40 from P3.05 last month, Favila said.
Citing data from the Tin Can Manufacturers Association of the Philippines, Favila said tin plate prices were expected to rise further by $150-$200 per metric ton within the year, which could mean an additional P0.60 per tin can.
Imported tin plates represent 70 percent of the cost of producing a tin can, which in turn accounts for up to 45 percent of the retail price of a canned product.
“Although the ideal setting is that prices are maintained at a level that satisfies the public, this cannot always be the scenario because there are factors that drive prices beyond what we can control,” Favila said.
Zenaida Maglaya, the trade and industry undersecretary in charge of consumer welfare matters, said representatives of Alaska Milk Corp. gave assurances that the company had no plans of increasing its prices.
She added that the Philippine Association of Flour Millers reported and the Philippine Federation of Baker’s Associations confirmed that the flour price had not moved since March. As a result, bakers have announced that the price of “pan de sal” buns will remain stable until the end of the month, she said.
The Federation of Hog Farmers and the United Broilers Association have committed to maintain the prices of pork and chicken at the monitored level of P170-P180 a kilo and P120 a kilo, respectively, Maglaya added.
Maglaya said consumers could “practice wise buying” and choose brands with prices suited to their budgets.
Data from the Department of Trade and Industry further show that prices of vegetables, like carrots, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, native pechay and radish, have remained stable.
The price of well-refined sugar and brown sugar are at P38 and P32, respectively, which have remained unchanged since December, the data show.
Rice being sold by the National Food Authority is “still at P18.25 and P25 a kilo,” Maglaya said.
The price of milkfish is still at P90 a kilo and of tilapia at P80 per kilo, but the price of “galunggong” fish is down from P100 last month to the prevailing price of P90, she said.
To last for 5 years
The Philippines will continue to grapple with high food and oil prices in the next five years, said Dr. Fermin Adriano, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines, Los Baños, and consultant to the Office of the Press Secretary.
High food and oil prices are “driven by factors beyond our control,” he said. He cited such factors as soaring oil prices in the global market that were causing the rise in prices of agricultural products; the emergence of Brazil, Russia, India and China as big economic players, which means rising consumption and demand for food; global climate change; and under-investment in agriculture, with investors shifting to trade and computers, among other investments.
“There will be no reprieve to rising fuel and food prices in the short term, at least five years, due to the confluence of these factors,” Adriano said.
He said the government needed to continue its rice importation to “cover up the off-peak season of rice production,” which comes in July, August and September.
Adriano said the government had actually anticipated the problem and beefed up its buffer stock.
He said the people saw that the Philippines had enough rice supply when the price of rice in Davao City shot up to P50 per kilo and immediately stabilized when the Department of Agriculture flooded the market with rice subsidized by the National Food Authority (NFA).
Adriano said the government had to improve its targeted rice subsidy scheme. He said the NFA should make sure that the cheap rice it was selling at P18.25 per kilo really benefited the poor.
“The government buys the rice from abroad at P33 per kilo and sells it at P18.25 per kilo, so it is losing P15 per kilo ... so it should make sure the subsidy goes to the poor,” he said.
For the NFA to sustain this market intervention, the government needs the revenues from the 12 percent value-added tax, which are what subsidize NFA rice, he said.
Fertilizer prices
The government also needs to address the rising price of fertilizer, Adriano said, describing this as the “real threat to productivity.”
He said the price of urea had jumped from P300 per sack last year to P2,000 per sack, because fertilizer is derived partly from oil.
The government has to step in and find other sources of fertilizer, like natural gas, or go organic, he said.
“Our farmers kept up with the challenge because of increased productivity but are now threatened by the rising cost of fertilizer,” he said.
Adriano said the government should also develop alternative staples like cassava and other root crops which he said are “more nutritious than rice.”
He said the government should also develop advocates for changing food preferences, like using film and television personalities to promote the consumption of other kinds of food rather than rice. With editing by INQUIRER.net
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080712-147942/Prices-of-canned-goods-up-P035-P040-says-trade-chief


No plane, ship fare increases — not yet
By Riza T. OlchondraPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:35:00 07/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines—There will be no increase in plane and passenger ship fares in the near term, in contrast to the trend among road carriers that are seeking fresh fare hikes to cope with surging fuel prices.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) spokesperson Rolando Estabillo said PAL had filed no petition for a new round of fuel surcharge increases, adding that the prices currently in effect were approved last May.
“We are first looking at how we can save more on fuel through efficient operations,” he said in a text message.
Cebu Pacific Air is offering promotions to encourage more people to fly, said its vice president for marketing and product, Candice Iyog.
Flying with more passengers will help the airline cope with higher costs better than flying with empty seats, Iyog noted.
Among shipping companies, the trend is to reconfigure vessels to accommodate more cargo rather than raise passenger fares, said Maritime Industry Authority Administrator Vicente Suazo.
The operator of SuperFerry has no plans to raise fares anytime soon, said its public relations officer Judd Salas.
“We are on sale actually and we are beginning Biyaheng Bayan caravan for the Visayas and Mindanao to talk about our ‘tipid’ [cost-saving] fares,” Salas said.
SuperFerry recently offered a “Sail Sale” for travel from July 15 to August 31 this year. The company said in a statement that the sale was meant to encourage people to travel by sea and to do so more frequently.
Air and sea carriers were allowed to increase their prices last May when the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) approved PAL’s petition to raise the fuel surcharge for its domestic operations.
The fuel surcharge for PAL’s Luzon-Visayas flights is now P1,030, up from P930. For Luzon-Mindanao flights, it is now P1,010, up from P910,.
Cebu Pacific was also allowed to raise its fuel surcharge for international passenger operations. The increase approved by the CAB reflected an average of $5-$30 increase in fuel surcharges for a one-way ticket.
Iyog said Cebu Pacific raised the surcharge for international flights only, because these consume more fuel than domestic flights. She added that a minimal increase in this market was not expected to turn passengers off. “The domestic market is more sensitive,” she said.
Major passenger shipping companies, except for the SuperFerry operator, also made a general rate increase in June to recover losses related to fuel, labor and other operating expenses.
Oceanic, Lorenzo, Negros Navigation, Sulpicio Lines, Solid Lines and NMC Container Lines raised rates by 10 percent on top of a 13-percent bunker fuel surcharge earlier in the month.
Jeepneys and buses
Road carriers recently said they wanted further fare hikes to keep the sector running, with a P10 lump sum increase in fuel prices looming over the weekend.
The militant jeepney industry group PISTON (Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide) said its members would file another petition for a nationwide increase of P1.50 in the minimum fare.
A previous petition to raise the minimum jeepney fare to P8.50 has been approved and is set to take effect on Monday.
Bus groups, meanwhile, will “most likely” ask for an additional P1.50 increase if fuel prices rise by P10, said Homer Mercado, president of Provincial Bus Operators of the Philippines.
Bus operators raised fares earlier on Friday. Buses with copies of a fare guide from Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) can start charging P10 minimum on regular buses and P12 on air-conditioned buses.
Taxicabs with LTFRB stickers, to be issued by the end of the month, are to add P10 to the total metered fare.
Taxicab sector leaders have also indicated that they may consider seeking further increases if fuel pump prices rise by more than P10. With editing by INQUIRER.net
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080712-147943/No-plane-ship-fare-increases--not-yet


Malacañang defends ISAFP mission to monitor unrest
By Michael Lim Ubac, Jerome AningPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:37:00 07/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines—The Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) is indispensable to the proper functioning of the task force that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has created to monitor food and energy security and head off efforts to create disturbances, Malacañang said Friday.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza defended the inclusion of the ISAFP in the Energy Contingency Task Force amid concerns that the ISAFP would be used against political opponents of the Arroyo administration.
“Let us feel secure at the thought that these agencies will accordingly act the very purpose for which they are established, and that is public welfare,” said Dureza.
The ISAFP is headed by Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza who until he took over at ISAFP on June 3, was the President’s chief of security as commander of the Presidential Security Group.
Dureza said ISAFP should be allowed to carry out its role in the task force, “unless in the future they shall do otherwise, in which event they shall be judged accordingly. But for the moment, let’s give them a chance to perform.”
He dismissed fears that ISAFP would be used to spy on the opposition and other sectors critical of the President.
“Let us wait whether the apprehensions will happen. [The ISAFP] is part of the task force to provide information,” he said.
Dureza also discounted claims that the task force was created because of fears of food and fuel riots happening in the streets of Manila and key cities could undermine the stability of the Arroyo administration.
He said the Palace had yet to monitor fresh attempts to bring down the government.
“ISAFP has a mandate, we’ll go by its mandate,” said Dureza, referring to its pivotal role as the government’s top intelligence arm.
Dureza also denied that Executive Order 731 was issued to strengthen the government’s emergency powers to deal with the global scourge of rising fuel and food prices.
In EO 731, issued on June 7 but released only on Thursday, the President orders the ISAFP to monitor the “political and security developments” related to the oil and food price issue.
Under the EO, titled “Activating and Reorganizing the Energy Operations Board (created in 1990) into the Energy Contingency Task Force Under the National Food and Energy Council,” the ISAFP is to “issue timely intelligence assessments of political and security developments related to the oil price issue and alert government offices on the same. It shall provide advice on matters affecting national security.”
The League of Filipino Students (LFS) denounced the order, saying it could end up targeting legitimate mass protests pushing for reasonable reforms.
The Pamalakaya (Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas) fisherfolk group said it could stifle freedom of expression and should be opposed.
LFS chair Vencer Crisostomo said the order signaled “militarization” of the food and oil crisis and “bears with it a martial law-like feel.”
Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap said the executive order should be opposed “in the parliament of the streets, in the court of public opinion and in any appropriate court.” With editing by INQUIRER.net
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080712-147944/Malacaang-defends-ISAFP-mission-to-monitor-unrest


Where have all the protesters gone?
By Desiree Caluza, Nikko Dizon, Jerome AningPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:38:00 07/12/2008
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MANILA, Philippines—Hunger is keeping protesters away from the streets, a leader of the militant group Bayan (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or New Nationalist Alliance) said.
As angry as they are with the government and want to express this through rallies and demonstrations, activists have to earn a living, Bayan chair Carol Araullo said.
“They will not go to the rallies, because the fare is expensive,” Araullo said. “If they will not work, they will not earn. Even if they are suffering, they manage to stay calm.”
She said ousting President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo might not happen “although the people are mad.”
On Friday, dozens of protesters scuffled with guards at the headquarters of Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil company.
But the head of military intelligence on Friday ruled out the possibility of riots breaking out because of the rising prices of food and fuel.
Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza, chief of Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), said authorities were prepared for street protests over inflation, but added he did not expect violence and rioting as had happened in some parts of the world.
Prestoza said leftwing groups were using the high prices of food and fuel as a propaganda tool against the government, and allayed fears of a breakdown in law and order.
“Based on our culture, it’s unlikely,” he said of violence over high prices. “Filipinos are a mature people. The situation would already be extreme if looting and riots break out because of lack of food.”
The ISAFP, in a directive issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in early June and released only this week, has been ordered to “provide timely intelligence assessment of political and security developments related to the oil price issue.”
Prestoza said that so far no antigovernment groups or personalities had tried to exploit public outrage over inflation, except for what he called “noisy” militant groups.
The militants are the only ones openly protesting but they “only talk and talk without offering any solutions” to the problem, Prestoza said in a phone interview.
Prestoza said ISAFP teams tasked to carry out Arroyo’s order had been attending seminars with the Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy to understand the finer details of the food and energy crisis.
Watching TV or praying
Araullo, who was interviewed in Baguio City on the sidelines of a forum on the economic crisis, organized by the Interfaith Gathering for Truth and Accountability and Tongtongan Ti Umili on Wednesday, said the poor who were suffering from the unabated increases in fuel, oil and food prices preferred to just endure the hardship.
“We have a saying that we have to curl up to fit the short blanket. But until when?” she said.
Filipinos try to escape the unpleasant conditions brought on by the economic crisis either by watching entertainment shows on television or just praying, Araullo said.
Gasoline prices have risen by about one-third since the start of the year and consumers have been demanding abolition of the value-added tax (VAT) on oil, which adds 12 percent to the effective price of petroleum products.
On Friday, dozens of members of the League of Filipino Students pelted the Petron headquarters in the Makati business district with used oil wrapped in small plastic bags during a protest, triggering a scuffle with private security guards.
A team of antiriot police stepped in to separate the two groups. There were no arrests and no injuries reported.
“In the coming weeks, there will be civil unrest,” Andrew Zarate, a spokesperson for the Anakbayan party-list group, told reporters.
“The crisis will push people to come out, protest, make noise and express their anger against the government,” he said.
Black Friday
Despite the announcement of a P1.00 per liter rollback in fuel prices, Bayan went ahead with its Black Friday protest action and noise barrage.
“The rollback is definitely not enough, not when oil companies are even threatening to increase prices by one lump sum of P7 per liter. The rollback is a calibrated move to lull the public into complacency before the big P7 per liter whammy,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes Jr.
“Our call is still for the removal of the value-added tax on oil and power and the scrapping of the Oil Deregulation Law. Piecemeal rollbacks may provide relief today but with VAT and the deregulation law still in place, oil prices are sure to get higher in a matter of time,” he said.
On Thursday, about 1,000 students from the University of the Philippines, Baguio, walked out of their classes to protest the increases in tuition and prices of oil and rice. They also called for the ouster of President Arroyo.
Araullo urged people to join protest rallies, because they have “nothing to lose.”
“With the extreme crisis that we are experiencing now, the poor should protest,” she said.
Reyes told reporters, “We have to continue with the protests. It is the only way to fight back against abusive pricing and oppressive taxation.”With a report from Reuters; with editing by INQUIRER.net

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080712-147945/Where-have-all-the-protesters-gone


AFP asked to release sisters to mother
By Nikko DizonPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:40:00 07/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines — Apparently unfazed by the appearance of Rose Anne and Fatima Gumanoy at a press conference on Thursday, the militant rights group Karapatan, who claimed that the two had been abducted by the military, on Friday said the Gumanoys should be turned over to their mother.
“Our position is, they should be returned to their family, specifically to their mother. The bottom line is, they have a mother who wants to get custody of her daughters,” Ruth Cervantes, Karapatan public information officer, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
Cervantes said Karapatan believed Rose Anne, 21, was under duress when she faced the media with her lawyer at the press con at the Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.
The group maintained that Rose Anne and her sister, Fatima, 17, were abducted by the military on July 3, no matter that Rose Anne debunked the claim at the press conference.
Cervantes said that another option was for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to take custody of Rose Anne and her sister, which would facilitate their turn over to their mother, “to resolve this once and for all.”
Cervantes pointed out that Fatima was a minor.
Cervantes also explained that the Gumanoys were transferred from one Karapatan safe house to another, as Rose Anne revealed at the press conference, for their own security as Rose Anne herself claimed they were being following by military men.
Cervantes also said it was the mother, Maria Gumanoy, who approached Karapatan, since Rose Anne was injured in a fire fight between New People’s Army rebels and government troops last April.
Against her will
In statement released by Karapatan, Maria Gumanoy condemned the Army for presenting Rose Anne to the media. It was a “product of the pressure and threat” to Rose Anne, Maria Gumanoy said.
Karapatan said Maria Gumanoy was “enraged at the idea that her daughters are not allowed to see other family members, their chosen lawyer and doctor, a social worker, and even Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo whom she has sought for help.”
“The military instead presented Rose Ann to the media, an action which Mrs. Gumanoy thinks is against Rose Ann’s will,” the Karapatan statement said.
Rose Anne’s lawyer, Randy Vega, earlier said that it was Rose Anne who decided not to see anyone aside from her mother.
Rose Anne had denied Karapatan’s claim of abduction, saying it was she who contacted her soldier-friends and asked to be brought to a hospital because Fatima had high fever. Fatima was later diagnosed by Army doctors to have contracted German measles.
Rose Anne added that she and Fatima fled their Karapatan safe house after the group failed to live up to its promise to reunite them with their mother and other siblings.
Asked how Karapatan ascertained that Rose Anne was under duress during the press conference, Cervantes said, “Of course, if you’re surrounded by armed soldiers and you are being tagged as an NPA, you won’t be able to freely say what you want to say.”
‘Enemy of the state’
Cervantes said that “by all accounts, Rose Anne is considered an enemy of the state” by the military.
Rose Anne is suspected to be a member of the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
She was severely wounded in the arm and ultimately captured after the fire fight on April 15 in General Nakar, Quezon.
Rose Anne is a daughter of Eddie Gumanoy, chair of the Katipunan ng Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK) who was murdered along with human rights activist Eden Marcellana in Oriental Mindoro province in 2003.
Their deaths were blamed by activists on retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan.
At the press conference, Rose Anne referred to her affiliation with the communist insurgency.
She said she took up arms to avenge the death of her father but later realized that years of fighting did not bring justice to her father and family.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080712-147946/AFP-asked-to-release-sisters-to-mother


SSS funds won’t be touched — Palace
By Michael Lim Ubac, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:41:00 07/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Friday dismissed speculation that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo intended to use the funds of the Social Security System (SSS) to sustain her administration’s dole-out policy to the poor.
“Who’s saying that we are using private funds for pro-poor programs of government?” asked Press Secretary Jesus Dureza. “You’re just assuming it, isn’t it?”
Dureza at a press briefing Friday in Malacañang also defended the appointment of Romulo Neri, currently chair of the Commission on Higher Education and former secretary of economic planning, as new SSS president, citing a statement Thursday of outgoing SSS president and chief executive officer Corazon de la Paz that Neri “has what it takes to be a good SSS president” if given a chance.
“We are confident Neri will do what is appropriate,” he said, pointing out that SSS, the agency that administers the pension fund of workers in the private sector, had a “very vigilant constituency” such as the workers’ union.
He said that could be “one of the safeguards” that could deter Neri or any government official from possibly misusing SSS funds.
Asked about the legality of using the funds of SSS, which come from the monthly contributions of 27 million members, for government pro-poor programs, he said: “I don’t know. I have to take a look into it. You have to be very specific.”
But Dureza quickly added that as long as government investments would be profitable, SSS could come in.
“SSS funds, whenever there is an opportunity to invest are invested just like private funds,” he said.
The opposition, however, sees something sinister in Neri’s appointment.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday said Neri’s appointment and the creation of a social welfare cluster were part of President Arroyo’s grand plan to stay in power even after her term ends in 2010.
“What the administration is planning is still being kept secret but what is clear is that it is fighting for survival, to stay beyond 2010 by amending the Constitution or by other means. These are still very much possible. What is clear is she is placing people in strategic positions not for the interest of the public or stakeholders of these institutions but for political purposes,” said Cayetano in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
Cayetano said that with Neri at the helm, the SSS would go the way of the Government Service Insurance System which, under Winston Garcia, a scion of Arroyo’s main political family ally in Cebu, has been used by the government to harass critics of her administration.
“Like the GSIS, the SSS will now be used to accommodate Arroyo’s plans, policies and programs whether overt or covert,” said Cayetano.
Based on her choices, Cayetano said the President was sending a message that she does not want to let go of power. “If she was simply leaving in 2010, she would be placing the best people for the job, the most qualified, with the highest credibility in government,” said Cayetano.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080712-147947/SSS-funds-wont-be-touched--Palace


House probers to train guns on Sulpicio
By Norman Bordadora, Christian V. EsguerraPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:42:00 07/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Executives of the domestic shipping company Sulpicio Lines Inc. should not escape the hot seat when the House of Representatives’ committees on transportation and on oversight resume their joint inquiry into the June 21 sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars, House members said.
Albay province’s Rep. Edcel Lagman, chair of the House appropriations committee, said the inquiry should “train [its] guns on Sulpicio” at the hearing on July 17.
The joint inquiry is being conducted by Bacolod City’s Rep. Monico Puentevella and Quezon province’s Rep. Danilo Suarez, who chair the House committees on transportation and on oversight, respectively.
Puentevella conceded Friday that questions might have focused more on the purported liability of government agencies in the sinking of the Princess of the Stars off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province.
He assured the public that Sulpicio Lines would be properly grilled at the next hearing. “Wala nang lusot” [“No more way out”], he said in a phone interview.
Puentevella said it appeared that Sulpicio Lines escaped much of the blame at the first hearing simply because the lawmakers were allowed to question the PAGASA weather bureau, then the Philippine Coast Guard, and finally the shipping company.
By the time the Sulpicio Lines executives were questioned, the two committees were already at the tail-end of their seven-hour hearing.
“As we take to task the government agencies—PAGASA, the Coast Guard and MARINA [Maritime Industry Authority]—with respect to their possible negligence in … responding to that disaster, we’d like to tell the public that we are not in any way condoning the culpability of Sulpicio,” Lagman said in a phone interview from Legazpi City.
“It just so happened that we started with the government agencies … [The Sulpicio Lines executives] were questioned, but there was no sufficient time,” he said.
Free-for-all
“We’re not going to let Sulpicio get away with it,” Lagman said, adding that the company has been involved in four maritime tragedies in 20 years.
But he also took PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) to task for failing to modernize its equipment despite an allocation of hundreds of millions of pesos from the national budget.
Puentevella said the two committees would allow a “free-for-all” at the next hearing, meaning the lawmakers would be allowed to throw questions at any of the resource persons present.
He said the survivors as well as representatives of Del Monte Philippines had been invited to the hearing apart from officials of Sulpicio Lines, the Coast Guard, and PAGASA.
Del Monte is the registered owner of a cargo of the toxic pesticide endosulfan that remains trapped in the sunken ship.
‘Biggest liability’
The Philippine Coast Guard is also expected to present the official who single-handedly inspected the 23,800-ton, seven-story ship before clearing it for voyage amid Typhoon “Frank.”
Rep. Risa Hontiveros of the party-list group Akbayan said she would zero in on the purported liability of both the Philippine Coast Guard and Sulpicio Lines.
Hontiveros said the Philippine Coast Guard should not have allowed the ship to set sail given the weather condition. She said the ship’s route was well within the “danger sector,” an area where a typhoon may pass during the next 48 hours.
“Sulpicio Lines, of course, has the biggest liability,” she said on the phone. “You shouldn’t be allowed to do business when you’re drowning people.”
Puentevella said he was hoping that the hearing next week would be the last. By then, he said, he should be ready to present a draft of a bill creating the Transport Safety Board, a “super-body” covering all stakeholders in the maritime industry.
House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Roilo Golez said the government should take steps to protect the public interest in connection with the shipwreck, the bodies still inside the ship, and the toxic cargo.
Golez said the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Department of Justice should “issue an order to Sulpicio Lines to remove the hulk as soon as possible without endangering lives and the environment.”
He also said “a clear warning” should be issued that “criminal, civil and administrative proceedings shall be instituted if Sulpicio Lines fails to take steps to perform its duties as a public utility.”
Ship audit
Also on Friday, MARINA Administrator Vicente Suazo said the audit of passenger and cargo ships would be extended to shipping companies other than Sulpicio Lines.
Suazo said MARINA had started an audit program when the sinking of the Princess of the Stars drew the audit teams’ full attention.
“We had planned this all along, that sometime after shipping companies were told to institutionalize the ISM [International Safety Management] code in 2005, they would be audited,” Suazo told reporters.
“We had started with two ships but we did not get to finish because [the sinking of the Princess of the Stars] prompted us to devote all our four teams to auditing that vessel,” he said.
No grounding of fleets
Eight passenger ships of Sulpicio Lines have been audited so far, and six more will be checked in Cebu in the coming weeks, Suazo said.
He said Marina was looking into how to audit Sulpicio Lines cargo vessels without causing serious disruptions in domestic cargo deliveries.
Suazo estimated the audit on Sulpicio Lines to be completed in August or September, after which the audit on other shipping companies would start without entailing the grounding of whole fleets. With a report from Riza T. Olchondra; with editing by INQUIRER.net
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080712-147948/House-probers-to-train-guns-on-Sulpicio


UN, EU experts coming to inspect toxic cargo
By Tarra Quismundo, Margaux OrtizPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:43:00 07/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Members of a team of chemical specialists sent by the United Nations and the European Union have started arriving to inspect the sunken MV Princess of the Stars, in which toxic cargo remains trapped.
A statement issued on Thursday by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said the team would make an assessment of the shipwreck, which is resting at an angle on the seabed off Sibuyan Island less than a kilometer from the nearest coast of San Fernando town in Romblon province, south of Manila.
“We must ensure that the human tragedy of this ferry collapse is not compounded by the leakage of these pesticides,” said Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for the EU’s Environment and Civil Protection.
“Europe is putting its solidarity with the Philippines into practice by providing its assistance. Our expertise has been highly valued in similar emergencies in recent years, and as ever, we will do all we can to assist the people of the Philippines,” he said.
The team is composed of a marine chemist, an eco-toxicologist and a civil protection expert, Unep said.
Pesticides
It said the team would “spend one week in the Philippines to help provide a clear overview of the situation, determine priority needs and identify any gaps in international aid being offered and/or provided.”
It added that the team would be given support by Philippine government agencies and other UN bodies such as the UN Development Program and the World Health Organization.
The retrieval of bodies trapped inside the ship that left Manila for Cebu City was called off after authorities found that a container van of the toxic pesticide endosulfan owned by fruit and juice producer Del Monte Philippines Inc. was in the cargo hold.
Several other chemicals shipped by Bayer CropScience were also found to have been part of the cargo.
A fishing ban remains in force in the province of Romblon, with continued fears that a leakage might contaminate the Sibuyan Sea and surrounding areas.
Divers on standby
Divers of the Philippine Coast Guard have just been ordered to return to the site and stand by for operations on the shipwreck.
Bayer technical consultant Tess Cayton on Friday assured the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) that its products were packaged in line with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s code of conduct on the distribution and safe use of pesticides.
Cayton said the products, which included Antracol WP70, Tamaron 600SL, Trap 70WP and Fuerza GR3, were highly biodegradable.
“The products easily disperse in the sea. They disintegrate biologically when hit by sunlight,” she said. “The volume of our products are also negligible vis-à-vis the volume of the ocean.”
Cayton also said Bayer’s forwarder had coordinated with Sulpicio Lines regarding the permits and the actual shipping.
“We were unaware that our products were on the ill-fated ship until our forwarder informed us,” she said.
Dangerous
Representatives of Ceva Philippines, Del Monte’s contractor in charge of processing the transshipment permit of the cargo of endosulfan, said they had informed Sulpicio Lines of the nature of the chemical.
“During the preparation of the domestic bill of lading, Ceva Philippines informed Sulpicio Lines that the cargo was dangerous and presented all documents, including the international bill of lading and the material safety sheet, that both clearly state endosulfan is toxic and a marine pollutant,” Ceva Philippines country manager Dante Macaisa told the BMI.
He added: “In line with international shipping standards, the 400 boxes of endosulfan were packed in a 40-foot container with proper codes and prominent markings, including skull and crossbones signs, on four sides, showing the toxic nature of the cargo.”
No acknowledgement receipt
Macaisa said Ceva had submitted 10 shipment documents to Sulpicio Lines.
But the shipping company’s lawyer, Victoria Lim-Florido, said there was no acknowledgment receipt to prove this.
Sulpicio Lines has filed a civil suit against Del Monte for alleged failure to declare the pesticide cargo as dangerous.
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‘Give new ERC chief a chance’By Marvin Sy Saturday, July 12, 2008
Malacañang defended yesterday the appointment of former congresswoman Zenaida Ducut as acting chair of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), saying critics should first give her the chance to prove her worth.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said that Ducut should be judged based on her actions and not on perceptions “whether rightly or wrongly based.”
“But let’s give every person who has been appointed and given that authority, the opportunity to prove himself or herself,” he said.
“The quality of the pudding is in the eating. So let’s give her an opportunity,” he added.
Critics said Ducut’s only qualification is that she hails from Lubao, President Arroyo’s hometown in Pampanga.
Prior to her appointment, Ducut was deputy chief presidential legal counsel. She takes over from Rodolfo Albano Sr. who retired last July 9.
Even before Malacañang made the official announcement about Ducut’s appointment last Thursday, opposition Sen. Francis Escudero and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. already knew about the appointment and assailed the President for her choice.
According to the senators, Ducut has no background in the field of energy.
The entry of Ducut into the ERC came at a time when the government has filed a number of petitions to bring down the rates charged by Meralco, the country’s biggest distribution utility.
The President herself issued the orders for the Department of Trade and Industry to file the petitions before the ERC, as she lamented that Meralco’s rates were the highest among the utilities in the country.
But the call for lower rates was seen as a sideshow to Meralco’s word war with Government Service Insurance System chief Winston Garcia, whose demand for Meralco to open its books was rebuffed by the power distributor.
Dureza emphasized that the ERC is an independent, quasi-judicial body that evaluates all of the petitions before rendering any decision.
“Our hope is that whoever is appointed there, whether it’s Zeny Ducut or anybody else, they will do whatever is necessary, faced with the evidence and the law,” Dureza said.
Controversies have hounded the President’s recent appointments.
The appointment of Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri as administrator and chief executive officer of the Social Security System earlier this week was widely criticized because of his involvement in the controversial NBN-ZTE deal with China.
“She (Ducut) has gotten already her appointment and we are confident that she is going to do the job properly,” Dureza said.
“All we know is that she (President Arroyo) has full trust that Zeny Ducut will perform accordingly,” he added.
At the Energy department, sources said Secretary Angelo Reyes has already congratulated Ducut in a letter. Reyes was unavailable for comment.
A DOE source who declined to be named said Ducut’s appointment has “political color.”
“Being an independent body, ERC should have a leader who is apolitical,” the source said.
“In fairness to her, since she still does not have any experience in power issues, she may be able to balance her judgment,” the source said, but added this may also be a disadvantage. “Since she doesn’t know anything, she may serve as a puppet of President Arroyo.” With Donnabelle Gatdula
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Senators hit tapping of ISAFPBy Christina Mendez Saturday, July 12, 2008
Lawmakers slammed President Arroyo yesterday for including the military in the economic super body that will monitor the food and energy situation in the country.
Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson and Pia Cayetano expressed their concern on the possibility of the military abusing its power in the effort to prevent food riots from occurring.
Pimentel said the move to include the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in the economic super body only validates the perception that Mrs. Arroyo is under the control of a “powerful clique.”
“(The President’s) move widens military role in civil affairs of the nation,” Pimentel said.
Escudero said Mrs. Arroyo’s decision to include the ISAFP in economic affairs “militarizes policy-making.”
“If at all, this function should be assigned to civilian authorities. Unless of course, this is an admission that the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation are inutile and that only the ISAFP can get the job done,” Escudero said.
Escudero argued there is no need for the government to spy on the people.
He said the inclusion of ISAFP does not augur well for the volatile situation as its role in the Energy Contingency Task Force (ECTF) might even provoke what the country fears most in the face of the relentless increase in food and fuel prices.
Escudero said the government should be judicious in using the ISAFP.
Cayetano, meanwhile, said ISAFP’s inclusion in ECTF would send the wrong message.
“What’s needed is to build consensus with all sectors to find socio-econ solutions and not to cause unnecessary panic by deploying the military,” Cayetano said in a statement.
Lacson, on the other hand, said the ISAFP’s inclusion formed part of what he called “scare tactics” being employed by Mrs. Arroyo and the Cabinet.
Malacañang dismissed the allegations, saying the inclusion of ISAFP was precisely to monitor the price increase of basic commodities and its implications on national security.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza assured the public that the move to include ISAFP in the economic super body was not meant to harass the political opposition in the guise of quelling any possible civil unrest over the crisis.
Dureza stressed that fears over the inclusion of the military in the ECTF were without basis.
“Let us wait whether apprehensions will happen. (The) inclusion of ISAFP is covered by mandate… to provide information because the work of the task force has security implications,” Dureza said, adding that the
“agencies will act accordingly on purpose (for which) they are established and that is public welfare.”
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the inclusion of the military intelligence service in the ECTF is necessary considering the national security implications of soaring food and fuel prices.
“In fact, this (oil and food crisis) should be everybody’s concern,” Ermita said.
“There is a need to detect on time possible irregularities on the ground,” he said.
Mrs. Arroyo signed an executive order creating the ECTF and included the ISAFP in the body that would monitor the food and energy situation in the face of possible food riots.
Ermita would head the ECTF under the supervision of the National Food and Energy Council (NFEC), chaired by Mrs. Arroyo.
The ISAFP, headed by former Presidential Security Group chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Prestoza, has been tasked to make “timely intelligence assessment of political and security developments related to the oil price issue and alert government offices on the same.”
Officials said the ISAFP would provide advice on matters affecting national security, considering the national security implications of soaring food and fuel prices.
Prestoza, for his part, said he has appointed several agents to attend a seminar on the current security situation on energy and food concerns.
“Our men are now undergoing seminars for them to fully understand what is the present energy, food and fuel situation and for them to be able to seize forthcoming dangers if there would be some,” Prestoza said.
The runaway increases in fuel and food prices, Prestoza said, have triggered a domino effect on other basic commodities.
“The soaring prices of fuel and energy have affected almost everybody,” he said.
Prestoza however ruled out any possibility of riots breaking out due to rising prices.
Prestoza said authorities were prepared for street protests due to inflation but that scenarios of violence and rioting like in other parts of the world were far-fetched.
“Based on our culture, it’s unlikely,” Prestoza said.
He said militant groups have been using the high cost of food and fuel as a propaganda tool against the government.
This is the reason why ISAFP has been included in the ECTF – to advise the body of the security situation stemming from the high cost of food and fuel, he said.
Prestoza allayed fears of a breakdown in law and order even as gasoline prices have risen by about 33 percent since the start of the year.
Consumers and other sectors have been demanding the scrapping of the value-added tax on oil, which adds 12 percent to the cost of fuel.
Yesterday, dozens of students and members of left-wing Anakbayan group pelted the main office of Petron Corp. with used gasoline engine oil wrapped in small plastic bags during a protest, triggering a scuffle with security guards.
A team of anti-riot police stepped in to separate the two groups. There were no arrests and no injuries reported.
“In the coming weeks, there will be civil unrest,” warned Andrew Zarate, spokesman for Anakbayan.
“The crisis will push people to come out, protest, make noise and express their anger against the government,” Zarate said. -With Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Perseus Echeminada
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Joint exploration pact lapsesBy Donnabelle Gatdula Saturday, July 12, 2008
The controversial joint marine seismic undertaking (JMSU) between the Philippines, China and Vietnam has ended, according to Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.
“That JMSU has lapsed and has not been extended,” Reyes told reporters when asked about the status of the inter-agency meeting that is supposed to be held to discuss the JMSU, which expired last July 1.
Reyes said the committee is studying the lapse and the full ramifications of the agreement.
The Philippine government has created a special committee that will recommend if the country should renew or extend the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China and Vietnam under a three-year JMSU.
The Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp., a gas and oil exploration unit of the state-owned PNOC, had signed the MOU in July 2005 with its counterparts in China and Vietnam.
PNOC-EC entered into a tripartite agreement with China National Offshore Oil Corp. and PetroVietnam to explore a portion of the South China Sea, including the disputed Spratly Islands, on March 14, 2005 but the project only started on July 1, 2005.
In signing the agreement, the head of the PNOC then believed that this could be a big step towards transforming a previous area of conflict into an area of possible cooperation and mutual benefit.
Critics of the Arroyo administration said the JMSU undermines the country’s sovereignty and violated the Constitution when foreigners, particularly Chinese explorers, were allowed to conduct seismic tests in Philippine territorial waters.
Then PNOC president Eduardo Mañalac said the agreement was designed to be scientific in nature.
Based on the terms of the JMSU, the three countries will be allowed to do exploratory work involving three activities such as data gathering, processing, and interpretation.
Under the agreement, China was assigned to gather the seismic data while Vietnam will process the information and the Philippines will conduct the interpretation.
PNOC-EC, CNOOC and PetroVietnam started the second phase of the joint study in December 2007, which will assess the petroleum potentials of certain areas in the South China Sea.
The first phase of the seismic survey started on Sept. 1 and ended on Nov. 16, 2005 with a total coverage of 11,021.65 line kilometers.
The Philippine government has pushed for the realization of the agreement in the interest of building and maintaining peace, stability, security and prosperity in the contested areas in the South China Sea.
PNOC president Antonio Cailao earlier said that the agreement with China and Vietnam is not new to the company, citing that it had previously engaged in similar contracts with foreign companies.
Sources said that in the last PNOC board meeting, the issue was not discussed.
“On JMSU, that’s being held in abeyance. With the controversies, we are not moving. We will just wait for the decision of the Energy Department and the national government within this month,” said PNOC-EC chairman Jacinto Paras.
The decision on whether to extend the JMSU is crucial especially for Forum Energy PLC, which is optimistic that it could bag one contract in the Sampaguita prospects in offshore Palawan once the tri-partite agreement expires.
In a statement, Forum Energy chairman Alan Henderson also expressed confidence that it could convert its geophysical survey and exploration contract (GSEC) 101 into a Service Contract (SC) after the JMSU signed by the Philippines with China and Vietnam is completed.
“Whilst the process of conversion has taken some time, the company is informed, and believes, that a positive outcome will be reached in a relatively short timeframe,” Henderson said.
Forum Energy’s GSEC 101 contract has been under negotiation since May 2007 for conversion to an SC.
The existence of the JMSU apparently affected the application for conversion of Forum Energy.
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More MRT coaches comingSaturday, July 12, 2008
Half a million passengers a day are taking the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) following the latest fare hikes for jeepneys and buses, and the number is expected to surge up to a million very soon.
Before yearend, the MRT hopes to deploy four coaches capable of transporting from 700,000 to one million passengers a day.
But plans to purchase 73 more coaches could take up to three years to implement.
Speaking to reporters at the weekly Balitaan sa Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City, MRT general manager Roberto Lastimoso said as of Thursday the daily volume of train passengers has reached 500,000, which is 200,000 over the daily volume in the past years.
“We are expecting the number to rise to 700,000 or even one million passengers a day,” he said.
The retired Philippine National Police chief said the government has decided to buy an additional 73 coaches to meet the rising number of passengers.
However, Lastimoso said buying a train entails a huge amount of money and takes a long time.
“One train includes three cars that each cost $3 million,” he said. “It’s very costly.”
Lastimoso said the manufacture of a train can take as long as three years.
“So we have to decide fast if we want to buy the trains,” he said.
“From the time you place the order, it will take them three years to deliver to you the first prototype.”
Lastimoso said they have extended MRT services by one hour to accommodate more passengers, particularly along the North Edsa station, which usually registers at least 10,000 to 20,000 commuters, especially on Mondays and paydays.
“We have doubled our security measures by deploying more security guards, and we will also install close circuit television cameras in various stations,” he said.
Lastimoso said the government is now negotiating with the owners of the train facility to buy back their equity at current prices so the government can have full control of the mass transport system.
At present the government subsidizes the operations of the MRT with an average of P40 per passenger, who only pays P15 from Taft Avenue in Pasay City to North Edsa in Quezon City, he added.
However, Lastimoso said the MRT, being a mass transport system, will not hike its fares to help commuters cope with the current economic crisis.
“The government subsidy will continue, and we will try our best to keep the MRT a safe and efficient mode of transport in the metropolis,” he said. – Perseus Echeminada, Rainier Allan Ronda

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Diesel price up anewSaturday, July 12, 2008
Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Caltex/Chevron, Eastern Petroleum, Sea-oil and Unioil Petroleum Phils. Inc. will again increase by P1.50 per liter the pump prices for diesel and kerosene starting at 6 a.m. today.
The companies announced the latest round of price hikes two days after they rolled back the prices of gasoline products by P1 per liter.
Shell will also increase the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by P1 per kilo.
Oil companies are planning to limit to P1.50 per liter every oil price increase for diesel.
Sources said oil firms still need to recoup P5 per liter for diesel.
This means that if the oil companies will implement the adjustments by P1.50 per liter per week, the oil firms would need another three weeks to recover their costs.
Auto LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) prices will also be adjusted by P1 per liter.
The average Dubai crude stood at $137.23 per barrel against $127.82 in June.
Imported unleaded gasoline reached $144.12 and diesel $176.86, compared to June’s level of $140.30 and $169.36, respectively.
Meanwhile, the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan pushed through with its “Black Friday” protest action and noise barrage despite the recently announced P1 per liter rollback in oil prices.
Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said that the rollback is small compared to the price hikes of oil companies, which reached a staggering P6 per liter for the month of June alone. Oil prices have been increasing by P1.50 a liter every week since June.
“The rollback is definitely not enough, not when oil companies are even threatening to increase prices by one lump sum of P7 per liter. The rollback is a calibrated move to lull the public into complacency before the big P7 per liter whammy,” Reyes said.
“Our call is still for the removal of the Value Added Tax on oil and power and the scrapping of the oil deregulation law. Piecemeal rollbacks may provide relief today but with VAT and the deregulation law still in place, oil prices are sure to get higher in time,” he added.
The militant group assembled along E. Rodriguez Avenue corner Araneta Avenue in Quezon City. Other cause-oriented groups held similar protest actions in various parts of Manila and Quezon City. This is the fifth in a series of protest actions against oil price increases and the VAT on power and electricity.
“We have to continue with the protests. It is the only way to fight back against abusive pricing and oppressive taxation,” Reyes said.
Bayan assailed the Arroyo administration for its hard-line compliance with the dictates of multilateral lending institutions that have repeatedly warned the government against removing VAT.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves told reporters that they would be looking at the sale of Philippine National Oil Co.’s stake in Petron Corp. within the year.
“We have to go through the process in order to reach the bidding proper,” Teves said.
Teves said talks are ongoing to secure the approval of the PNOC board regarding the planned privatization.
“I understand that from the opinion of the Justice Department, to the members of the privatization council, we need the approval of the President. Various steps leading all the way to the sale are already outlined,” Teves said.
Teves said aside from Petron, the national government is also eyeing the privatization of PNOC-Exploration Corp., the oil and gas exploration arm of PNOC.
The government sees both Petron and PNOC-EC fetching good prices under the current milieu.
Teves earlier said he expects to raise proceeds of P6 billion from the PNOC-EC privatization.
They do not have estimates on how much will be raised for Petron. But there is a standing offer of P6.55 per share from JG Summit Holdings Inc., owned by the Gokongweis. – Donnabelle Gatdula
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‘60,000 to lose jobs with GSIS monopoly of car insurance’By Rainier Allan Ronda Saturday, July 12, 2008
More than 60,000 insurance agents will lose their jobs once the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) takes over from private insurers the task of providing compulsory third party liability (CTPL) insurance to vehicles being registered.
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is expected to implement the system in two weeks.
“We are just working on the procedures on how this will be done,” LTO chief Alberto Suansing said.
Salvador “Buddy” Navidad, president of the Bukluran ng mga Manggagawa sa Industriya ng Seguro (BMIS), asked President Arroyo to stop the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) from implementing DOTC Order No. 2007-28 which transfers the function of providing CTPL to the GSIS from small private insurers.
“The implementation of DOTC Order 207-28 goes against President Arroyo’s job creation program. Giving the GSIS the monopoly in the CTPL insurance business would result in thousands losing their jobs and their families going hungry in these times of rising prices of oil and commodities,” Navidad told The STAR.
The BMIS staged an indignation rally at the DOTC head office at the Columbia Tower in Mandaluyong City last Thursday.
Navidad said there are 67 private insurance companies involved in the CTPL business.
He said GSIS’s monopoly of the business would be disadvantageous to vehicle owners.
“Who will motor vehicle owners turn to when they have problems with their claims? Are they supposed to go to the GSIS complaints department that is notorious for being inaccessible to the millions of government employees and retirees who have problems with their salary loans and benefits and their pensions?” Navidad asked.
GSIS is independent of the Insurance Commission (IC), which regulates the private insurance industry.
Also protesting the new DOTC order is the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations or ACTO.
Efren de Luna, ACTO president, said the current system is efficient enough and that doing away with it might only complicate matters for vehicle owners.
Securing a CTPL certificate of coverage is a prerequisite to the registration of motor vehicles along with a smoke emission test. CTPL provides coverage of up to P100,000 for death and injury to third parties involved in accidents.
LTO defends new system
Suansing defended the system, saying the government wants to ensure that accident victims get proper treatment.
He also said the new system will facilitate vehicle registration as well as eliminate middlemen and fixers.
“We have to work on the collection of premium payments, tax collection that will go to the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) and other details,” he said.
The DOTC, IC, LTO and GSIS are still drafting the guidelines on the implementation of the new system, which is also designed to lower the cost of vehicle registration.
Under the scheme, private vehicle owners will each save P325; owners of utility vehicles, P375; light trucks, P355; and motorcycles P85.
“After the MOA signing, we need to craft rules on what we signed. The rules will be out this week and full implementation will start by next week. Right now, there is a pilot test of the system to see how the whole thing works,” Suansing said.
Under the MOA, the GSIS will accredit re-insurance companies to which it will farm out the task of providing CTPLs. Under the setup, the GSIS will be able to screen and weed out fly-by-night insurance companies so that only legitimate insurance providers with proven track records will be able to provide CTPL, Suansing said.
Complaints regarding fake CTPLs have swamped the government since the system’s inception in the 1980s.
At present, two of every three CTPLs sold to the public are of spurious nature.
From 2000 to 2007, 39.7 million vehicles were registered, but only about 17 million held valid CTPLs.
The new system is also expected to be more convenient as the issuance of CTPL will be made right inside the LTO office.
Thus, there would be no more need for vehicle owners to buy CTPLs first from private firms before registering their vehicles with the LTO.
The LTO itself will process the CTPL requirements of vehicles being registered, thus cutting red tape.
And with the LTO itself taking payments for the CTPL, the remittance of the premiums to the GSIS and its partner firms – including the taxes on the premiums due to the government – becomes automatic. – With Mary Ann Reyes and Perseus Echeminada
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FVR hits GMA for weak family planning programBy Sheila Crisostomo Saturday, July 12, 2008
Former President Fidel Ramos hit President Arroyo anew yesterday for her “flip-flopping” population policy which, he claimed, reflects the “gross inefficiency of the weak Philippine state.”
In a speech delivered during the World Population Day 2008 Forum, Ramos said there have been local and international studies that confirmed “the enduring link between family size and poverty” but the Arroyo administration has still been cold on promoting a balanced family planning program.
“In our country, the most intense phase of this research was done during the 1960s and 1980s. A common conclusion was that rapid population growth was more likely to hinder than to foster economic development,” he said.
When Ramos was still president, the Department of Health actively promoted both the artificial and natural methods of birth control.
Under the present leadership, the National Government hardly promotes contraceptives.
Mrs. Arroyo instead leaves it up to the local government units (LGUs) to buy their own supplies of artificial methods of birth control.
But the National Government promotes the four “scientific” natural methods – lactational amenorrhea method, standard days method, sympto-thermal method, basal body temperature and cervical mucus methods like billing ovulation, Mercedes Wilson and two-day method.
Traditional methods like withdrawal and calendar are not being promoted because they have been proven ineffective.
“But not all LGUs could afford to finance their contraceptive self-reliance programs. Accordingly, civil society advocates and supportive lawmakers have had to lobby to increase the DOH’s 2007 budget by P150 million specifically for family planning,” Ramos claimed.
The budget was released only after five months or last February.
Ramos charged that Mrs. Arroyo’s “flip-flopping” family planning policy seemed to be caused by her “unwarranted subservience” to the Catholic Church that is strongly opposed to contraceptives.
“Are we not a nation of diverse faiths and beliefs? Any Philippine president must represent the interest and welfare of Filipinos – regardless of what religion he or she may profess. The President must be the leader of all the people – and not just of the majority,” he added.
Ramos has underscored the need for the National Government to revise its family planning program as the country’s population now stands at 88.6 million. By 2050, the number of Filipinos has been projected to reach 177 million.
He said the Philippines’ growth rate is among the highest in the world, translating to three babies being born every minute.
“PGMA’s ambiguousness has hurt the cause of proper family planning in this country. Since she has a doctorate in economics, we can assume she knows the political economy of contraception, both natural and artificial,” Ramos said.
Commission on Population executive director Tomas Osias said that population management could be an important strategy to minimize the impacts of the economic crisis facing the country.
“What is important is for those who are promoting the different methods to also state what are the advantages and disadvantages so that couples can make an informed choice, an informed decision. Right now the government is giving emphasis on scientific natural family planning methods,” he said.
According to Dr. William Padolina, deputy director general of the International Rice Research Institute, for an additional one million mouths to feed, the country’s production of milled rice must increase by 134,000 metric tons every year.
With the present population of 88.5 million, the total demand per year is 11.8 million metric tons of rice.
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DOTC sees eventual phase-out of buses, jeepneys in Metro ManilaBy Perseus Echeminada Saturday, July 12, 2008
The start of the construction of the mass transit railway system that will link the Light Railway Transit (LRT) and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) along EDSA will lead to the eventual phase-out of buses and jeepneys in Metro Manila, a top official of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said yesterday.
“Buses and jeepneys will voluntarily leave Metro streets once we complete the rail system,” DOTC Undersecretary for railway services Guiling Mamondong said.
Mamondong explained the MRT project linking the North EDSA station in Quezon City to Monumento in Caloocan City would complete the loop that would force public utility vehicles, particularly buses, out of EDSA.
He said the loop railway system is expected to be complete in 12 months that would link Caloocan, Quezon City, Makati, Manila, and Pasay City into one whole mass transit system.
“Once the link up is complete, passengers will ignore buses and they will (instead) take the train which is cheaper and faster,” Mamondong said.
He said this early, many buses plying the EDSA route are often empty, even during rush hours due to intense competition and the fact more commuters are choosing to take the MRT to reach their destination faster.
Mamondong added the increasing prices of fuel would force other bus companies to look for alternate routes or cease their operations to avoid more losses.
Aside from the EDSA link, a new rail system would be constructed from North EDSA to Bulacan, passing through Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
The new train system, MRT 7, will have an underground facility from the central station in North EDSA passing the Quezon Memorial Circle and the length of Commonwealth Avenue.
Mamondong said MRT 7 would service commuters at Fairview in Quezon City up to the boundary of Bulacan.
Another mass transit rail system would be constructed from North EDSA traversing Quezon Avenue to link up with the LRT 1 Central station in Manila.
“Mass transit will not only address the problem of high fares it will also result in the decongestion of traffic and clean air because the trains will be running on electric power,” Mamondong pointed out.
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Special rehab centers for minors in drug cases eyedBy Edu Punay Saturday, July 12, 2008
Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Chairman Vicente Sotto III wants juvenile drug offenders treated in a special rehabilitation center.
In an interview with The STAR, the former senator said he will ask Congress to remove minors caught violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act from the protective mantle of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, which exempts children 15 years old and below from criminal liability.
“This is part of our plan to strengthen our war against dangerous drugs,” he said. “We need legislative support for our projects.”
Sotto said he envisions a center where children arrested for violating laws against illegal drugs would undergo a rehabilitation program without being treated as criminals.
“I got this idea from Bahay Pag-asa in La Salle Bacolod, where children in conflict with the law are segregated and given the necessary treatment they need,” he said. “That is our model.”
Sotto said the ban on the arrest and prosecution of children caught violating the law is considered by narcotics enforcers and prosecutors as a “major hindrance” in the implementation of laws against illegal drugs.
He will coordinate with the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs and the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs, both chaired by Sen. Gregorio Honasan on his proposed amendment to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, he added.
Out of the conservative estimate of 3.7 million drug users and pushers nationwide, almost four percent – or some 150,000 – are below 14 years old, according to DDB records.
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‘Expand coverage of subsidies instead of lifting VAT on oil’By Aurea Calica Saturday, July 12, 2008
Instead of calling for the lifting of the value added tax on oil, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. and Sen. Edgardo Angara want sectors covered by subsidies from the windfall in VAT collections to be expanded as the prices of fuel products continue to soar.
The opposition, on the other hand, said that Malacañang’s insistence on not removing the expanded VAT on oil is proof of the Arroyo administration’s insensitive greed.
Villar, in particular, called for fuel and livelihood subsidies for the country’s small fishermen reeling from the effects of massive flooding and the sinking of M/V Princess of the Stars in the wake of typhoon “Frank.”
The Senate president earlier said that it would not be easy to lift the VAT and that the government must be given the chance to work on its options to address high prices of oil and other basic commodities.
According to Villar, fishermen also deserve a diesel subsidy similar to that extended to public utility drivers. “Almost 60 percent of the retail price of galunggong, dilis, tulingan, matangbaka, alumahan, tambakol, and bisugo represents fuel expenses,” Villar said, referring to the top seven species caught in municipal waters or the body of water 15 kilometers from the coastline.
“If the government was able to put in place a system allowing PUV drivers and operators to buy discounted diesel, it can do likewise for bancas and fishing boats which are fewer in number,” Villar said.
Villar met with the Alliance of Philippine Fishing Federations Inc., a nationwide organization of subsistence and commercial fishermen urging an amendment to the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, the granting of loans to buy second-hand vessels, and fuel subsidy.
The Senate president backed a P2-discount on fuel for the fishermen.
Angara, for his part, said suspending the VAT on oil would deplete government resources for food and electricity subsidies.
He said scrapping VAT would require a serious study on the part of economic executives since successive oil price increases were a global phenomenon.
“If you remove the VAT on oil, government will lose its lifeline for subsidies on rice and electricity. Government is faced with a difficult choice. Hence, it should seriously study the effects of repealing the VAT on oil,” Angara said.
In Japan, the soaring price of food and fuel is on top of the agenda at the summit of leaders from G-8 nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, Angara noted.
G-8 nations stressed the need to provide “safety net support” for the most needy, to boost support for food assistance in light of soaring food and fuel prices.
Instead of immediately scrapping VAT on oil, Angara said the Philippines should seek ways to cushion the country from the impact of oil price hikes by exploring alternative energy sources.
He stressed the need to utilize the country’s vast and well-mapped renewable energy sources and encourage local entrepreneurs to go into the development of the country’s alternative energy resources in order to decrease dependence on imported fuel. – With Jose Rodel Clapano
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Palace urges public to report abuse in use of gov’t vehiclesSaturday, July 12, 2008
Government officials and employees who use government vehicles for non-official purposes may face sanctions, Malacañang warned yesterday.
The warnings were issued in the light of Malacañang’s revival of its energy conservation program.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who heads a presidential task force on energy, also urged the public to report the “excessive and abusive use of government vehicles” amid rising fuel and food prices.
Ermita said he has issued warnings to various agencies through the Cabinet members to “strictly supervise the use of government vehicles” especially those with government plates.
He said they’ve been receiving reports of government officials abusing the use of government vehicles
“The people can report to Action Center here in Malacanang,” said Ermita, adding they would give out the hotlines on where to call.
He also urged public officials to lessen their vehicle “escorts” to save on gas and to avert public anger over the long security convoys.
“Our battle cry should always be conservation and I hope this will sink in,” he said.
In May, Ermita announced that Cabinet officials would soon be shedding their gas guzzlers and set the example on energy conservation to jumpstart a government program that will save the country as much as P1.4 billion a year on fuel expenses alone.
Based on records from the Land Transportation Office, there are about 4,211,932 gasoline-driven vehicles and 1,561,935 diesel-fed vehicles in the country, Ermita added.
For the government’s 80,000 vehicles, a one-liter reduction in fuel consumption would translate to a daily savings of P4 million, P120 million a month, or P1.44 billion a year. – Paolo Romero
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Dacer daughter tags Lacson in murderBy Rainier Allan Ronda Saturday, July 12, 2008
Almost eight years after the disappearance and murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer, his daughter finally testified in court about how he warned them weeks before he died that any attempt on his life should be laid at the doorstep of then police general and now Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
Sabina Dacer-Reyes told The STAR in an interview yesterday that she testified before Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18 presiding Judge Myra Garcia-Fernandez that in a Sunday brunch of the family in her father’s house in Parañaque City, he had told them to hold Lacson responsible if something bad happened to him.
“It is now on record that my father, on at least two occasions, in one of our Sunday brunches in his house, mentioned to me and my sister and in his exact words, he said: Mga anak, kung anuman ang mangyari sa akin, walang ibang may kagagawan nun kung hindi si Ping Lacson (If something happens to me, there is no one to blame except Ping Lacson),” Reyes said.
Reyes, along with sister Carina, had quietly flown back into the country recently to attend to some pressing matters relating to family properties left by their murdered father.
She said during the visit, they found out that there would be a hearing yesterday on the murder case filed by the authorities against police officers Glen Dumlao, Michael Ray Aquino, Cesar Mancao and several others for the murder of Dacer and his long-time driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Dumlao, Aquino, and Mancao were said to be members of an elite police task force then headed by Lacson.
Dacer was on his way to a meeting with former President Fidel Ramos in Makati on the morning of Nov. 24, 2000 when his car was waylaid by a group of armed men said to have looked like policemen.
“He was supposed to meet former President Ramos nung umagang yun. That morning, I guess President Ramos knows that my Dad’s never late. Or konting late pa lang, nagpa-follow-up na siya. That’s why they started calling his cellphone and wala ng sumasagot (nobody was answering),” Carina said.
Dacer and his driver’s charred remains were later found in Indang, Cavite and were identified only through their dentures.
“Basically, I reiterated how we felt when it happened. And the efforts that we did in finding our missing father and driver. And I also mentioned the thoughts that came into my mind when I found out that he disappeared and then went missing,” Reyes said.
“I also testified in court on the damages that were done to us and all the other people because of what happened to my father and his driver,” Reyes said.
The sisters shared that to their knowledge, their father incurred the ire of Lacson when he was hired by the police general’s then bitter rival for the top Philippine National Police (PNP) post, Roberto Lastimoso.
“If you will remember, Gen. Roberto Lastimoso and Senator Lacson were (then) vying for the position of (PNP chief) during that time and my father was then helping Roberto Lastimoso,” Reyes said.
Shortly after taking on Lastimoso as a client, Dacer advised them to take extra caution when talking to him on the phone and going around, the sisters said.
“He mentioned about death threats. And for a long time, he instructed us, when he calls us on the phone, to talk in codes. It was hard for us to understand that at first. And in fact, before he got abducted, he had to go to the United States because a lot of his friends advised him that he was really in danger and that he should lie low for a while,” Carina said.
“And he has told us several times na pag gumagamit kayo ng telepono sa bahay, siguraduhin ninyong be careful what you say because naka-wiretap (that if you use telephones in the house be careful what you say because it was wiretapped),” Sabina recalled.
The sisters said that previously, their father had been silent about his job as public relations consultant to very important people in government and business.
“Actually, we only have very little knowledge about what he does. Sometimes he just talks about general politics. But he doesn’t talk about the people he is helping,” Carina said.
Disparaging letters
The sisters revealed that while rummaging through their father’s things during this visit, they had found some of Dacer’s letters to former President Joseph Estrada endorsing Lastimoso for the top PNP post.
The letters to Estrada, written on paper with Dacer’s letterhead, were dated May 4, 1999 and Oct. 8, 1999 respectively, and gave an account of how Lacson allegedly used the media to besmirch Lastimoso and then Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to wrest control of both the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the PNP.
“The campaign against Secretary Puno was part of Gen. Lacson’s grand plan to wrest total control of both the DILG and the PNP. Doing so would make him the most powerful man in the nation,” reads Dacer’s October letter to then President Estrada.
The former PR man also begged the former president not to appoint Lacson to the highest police post in the country because “many foresee a POLICE STATE, and this will be very bad for the domestic economy and set back Your Excellency’s campaign to attract foreign investors.”
“Huwag lang po sana si PING LACSON, especially now na nandiyan na si Secretary Puno, because it could lead to a power struggle – at your own expense, Mr. President,” Dacer said in his letter.
Sabina said that testifying turned out to be more difficult than she expected, with the lawyers of Aquino and the other co-accused being rude and mocking while she gave her testimony.
When asked why they suddenly decided to turn up now and give their testimony, the sisters said that they had just secured their US green cards that cleared the way for a trip back to the country to settle some unfinished family business.
The Dacer sisters said they had left the country months after their father’s murder in fear and in frustration about the disappointing turn in the probe of his death.
“What do we want from the case? It’s not money. What we’re hoping for is for the accused to realize that we want them to tell us who gave the order. We’re not after kung sino ang gumawa. Gusto namin malaman kung sino ang nag-utos. Kasi marami silang sinirang buhay (We are not after who did it. We want to know who ordered it because they have ruined a lot of lives),” Carina said.
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