Successful space adventure. China’s Shenzhou-7 spacecraft’s reentry module lands safely in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. --AP

Markets seen easing on US deal

FOREIGN funds withdrawn from the Philippines and brought elsewhere in recent months were seen to return now that legislators and market regulators in the United States have reached a tentative agreement on the need to inject $700 billion into its markets.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said while markets around the world are still awaiting the final terms and features of the rescue package, the agreement should sooth tattered financial-market nerves.

Too early for RP to ease up on US bailout OK: experts

THE financial bailout of American financial institutions, which the US Congress tentatively approved at the weekend in time for Monday’s markets opening, still won’t allow Filipinos to heave a sigh of relief; and the details and the actual outcome of the plan are crucial to ensuring growth not only in the US, but also in the Philippines, according to a former budget secretary.

Early on Sunday the US Congress was reported to have made progress toward approving the $700-billion plan made by the US Federal Reserve to rescue ailing US financial institutions and prevent them from plunging the country into a deep recession, while roiling markets abroad.

Bakers: No milk, flour from China

BAKERS joined the chorus at the weekend, assuring the public their products do not contain ingredients from China—especially milk and flour, the latter being the latest food ingredient reported to be possibly contaminated with nonfood and plastic-hardener melamine.

Local regulators nudged to avoid US woes

ECONOMISTS have urged the government to tighten the local financial system by introducing “sound” regulatory architectures. Just last week the Securities and Exchange Commission of the US conceded oversight flaws that fueled the collapse of some major banks.

Hospitals’ expansion plans seen affected by tightening credit

THE recent failure in the US financial sector has started to take its toll on the Philippine health-care industry, a Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (Phap) official said.

Phap president Rustico Jimenez on Thursday said that owing to the exposure of certain local banks to large investment institutions in the US, particularly with Lehman Brothers, and the bearish investment climate, several hospital loans with these local banks have been put on hold.

Planet English: If Muhammad Ali boxed and wrote too

MUHAMMAD Ali sparred with heavyweights as with hearty words. Quick in verbal improvisation, he titled the catchy “Thrilla in Manila” as he psyched himself up thus about his upcoming bout with Joe Frazier in 1975:

There’s gonna be a killa, there’s gonna be a thrilla, when I whip that gorilla over in Manila.

Report: Population to drive growth if ...

RAPID population growth, especially the growth of the middle class, could be the next economic growth driver in the world if governments and businesses learn to make this consumption-based growth sustainable, according to the second Global Growth@Riskreport released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

PSALM to prepay part of NPC debt

THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has announced it will go ahead with its plan to prepay—its fourth this year—part of the debt of the National Power Corp. (NPC).

An earlier prepayment was on September 16 for two yen loans of ¥19.76 billion or $186 million, which were extended by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for the 600-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales that was successfully privatized in 2007.

Diana De la Rosa, manager, Enterprise Server and Storage Technology Solutions Group; and Humprey Sy, manager, StorageWorks Division Technology Solutions Group for Southeast Asia, brief media at the launch of HP’s new disk-based backup systems— touted to increase disk utilization by up to 50 times to deliver scalable solutions that reduce storage costs and protect critical business data. --Roy Domingo