Killer passion. The image of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila, seems to float on a sea of humanity, as an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 devotees on Wednesday joined the 401st feast of Quiapo district. At least two persons were reported killed and dozens were injured or collapsed in the crush as the tidal fervor peaked during the procession. --NONIE REYES

THE government is dismayed by reports that certain government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and even private-sector borrowers have obtained loans on the strength of its sovereign guarantee.

The discovery led Finance Undersecretary Roberto Tan to disclose on Wednesday that the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency or Philexim will not hesitate to call off such guarantees if fraud is involved.

MOODY’S Investor Service has only been in Manila half its regular assessment time, but already its team of experts are dangling the likelihood of a credit upgrade.

DESPITE volatility in financial markets across the world, consumers in Asia-Pacific are optimistic that 2008 will be another rosy year, with consumer confidence outlook for the first half of the year up on the level reported six months and a year ago.

THE planned energy summit should not be—as one lawmaker put it—just Malacañang talking to itself, but a real one to take up proposals to prepare the country for worse times and craft doable measures that can quickly ease the public pain from rising oil prices.

THE Nestlé Group will study possible investments in the Philippines’ renewable-energy industry, Trade Secretary Peter Favila said on Wednesday.

Favila said in a news briefing in Malacañang that Nestlé chief executive officer Paul Bulcke inquired about geothermal and hydroelectric potentials during a courtesy call on President Arroyo, where the company executive also met with other officials.

THE trilateral hydrocarbon venture in the disputed areas of the South China Sea should be “expedited and completed” to pave the way for exploratory oil drilling among the national oil companies of China, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. suggested this to Beijing officials during his six-day official visit to China.

HANJIN Heavy Industries & Construction Co., the first South Korean company to export ships, plans to invest $1.9 billion in Mindanao, said President Arroyo on Wednesday.

The complex, to be built in Misamis Oriental province, will be Busan-based Hanjin’s second investment in the nation, Mrs. Arroyo said in a broadcast speech from Mindanao, without elaborating.

THE local automotive industry recorded its highest sales in a decade with sales of 117,903 units last year, or a robust 18.4-percent growth from 2006.

It was also the first time since 1996, the year immediately before the Asian credit crunch, that the industry was able to rise above the 100,000-unit sales mark.

San Miguel Brewery Inc.’s (SMBI’s) beer sales sustained volume and revenue growth since March last year. The performance comes as a fresh start for the newly spun-off subsidiary of food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. as this was a significant improvement from 2006.

DESPITE rising jet fuel costs, Hawaiian Airlines announced the schedule and fares for its new nonstop service between Honolulu and Manila.

MORE STORIES ...

Nobel Laureate 2004 Nobel Laureate for Physics Professor David Gross leads a lively discussion as the speaker at the "Dialogue with the Researchers" at the University of the Philippines National Institute of Science and Mathematics Education in Diliman Quezon City. He discovered and explored the force that binds particles inside an atomic nucleus. Gross is among the Nobel Laureates who are set to visit the country until April under the program of Bridges Dialogues Toward a Culture of Peace under the International Peace Foundation. --NONOY LACZA