A PHILIPPINE folk dance lends glitter to the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) in Bangkok. Ministers of the Asean member-countries are optimistic tourism would boost growth in investments and revenue for the region, especially with booming outbound markets in China and India. The annual ATF, hosted for the fifth time by Thailand, represents the more than US$40-billion market of the region. --DENNIS D. ESTOPACE

AFTER stock markets all over the world plunged on Tuesday and the local bourse slightly recovered the day after, the government has decided to maintain a “wait-and-see” attitude before it considers the revision of its economic targets for 2008 onward.

Acting Director General Augusto Santos of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said revising targets are not yet an option for the government.

BANGKOK—Notwithstanding fears of the adverse impact of the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) downgrade of the Philippines’ civil-aviation system to Category 2, Filipino tourism executives attending a regional forum here have revised upward tourism targets for the next two years based on past years’ performance.

BANGKOK—With a road map to full Asean integration of tourism finished before the year ends, the 10 countries forming the major economic and political bloc in the Asia-Pacific region are gearing up for a resurgence in the travel and tourism business.

FINANCE officials reiterated Wednesday their warning that a suspension of the value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products, with the avowed intent of easing the public’s pain from rising oil prices, will drain the government of P54 billion in badly needed revenue and cause more harm than good to taxpayers.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands—The World Health Organization (WHO) has alerted countries, especially those in the developing world, that their government must recognize the urgency and importance of access to safe water and basic sanitation for their people if they are to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

THICK acrid smoke blanketed the arrival area at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday while passengers from seven foreign flights were lined up at the immigration counter.

“What’s happening here?” cried a foreigner in alarm, seeing the acrid smoke creeping slowly down the floor from the ceiling fanned by the air-conditioning system.

LOCAL companies which move shipments by air said they will no longer use Philippine Airlines (PAL) to handle their cargo after the national flag carrier suffered collateral damage from a recent downgrade issued by US aviation authorities on the Philippines’ Air Transportation Office.

THE peso rose the most in eight weeks as the yield premium offered by the nation’s assets increased after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates.

AMID the side issue of patent wars on medicine in the pending cheap-drugs bill in Congress, the head of the country’s intellectual property office has sounded the alarm on the tremendous loss of biological diversity to illegal bioprospectors making lots of money from patenting them.

FEARING that the removal of tax incentives will derail its development road map, the local business process outsourcing (BPO) industry has joined other domestic sectors and the foreign chambers in calling for the retention of fiscal perks topped by income tax holidays a (ITH).

THE impending recession in the United States that is feared to cause a global economic slowdown may even benefit the country’s marketing of labor skills, the head of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said.

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WORRY is written on the faces of two immigration officers as residual smoke lingers at the arrival area from a burned air-conditioning unit at the fourth floor of the building. --RECTO MERCENE