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PRESIDENT
Arroyo delivers her keynote address at the last session of
the 2008 Philippine Energy Summit at SM Mall of Asia,
floating solutions to cushion the impact of high oil
prices on the public such as issuing coupons. Outside the
venue, however, protesters called on the government to
instead repeal the oil-deregulation law and scrap the
12-percent value-added tax on oil products and “pursue
development of alternative, renewable and indigenous
energy sources.”
--RHOY COBILLA/AP |
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Inflation at 4.9% on costly food |
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HIGH food
prices pushed up inflation in January to 4.9 percent,
significantly higher than the 3.9 percent registered in the
same period last year and the 2.6 percent recorded in
December 2007.
The National
Statistics Office (NSO), which released the figures Tuesday,
said the hike may be attributed to the increases in the
inflation rates of all commodity groups in January. |
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VAT
refund, open access top summit |
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ACTING on
the recommendations of stakeholders at the four-day Energy
Summit, President Arroyo Tuesday issued several measures
aimed at improving the country’s energy independence and
easing the impact of oil prices on the people, especially
the poor, and businesses in the country. |
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Priming economy is priority in Feb. |
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President
Arroyo said Tuesday she would spend the whole month of
February groundbreaking projects as part of government
efforts to frontload the 2008 budget to stave off the impact
of a US slowdown. |
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European schools courting RP students |
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THE European
Union (EU) is opening its doors for cross-border education
in 51 of its universities to 21 countries, and for this
purpose will hold a major fair later this month for
interested Filipino youth.
Ambassador
Alistair MacDonald, head of the delegation of the European
Commission in the Philippines, said some 50 academic
institutions would conduct the European Higher Education
Fair (Ehef) from February 22 to 24 to encourage Filipino
students and professionals to enroll in various courses in
EU schools. |
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‘Boracay development becoming unsustainable’ |
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CEBU CITY—The
tourism department Tuesday warned that development on
Boracay Island is close to becoming “unsustainable” because
of “undisciplined development” on the island resort.
Tourism
Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said the undisciplined
development, which has encroached on the island’s
shorelines, the watershed area and even the waters of
Boracay, as well as the uncontrolled influx of tourists, are
close to becoming unsustainable and irreversible for the
island paradise. |
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Chinese ask for fast-free New Year |
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MEMBERS of
the Chinese community have asked the Catholic archdiocese of
Manila for an exemption from fasting in observing Ash
Wednesday today as they start to welcome the Chinese New
Year, which falls on February 7, Thursday.
Manila
Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales granted the
Chinese-Filipino Catholics a “dispensation” from fasting and
abstinence. |
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Teves hit on BOC tax exemptions |
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FINANCE
Secretary Margarito Teves and other ranking officials of the
Department of Finance (DOF) could be held liable for
allowing the entry of at least three shipments of imported
heavy-duty generators and transformers through the Subic
free port without paying an estimated P300 million in
tariffs and duties, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said. |
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MORE STORIES ... |
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ALISTAIR
MACDONALD, head of the Delegation of the European Commission
to the Philippines, discusses details of the upcoming first
European Higher Education Fair in the Philippines, where 51
European schools are expected to off ervarious learning
opportunities to young Filipinos.
--NONIE REYES |
