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Literally hot
summer. Metal
sheets scatter on the still-smoldering debris of houses
gutted by a fire at a slum district in Tondo, Manila, on
Wednesday. Destructive fires often hit Metro Manila’s
burgeoning shantytowns, especially during the hot summer
months—ironically, in March, officially declared Fire
Prevention Month—often causing death and destruction to
the country’s poor.
--AP |
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Private biz to fund P63B of projects |
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IN an effort
to control government spending on infrastructure projects
and encourage the private sector to participate in national
development, the government has bared 10 priority projects
that will be proposed for financing by the private sector.
In his
presentation at the Philippine Development Forum (PDF)
Wednesday, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)
Acting Director General Augusto Santos said the 10 projects
would amount to at least P63.35 billion. |
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RP
trade deficit soars to $756M in Jan. |
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THE
country’s trade deficit surged to $756 million in January
2008 and reversed the trade surplus recorded a year ago,
according to data released by the National Statistics Office
(NSO) Wednesday. |
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GMA
insists on balanced budget for 2008 |
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REITERATING
her confidence the country can maintain its growth rate
last year—which stood at 7.3 percent—even with the global
economic slowdown, President Arroyo Wednesday clearly
indicated she is determined that the country have a balanced
budget this year.
Speaking at
the at the Philippine Development Forum in Clark Field,
Pampanga, the President said the 2008 national budget has
been designed not only to act as a “buffer” against external
economic challenges but also to ensure the government meets
its balanced-budget goal two years ahead of the original
2010
target. |
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RP,
Vietnam ink rice-supply deal; imports seen at P59B |
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THE
Department of Agriculture (DA) has signed an agreement
enabling the Philippines to import up to 1.5 million metric
tons of Vietnamese white rice to help beef up local
stockpiles and guarantee Filipinos ample supply in the
coming months.
The signing
of the Philippine-Vietnam memorandum of agreement (MOA) by
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Vietnamese Industry and
Trade Minister Yu Huy Hoang was inked on the sidelines of
the two-day Philippine Development Forum, which ends
Thursday. |
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Rice
price may soar up to P40/kg |
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RICE farmers
and members of civil-society groups Wednesday warned that
the worst in the country’s rice- supply woes is yet to come
as they predict the prices of rice will soar to as high as
P40 a kilogram (kg) during the lean months of July to
September unless the government acts with dispatch to
prevent what could be a serious rice crisis.
Jessica
Reyes-Cantos, lead convenor of Rice Watch and Action Network
(R1), said reports of the tightening global supply of rice
have pushed local prices in the market of the country’s
staple food abnormally high even as the harvest season is
still headed for its peak in April. |
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Japanese firms sign pact with Cebu university
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CEBU
CITY—The Cebu Doctor’s University (CDU) signed an agreement
Wednesday with two Japanese companies to pave the way for
Filipino medical professionals to get employment in Japan. |
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MORE STORIES ... |
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Facing a
challenge Quezon City Treasurer Victor Endriga, also
president of the Philippine Association of Local Treasurers
and Assessors (Phaltra), holds the Local Treasury Operations
Manual at Phaltra’s national conference Wednesday at the SMX
Convention Center in Pasay City. The Phaltra is gearing up
for a Department of Finance order finally mandating the
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and local government units
to share data on businesses in a bid to shore up BIR
collections from entities beneath its radar.
--NONOY LACZA |
