Houses from Hanjin. Housing-program beneficiaries from sitio Nagyantok in Subic, Zambales, release balloons to symbolize a new future at the turnover of 300 housing units built under the Hanjin relocation program. The South Korean company, which is building a large shipbuilding facility at Subic, earlier drew flak for constructing two high-rise apartments for its officials and employees in the middle of the forest. --HENRY EMPEÑO

LOCAL meat processors warned on Thursday that the prices of processed meat products like hotdogs and canned products like meat loaf will go up by as much as 20 percent due to a new Department of Agriculture (DA) policy limiting the raw materials that the meat processing industry can import for their production.

In separate letters to Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap and Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla, who is also the executive director of the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) Secretariat, the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) said the new policy “will impact directly and immediately [on] the increase of food prices, especially at this time, when alternative sources of food materials are badly required.”

EVEN as bakeries and other bread manufacturers have announced a new round of price increases for their products, it seems that consumers will not get a relief from the continuous increase in the price of flour-based products like bread and noodles in the coming months.

Ric Pinca, executive director of Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. (Pafmil), said that while there is no shortage of wheat in the market, the price of hard and soft flour may still increase in the coming months.

PRESIDENT Arroyo may declare a rice and corn emergency if the perceived shortage in the country’s rice supply continues.

In an interview, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez told reporters that under Republic Act 3452, which provides measures to stabilize the price of palay, rice and corn, among others, the President is empowered to initiate drastic measures to ensure consumers of continued rice supply.

THE country’s stomach comes first. This much is clear to both economists and businessmen, who both surely know what they are talking about since without food, there is no hope for other economic activities.

THERE could be a respite this weekend from the successive rises of fuel prices every weekend, according to an industry source who requested not to be named.

“We have yet to compute the under-recoveries for the month.  If the surge continues, then we might have to increase prices, particularly if peso drops. But we may have a breather this weekend since we need to compute the impact of the 50-centavos-per-liter tariff cut on our prices,” said the source.

IN what could be an ironic turn of events, a University of the Philippines economist warned Thursday that allowing the peso to appreciate any further at the same rapid pace may drag the Philippines into a fiscal crisis.

In his lecture, former UP School of Economics dean Raul Fabella said, “While the prospect of another drastic stumble remains remote for now, its seeds may already have been sown by the rapid peso appreciation. Although more distant than in 1996, we do not know when and how the enemy will strike. In the near-term, it may manifest itself simply as forgone growth in output and employment.”

DENMARK is the most networked economy in the world, 80 places above the Philippines that last year ranked 81, slipping from 69 the year before.

This is according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2007-2008 Global Information Technology Report (GITR), which has become the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of information and communications technology (ICT) on the development and competitiveness of nations.

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PEOPLE use umbrellas to shield themselves from the heat of the sun Thursday in Quezon City, as they wait in line to buy government-subsidized rice at a lower price. The government has allocated $1.17 billion to boost the production of rice as the price of the staple food rose amid a tightening global supply. --AP