A 395,000-bag shipment of rice imported from Vietnam is unloaded at the Subic Bay Freeport’s Sattler Pier on Friday. The National Food Authority says the rice imports will mostly serve as buffer stock during the lean months of palay production, as Palace officials disputed the characterization of the Philippine situation as akin to countries where food riots have erupted, like Haiti. --HENRY EMPEÑO

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered the regional tripartite wage and productivity boards nationwide to convene in the light of high oil and food prices that have shrunk the purchasing power of workers in the country. The call drew a warning against inflation and other economic implications from the central planning agency, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

The President made the call during her visit to the Yazaki Torres Manufacturing Inc. facility in Calamba, Laguna, with Trade Secretary Peter Favila and Labor Secretary Marianito Roque.

EMPLOYER groups see the agitation for wage hikes as inevitable, but have asked the government and labor to consider also that the same price spikes making life miserable for workers have swollen business costs and could imperil the operations of some members.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) and the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) said Monday, though, they will follow any decision from the regional tripartite wage boards.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Philippine government cannot afford to pursue growth and inflation, now moving in opposite directions, on stand-alone basis, the Finance chief said here, as he underscored Sunday the government stance to strike a balance to shield the greatest number of Filipinos from the ill effects of a global slowdown.

In an interview, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the highest possible output was still expected from the economy—seen to expand by a range of 6.3 up to 7 percent in terms of the gross domestic product this year, the escalating price of rice and the expected US slowdown notwithstanding.

THE food supply situation in the Philippines would not deteriorate to the point of mass starvation and social unrest, as the government has been moving to protect the country’s food security, Palace officials said Monday.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo was responding to the statement of International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Dominique Strauss Kahn that rising food prices in countries like the Philippines could lead to social unrest.

THE government is not open to reducing rice tariffs and thinks any tariff below 12 percent will affect its revenues, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Neda Acting Director General Augusto Santos told reporters that reducing the rice tariffs to any rate below 12 percent will endanger the government’s goal of achieving a balanced budget this year.

PRICE controls and changes in import and export policies may address the problems of poor consumers who could no longer afford an adequate diet for a healthy life, but some of these policies are likely to “backfire” by making the international market smaller and more volatile, the International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) said.

Dr. Joachim von Braun, Ifpri director general, said in the institute’s policy brief titled “Rising food prices: What should be done?” that “price controls reduce the price that farmers receive for their agricultural products and, thus, reduce farmers’ incentives to produce more food.”

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‘Good luck, RP team’ The members of the Philippine team competing in this week’s 3rd World Sudoku Championship in Goa, India, were feted by BUSINESSMIRROR, the main corporate sponsor of the National Sudoku eliminations, before they left with officers of the national organizer, Mathematics Trainers Guild (MTG). At the sendoff held at Cherry Blossom Hotel in Manila were (from left) Santy Cabangon, BM’s VP for finance; Dr. Rechilda Villame, MTG vice president; Frederick Ong, one of the three Philippine contenders; BM’s business development manager Joyette Perez, who joined the team to Goa; Mariel Alexis Dee, top-seeded Sudoku contender; BM editor in chief Lourdes Fernandez and publisher T. Anthony C. Cabangon; and MTG president Dr. Simon L. Chua. The third contender, Jacqueline Oh, is not in photo, having flown ahead of the group. --NONIE REYES