ACHIM STEINER, UN undersecretary general and executive director of the UN Environment Programme (Unep), addresses the 2008 Business for the Environment Global Summit in Singapore. He said climate change represents the ultimate challenge for every company’s corporate social responsibility. Related story on Unep’s “Champions of the Earth”  --IMELDA V. ABANO

SINGAPORE—Filipinos are among the world’s leaders in contemplating serious changes to their lifestyles to address climate change, according to a recent global public-opinion survey presented Tuesday to more than 1,000 business leaders from over 30 countries attending the Business for the Environment Global Summit 2008.

The global poll of 22,182 people in 21 countries worldwide, including 1,000 Filipinos in urban areas, suggests that citizens in general—including those in the US and China, the world’s biggest polluters—are more prepared than their governments to support tough measures.

FILIPINOS are now regarded as among the more environment-conscious citizens in the world according to a new Voice of the People Survey conducted by foreign-based think tank Gallup International in celebration of International Earth Day 2008.

The survey results showed that “virtually all” Filipinos and citizens from the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Singapore and Colombia perform at least one action regularly to protect the environment.

SINGAPORE—Seven leaders in the battle against global warming and a transition to a greener economy were honored on Tuesday as the 2008 Champions of the Earth.

The winners, ranging from Prince Albert II of Monaco and the Prime Minister of New Zealand to a Sudanese climate researcher who has been successfully piloting climate-proofing strategies in some of the most stressed communities on Earth, received their trophies at a gala event here in Singapore simultaneously with the UN Environment Program’s (Unep) Business for the Environment Global Summit.

OVERALL collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in the first three months, comprising cash as well as noncash revenues, exceeded the target and totaled P166.622 billion, BIR chief Lilian Hefti reported to the Department of Finance Wednesday.

FINANCE Secretary Margarito Teves gave assurances Wednesday that the planned rationalization of fiscal incentives should compensate for the anticipated revenue losses arising from the cut in income-tax rate by next year.

Teves gave the assurance to lead Fitch Ratings analyst James McCormack, who earlier raised concerns over the sustainability of the government’s revenue flows between now and the medium term.

THE House of Representatives will invite Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to a question hour to explain the breakdown of the P250-billion food-security budget he earlier proposed.

PDP-Laban Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. of Makati City said he will request a question hour, which he described is the best and moderate way of asking a Cabinet secretary about the program of the government.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has just about exhausted its monetary tool kit for keeping prices stable across the country, and has started looking to fine-tune banks’ deposit-reserve requirement to see if this will help achieve the goal.

The broad aim is to encourage domestic interest rates to trend lower as offsetting mechanism to price pressures on the staple rice, for example, and the elevated price of imported oil.

PRESIDENT Arroyo on Wednesday ordered the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards to work overtime in determining new wage levels in the country, even if it means deliberating on wage hike petitions on May 1, a nonworking day.

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Rising rice. A vendor walks past sacks of rice at the Pasong Tirad public market in Makati City. Rice futures reached a new record on fears that pressure was increasing for Thailand, a major producer, to restrict exports as other countries have done. --NONIE REYES