Ms. Earth for Earth. Miss Earth Philippines candidates walk along Ayala Avenue in Makati City during the observance of the monthlong celebration of Earth Day 2008 that ended Monday. Motorists were asked to turn off their engine for a minute to observe the celebration, as a contribution to the worldwide campaign against global warming. --NONIE REYES

Crude oil rose to a record near $120 a barrel after BP Plc. shut a North Sea pipeline and gunmen attacked police guarding Nigeria’s largest oil and gas terminal.

BP closed the Forties Pipeline System, carrying 40 percent of the UK’s oil production, after a strike at the Grangemouth refinery cut power supplies. Five policemen were killed in Monday’s attack in the Niger Delta where output has dropped by 50 percent since April 25, adding to concerns about supplies ahead of the Northern Hemisphere summer driving season.

PHILIPPINE stocks fell, sending the index to its lowest close in 17 months, after oil advanced to a record, stoking speculation the central bank will raise interest rates to contain inflation.

Ayala Corp. and First Gen Corp. led the slide among the nation’s biggest companies. Ayala Land Inc. dropped on speculation that higher interest rates will hurt property sales. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. paced the decline among metal producers on concern higher oil will boost energy costs.

THE government reiterated the message Monday that it does not want interest rates to move up, rejecting all bids for one-year Treasury bills that would have brought billions more to the national coffers.         

“It appears there was no interest on the part of the market to buy Treasury bills. Those were bids we believe unacceptable,” acting Treasury chief and Finance Undersecretary Roberto Tan said after the auction committee chose not to sell a single centavo of the P6 billion worth of one-year T-bills on offer Monday.         

THE Philippines may opt to boost local rice production to minimize importation needs if high rice prices persist longer than expected, Malacañang said Monday.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye also said in a news briefing that President Arroyo will initiate meetings with neighboring countries that are “similarly situated in terms of rice supply” to map out collective measures to address the problem now and in the future.

THE buyers of the world’s oldest financial and news provider are shrugging off the “bad” news over the impact of a stalling US economy, particularly in Asia and the Philippines.

“We’ve been traveling for the past seven, nine days across Asia and there are other sectors that remain resilient and continue to post growth outside of financials [sector],” Thomson Reuters Corp. executive Devin Wenig told reporters here on Monday.

THE credit-card companies in the country are at each other’s throats, offering low interest charges on card purchases that the various banks and financial institutions cobrand with such well-known card names as Visa and MasterCard.

According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., credit-card rates have fallen significantly in recent months, particularly since January this year. “Interest charges have been falling since 2006 or 2007, although not as quickly as some might have wanted,” he told reporters.

IT would take at least another month or two to wrap up a side agreement between Tokyo and Manila that would cure the legal defects in the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa), and which is seen as the key to lifting the hurdle and paving the way for its ratification in the Senate, Sen. Miriam Santiago reported Monday.

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Still missing Relatives and friends of agriculturist Jonas Burgos, son of the late press freedom icon Joe Burgos Jr., march along Commonwealth Avenue going to Saint Peter’s Church on Monday to mark the first anniversary of his disappearance. --NONOY LACZA