They labor, too. A local artist paints his masterpiece on a most unusual “canvas”—the body of a carabao—in a competition highlighting the Binatbatan Festival in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, on Labor Day. The festival is a tribute to the farmers of Vigan and their beasts of burden. --MAURICIO VICTA

IN the next three years, 50 percent of local privately held businesses (PHBs) plan to grow operations through acquisitions despite the turmoil in financial markets worldwide, according to the recent International Business Report (IBR).

The report was produced by Grant Thornton International and released by its member accounting, tax and business-advisory firm Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A).

THE chief economist of German lender Deutsche Bank said on Labor Day the bigger threat to inflation was not soaring rice or oil prices, but unwarranted wage hikes granted by politicians.

An overreaction could stoke already-elevated fears of price increases and make them permanent by enacting a disproportionately high wage increase, Michael Spencer, the chief economist, explained.

MOST of the country’s wage boards are now convened to deliberate on a probable increase in the minimum wage after all—except for four—of the 17 bodies declared there is a “supervening condition” to increase salaries, allowing them to reconvene even before the one-year requirement for any new deliberations can be called had lapsed.

Ciriaco Lagunzad III, executive director of the National Wages and Productivity Commission, said at the sidelines of the Labor Day celebration at the World Trade Center that only the wage boards in Cagayan Valley, the Cordillera Autonomous Region, Zamboanga Peninsula and Davao have yet to declare there is ground to entertain petitions for a salary hike.

ANGELES CITY—President Arroyo skipped the usual Labor Day festivities  Thursday, opting to conduct surprise visits on regional wage boards tackling wage-hike petitions in Metro Manila and Central Luzon.

The traditional Labor Day festivities were held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, and included the launching of the GMA Jobs Center Kiosk and the awarding of livelihood grants and PhilHealth cards to informal sectors.

SINGAPORE—Open source and open standards, or the absence of proprietary rights in computer programs, may be a buzzword among managers in the information-technology (IT) industry, and talk of this movement is not likely to subside after Oracle Corp. endorsed and adopted both these principles.

This is Oracle’s response to the growing trend that technology, which is growing at an ever-faster pace, can deliver large benefits for management executives, IT professionals and, ultimately, the customers themselves.

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WORKERS march in the scorching heat in Manila to mark Labor Day amid a worsening oil-and-food crisis that has sent prices of fuel, electricity and basic goods soaring, sparking more calls for salary increases. --ROY DOMINGO

MAYON Volcano, in a rare moment where its peak is not partly covered by clouds, casts a majestic presence in Albay, its “perfect cone” still drawing local and foreign tourists despite several violent eruptions that have made deep gashes on its slopes. Most Bicolanos say the mountain is a timeless source of comfort for a region battered by several storms last year, from whose devastating impact its people are still recovering. --CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY MARICAR M. ESQUELA, USING A SONY ERICSSON K 800 I.