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MEMBERS of
the Freedom from Debt Coalition picket the Energy
Regulatory Commission office in Ortigas Tuesday, as
protests over high electricity rates underscore the
current anxieties over an inflation-ridden world.
--NONOY LACZA |
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TOP STORIES |
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8.3%
inflation way past April forecast |
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THE
magnitude of the uptick in prices in April surprised even
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco
Jr. on Tuesday as inflation punched past the roof to 8.3
percent during the month from only 6.4 percent in March.
The price
surge pushed the four-month average well above the official
forecast of up to only 5.0 percent to 6.2 percent, and makes
more likely the occurrence of the dreaded “second-round
impact” the BSP had been warning about. |
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Oil
trades near $120 on high demand |
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CRUDE oil
traded near a record $120.36 a barrel in New York on
speculation demand will rise during the peak summer driving
season in the US and ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games.
A report
Tuesday showed
US
service industries expanded in April, signaling higher
energy use. The Institute for Supply Management said its
index of nonmanufacturing businesses, which make up almost
90 percent of the economy, grew for the first time since
December. China is increasing refining capacity and boosting
oil imports to meet rising demand for the August Games. |
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Relief from high power rates? |
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IF the
current weather condition will continue to improve
throughout the month, consumers may see relief from paying
high electricity rates.
“The supply
situation is expected to improve in May owing to
improvements in coal-capacity availability as compared to
March when several coal plants went out of commission for
maintenance works,” said Lasse Holopainen, president of the
Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), operator of the
Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). |
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Government-to-government rice buy, sans bidding, eyed
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THE
Philippines plans to shore up its rice buffer stock by
securing additional supplies without bidding but through a
government-to-government arrangement, among other
alternative modes of procurement, Agriculture Secretary
Arthur Yap said Tuesday.
Yap told
reporters before the Cabinet meeting that the government
enjoys “many flexibilities” in terms of rice procurement, as
it has already fully filled in its rice requirements. |
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Cyclone may force Burma to import rice |
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MYANMAR
may be forced to import rice this year after crops were
wiped out by a cyclone that may have killed 15,000 people,
potentially adding further pressure to global food supplies
as prices gain.
“We know
that the damage is huge,” Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of
the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said in an interview on
Bloomberg Television. “It’s possible that they have to
import some,” he said. |
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Hanjin loses P.3-B case to subcontractor |
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SOUTH Korean
construction giant Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction
Co. Ltd. has lost a P300-million case to a former
subcontractor that it accused of abandonment, with the
Supreme Court (SC) giving more weight to the subcontractor’s
right to be paid for a completed stage of construction at
the Davao International Airport.
The SC
ordered the construction firm to pay its local subcontractor
Dynamic Planners and Construction Corp. (DPCC) P300 million
and the interest demanded by the latter for the construction
of the Davao International Airport, now known as the
Francisco Bangoy International Airport. |
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CONTRACT
farmers plant rice at the International Rice Research
Institute experimental rice plots at Los Baños, Laguna.
Asia’s rice market plunged into uncertainty Monday as the
Philippines failed in an attempt to boost its stocks and
four rice-exporting nations prepared to discuss a proposed
cartel to control the staple grain. -- AP |
