PRESIDENT Arroyo, 7th from left, poses with Asean foreign ministers and other heads of delegations of Asean member-countries, dialogue partners and Asean Regional Forum members. Front row (from left), Rohitha Bogollagama of Sri Lanka, Nitya Pibulsonggram of Thailand, Adaljiza Magno of Timor Leste, John Negroponte of the US, Le Cong Phung of Vietnam, George Yeo of Singapore, President Arroyo, Alberto Romulo of the Philippines, Alexander Downer of Australia, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury of Bangladesh, Prince Mohamed Bolkiah of Brunei, Hor Namhong of Cambodia, Leonard Edward of Canada, Yang Jiechi of China; second row(from left), Sergey Lavrov of Russia, Christopher Mero of Papua New Guinea, Makhdum Khurso Bakhtyar of Pakistan, Winston Peters of New Zealand, U Nyan Win of Myanmar, Nyamaa Enkhbold of Mongolia, Syed Hamid Albar of Malaysia, Thongloun Sisoulith of Laos, Park In-Sook of South Korea, Taro Aso of Japan, Hassan Wirajuda of Indonesia, Shri Pranab Mukherjee of India, Javier Solana of the European Union, Pak Ui Chun of North Korea and Asean Secretary General Ong Keng Yong. --AP

THE Philippine government’s decision to alter the rules and declare a bidding failure for the Manila North Harbor’s privatization could cast doubt on the transaction’s transparency.

THE government is confident its growth forecast for the agriculture sector will hold despite the drought which threatens to cut farm growth.

THE government remains confident that the country can still achieve First World status since the major ingredients to secure growth are already in place, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

AN economic think tank has advised the government to take new structural measures in managing the fiscal deficit other than focusing on the sale of public assets, to avoid losing the confidence of the international business community.

PRESIDENT Arroyo said on Tuesday that the government’s “successful and complete exit” from the Philippine National Bank (PNB) with the sale of its remaining stake worth P4.24 billion  proves the viability of its privatization program.

THE European Union (EU) said it is following “with greatest interest” the evolution of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) toward becoming a single market by 2015.

THE United States sees stronger economic ties with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as shown by the US$90-billion US private-sector current investments in the 10 members of the regional bloc.

PRESIDENT Arroyo is ready to seek emergency powers from Congress to address a possible water and power crisis if the situation warrants it, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said on Wednesday.

FOR the first time this year, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) surpassed its collection targets for July after imposing several measures to squeeze more taxes from shippers.

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Asset management practice Director general Adrian Cristobal (left) of the Intellectual Property Rights of the Philippines shares a light conversation with chairman Ronald Chua of the Philippine committee of Business Software Alliance, during a press conference in Makati City. Both entities also signed a manifesto that contains their commitment to protection of intellectual property rights and software asset management that will be presented to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. They believe that businesses should adopt a model software asset management practice to maximize information technology resources and avoid the use of pirated software. --NONIE REYES