A flood of woes. Students wade through floodwaters as they walk outside their school in Manila on Wednesday. Pounding rain from the southwest monsoon flooded parts of the Philippine capital, forcing schools to cancel classes, briefly stopping a commuter train and slowing President Arroyo’s convoy due to poor visibility. --AP

CITING a “clamor” from local governments, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said on Wednesday that the government will revive the controversial Kalayaan Barangay program in the proposed 2008 budget that it will submit to Congress on August 22.

Massive flooding in the metropolis stalled President Arroyo for an hour in Quezon City traffic and prompted visiting Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino to take a 15-minute pedicab ride from Sta. Mesa to the entry gates of Malacañang, where he was to receive the Cinemanila Lifetime Achievement award from the Chief Executive.

THE Senate ways and means committee will review the projected revenue shortfall with the view of providing the needed remedial legislation or policy guidelines.

THE Supreme Court ruled as legal the 1993 joint-venture agreement (JVA) of the National Housing Authority (NHA) with the R-II Builders Inc. (RBI) of businessman Reghis Romero II for the reclamation and development of the Smokey Mountain dumpsite into a multibillion-peso low-cost housing project.

THE row between Philippine Long Distance  Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Innove Communications Inc. may soon be over after the former said it will cease from collecting transport charges if Innove will physically connect to each and every local exchange facility of the phone giant.

THE Social Security System (SSS) has announced a 10-percent across-the-board increase in pensions of more than one million pensioners effective August 1, officials said Wednesday.

Hefty loan prepayments reinvested in tempting SDAs

LOW interest rates appeared to have attracted bank borrowers, mostly big businesses, and high net worth individuals to pay in recent months their loans well in advance of maturity.

‘Give agri 5-yr window before full trade liberalization’

DAVAO CITY—Philippine free-trade negotiators should prevent a premature opening of the country’s agriculture to free trade, at least in two subregional economic cooperations, to avoid being swamped with more progressive and productive agricultures of such giants as mainland China, Taiwan and India, a senator said.

Bring issues to ERC, Psalm told

THE Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), said the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) must first wait for the final decision of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Psalm’s alleged manipulation of the electricity spot market before demanding payment for the power it sold in the WESM.

First Gen H1 net income up 75% to $72M

FIRST Gen Corp., one of the country’s largest power producers, reported Wednesday its net income grew three-fourths in the first half of the year from a year earlier.

MORE STORIES ...

Hello, Vietnam President Arroyo smiles as Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua greets Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung and his wife Tran-Thanh Kiem during the offi cial dinner at Malacañang in the course of the recent state visit to the Philippines of the Vietnamese leader. Also looking on at right is First Gentleman Jose Miguel T. Arroyo.