Give a gift Partners in a gift-giving program have signed their partnership deal. Photo shows (left to right) Alma Florendo, Family Care senior product manager of Kimberly Clark Philippines Inc., Felipe L. Gozon, chairman, president and chief executive of GMA Network Inc., Enrico M. Santos, Family Care business unit director of Kimberly Clark Philippines and Carmela “Mel” Tiangco, executive vice president, GMA Kapuso Foundation Inc. after a partnership contract signing between GMA Kapuso Foundation Inc. and Kimberly Clark Philippines. The event also marked the launching of their GIVE-A-GIFT program at GMA Headquarters in Quezon City. --NONOY LACZA

THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is concerned there could be negative effects from the controversial broadband contract with the Chinese government-picked supplier Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Co. Ltd. (ZTE) that may result in difficulties obtaining official development assistance, concessional loans and grants. 

SENATORS and congressmen decried on Monday what they described as an attempt by Malacañang Palace to “whisk away” a vital witness invited by the Senate to testify Wednesday at the resumption of the joint committee inquiry into alleged anomalies attending the $330-million ZTE-broadband deal that President Arroyo suspended over the weekend in the wake of a raging controversy.

“I HOPE they will stop politicizing the education sector.”

This was the appeal of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus to lawmakers after the P26.48-billion cyber education project (CEP) was affected by the ongoing Senate inquiry into the $329-million deal between the government and the Chinese state-owned Zhong Telecommunications Equipment Co. Ltd. (ZTE).

MALACAÑANG would rather focus on the country’s “more important” glowing economic figures than President Arroyo’s dismal public satisfaction ratings, which dipped to -11 in this month’s Social Weather Stations Inc. (SWS) survey.

THE Lopezes are getting ready to face any business group or conglomerate that is planning to topple them from their control of the management of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

WHILE hoping to help boost the government’s bid to privatize its 60-percent stake at Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) and address bidders’ concern on the huge funding requirement, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) on Monday assured the 24 potential bidders that it will consider providing staple financing package to whoever will need one.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has applied for a 2008 budget of about P3-billion more than its P7.4-billion 2007 allocation, owing, according to its legislative justification, to the soaring number of Filipino illegal migrant workers who need to be repatriated or are facing criminal offenses, mostly in Arab courts.

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Easy to log on to PIDS Dr. Josef Yap of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) is logging on at the PIDS data base to show (partially seen) Dr. Cielito Habito, professor of the Ateneo de Manila University, and Mayor Benjamin C. Abalos Jr. of Mandaluyong how easy it is to log online and check the projects of the PIDS. This was done during the 5th Development Policy Research Month held at the National Economic and Development Authority office in Makati City. --NONIE REYES