Good News....

[magma]

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Cooking gas prices drop anew

First posted 10:47pm (Mla time) Mar 31, 2006
By Ronnel Domingo
Inquirer


HOUSEHOLDS continue to benefit from softening international prices of cooking gas as Petron, Chevron Philippines, Pilipinas Shell and Total Philippines announced they were cutting prices by P1.68 per kilogram or 18.50 pesos per 11-kilogram cylinder effective midnight Friday.

Company officials said the amount takes into account the value-added tax on top of the 1.50-peso-a-kilo cut in prices.

The companies said the move was meant to reflect lower contract prices from producers of liquefied petroleum gas this month compared to rates in March.

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index....story_id=71218

[omad]

Sports wear supplier opens factory at MEZ
By Aurelia l. Castro
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

China - based manufacturer and supplier of bran-ded sports wear Yuen Thai Industrial Co. Ltd. (YTI) launched its first offshore venture with the opening of its 7,488-square meter factory at Mactan Economic Zone last Thursday.

“What is very attractive for me about this country are the people. Many say that wage in the Philippines is higher compared to other countries. But it’s not about the wage, but on how well you manage the people and how efficient you can make the factory,” Yuen Thai Philippines Inc. (YTPI) chairman Raymond Tan said in an interview.

YTI is a joint venture of Luen Thai and Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Limited, the world’s “largest” footwear manufacturer.

“When we say that Filipinos can be more efficient than Chinese workers, most people think we are nuts. But in reality, we can make this factory efficient than most Chinese factories,” he said.

full story

[RuSteD]

Japan to drill for oil in Cebu
Tañon Strait may yield 1 billion
barrels-Dept. of Energy
Published: 1 April 2006

Wilfredo Rodolfo III

THERE could be oil under the sea between Negros and Cebu islands based on the result of seismic surveys made last year by a Japanese firm, said the Department of Energy yesterday.

The DOE reported that Japan Exploration (Japex) would start drilling operations in Tañon Strait by next year to find out.

The drill will determine if the supply, estimated at one billion barrels, is of "commercial quantity."

"They have identified four sites to drill but they haven't informed us yet where exactly. They are now securing the environment compliance certificates," said Ismael Ocampo, DOE's chief of petroleum resources development division, in a report to the Central Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) during its full council meeting.
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"The seismic surveys identified some areas where there could possibly be oil. They will drill to confirm if the reserves are of commercial quantity," Ocampo said.

The worst case scenario, Ocampo said, would be to fid out that what was detected by the seismic machines as oil deposits was actually just water.

The drilling operations, to be done aboard a ship, will be have minimal effect on marine life, he assured. No structures or platforms will be built in the area.

Ocampo said the DOE is confident there is oil in Tañon which the department earlier estimated to be one billion barrels. If converted to present oil prices the oil is worth some $45 billion.

The biggest oil and gas deposit being drilled in the country at the Malampaya fields in the seas off Palawan only has a 40 million barrel reserve.

DOE Undersecretary Guillermo Balce earlier said that the national government is bound to get 60 percent of the net income of private firms that successfully find oil in Cebu. The remaining 40 percent would go to the private company which has a service contract with the DOE.

Local governments in Cebu will be watching this venture carefully with an eye to sharing the revenue.

Under the Local Government Code, the locality is entitled to a 40 percent of the national government's 60 percent share, Balce said.

Two other seismic operations-in the seas near the northwestern tip of Cebu, one between Bohol and Cebu -- are still in the preliminary stages.

Natural gas drills in the towns of Bogo and Aloguinsan are being studied for commercial production, possibly for power generation, a DOE report added.

[RuSteD]

Saturday, April 01, 2006
RP’s foreign loan drops; debt service ratio down

MANILA - The country’s foreign debt fell to $54.2 billion at the end of 2005, down 1.2 percent from $54.8 billion dollars at the end of 2004, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday.

This was also a 2.3 percent reduction from the $55.5-billion foreign debt posted in September 2005, the BSP said in a statement.

”The decline in debt stock during the fourth quarter resulted from the net repayment of foreign loans and the downward foreign exchange revaluation adjustment on some major third currency-denominated obligations due to strengthening of the US dollar,” the BSP said.

The country’s external debt ratio, or total outstanding external debt as a percentage of gross national product, was estimated at 51.5 percent as of December 2005, an improvement over the 59.5-percent level the year before.

Improve

The country’s debt service ratio also improved to 13.3 percent by the end of 2005 from 13.8 percent a year ago. The debt service ratio is the percentage of total foreign principal and interest payments to total exports.

Keeping the debt service ratio well below the 20 percent international benchmark shows the Philippines has more than enough foreign exchange earnings to service its maturing foreign debt obligations, the BSP said.

The Philippines is one of Asia’s most active debt issuers.

Last year the government funded a budget deficit of P146.5 billion ($2.8 billion) through foreign and domestic borrowings. (AFP)



TAKEN FROM SUNSTAR NEWS http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb...atio.down.html

[magma]

Aviation cop returns misplaced bag containing valuables

First posted 06:24pm (Mla time) April 02, 2006
By Nikko Dizon
Inquirer


Subscribe to Breaking News alerts, send ON EXTRA BREAKING to 2207 for Globe, or send EXTRA BREAKING to 386 for Smart.

A MEMBER of the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group (PNP-ASG) had found and returned cash and jewelry worth more than 50,000 pesos that its American owner inadvertently left at the x-ray check at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Centennial Terminal 2 over the weekend.

Police Officer Rommel Arrido discovered the black bag on the x-ray at the initial check that he was manning at around 1:40 p.m. on Saturday, according to a Sunday report of the PNP-ASG.

Arrido immediately asked the people at the airport paging system to announce that a black bag had been found.

In less than 15 minutes, Paz Lyn Korpov rushed back to claim the bag containing 940 dollars (about 48,000 pesos), 500 pounds (about 44,400), assorted jewelry amounting to 100 dollars (5,000 pesos), 1,240 pesos in cash, and assorted credit cards.

Arrido's act of honesty was the fourth recorded honest act in a span of one week at the NAIA

" It's nice to know despite of the difficulty in life, there are still people who are honest like this one"

[grabehbebe]

3,000 Holy Week cops to be deployed

Expecting a heavy influx of Metro Manila residents to the provinces during Holy Week, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) is set to deploy at least 3,000 policemen to secure churches, subdivisions, commercial centers and government installations to go after petty criminals.

With the weakening terrorist threat, the NCRPO will now focus its manpower and resources against petty criminals like burglars and snatchers.

"Just like in the previous years, we would like to bring down the number of Akyat-Bahay cases in Metro Manila during the Holy Week," said Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., intelligence chief of the NCRPO.

Rojas said it is likely that NCRPO Director Vidal Querol would declare a full alert during the Holy Week for the peaceful and orderly observance of the Lenten season. "While our fellow Filipinos are enjoying their Holy Week vacation, the NCRPO personnel would be working to make sure that petty criminals do not take advantage of the situation," Rojas said.

Under Oplan Semana Santa, uniformed policemen would be deployed to bus terminals, seaports and airports, churches, commercial centers, and routes going to tourist spots like Baguio City and Tagaytay.

With the ending of classes at universities and colleges in Metro Manila last week, the NCRPO expects a heavy influx of students to go home to the provinces starting today. "We will be guarding bus terminals, and airports and seaports to prevent petty criminals from taking advantage of our students rushing to the provinces," Rojas said.

He said the terrorist threat is waning so the NCRPO can focus its attention on crime prevention.

The NCRPO intelligence chief said they would start fielding the 3,000 cops on Holy Monday.

"We will also be intensifying our foot and mobile patrols in subdivisions and commercial centers, especially in areas where the Akyat-Bahay and Acetylene Gang have operated in the past," he said.

The NCRPO intelligence chief said uniformed policemen would also guard churches

Rojas said radio volunteers would also be deployed to the North and South Expressways. – Non Alquitran

The Philippine Star 04/03/2006
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200604036308.htm

[bcasabee]

wow ka lami sa mga good news..........................

[grabehbebe]

P30 B set for infra projects

The government will pour up to P30 billion into infrastructure and education projects in the second quarter of the year, Malacañang officials said yesterday, belying opposition charges that the government is prioritizing spending for President Arroyo’s initiative to amend the Constitution.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said the money has already been released to fund "pump-priming" programs aimed at revitalizing the economy.

"Not a single centavo was spent for the people’s initiative, but billions for the people’s welfare," he noted.

The funding includes P2.1 billion to address the public school classroom shortage, P1 billion for textbooks, P2.6 billion for irrigation systems, P1 billion for new airports, "among other activities that would erase backlogs in these sectors and spur local economies where these projects will be implemented."

Andaya said the "frontloading of a big bulk of infra funds" was resorted to so government agencies could take advantage of the "good weather window" brought by summer.

The early release of P6.4 billion for infrastructure and P5.3 billion for agriculture was ordered by Mrs. Arroyo "so these can be undertaken before the onset of the typhoon season."

"For example, even before classes had ended we released the amount for classroom construction so we can rush their completion in time for the opening of classes in early June," Andaya said.

This is in line with President Arroyo’s instructions to her Cabinet last month to launch a "second quarter storm" of capital investments beginning this month.

The funding releases follow last year’s program of expenditures, Andaya said. Under the Constitution, the 2005 national budget remains in effect until Congress passes the P1-trillion budget for 2006.

Other education expenditures include P500 million for scholarship vouchers to private high schools and P500 million for college scholarships.

The infrastructure menu includes the release of P500 million for the connection of the Metrorail 3 line to the Light Rail Transit’s line 1, or from West Avenue in Quezon City to Monumento in Caloocan; P500 million for water supply; and P500 million for flood control projects to mitigate the effects of La Niña.

"We are bringing electricity to hundreds of barangays and we are lighting streets, courtesy of the P500 million fund released for these," Andaya said.

Of the P3.1 billion released for housing, about P1.3 billion will be used to build communities for squatters that will be displaced by the government’s railway projects north and south of Metro Manila.

On the law and order front, the Philippine National Police will receive funding to hire 3,000 new officers and acquire 500 new patrol cars.

Andaya said the "pump-priming" programs "just represent the first installment" of the administration’s planned expenditures.

"We are hoping that our legislators pass the budget soon so we can also fund the new programs in it," he said.

Mrs. Arroyo wants the Constitution amended so the country can adopt a parliamentary system to replace the current US-style presidential form of government, which she says slows down the passage of legislation needed for the country’s economic recovery.

The constitutional amendment initiative is expected to cost from P1 billion to P3 billion.

However, Minority Leader Francis Escudero has said it would be "immoral" if not illegal for the administration to use taxpayer money for this purpose.

He pointed out that the Constitution provides that no government funding should be spent unless covered by an appropriation bill passed by Congress.

He disagreed with Palace officials’ view that the funds could come from savings or the so-called "contingent fund" in the government’s annual budget.

"How could there be savings when we are borrowing just to finance government operations? How could there be savings when we are in deficit, meaning we spend more than what we earn?" he asked. "As for the contingent fund, this is used in case of natural disasters or calamities, unless they are saying that Cha-cha is a disaster or calamity."

-By Paolo Romero
The Philippine Star 04/05/2006
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200604050403.htm

[magma]

Dealers lower LPG prices by P1.50/kg

Prices of liquefied petroleum gas products will go down by P1.50 per kilogram effective Friday, the LPG Marketers Association announced Thursday.

Arnel Ty of the LPGMA said the price cut was still due to the huge decrease in the international contract price of LPG.

Effective Friday morning, an 11-kg cylinder of LPG will cost P16.50 lesser.

The announcement Thursday of a price cut is LPGMA's 12th for the current year for a total of P6.50 for the 11-kg cylinder.

News link
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=35049

[omad]

Thursday, April 06, 2006
Cebuano named papal nuncio to Papua New Guinea

Another Cebuano has earned a high post in the Catholic Church after the Vatican confirmed his assignment as the papal nuncio to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The Cebu Archbishop Palace received the assignment of Msgr. Francisco Monticello Padilla, who is currently assigned in Australia, as among the Apostolic Nuncios from the Vatican. He could not assume the post, though, until he becomes an archbishop.

Archdiocesan spokesman Msgr. Achilles Dakay told Sun.Star Cebu in a mobile phone interview last night that an Episcopal ordination for Padilla to make him archbishop has been scheduled on May 23 at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Cebu City.
Pope’s eyes, ears

Padilla is the 10th of 13 children of Dr. Tiburcio and Concesa Padilla and the second of the siblings to gain a high post in the priesthood. His elder brother, Osbaldo, the third of the siblings, is the papal nuncio to Costa Rica.

full story