ASPAUCULE

CHR, Negros Occ gov alarmed at vigilante killings

The Commission of Human Rights on Tuesday urged the Philippine National Police to solve a spate of killings allegedly perpetrated by a vigilante group in Negros Occidental. Romeo Baldevarona, CHR spokesperson, said the PNP should crack down on the vigilante group because they have admitted the commission of extrajudicial killing. The vigilante group earlier admitted that they were responsible for the abduction and brutal killing of Benedicto Uy, allegedly notorious robber in the province based from police records. Uys body was found Friday morning in Bago City. Twelve hours after Uys body was located, an unidentified body was found in the village of Bagroy with two gunshot wounds in the head. Bago City police only recovered a belt bag with a seamans book, two airline tickets and a passport named after a certain Glover Arak of Davao Oriental. Police has not confirmed if the victim was Arak, since no relative has turned up to claim the body. A vigilante group released however an audio statement on Saturday owning up to the killing of Arak. The group said Arak was from Mindanao and a courier for illegal drugs. Negros Occidental Gov. Isidro Zayco meanwhile said he is also alarmed on the existence of the vigilante group who admitted responsibility for the deaths of Uy and Arak. Zayco said the group should not be allowed to operate. Zayco said due process should be given to whoever should be accused of committing a crime. While police continue its investigation, the National Bureau of Investigation called on the families of the victims to help authorities identify the perpetrators of the killings. A rape-slay suspect in Barangay Don Jorge Araneta was also summarily executed by still-unidentified suspects early this year. With reports from Marty Go and Barbara Mijares, ABS-CBN Bacolod

Paris Hilton promotes handbag line in Denmark

COPENHAGEN - Hotel heiress Paris Hilton took a break from U.S. presidential politics this week to focus on a subject she knows even better: handbags.

In Copenhagen to promote her new line of bags and accessories, she said her foray into business made her feel much more like a grown-up.

I feel very grown up now, yes, I am an adult, Hilton told Reuters. I'm running a huge corporation and it's very exciting.

The celebrity has made headlines since Republican presidential candidate John McCain used her in an advertisement to portray his rival, Democrat Barak Obama, as more of a celebrity than a leader.

Hilton's mother, who together with her husband has donated $4,000 to McCain's campaign, called the ad a waste of money.

But Paris went a step further, posting a video on the Web site Funny or Die in which she called McCain a wrinkly white-haired guy and offered some policies of her own.

I want America to know that I'm, like, totally ready to lead, she says in the video. She offered to paint the White House pink and put both McCain and Obama on notice: I'll see you at the debates, bitches.

At the Copenhagen event, Paris was all business.

She said she envisions her new line, called Confidence, will be sold in 400 stores, starting with Hamburg Airport and Manchester.

Every girl should be confident. That's just something I have always been really big on, which is why I have done so well in my business. So I thought it would be perfect to name this line that, because when you carry this bag you have confidence.

New approach offers chance to finally kill herpes

WASHINGTON - U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday they may have found a way to flush out herpes viruses from hiding -- offering a potential way to cure pesky and painful conditions from cold sores to shingles.
They discovered that a mysterious gene carried by the herpes simplex-1 virus -- the one that causes cold sores -- allows the virus to lay low in the nerves it infects.
It does so via microRNAs, little pieces of genetic material that regulate the activity of many viruses, the researchers report in the journal Nature.
It may be possible to "wake up" the virus and then kill it with standard antiviral drugs such as acyclovir, said Jennifer Lin Umbach of Duke University in North Carolina, who worked on the study.
"We are trying to go into animal trials," Umbach said in a telephone interview.
The Duke team is discussing a potential collaboration with Regulus Therapeutics LLC, a joint venture between Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc that specializes in microRNAs.
Herpes viruses cause permanent infections. They head straight to nerve cells, where they stay latent for the life of an animal or person, often causing periodic outbreaks.
Herpes simplex 1 or HSV-1 causes cold sores, HSV-2 causes genital herpes, while varicella causes chicken pox and returns in middle or old age as herpes zoster to cause shingles.
Acyclovir and related drugs can suppress symptoms but only when the virus is active.
IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL
"Inactive virus is completely untouchable by any treatment we have. Unless you activate the virus, you can't kill it," said Bryan Cullen, who oversaw the research.
Umbach said that for still unknown reasons, viruses infecting different neurons in the same body activate at different times, making it impossible to eradicate an infection.
Her team found that a gene called LAT controls microRNAs that turn off other genes in the virus.
"The presence of these active microRNAs keep the virus dormant," Umbach said. "When the virus is activated by stress like UV light or a wound, production of genes goes up."
Then LAT is overwhelmed and unable to keep the virus in check. It wakes up and causes an outbreak.
A drug that would turn off the microRNAs could drive the virus out of hiding and allow all copies of the virus to be killed with acyclovir, she said.
"You would have one cold sore but you would get rid of it," she said. Curing something more painful, such as shingles, might be a little trickier, she added.
One class of drug called an antagomir might work, Umbach said. These chemically engineered oligonucleotides are short segments of RNA that can be made into mirror images of a targeted bit of genetic material -- such as the herpes microRNAs. They would attach and "silence" the microRNA.
The potential market is large. An estimated one in five Americans have genital herpes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while 100 million have the HSV-1 virus that causes cold sores.
The CDC estimates there are a million cases of shingles every year in the United States alone.

Tech firm to conduct rights offer, venture into cargo management

Listed Island Information and Technology Inc. is undertaking a stock rights offering to shareholders in line with its plan to engage in cargo management and integrated logistics services.
In its quarterly report to the stock exchange, IS said it will offer stockholders five shares for every two owned on record date, which has yet to be announced.
The technology firm has tapped Abacus Capital and Investment Corp. as underwriter for the rights offer.
The company did not disclose the details of the offer but said that it has submitted related documents to regulators.
IS said it has signed a deal to invest P117 million in Admiral Container Depot Inc., which currently operates a container yard depot at the Manila North Harbor.
IS will buy up to 116.67 million shares in Admiral Container for P1 each.
For the quarter November 2007 to January 2008, the company said it realized a net loss of P529,691, mainly due to the cessation of its services to Cypress Manufacturing Corp., where the company generated its major service income.

RP growth to slow this year - ING

By LIZA REYES
ABS-CBN News Dutch banking giant ING sees slower economic growth for the Philippines this year as soaring inflation and a weak global economy take its toll on consumer spending.
"We think the 6.3-7 percent growth target of the government at this point may not be realistic. In fact we might see GDP at 5.6 percent," ING Investment Management Philippines chief investment officer Paul Joseph Garcia said.
Soaring food prices, particularly the countrys staple rice, coupled with rising oil prices have pushed inflation to a 21-month high last month sparking calls for a wage increase.
Experts have already warned raising minimum wages will push up inflation all the more.
"Talks of wage, transport hikes and increasing government subsidy on rice I think will have an overall impact on the fiscal situation of the country and it may affect the balanced budget target of the government for the year," Garcia added.
The government had earlier said, it will be able to end 2008 with a balanced budget.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said that it had a programmed goal of a surplus of about P60 billion in the second, third and fourth quarters of the year.
Margin squeeze on corporate earnings
With crude and commodity prices on the rise, corporate earnings will also see some margins squeeze, ING said.
"A lot of head winds are facing Asian economies so were not so bullish on property and banking particularly, given rising rates," Garcia noted.
It sees the 29-company composite index of the Philippine Stock Exchange to be in the range of 3,600-3,800 by yearend.
But the bank said its not entirely a gloomy picture especially for investors in the Asian region.
While Asia is not immune to the sub-prime woes plaguing the US, ING said the impact on Asia will be modest as inter-regional trade and domestic demand will help drive economic growth in the region.
"Asia will continue to provide attractive investment opportunities as we tend to favor markets with larger domestic economies and more defensive sectors like India, Thailand, China and the Philippines," said Nicholas Toovey, regional head of equities for ING-Asia Pacific.