TRINKLED

Xjohlu

The mayor of Iligan said he and residents stand firm against the inclusion of eight villages into the proposed expansion of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. He made the statement as two bomb blasts rocked the city and resulted in the deaths of at least four people on Sunday.

Explosions took place at two local inns 30 minutes after Mayor Lawrence Cruz was interviewed on ANC's Top Story newscast at 5 p.m.

We have spoken in the previous plebiscites and in 2001, Cruz said, citing figures wherein nearly all of Iligan residents voted against the city's inclusion in the ARMM. The proposal is included in the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front .

Cruz maintained that the people of Iligan were not consulted on the plan to infuse eight of the city's villages into the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity . The mayor said these eight villages comprise 82 percent of Iligan's total land area.

Shortly after the mayor's interview, initial reports said that a bomb went off at Traveller's Lodge in the city. A four-year-old boy, a woman and a retired policeman who was renting a room at the inn were injured in the blast.

A witness said the explosion took place shortly after a man signed up for a room. The man hurriedly left the hotel after going to his room.

Within minutes of the first explosion, another blast was reported at the Caprice Pension House, which sits 400 meters from the Traveller's Lodge. The explosion injured an employee.

The injured were identified as Tess Actub and Saripada Kudarat. The child and the fourth victim -- a 17-year-old girl -- were unidentified as of posting time.

Initial reports said improvised explosive devices were used in the two incidents.

Bomb experts, meanwhile, rushed to a third hotel -- the Casa Royale -- to check for explosives after employees reportedly received a threat.

As of the moment, we are still investigating the matter, Cruz said when interviewed on ANC's The World Tonight newscast past 10 p.m.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Not keen on links but...

The mayor declined to link the blasts to the city's battle against the inclusion of its villages into the BJE. He said that police and the military are now coordinating efforts to determine the group behind the attacks.

We are hoping it is not but in all indications, , Cruz said, citing threats received since last week.

In the past ten days nakakatanggap kami ng text message na something sinister will happen to the city with regard to our stand against BJE, he said.

Despite this, the mayor said they in Iligan will not soften their stand agains the BJE. He also insisted that Iligan folk were not consulted on the proposed ARMM expansion plan and the villages' inclusion in the expanded Muslim region.

Meanwhile, the mayor also denied that village officials and residents were given money to stage street demonstrations against the BJE as alleged by the MILF.

To accuse us of paying them cash so that they will attend boggles my mind. It is untrue. I only got a smuggled copy of the MOA on Aug. 1 and on Aug. 2 I had a multi-sectoral meeting and on Aug. 4 more than 10,000 immediately marched to show our disgust and protest our inclusion in the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity ancestral domain, he said.

Muslim, Catholic leaders for peace efforts

In a related development, Malacañang announced Sunday that President Arroyo had requested an interfaith group of Catholic and Muslim leaders to consider leading the civil society in efforts of bringing peace to troubled areas of Mindanao.

Arcbishop Fernando Capalla, one of the convenors of the Bishop Ulama Conference said they are in the process of consulting among leaders and members to take on this new role, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said.

The press secretary added that the President requested the BUF to oversee peace efforts since she gives value to a deep consultative process to hear the views of stakeholders in the private sector, the local government units and all those affected.

The attacks took place Sunday as Malacañang acknowledged late last week that there are other ways of granting Muslims in Mindanao their demand for an ancestral homeland without changing the system of government from unitary to federal.

Officials, however, declined to discuss these alternatives while the Supreme Court is still deliberating on the initialed MOA-AD between the government panel and the MILF.

Sources said the governments peace negotiators will no longer sign the MOA-AD in the face of widespread opposition to it and questions about its constitutionality. Instead, the government will try to renegotiate it with the MILF.

The sources said the governments peace panel first has to inform the MILF about its decision not to sign the MOA-AD, which was supposed to be done August 5 in Malaysia.

The government also has to inform the peace brokers such as the Malaysian government and the Organization of Islamic Conference

Let Supreme Court decide

The President, in her meeting Friday night with the visiting Prime Minister of Kuwait, said her government would be playing a supporting role and would let civil society groups iron out the problems in the peace process.

Yes, there are political dynamics. We are working to sort them out. The government will assume a supporting role and let non-government organizations support on the peace efforts spearhead the discussions for the problematic concerns. We want to end the conflict that clearly claimed more than 120,000 lives, she said.

On Saturday, Dureza neither confirmed nor denied this Web site's report that the Arroyo administration has already decided not to sign the ancestral domain agreement with the MILF and will instead seek to renegotiate the accord.

He said it would be best to just wait for the ruling of the Supreme Court.

The issue is now with the Supreme Court. Let's wait for its ruling and all will have to submit to it when it comes. The highest tribunal is the final arbiter. It will rise above the din and noise created by less noble considerations, Dureza said.

Gczfxh

REMOTE CONTROL By DANTON REMOTO The mother is both the fulcrum and focus of the Filipino family, keeping it balanced, not teetering to despair, or to doom
I wrote this piece in the mid-1980s – after returning Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. had been shot at the airport and the People Power Revolution that swept his widow, Cory, into the presidency. I dug this up in the journal I kept during those turbulent times.

I am publishing this because I want to ask – have times really changed for our poor but beautiful country? Its written from the point of view of a mother who is a public-school teacher. The mother is both the fulcrum and focus of the Filipino family, keeping it balanced, not teetering to despair, or to doom.

1. Every morning, repeat this line after waking: were better off than a million others. At least we have fried fish and tomatoes for breakfast. Then rise form bed, wash your face and mouth, proceed to pour vegetable oil into the frying pan. Usually during cool mornings, the lard would have congealed. Get a tablespoon, scoop the lard and let it rest on the bottom of the pan. Let the lard sputter and quiet down. Now the lard is hot and you can begin frying the tuyo .

2. After frying the tuyo, flatten a head of garlic, throw into the pan, and then follow this with last nights rice. Sprinkle salt to taste.

3. Wake up the only child, now a teenager having his share of rebellion. Tell him to wash up and then sit before the breakfast table. Fill him with rice enough to last until snack time, then give him his allowance of ten pesos per day.

4. Buy minced meat, not whole meat. Use the minced meat sparingly, just enough so your mung-bean stew would smell of meat. Buy a big bagful of mung bean, and let a bowl of it stand overnight in water. The bean sprouts could be cooked the next morning, mixed with garlic, onion, tomatoes, soy sauce and calamansi juice.

5. Look around in your workplace. Check what item was not yet being sold. In my elementary school, almost everything was already being sold: sweet meats of tocino and longganisa, clothes and decorative items of angels painted pink; insurance plans, funeral service and memorial-park lots. I sold Tupperware, like I did in the 1960s. It was like returning to an old love. My sales pitch: these lunchboxes would save you money in terms of cheaper, home-cooked food, in the short run, and hospitalization, in the long run: the canteen sells overpriced slabs of cholesterol.

These plastic glasses could contain calamansi juice you had squeezed right in your very kitchen. No Coke, no false orange flavors, no coffee, no tea: just pure, natural citrus good for bones and teeth .

6. On the way home, I would ask for cassava leaves from Mareng Mely who lived around the corner. She thought I would give them to the children in the neighborhood, to play with. They would break the stems into inch-long strips, the tough skin hanging on, and the strips of stem could be turned into instant necklaces, with the star-shaped leaves as pendant. But no, the cassava leaves could be simmered in coconut milk flavored with shrimp paste from Pangasinan. It reminded me of what my parents ate in World War II.

7. Bring home the nutribuns, those bread hard as rocks distributed to school children by the Nutrition Foundation under the sponsorship of the First Lady. Bring these rocks home, use a hammer to break them down into bits, soak them in a basin of water. When sufficiently soft, pour half a small can of Alaska condensed milk, then add sugar. Pour the mixture in your old pans, then steam. After 30 minutes, lift the lid , set the cans on a basin quarter-filled with water, to cool. Then put in the ref , and the morning after, serve as breakfast to your rebellious teenager, in case he has already gotten tired of having fried fish every morning.

8. Night. Draw a deep, deep sigh . My husband was working thousands of miles away, in deepest, hottest Riyadh. The distance would spread between us like a desert. My heart would thud heavily in my chest. A stone of pain would fill my throat.

Then I would repeat numbers one to eight when morning again comes through, again. I have no choice, but to survive.

E-mail comments to danton_ph@yahoo.com or www.angladlad.org

Amizth

LOS ANGELES - Oscar-winning "American Idol" castoff Jennifer Hudson plans to release her self-titled debut album in September, with the first single, "Spotlight," hitting U.S. radio outlets in June, her label said on Monday.
"Spotlight," described as a song about insecurities within a relationship, was composed by R&B songwriter and vocalist Ne-Yo, who co-produced along with the Norwegian production duo known as Stargate.
Additional contributors on the album include Timbaland, Robin Thicke, the Underdogs, Diane Warren and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart.
Hudson's debut is being released through the SonyBMG label Arista Records, with "Spotlight" hitting the airwaves on June 9. The song will be made available for digital download the following day.
"I think people will be pleasantly surprised, because it shows a side of my work that no one has heard before," Hudson, a Chicago native, said in a statement issued by the label.
Hudson, 26, first gained public attention as a contestant during the third season of the hit television talent contest "American Idol," but she ended up as the sixth finalist voted off the show.
Undaunted, Hudson went on to land the role of Effie White in the movie adaptation of the musical "Dreamgirls," based loosely on the story of Motown act The Supremes, for which she won a Golden Globe and Academy Award as best supporting actress.
She next appears in the upcoming film adaptation of the HBO TV series "Sex and the City" and on its soundtrack, due May 27, as well as "The Secret Life of Bees," which hits U.S. theaters on October 17.

Lbxspk

Reuters

The Philippines recorded a budget deficit of 13.9 billion pesos in January, Finance Secreary Margarito Teves announced on Wednesday.

The government also revised the 2007 deficit to 12.4 billion pesos from the previously announced 9.4 billion pesos.

The government had a deficit of 29.7 billion pesos in January last year, according to Reuters data.

The Philippines plans to balance its budget this year, ending a decade of deficits.

Mqoiwk

President Arroyo was given a rousing welcome in her hometown on the eve of her 61st birthday while during a thanksgiving mass, a priest took a swipe at her critics.
From the thanksgiving mass with members of her family in her hometown of Lubao town in Pampanga to the inauguration of an airport named after her father, to the inauguration of a new call center in Clark and the National Food Summit, people flocked around President Arroyo to wish her a happy birthday.
Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, in his homily, appealed to administration critics not to blow the food shortage issue out of proportion saying there is enough food supply.
And instead of criticizing he said everyone should help the president.
"Put everything in the hands of God, kasi po ang pananaw ng isang tao ay iyong konti wala. Eh kokonti lang isda, walang isda. Kokonti lang tinapay, walang tinapay. Kaya, totoo ba iyan?" said Archbishop Aniceto.
He adds the church should not let itself be used for political ends.
"This is an outrage unfortunately not understood by many who listen only to the propagandists of power, of wealth, of pleasure and who wish church leaders to echo this language too. As members of His Church we must always defend her uniqueness not allowing the values of the world to contaminate the purity of her language and the transcendence of her values. This is the reason why we safeguard zealously the Eucharist," said the archbishop.
To which President Arroyo said in response: " always supported me every moment so once more I thank you for your support, I thank you for your prayers,"
President Arroyo turns 61 Saturday and will go on what she calls a "day off". Report by RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News in Prime News, ANC

Hucbgz

Agence France-Presse
MANILA - The governor of the Philippine central bank Amando Tetangco said Wednesday it was ready to take "necessary action" with inflation widely expected to have hit double-digits last month.
Ahead of the release Friday of June inflation data, he said "inflation will reach double-digits beginning in June" and peak within the next three months.
He said it would then settle to an average of 7.0-9.0 percent, which is above the government's target.
The bank last month hiked key interest rates by 25 basis points -- to 5.25 percent for the overnight borrowing rate and to 7.25 percent for the overnight lending rate -- after inflation hit a nine-year high of 9.6 percent in May.
Tetangco also said "the Monetary Board believes that there are already indications that supply-driven pressures are beginning to feed into demand."
The central bank "remains committed to pursuing the necessary monetary action to address the risks to inflation and inflation expectations and ensure the achievement of the central bank's price stability objective," he added.
The central bank expects 2009 inflation to ease to 4.0-6.0 percent.
"In the absence of persistent sharp surges in oil prices, base effects should produce lower inflation rates next year and beyond," Tetangco said.
"Meanwhile, favourable projections for global and domestic agricultural output should help to stabilise food prices.
"The slowdown in global economic activity is also expected to contribute to moderating demand for oil and food products, which should enable an easing in imported commodity prices."

Mdyykn

By JUDITH BALEA


Leading wireless service provider Smart Communications Inc. has acquired 100 percent of both PH Communications Holdings Corp. and Francom Holdings Inc., which were controlled by an investor group led by former trade secretary Roberto Ongpin, for P419.54 million.

PH Communications and Francom Holdings own 96.76 percent and 3.43 percent, respectively, or a total of 100 percent, of Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise
.

CURE is the third out of four companies granted by the National Telecommunications Commission a permit to operate 3G technology. The first two were Smart and Globe Telecom.

The NTC has awarded the frequency 10Mhz in the 2100 Mhz band to CURE, which expects to launch its commercial service in May this year.

Smart said it intends to directly invest up to P210 million in CURE in the form of new share subscriptions in the company. The fresh funds will be used by CURE for working capital purposes.

"The aquisition dovetails with Smart's previously announced plan to provide expanded and enhanced 3G services nationswide, including higher speed wireless broadband services," Smart said.

"CURE is envisioned to provide Smart with a platform to offer and provide differentiated 3G services for niche markets."

Smart, together with other telcos, is banking on 3G as the next big thing in the industry to boost its revenues.

Smart is wholly-owned by dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., a publicly-listed company.

Pnlozm

Pancake House Inc. reported that its net income rose seven percent in the first half of the year to P31.1 million from P29.04 million as improved sales offset high operating costs.

Consolidated revenues jumped 13 percent to P895.08 million, mainly due to the opening of new stores.

Restaurant sales, meanwhile, grew 12 percent from P582.63 million to P655.41 million, which included sales from recently acquired Boulangerie Francaise Inc., operator of the Le Coeur de France brand.

As of June 2008, the company had a total of 159 outlets compared to 127 in the previous year. Eleven branches of Le Coeur de France were added to its portfolio.

Pancake House earlier said it was embarking on an aggressive expansion program in the country and in Asia despite rising inflation.

The company plans to put up to 20 stores in Malaysia by 2011. It also intends to open three to five Pancake House outlets in Singapore and one branch of its Japanese food chain, Teriyaki Boy, in Vietnam.

Locally, the group eyes expansion in areas with supermarkets and hospitals.

Pancake House expects to post a record net profit of P100 million and consolidated revenues of P2.1 billion this year.

It said it would continue to monitor its cost structures given increasing prices of inputs and supplies, rental and utility rates as well as mandated wage hikes. It said it would implement programs to maximize the resources of its chains and generate savings.

Pancake House also owns the brands Dencio's, Pepper Steak and Kabisera.

Enkylr

The outgoing head of the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Region identified health care financing and climate change as the two gravest threats facing countries in the Asia Pacific region.

In his final address to the Regional Committee Tuesday, Dr. Shigeru Omi said more work needs to be done to strengthen regional health systems including financing and human resources development. We have not been as successful in this area as with communicable diseases. More work needs to be done, he said at the WHO regional headquarters on United Nations Avenue in Manila.

Dr. Omi said WHO has tackled the health worker crisis in a variety of ways including providing Internet-based training for health professionals in remote areas. He said the drafting of a WHO Strategic Plan for Strengthening Health Systems in the Western Pacific Region would provide solid foundation for progress in this area.

He said climate change would also affect global health security by increasing health risks in various parts of the region.

He said global warming would lead to an increase in malaria and dengue-carrying mosquitoes in areas other than their natural Southeast Asia habitat. He said climate change could also lead to a rise in sea level, which would threaten low-lying island states and areas in the Pacific.

A warmer planet has contributed to some diseases, such as dengue, now occurring in areas where it was never seen before. Heat waves and drought are among the many factors contributing to the current food crisis, he said.

Dr. Omi said global health security, particularly in the area of communicable diseases, became more significant after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002. He said the prevalence of the disease led WHO to declare a series of travel advisories against a number of countries and areas at the height of the SARS threat in 2003.

SARS awakened the global public health community from a kind of slumber. Before the outbreak, interest in communicable diseases had been slipping. Then suddenly public health had entered a new era demanding constant vigilance against threats from emerging and re-emerging diseases, he said.

He said regional vigilance against communicable diseases was accelerated by the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus less than six months after the transmission of SARS had been halted. Recognizing that the root cause of the problem was coming from animals, he said WHO partnered with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health to combat the health threat.

War against tobacco, TB deaths

Dr. Omi also outlined several areas where the WHO Regional Office had made significant progress including reducing prevalence of tuberculosis in Western Pacific countries. He said at least 1,000 people were dying daily from TB in 1999.

As a result of our intense battle against TB, we are saving 400 lives every day with the number of daily TB deaths in our region having dropped from nearly 1,000 to less than 600 over that period, he said.

In the field of tobacco control, Dr. Omi said all countries in the Western Pacific have signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which calls for a war on smoking through such measures as high taxes on cigarettes, a ban on tobacco advertising and more effective education campaigns.

He said WHO has made significant strides in providing universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care to those people living with HIV/AIDS and to groups at risk of infection.

He said WHO's regional office has launched an Internet-based reporting system for tracking the movement of fake drugs. This regional rapid alert system developed in our region has now been replicated around the world, he said.

He said the region is also on track to achieve elimination of measles by 2012, with a 97 percent fall in cases recorded between 2000 and 2007.

Finally, he said that child health and maternal mortality is back on the public health agenda with the development of the joint Regional Child Survival Strategy with UNICEF.

Ymmugr

Reuters

GUANTANAMO BAY US NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The accused al Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks stood in a US military court on Thursday, sang a chant of praise to Allah and said he would welcome the death penalty.

"This is what I wish, to be martyred," Pakistani captive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the highest-ranking al Qaeda operative in US custody, told the Guantanamo war crimes court.

He and four accused co-conspirators appeared in court at the Guantanamo Bay US naval base in Cuba for the first time on charges that could result in their execution.

As the judge questioned him about whether he was satisfied with the US military lawyer appointed to defend him, Mohammed stood and began to sing in Arabic, cheerfully pausing to translate his own words into English.

"My shield is Allah most high," he said, adding that his religion forbade him from accepting a lawyer from the United States and that he wanted to act as his own attorney.

He criticized the United States for fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, waging what he called "a crusader war," and enacting "evil laws" including those authorizing same-sex marriages.

Mohammed wore a long, bushy gray beard and big black military-issue glasses and looked far older than his 43 years. He wore a neat white tunic and turban, in stark contrast to the saggy white undershirt he wore in photographs taken after his capture during a raid in Pakistan in March 2003.

Mohammed and co-defendants Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi and Walid bin Attash are charged with committing terrorism and conspiring with al Qaeda to murder civilians in the 2001 attacks that launched the Bush administration's global war on terrorism.

They also face 2,973 counts of murder, one for each person killed when hijacked passenger planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

'Just a stage play'

The judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, tried to persuade the men to accept their military lawyers, but all refused.

Aziz Ali said he had barely been allowed to meet with his lawyer anyway and described him as "a signboard" hung up so the government could say, 'Hey, we give these people lawyers."'

"All this is just a stage play," he said.

Binalshibh, whom the lawyers said was receiving psychotropic medication, wore leg chains bolted to the floor but the rest of the accused were unshackled in the courtroom.

A security officer cut the audio feed to the spectators' section when he described the reason for the medicine, and again when another defendant discussed his capture.

Binalshibh said he had sought martyrdom since trying and failing to get a US visa "for 9/11" but that his life was in God's hands and that "America and the whole world cannot extend my life by one day or make it one day earlier."

Mohammed told a military review panel last year that he approached Osama bin Laden with the proposal to hijack passenger planes and crash them into landmark US buildings, then oversaw execution of the plan "from A to Z," according to US military transcripts of the hearing.

But Mohammed cast doubt on that transcript in Thursday's hearing. "They mistranslated my words and put many words in my mouth," he said in broken English learned as an engineering student in North Carolina.

He called the trial "an inquisition" and added, "All of this has been taken under torturing. You know that very well."

The other defendants are accused of helping choose, train and fund the 19 hijackers, assisting their flight school enrollment and travel to the United States.

All five were transferred to Guantanamo in September 2006 after spending about three years in secret CIA prisons. The CIA has acknowledged interrogating Mohammed using a simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding and condemned as torture by human rights observers.

Defense lawyers have said they will challenge any attempt to introduce evidence tainted by abuse but they may not get that chance if the defendants represent themselves.

Prosecutors want to start the trial on September 15, a date the defense says was chosen to influence the US presidential election in November.

Nxzlfx

Agence France-Presse

MEXICO CITY, Mexico - World number one Lorena Ochoa, who is fresh off capturing her second major title, highlights the 1.3 million dollar LPGA Corona Championship which begins Thursday in her native Mexico.

Ochoa, who won the Kraft Nabisco Championship on Sunday, will be after her 21st career title and her third-straight LPGA Tour victory.

Ochoa has won three of the four LPGA Tour events she has entered this season. She last won three straight events in August.

Ochoa possibly would have one more championship to her credit if not for Silvia Cavalleri's performance here last year.

Italy's Cavalleri entered last year's final round in a three-way tie with Ochoa and Julieta Granada atop the leaderboard, but claimed a two-shot victory with a seven-under-par to get to 20-under. It remains the only championship of Cavalleri's career.

Cavalleri, of Milan, has returned to defend her title, and Carin Koch - the event's inaugural champion in 2005 - is participating as well.

The tournament is being played at the par-72 Tres Marias Residential Golf Club just outside of Mexico City.

Ibplab

Reuters

HONG KONG - Asian stocks rose sharply on Monday, helped by a smaller-than-expected loss at Citigroup that provided comfort about the financial sector's stability ahead of more results this week from banks and industrial companies.

Oil prices, having tumbled in the past week or so by more than $17 from a record high above $147 a barrel, also supported shares of exporters in the region.

Depending largely on how quarterly earnings look at companies like Bank of America Corp, Caterpillar Inc and Honda Motor Co, equity markets this week could extend their rally or just as easily fall on their face.

"It is too premature to assume that the bull market is coming back," said Albert Hung, chief investment officer at Alleron Investment Management in Sydney.

"There are some concerns that the earnings growth forecast for fiscal 2009 is still too high so there may be some earnings revision downwards."

Markets in Japan were closed for a public holiday, thinning liquidity in the region.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 3 percent, with HSBC leading the way.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI jumped 3.6 percent, led by gains in the shares of index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and the world's fourth-largest steel maker POSCO.

LG Electronics Inc shares surged 6 percent on expectations the company's bottom line doubled.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 3.2 percent, lifted by banks such as National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan was up 2.9 percent on the day but is down 22 percent so far this year.

Concerns about the global impact of a weak U.S. financial sector have eased after Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, reported a second-quarter loss of $2.5 billion, which was smaller than expected.

However, the picture painted by higher-than-expected results from JPMorgan, Citigroup and IBM was tainted somewhat by lower-than-forecast results from technology sector bellwethers such as Google Inc and Microsoft Corp.

In addition, food and energy prices -- though well off their peaks -- continue to fuel inflation at a time when the global economy is slowing down.

Indeed, Bank of England policymaker David Blanchflower told a UK newspaper the British economy is heading into recession and the benchmark interest rate should fall "well below" the current 5 percent. His comments weighed on sterling.

The U.S. dollar, which rose broadly last week, slipped against the euro and the yen on Monday ahead of the raft of bank earnings this week that will provide the latest test for sentiment on the financial sector.

"JPMorgan and Citi might have done OK, but this week brings reports from WaMu and Wachovia, two institutions that have been singed by the subprime debacle," said David Watt, a senior currency strategist at RBC Dominion Securities.

"Given that few of the major currencies seem attractive to investors at the present time, a sad-sack performance is appropriate," he added, noting that the euro and sterling had economic troubles of their own.

The euro rose 0.2 percent to $1.5862, about two cents below an all-time high touched last week. Against the yen, the dollar was down 0.1 percent at 106.78 yen.

Crude prices edged up from late New York levels but remained below $130 a barrel as talks between world powers and nuclear ambitious Iran, the fourth largest oil exporter, proved inconclusive.

Still, oil fell 11 percent last week, the most since December 2004, on the view that consumer and industrial demand is slowing.

Kfdeuj

Philippine stocks closed higher on Monday as investors, returning from a four-day break, sought bargains following Wall Street's big jump on Thursday, analysts said. "We're just playing catchup with the US market, although trading was thin because most investors were still on a holiday mode," said Astro del Castillo, First Grade Holdings managing director. "Investors are also expected to remain cautious over the weakness of the US economy." US stocks gained 2.2 percent last Thursday after a milder-than-expected drop in mid-Atlantic manufacturing activity and an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Wall Street was closed on Good Friday. Local markets were also closed Thursday and Friday for the Easter holiday. The Philippines' composite index rose 49.92 points or 1.8 percent to 2,867.50. The broader all-share index gained 23.47 points or 1.4 percent at 1,759.17. Gainers outpaced losers, 56 to 27, while 48 stocks were unchanged. A total of 738.15 million shares worth P2.17 billion were traded. Market heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. rose P35 or 1.3 percent to P2,670. Moody's Investors Service has raised its outlook on PLDT to positive from stable due to the company's "ability to fund record levels of capex internally and also increase returns to shareholders without increasing its leverage." Ayala Land Inc. soared P0.50 or 4.9 percent to P10.75. Parent Ayala Corp., the country's biggest conglomerate, jumped P10 or 2.6 percent to P400. Homebuilder Megaworld Corp. edged up P0.12 or 5.6 percent to P2.26. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., the nation's top lender, advanced P2 or 5.4 percent to P39. Power and infrastructure firm First Philippine Holdings Corp. surged P3.50 or 10.3 percent to P37.50. FPHC is eyeing to raise up to P4.9 billion from the sale of up to 50 million preferred shares in April. The Lopez-led company will offer up to 30 million preferred shares to local investors at P100 each. It has an over-allotment option of 20 million shares. FPHC said it would use the proceeds to refinance debt and fund strategic business acquisitions and capital requirements.

Ulybja

Agence France-Presse
LONDON - Oil prices hit fresh record highs Friday, boosted by weakness in the dollar and simmering tensions over key producer Iran which pushed the London Brent contract above 147 dollars.
Brent North Sea oil for August delivery jumped as high as 147.25 dollars, beating the previous record of 146.69 dollars set on July 3.
New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for August, hit another record peak of 146.90 dollars after breaching 146 dollars for the first time.
The oil price jumped back into record territory after the European single currency leapt as high as 1.5868 dollars in afternoon trading on Friday.
The weak dollars boosts demand for dollar-priced oil which becomes cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, analysts said.
Oil also found solid support as traders monitored the latest newsflow on Iran.
The European Union expressed concern Friday after Iran test-fired missiles and said the tests would compound worries over its nuclear ambitions, a statement from the French EU presidency said.
The 27-nation EU called on Iran to negotiate an end to the standoff over its suspect nuclear activities after Tehran tested several missiles, including one said to be capable of striking Israel.

Wpmpbz

The Asian Development Bank on Wednesday said that the Philippine economy will expand at a slower rate of 6.0% in 2008 and 6.2% in 2009.
The Asian Development Outlook 2008 of the ADB said the weak global economy and inflation will undermine growth for 2008.
"Net exports are expected to contract in 2008 and slow GDP growth," the report said.

The Philippines recorded a 7.3% economic growth in 2007, the highest since its 8.8% growth in 1976.
ADB: Asia growth in 2008 to be lowest in 5 yrs
Growth in Asia's developing economies, the fastest-expanding in the world, will slow in 2008 to the weakest pace in five years because of the global credit crisis, the ADB) said on Wednesday.
But the biggest risk for the region is inflation, the ADB said. As growth slows in 2008, inflation is expected to reach its highest level in a decade, presenting policy makers with a major headache.
"In the near term, the major risk lies not so much in softer growth but in rising commodity prices and accelerating inflation," Haruhiko Kuroda, the president of the ADB, said in a foreword to its annual economic outlook.
Warning against the use of subsidies by governments, he said: "If inflation expectations are allowed to become ingrained, this could create distortions that damage productivity growth over a protracted period."
The region, which includes China, India, the "Tiger" economies of Southeast Asia, South Korea and Central Asia, should register robust average GDP growth of 7.6 percent in 2008, the Manila-based multilateral agency said.
But it follows an 8.7 percent surge in 2007 and is the lowest annual growth figure since 7.1 percent in 2003.
The ADB itself has trimmed the 2008 growth forecast from the 8.2 percent it predicted in its last regional outlook six months ago.
"Developing Asia is not immune to global developments, but neither is it hostage to them," the ADB said.
"Although problems will spread from the global economy to developing Asia -- a problem that is already visible in high-frequency trade and financial data -- the region's growth in 2008 is much more likely to moderate than to lurch down."

Touch faster
The ADB said the region should grow a touch faster in 2009 at an average of 7.8 percent if the credit crisis did not last long.
"This projection assumes modest recovery in the world economy beginning later in 2008 and carrying through 2009, an outcome that is far from guaranteed," it warned. China, the fastest-expanding major economy in the world, should grow 10.0 percent in 2008 and 9.8 percent next year after an 11.4 percent surge in 2007, the ADB said.
India, which is more insulated from the global economy, should grow 8 percent this year and 8.5 percent in 2009 after 8.7 percent last year, it said.
Although the ADB didn't expect a major slowdown in growth, it said inflation was a palpable risk. The World Bank highlighted the inflation risk on a report it released on Tuesday on the economic prospects of East Asia.
The ADB said inflation should average 5.1 percent in the region in 2008, the highest since 6.1 percent during the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
"Indeed, published inflation rates disguise the true extent of underlying inflation pressures due to the presence of subsidies, administrative price controls and cuts in excise taxes," it said.
The region's surging growth had created a voracious appetite for commodities, which, along with other factors, was contributing to price rises, it said.
The subsidies used by many governments in the region to cushion the impact of soaring fuel and food prices were posing a threat to budgets, it said, adding that cash handouts to the poor may be a better and cheaper option.
"If governments do not rethink these expensive and inefficient subsidy programs, fiscal costs could escalate sharply and require painful adjustments later," the ADB said.
"Carefully targeted direct income support for the poor, within strict budgetary limits, might better alleviate stresses, and at much lower cost." - Jay Llanto, Newsbreak, with Reuters

Xvzcyu

Agence France Presse

MADRID - Police have found over 100 kilos of explosives in northern Spain belonging to ETA in an operation linked to the arrest earlier this week of nine suspected members of the Basque separatist group, media reports said Thursday.

The explosives were found near the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, about 10 kilometers from where police located another ETA weapons cache late on Wednesday, public radio RNE reported.

Several detonators, along with French and Portuguese vehicle license plates, were found along with the explosives, it added.

An interior ministry spokeswoman could not immediately confirm the reports.

Police late Wednesday found an automatic rifle, tools to steal cars and a box of tranquilizers in the nearby ski resort of Valdezcaray in the province of La Rioja which borders the Basque region.

Police also searched an apartment in Ezcaray in La Rioja for over seven hours on Thursday which they suspect was used by ETA as a laboratory where it assembled bombs and as a safe house, RNE reported.

The discovery of the two weapons caches and the apartment search follows the arrest Tuesday of nine suspected members of ETA's Vizcaya cell, including its leader Arkaitz Goikoetxea.

Police on Thursday detained a 10th person suspected of belonging to the cell in Getxo, an upscale suburb of the Basque financial capital Bilbao, an anti-terrorism source told AFP.

Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said the cell was ETA's most active unit which had carried out most of the outfit's attacks since it called off a ceasefire in June 2007.

The cell was planning a large-scale car bombing before the end of the month in the Basque locality of Getxo, news radio station Cadena Ser reported, citing sources close to the investigation.

ETA leaders had ordered Goikoetxea to keep a watch over leading Basque anti-terrorism judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska of Spain's National Court in order to prepare an attack against him, a judicial source told AFP earlier on Thursday.

Grande-Marlaska, who has ordered the detention of several suspected ETA members, has a home in Ezcaray near where the two weapons caches were found.

"It's all part of the job," the Basque news agency Vasco Press quoted him as saying, adding he would be surprised it he was not on a hit list.

During police questioning, Goikoetxea said the tranquilizers were to be used by the cell to kidnap a Basque politician belonging to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's ruling Socialist Party, the Europa Press news agency reported citing anti-terrorism sources.

In 1997 ETA kidnapped and killed 29-year-old town councilman Miguel Angel Blanco with a shot in the head, leading millions of Spaniards to pour into the streets in the biggest protests against the Basque separatist group.

ETA is blamed for the deaths of 823 people in its 40-year campaign of bombings and shootings to carve a Basque homeland out of northern Spain and southwestern France.

Npazgi

Agence France-Presse

Philippine share prices closed 0.3 percent lower Monday as bargain hunters partially counteracted more risk-averse investors spooked by high oil prices and Wall Street weakness, dealers said.

The composite index gave up 6.30 points to 2,459.98, off a low of 2,459.75 and a high of 2,487.14. The all share index lost 1.48 points to 1,571.68.

Forty-three issues advanced, 46 retreated and another 46 were unchanged.

Turnover fell to 3.056 billion pesos from 7.24 billion pesos on Friday.

The peso traded at 44.899 to the dollar in the morning.

Gomer Tan of Regina Capital Development put the support level at 2,380 points and resistance at 2,500 points.

"We are entering a bear market, and we will probably see more of the same cautious trading until we see a substantial decline in oil prices," Tan told Dow Jones Newswires.

World oil prices closed in on 142 dollars in Asian trades Monday, pushed up by continued worries over supply and the weak US currency.

San Miguel A added 1.50 pesos to 40 pesos while its B shares rose two pesos to 41 pesos. Petron added 10 centavos to 6.50 pesos.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone was unchanged at 2,395 pesos.

Bank of the Philippine Islands lost a peso to 43 pesos, while Banco de Oro dropped 50 centavos to 43 pesos.

Boguih

The price of pork in markets will soon go down -- in five to six months' time, that is. According to agriculture undersecretary Salvador Salacup, the supply of pork will go back to its normal levels by October or November this year, eventually leading to lower prices. Pork prices reached a high of up to around P180 per kilo following an illness that struck hogs during the last quarter of 2007. To augment supply, the country is importing meat from North America and Brazil. Salacup said we are not importing meat from China, soothing consumer concerns after reports of sickness among pigs there. Chicken prices up, too Meantime, chicken prices are expected to go up as the summer heat intensifies. According to the Philippine Association of Broilers and Integrators , hot weather affects the physical growth of chickens, while some are hit by heatstroke. "Their growth slows. They become undersized. Mortality rate increases during hot weather," said PABIs Tatish Palabyab. Chicken growers, however, said the prevailing price in the market should still be P120 per kilo. They said that there is still enough supply in the market even if May has the biggest demand during the year. Farmgate prices also have not changed. Some chicken vendors opted to maintain their prices at P120 per kilo for now due to competition even if they were delivered at a higher price. For one, chicken can be bought for only P112 per kilo in supermarkets. With reports from Cecille Lardizabal, ABS-CBN News

Shvnmt

Reuters

The President of the Pacific island of Palau was left stranded in the Philippines on a state visit after he refused to be frisked before boarding a Continental Airlines flight, officials said on Thursday.

The flight departed Manila around 10 p.m. on Wednesday leaving President Tommy Remengesau and his wife behind.

The plane had to return after midnight after the control tower at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport received a call saying there was a bomb on board. No explosives were found, according to General Atilano Morada, chief of the NAIA Aviation Security Group.

The flight, with stop-offs in Palau, Yap and a final landing in Guam, departed again at around 5 a.m. with 140 passengers on board. Remengesau and his wife were still not among them.

Earlier, Continental Airlines had insisted that Remengesau be patted down before boarding the commercial flight much to the dismay of the VIP party, including Philippine Vice-President Noli de Castro, who were on hand to bid him farewell after a two-day state visit.

"We expected better treatment accorded to a head of state," Ramon Rechebei, the Palau ambassador to the Philippines, told Reuters.

"The airline demanded that he be frisked before entering the plane otherwise he would not be allowed to enter."

"So, we decided that he should not go through," said Rechebei, adding that Palau may make a formal complaint about Continental through diplomatic channels.

No one from the airline was immediately available to comment.

Continental is the only airline that flies directly to Palau from Manila and Philippine authorities are now scrambling to find Remengesau another way home.

Boguih

By ROY MEDINA


Games Friday
2 p.m. - Lyceum vs Adamson
4 p.m. - Ateneo vs SSC-R

Adamson University and San Sebastian College will attempt to maintain clean slates in the semifinal round of the Shakey's V-League volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City on Friday.

The Lady Falcons will see action in the 2 p.m. opener against the Lady Pirates of Lyceum of the Philippines. The Lady Stags, meanwhile, go up against Ateneo de Manila University in the 4 p.m. main header.

Both Adamson and San Sebastian are sporting 1-0 win-loss slates after beating their respective opponents on Wednesday.

The clash Wednesday saw the San Marcelino-based spikers returning with a vengeance to defeat the Lady Eagles 25-16, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21.

Neriza Bautista and Michelle Segodine led Adamson to blank out Thai import Em-orn Phanusit in the last two sets.

“We made adjustments in the third set since we couldnt control Phanusit. It was a good thing that our blocking improved in the last two frames,” Adamson coach Dulce Pante said following the victory.

In the other game Wednesday, the Lady Stags made a statement as it won against Lyceum, 25-16, 25-19, 25-16.

Visiting Thai spiker Bualee Jaroensri and Rysabelle Devanadera came up with a combined 31 hits, against the 10-hit output of Lyceum's Bernadette Satsatin and Dahlia Cruz.

Stags coach Rogelio Gorayeb attributed the win to his wards' experience, adding that they did not do anything special.

“We didnt do anything special in this game. We just leaned on our experience since the semis is an entirely different level where the games are all crucial,” he said.