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Agence France-Presse
LONDON - A woman who posed naked for British artist Lucian Freud revealed Saturday she was paid 20 pounds -- and the resulting painting is expected to become the most expensive work by a living artist.
Sue Tilley said she had been delighted to be the inspiration for "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" in 1995, which is set to become the most expensive painting by a living artist when it is sold in New York next month.
Art experts expect the painting of a fleshy woman reclining on a sofa to fetch up to 17 million pounds when it goes under the hammer in New York in May.
Tilley, nicknamed Big Sue, joked she was the first nude pin-up to grace the front page of the Financial Times newspaper, which carried a photograph of the painting Saturday.
"I can't quite believe it, to be honest," she told the BBC.
"I only found out on Thursday afternoon. You know, I didn't have any idea it was going to happen, so I'm a bit in shock.
"I was reading on the Internet... all the things about it. And I was just going 'Oh my god', I could hardly believe it was about me.
"Half the time I don't really think it's me. But then this morning I was looking at it again and I was going: 'that's my funny little face!'"
Tilley, who now manages a job center in London, said she was introduced to Freud by a friend and became his muse, often going for lunch with the artist before posing.
Freud, the 85-year-old grandson of pioneering psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, was born in Berlin but his family fled Germany as the Nazis rose to power and he became a British citizen.
He has said: "I paint people, not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be."

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Fire gutted the public market of Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro Friday morning.

Calapan police chief Bonard Briton said the fire started at 2:20 a.m. and lasted for more than three hours. He said at least 75 percent of stalls in the market was destroyed in the fire.

Initial reports said the fire started in the central part of the public market where coal and dried fish are usually sold. Investigators said faulty wiring might have caused the fire.

No one was reported hurt in the fire.

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Reuters

PERTH - Oil rose towards $124 a barrel on Monday, rebounding from a seven-week low, in what analysts said was technical buying and short-covering after recent declines left the market oversold.

But analysts said worries of slowing fuel demand, which have dragged crude prices down from their record peak of over $147 a barrel on July 11, continued to loom over the market.

U.S. light crude for September delivery rose 46 cents to $123.72 a barrel by 0228 GMT. The contract fell $2.23 on Friday to settle at $123.26, after falling to as low as $122.50, the lowest since June 5.

London Brent crude rose 18 cents to $124.70.

"I think it's just a technical bounce. The decline in prices has probably triggered some stop-loss orders so that has lifted prices slightly," said Gerard Burg, an analyst at the National Australian Bank in Melbourne.

Oil has fallen over $23, or about 16 percent, in the past two weeks on concerns that high fuel prices were battering demand, after recent reports showed fuel consumption in the United States and other industrialized nations had begun to slide.

Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday also showed that speculative funds were shifting to a net short position for the first time in 17 months.

Mark Pervan, a senior commodities analyst at the Australian & New Zealand Bank, said expectations that OPEC's oil output would rise this month, amid slowing demand, were weighing on sentiment.

OPEC's oil output is expected to rise by 200,000 barrels per day in July from June because of higher supplies from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, industry consultant Petrologistics said on Friday.

Still, geopolitical concerns in the Middle East and rebel threats against oil installations in OPEC member Nigeria were expected to keep a floor under oil prices, analysts said.

Iran has more than 5,000 active centrifuges for enriching uranium, its president was quoted as saying on Saturday, suggesting a rapid expansion of nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement was likely to annoy major powers which have offered Iran a package of economic and other incentives to persuade Tehran to suspend its enrichment activities.

In Nigeria, gunmen released eight foreign oil workers seized from a vessel off the Niger Delta on Saturday but eight other people abducted in separate incidents were still being held, security officials said.

Rising demand in emerging economies such as China launched oil on a six-year rally that sent prices up seven-fold at their peak. The sharp drop has some analysts forecasting oil prices may have peaked, with Lehman Brothers predicting $90 a barrel by the end of the first quarter of 2009.

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The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Olongapo-Subic Chapter on Monday condemned the shoddy treatment given to two journalists in Olongapo by members of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority-Law Enforcement Department and a court officer during two separate incidents.
The NUJP said that ABS-CBN stringer Jeff Tombado was allegedly manhandled by members of the SBMA-LED, led by its chief Col. Virgilio Tolentino.
On May 27, Tombado was taking a video footage of the SBMA-LED offices for a follow-up report on the recent confiscation of shabu when he was accosted by Tolentino and his men. Tombado was asked to immediately stop taking footage.
When Tombado refused to stop, one of Tolentino's men demanded that he produce an ID card to verify his identity and media affiliation.
Tombado explained to the SBMA-LED officer he still did not have one issued by ABS-CBN since he had only recently started working as a stringer. He also repeatedly told the officers to verify his affiliation by calling ABS-CBN, but they refused.
Tolentino then allegedly pounced on Tombado, yanked the video camera away from him, while other LED officers ganged up on him. One of the officers allegedly even pulled out a gun.
"Hindi mo ba alam, ako ang hari dito ?" he told Tombado. "Kala mo kung sino ka. Hindi ikaw ang authority dito. Ako lang ang authority dito ."
Tombado again asked them to verify his identity by calling the ABS-CBN News Desk that sent him there. The appeal fell on deaf ears, the NUJP report said.
When Tombado was able to produce an old press ID from his previous job and showed it to Tolentino, the latter was finally forced to let him go.
In a separate incident, the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Robert Gonzaga was allegedly not given the right courtesy by Sheriff Leandro Madarang of the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court, the NUJP said.
Gonzaga and Tombado went last month to a building owned by a certain Cecilia Pabunan, which was then being confiscated by a court in Olongapo on the orders of Judge Richard A. Paderaza, of RTC branch 72.
Gonzaga had been shown documents by Pabunan, which showed that the dispute had already reached the Court of Appeals. Pabunan's lawyer said that "what the sheriff is doing is illegal. Ask any lawyer, and that's what he'll tell you. "
Gonzaga then approached Madarang for his side of the story. At first, the sheriff responded positively and even volunteered to show them a copy of the writ of execution.
However, when he returned, Madarang repeatedly asked for Gonzaga's name and media affiliation, and asked him to produce his press identification card .
When Gonzaga explained that he did not yet have an ID since he was newly-hired by PDI, the sheriff turned his back on Gonzaga.
Gonzaga then offered his cellphone to Madarang so he could verify his identity through the Inquirer Central Luzon desk, but Madarang turned away.
The NUJP Olongapo-Subic chapter said Madarang's actions are indicative of the "attitude of some government officials towards media practitioners."
The media group strongly condemned the conduct of Tolentino and Madarang, especially in the case of Jeff Tombado.
"Both Sheriff Madarang and Col. Tolentino were both given ample opportunity to verify the identities and affiliations of the two, but they refused to do so and did not recognize the constitutionally-protected rights of journalists to report the news," said the NUJP Olongapo-Subic chapter said.
It called for a investigation of the two officers and demanded that sanctions be imposed on them for improper behavior of public servants.

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By LENIE LECTURA
Business Mirror

Globe Telecom should protect its market share by devising new schemes aimed at signing up new mobile-phone users to its network while keeping its subscribers from transferring to other operators.

Analysts and sources believe that Globes inability to keep up with competition could be one of the reasons why the cellular firms shares have dipped to about P1,000 from last years P1,700.

In previous months, a network disruption slowed down the companys subscriber acquisition efforts—particularly for Touch Mobile, the cellular band of affiliate, Innove Communications Inc. Globe closed the first quarter with a subscriber base of 21.3 million.

If there had been no service disruption, the countrys second-largest cellular firm would have registered at least over one million in new mobile phone subscriptions from January to March this year as against the 960,000 net additions posted for the period.

“We believe there was a slowdown in subscriber take-up during the first 45 to 60 days of the first quarter, particularly for Touch Mobile, where that brand is strong in the provinces,� Globe president Gerardo Ablaza had said.

The Globe official said the company had already recovered from the slump in subscriber numbers as it registered approximately 400,000 new users in April and May, respectively. With about 800,000 new Globe subscribers in its network, the cellular firm had recorded approximately 22.1 million mobile-phone subscribers as of end-May this year from 21.3 million at end-March. If Globe was able to sustain a net addition of 400,000 in June, then the cellular firm would have ended the first half with 22.5 million wireless subscribers.

“However, if you take a close look at how Globe was performing over the past quarters, one cant help but notice how it lagged behind its competitors in terms of subscriber take-up,� said an industry source.

“And now that Globe has recovered from the network disruption caused by a cut cable incident, it is expected that the pace at which it has been adding new subscribers should be better than in the previous quarters. However, this is not the case,� observed another industry source.

Ricardo Puig of ATR-Kim Eng, said the market would have wanted to see Globe perform better. “Of course, Globes ability to keep pace with competition is something that should be carefully looked at.�

In 2007, Globes average net adds in a month stood at 420,000 before dropping to 400,000 in the second quarter. In the third and fourth quarters, the net adds stood at approximately 360,000 per month.

Traditionally, the second and third quarters are lean months but the fourth quarter is usually the strongest because of the anticipated holiday spending.

In the first quarter this year, Globes cellular network added about 320,000 new users every month.

Rival Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. registered an estimated monthly net addition of 430,000 cellular subscribers in the first quarter of 2007; 740,000 in the second quarter; 380,000 in the third quarter; and 590,000 in the last quarter of 2007.

In the first two quarters of 2008, the phone giants wireless network recorded approximately 512,000 and 530,000 monthly wireless subscriber net additions, respectively. The PLDT Group now has over 33 million mobile-phone subscribers.

Third player, Sun Cellular, claimed it has signed up six million subscribers so far in its network from 5.3 million at end-March. The companys wireless subscriber base accounts for seven percent of the cellular market. The PLDT group dominates the mobile phone industry with a market share of at least 55 percent compared with Globe share of about 38 percent.

“If it is true that Sun Cellular has registered those subscriber numbers while PLDT has not lost momentum in terms of subscriber take up then Globe could be losing subscribers to Sun Cellular. This, of course, raises concern. Globe has got to do something to perk up mobile phone usage and keep its subscribers,� added Puig.

Grace Cerdenia of 2Trade Asia said there was nothing alarming with Globes performance in the stock market. “There is no major change in the companys business model so the only reason could be pinpointed to the overall performance of the stock market,� she said.

She said that even Ayala Corp.s recent decision to sell a portion of its shares in Globe to Singapore Telecom International Pte. Ltd. should not be a cause of alarm.

Ayala Corp. disclosed recently that it disposed of 3.8 million common shares of Globe to SingTel at P1,210 per share or a total of P4.6 billion. That day, Globe shares closed 0.4219 percent lower at P1,180.

The sale of the shares translated to SingTels ownership of common shares in Globe from 44.5 percent to 47.3 percent; and its voting rights from 20.2 percent to 21.5 percent. Ayala Corp., on the other hand, will still own 30.5 percent and the public at 22 percent of Globes common shares.

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Agence France-Presse
PARIS - Young children who lead sedentary lifestyles are up to six times likelier to be at serious risk of heart disease later in life than active peers, according to a study released Friday.
Moreover, the cluster of symptoms pointing to heart trouble, known as the metabolic syndrome, can show up as early at the teen years, the study said.
A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina, led by Robert McMurray, measured key health indicators in nearly 400 kids between seven and 10, including height, body mass, percentage of body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Frequency and duration of physical exercise was also monitored.
Seven years later, the same children were reexamined as teenagers to see how many had developed the telltale signs of metabolic syndrome.
Nearly five percent of the adolescents had three or more of the condition's core symptoms, concluded the study, published in the British journal Dynamic Medicine.
This was consistent with previous research showing that four to nine percent of adolescents in the United States have some combination of glucose intolerance, hypertension, obesity and a worrying cholesterol count.
But until now no one has tracked the same group of children over time to study the link between physical activity in early childhood and the chances of developing signs of heart disease.
McMurray found that the adolescents with the syndrome were six times likelier to have had low aerobic fitness as children, and five times likelier to have low levels of physical activity when the study began.
At best, these kids spent less than 20 minutes a day walking briskly, riding a bike at a moderate pace or performing some equivalent activity.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , based in Atlanta, recommends that children exert themselves at this level for at least one hour per day.
"This shows efforts need to begin early in childhood to increase exercise," said McMurray. "Children today live a very sedentary life and are prone to obesity."
"It's obvious now that there is a link and this is something which we need to pay attention to by encouraging our kids to keep fit or suffer the consequences later in life."

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Agence France-Presse

NEW YORK - Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and Washington guard DeShawn Stevenson were each fined 25,000 dollars on Monday by the National Basketball Association for "menacing gestures" in playoff games.

NBA commissioner David Stern said the punishments imposed were meant as a warning to players regarding on-court confrontations and challenges from rivals during games.

"The league is sending a message - You're the best athletes in the game. Play the game. If you get baited, don't take the bait," Stern said. "We're not going to let it degrade to something else."

Pierce made his gesture in the final seconds of a 102-93 loss to Atlanta in game three of their Eastern Conference opening-round playoff series. Pierce will appeal the fine after the playoffs, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

"It's behind us. We want to move forward," Rivers said. "We're going to focus on playing basketball."

The Celtics had the NBA's best record and own a home-court edge throughout the NBA playoffs.

"It's silly," Rivers said. "The guys have done things to everyone else as a sign to everyone else. Unfortunately, everybody is sensitive about signs. I didn't know that, but I know that now."

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Agence France-Presse
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday celebrated Easter mass before tens of thousands of pilgrims huddled under umbrellas in St Peter's Square on the holiest day of the Christian calendar.
The pope led a procession of cardinals and bishops across the rain-splashed square decked out in springtime flowers to take his place before St Peter's Basilica as Swiss Guards stood at attention.
The 80-year-old leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics chose the white and gold vestments and gold miter of Benedict XV, the pope who reigned from 1914 to 1922, for the occasion.
Easter Sunday celebrates the Resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion on Good Friday.
Religious freedom has been a theme of this year's Easter celebrations. At Saturday's Easter vigil, the pope baptized a former Muslim and a critic of Islamic extremism, journalist Magdi Allam.
Good Friday's Way of the Cross procession was marked by meditations penned by outspoken Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who referred to the "martyrs" among China's tiny Catholic minority.
Zen is a key figure for Asian Catholics including those in China who are split between the official and clandestine Catholic churches.
After the mass, the pope was to deliver the traditional "urbi et orbi" blessing, an occasion to speak out about conflicts and ills besetting the planet.
He was to read out the message in Italian, and before making the actual blessing the pope was to greet all the people of the world in 63 languages including Esperanto.
The ceremony was broadcast live in 67 countries.
Allam, 55, an editorial writer and deputy publisher of the Corriere della Sera newspaper, wrote a letter to the paper published Sunday in which he branded his former faith as intrinsically violent.
"I had to do this ", Allam wrote. "Beyond ... the phenomenon of extremists and Islamist terrorism at the global level, the root of evil is inherent to a physiologically violent and historically conflictual Islam."
In its relations with Islam and other religions the Vatican has stressed both freedom of religion and the right to convert to another faith.
Benedict seemed tired Saturday, the third day since Easter celebrations began in earnest on Holy Thursday.
In the face of blustery wind and rain Friday night, the pope opted out of carrying a cross symbolizing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to conclude the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome's Colosseum.
He had planned to take part in the final three of the Fourteen Stations of the Cross commemorating the path Jesus took to his execution in one of Christendom's most solemn observances.

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Philippine National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. confirmed Saturday that Deputy Director General Jesus Versoza is the most probable police official to take over his position on September 29.

Malamang iyon na ang mangyari. He is the most senior and most probable among the other candidates, Razon told radio dzMM, referring to Versoza.

Razon confirmed that Versoza had been recommended by the National Police Commission as the next chief of the PNP. The recommendation has been sent to President Arroyo for approval.

In a one-page resolution, the Napolcom said Versoza should be appointed to the top PNP post as he is the most senior commissioner officer in the organization's seniority lineal list.

The Napolcom also recommended Versoza's promotion to director general, the highest police rank in the country.

Verzosa currently holds the second highest position in the PNP as Deputy Chief for Administration.

Razon said the turnover of command has been set on September 29. He will reach the mandatory retirement age of 56 on September 27.

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Police on Sunday arrested another suspect in the January 30 bombing at the Philbest Canning Corp. factory in General Santos City, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group reported.

Officials named the suspect as Dani Latip, 36. He was collared Sunday afternoon on the basis of an arrest warrant for the attack that killed four people and injured 29 others.

Police said the suspect will be charged with murder and frustrated murder charges.

No bail was recommended for the suspect.

The suspect denied the charges, adding that his surname is not Latip but Pendaton.

Police, meanwhile, have yet to provide information on the suspect's role in the bombing.

Latip's arrest came after police apprehended another suspect name Choy Thaki alias Thong also on Sunday.

Police said five other accused name Beh Badz, Abu Sayop, Jordan Acmad, Roy Seddick and Ustadz Karahudin remain at large. With a report from Anne Santos

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Police on Thursday said it has received unconfirmed reports that four employees of the Basilan Electric Cooperative have been abducted in Tuburan town in Basilan.
Initial reports gathered by ABS-CBN Zamboanga said gunmen abducted the four Baselco employees in Sitio Batobabad, Barangay Sinulatan, around 11 a.m. The four employees are members of Baselco's engineering department, the report added.
Reports said the kidnappers were led by a certain Nurhassan Jamiri.
Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said his office had received a report about the incident through a text message.
Goltiao said he had asked the Basilan police to confirm the report.
Early this month, an ABS-CBN news team led by senior correspondent Ces Drilon and Mindanao peace advocate Octavio Dinampo were abducted by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu province.
The news team and Dinampo have been released. Security forces have been pursuing the kidnappers.
The provinces of Sulu and Basilan are known lairs of the dreaded bandit group, which has alleged links with Osama bin Ladens al-Qaeda terror network. With Queenie Casimiro, ABS-CBN Zamboanga

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Reuters
The Philippine central bank's deputy governor said on Thursday that double-digit inflation was likely to persist until the first quarter of 2009.
Diwa Guinigundo, speaking to reporters after Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas hiked interest rates by 50 basis points, said inflation was likely to peak at about 12 percent year-on-year before coming down.
BSP also forecast that inflation would average at 9-11 percent in 2008, up from an earlier forecast of 7-9 percent.
For 2009, it forecast inflation would average 6-8 percent, up from a previous forecast of 4-6 percent.
Interest rates up
The Philippine central bank raised its interest rates by half a percentage point on Thursday, tightening policy for the second month in a row to combat inflation that is running at a 14-year high.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said forecasts showed "the risks of inflation exceeding the inflation targets for 2008 and 2009".
"For this reason, authorities believe that more decisive monetary action is necessary," the BSP said.
The rise takes the overnight borrowing rate to 5.75 percent and the overnight lending rate to 7.75 percent.
Cayetano Paderanga, an economist, said, "Because everyone thinks inflation is on the uptrend, the BSP needs to increase interest rates. The BSP needs to do it in order to show people that it will not let inflation get out of hand. The higher the interest rate increase, the stronger the signal the BSP is trying to send."
The central bank did not tweak the availability of its Special Deposit Accounts as expected by some analysts. However, rates at this facility would increase in tandem with the increase in headline rates.
Move expected
The BSP was widely expected to lift its key interest rates.
All five economists in an poll said they expect the central bank to tighten its monetary policy for a second time in three years, but they had been divided on whether the central bank would lift rates by 25 or 50 basis points.
The same rang true in a survey conducted by Reuters this week.
Last month, the BSP hiked its rates by a quarter-percentage point to 5.25 percent for overnight borrowing and 7.25 percent for overnight lending.
"The problem in the Philippines is that inflation has clearly spread beyond simply food and fuel--services prices are rising rapidly--no surprise given the BSP poured fuel on the fire by cutting rates too far," George Worthington, chief economist of IFR Thomson, told in an e-mail.
"The last four rate cuts in October to January were crazy, given inflation was already accelerating and the economy was posting its fastest growth in a decade. And this will likely worsen before it gets better."
Worthington said the central bank should throw in an increase of as much as 50 basis points if it wanted to fight inflation accordingly.
However, such a drastic move could also worsen the already slowing economy. The central bank usually raises interest rates to mop up excess cash in the system, crimping consumer and business spending, among the major drivers of economic growth.
Inflation not yet at peak
In June, annual inflation hit 11.4 percent, the first double-digit figure this year. This brought the country's average inflation rate to 7.6 percent in the first half. The government's target for the whole year is 7-9 percent.
Worthington said he expects inflation to peak at around 12.6 percent in 2008 as fuel and food prices continue to escalate. The Philippines imports most of its fuel requirements and is one of the world's biggest importer of rice, its staple food.
"One of the problems is not just with the inflation side, it's the high oil prices," said Nicholas Bibby, senior economist at Barclays Capital, Singapore.
"The rate hike is certainly going to be helping. I do think that if the central bank continues on this track of more aggressive tightening, we certainly will see greater stability, but I suspect it's going to be more in the fourth quarter than currently." -- and reports from Reuters

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By REYMA BUAN-DEVEZA

It's not her usual style. But former child star and singer Aiza Seguerra underwent a makeover and wore a gown for her special television guesting on ABS-CBN's "That's My Doc."
"I really dont mind since the role requires it. I am glad that I will be able to entertain the people, especially the kids who follow the show," Seguerra said.
For the special episode, Tita Ocs and Cita headed Seguerras makeover for barangay Tabunekneks Santacruzan.
But Seguerra refused to do it. And to avoid being part of the event, she pretended to have chicken pox.
She used the idea of having chicken pox after hearing Doc Aga teaching the kids about chicken pox immunization at the "Care Mo, Care Ko" Barangay Center.

Seguerra started out as a contestant in "Eat Bulaga's" Little Miss Philippines in 1987, after which she became a child star. After a few years of being in showbiz, her career went through a slowdown.
She made a comeback as a singer years later with her single "Pagdating ng Panahon."
Catch one of Seguerra's rare looks in Aga Muhlach's "That's My Doc" on its earlier timeslot this Saturday, May 10 at 6 p.m., after "Cinema FPJ: Da King on ABS-CBN.

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Gina de Venecia, wife of Pangasinan 2nd District Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., admitted that her husband was also at the controversial golf game of the First Couple and former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos and several officials of ZTE Corp. in Shenzhen, China back in 2006, but said her husband was merely invited to the game. Speaking to ABS-CBN News correspondent Jing Castañeda on the phone from the United States, Mrs. de Venecia said that the former House speaker was at the golf game at the Shenzhen Country Club last November 2, 2006.
The de Venecias were in Hong Kong to spend All Saints Day in the former crown colony when they received a phone call from President Arroyo, who was billeted at the nearby Four Seasons Hotel, inviting them for lunch.
"Mula nang namatay ‘yong anak kong si KC noong Dec 16 2004, every year pag magto-Todos Los Santos parang di ko pa rin ma-take yung extreme grief, so usually I go out of the country. Nagho-Hongkong ako," de Venecia said.
Over lunch on November 1, 2006, Mrs. De Venecia said, Mrs. Arroyo herself invited Rep. de Venecia to join their party for a golf game in Shenzhen, China.
"Sabi naman ng asawa ko, wala naman kaming Chinese visa. Kinuha ng Malacañang protocol ang aming mga passport at sila na daw ang bahalang kumuha ng Chinese visa. Ang sabi niya wala rin siyang golf set, kaya lang sabi niya pahihiramin daw siya ng golf set din," de Venecia said.
Rep. de Venecia agreed, she said, reasoning that her husband had "no right" to refuse the President's offer.
"Sino ba naman ang asawa ko para humindi sa Pangulo? Parang nabitbit lang siya, ang plano lang namin was to be there in HK," Mrs. de Venecia added.
Gina not allowed to join game
The next day, November 2, 2006, the group went to Shenzhen, with Mrs. de Venecia riding separately from the First Couple and her husband.
Upon their arrival in Shenzhen, Mrs. de Venecia was barred by a protocol officer from joining the golf game, saying she was "not invited."
This led to her wondering why she was not allowed to join the group when normally she usually accompanied the President in such events.
"Nagtataka nga ako kasi usually sinasama ako ng Pangulo sa mga lakad nita. This time sabi ng protocol hindi ako pwedeng sumama sa coaster," she said.
"Dinala siya doon para ipakita siguro sa mga ZTE officials na inaayos na nila yung father ng ZTE competitor na si Joey," Mrs. de Venecia said, referring to their son Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, who is part of Amsterdam Holdings, ZTE's main competitor in the Philippine governments broadband project.
Mrs. De Venecia said she also wondered why the President visited a company applying to be a supplier to one of the country's largest infrastructure projects.
"Tama ba para sa isang Pangulo ang bumisita sa opisina ng supplier sa isa sa pinakamalaking kontrata na milyon-milyon at makipag-golf at makipag-lunch doon?," she said.
She added that if the trip were official, media should have been present.
De Venecia said she is leaving the details for her husband to disclose publicly.
She however emphasized that the former House speaker was only asked to join the meeting, and that the group of Mrs. Arroyo and Abalos were behind the controversial meeting. With a report from Jing Castañeda, ABS-CBN News

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By DEXTER GANIBE
ABS-CBN Regional Network Group

GLAN, Sarangani - Sometimes, language can hamper development.

Officials from the Sangihe Regency of North Sulawesi Province in Indonesia admit Filipinos are ahead of them in speaking English, the international language.

This led to the forging of a memorandum of agreement on English Proficiency Program between the Sangihe regency in Tahuna, North Sulawesi, Indonesia and Glan, town of Sarangani in the Philippines on Wednesday, April 16.

The MOA was inked by Sultan Kudarat Polytechnic State College president Nelson Binag and Professor Siegfried Berhimpon, director of NUSA UTARA Polytechnic based in Tahuna, Indonesia.

The agreement is the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed November 28, 2006 between the Sangihe Regency and JAGS-CT specifically called for cooperation by the education sector of both local government unit from the two neighboring countries.

Both agreed that 30 to 50 Indonesian professionals from Tahuna would undergo an English proficiency program with professors from SKPSC.

The program will start by May or June in Tahuna, Indonesia for two months.

The Sangihe regency will shoulder all the expenses of Filipino professors who will be coming to Indonesia for the realization of the education cooperation pact.

Also present in the MOA signing were Glan Mayor Enrique Yap Jr. and Ferdinand Wenas, executive director of the Board of Economics and Development in Sangihe Regency of North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.

Mayor Yap said this is just the beginning of the series of cooperation in the fields of commerce, security and fisheries.

Indonesian Consul General in the Philippines Lalu Malik Partawana witnessed the forging of that agreement and said he admits that Filipinos are the only Asians who can speak English language well.

Sdlkoz

By TRINA LAGURA

Nobel laureate Douglass North on Saturday stressed that institutions, which provide a framework on how people behave, play a major role in economic development.

North, who won the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, spoke at the seventh UP Centennial Lecture Series at the UP School of Economics in Diliman, Quezon City.

The American professor has spent more than 50 years studying why some countries become rich while others remain poor, particularly the long-term development of Europe and the United States.

North said he and his co-workers found that institutions that enable markets, or those that reduce transaction costs and protect property rights, boost economic growth.

He also pointed out that "getting stability and order is a necessary pre-condition to obtain economic growth."

He lamented this was not the case in Iraq, where "chaos and disorder" have pervaded in the Middle East country since the US-led war began.

Limited access

North said their study also revealed that most societies, even in the contemporary world, are organized in what they call limited access social order.

Limited access order uses political systems to limit economic entry, thus creating rents and income. They then use these to stabilize the political system and limit violence, according to their study titled "A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History."

North explained that institutions under LAOs are dependent on elite groups.

Open access

On the other hand, only a handful of developed countries operate under the open access social orders , wherein which "everybody participates, everybody is equal."

"Social order is sustained by competition rather than rent-creation. The key to understanding modern social development is understanding the transition from limited to open access social orders, which only a handful of countries have managed since ," the study said.

North cited "door-step conditions" for a country to achieve OAO status.

One of these conditions, he said, is for the military to remain subservient to the civilian rule.

He, however, warned of chaos if the prevailing conditions under OAO are imposed on LAO.

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As tickets to the much-anticipated finals series in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 71 mens basketball competition began to sell like hotcakes, scalpers at the Big Dome are also expected to proliferate, a National Bureau of Investigation official said on Tuesday.

Head agent Arnel Dalumpines, NBI-Special Task Force investigator, disclosed that the bureau will field more agents during Sundays Game One showdown between age-old rivals Ateneo and De La Salle to stop scalpers from selling overpriced tickets to fans.

Balita ko sold-out na agad ang tickets sa finals, kaya expected na yang maraming scalpers ang magsisiputan, Dalumpines said.

The best-of three series starts at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Big Dome.

The NBI-STF chief added that more people are more likely to turn to scalpers for tickets, even if the original selling price is doubled or even tripled.

A security guard of the Araneta Coliseum and five others were arrested last Sunday for scalping during the Final Four bout. Twenty-five tickets were confiscated from the scalpers.

Arrested were Jabin Brian Valsorable, security guard of the Big Dome, and a resident of barangay Bulihan, Famy, Laguna; Samuel Velasco, a resident of 305 Balayong, Malolos, Bulacan; Jerry Ysmael of Block 70-71, Ampalaya Street, Conception, Marikina City; and Rene Sioco of 2473 Carmacelli Street, Singalong, Manila.

Also apprehended were Delfin Cabiling of sitio Kasoy II, Mambugan, Antipolo City; and Lorenzo Noora of S-12 Kapwa Street, Calumpang, Marikina City.

Uniprom Inc., marketing arm of the Araneta Group of Companies, represented by event auxiliary officer Rodolfo Dordas filed the complaint against the scalpers.

The six were charged with violation of Quezon City Ordinance 493, S97, otherwise known as the antiscalping law. Bail is recommended at P2,000 each.

Investigation showed that on September 13, a surveillance operation conducted confirmed the presence of persons engaged in scalping of tickets within the Araneta Coliseum.

NBI agents acted as poser-buyers wherein they pretended to buy patron tickets for the La Salle vs. FEU and Ateneo vs. UE games. A certain Bong offered the patron tickets originally priced at P250 for P4,000.

The agent pretended to agree on the said amount and the exchange was set at the LRT Katipunan Station. Recovered were two patron tickets.

After his arrest, a follow-up operation was conducted leading to Bongs source. A certain Taba was again arrested for selling another agent Upper Box tickets originally priced at P150 for P700. Recovered from him were 11 tickets.

The other scalpers, however, were arrested within the vicinity of Araneta Coliseum.

Upper Box A tickets priced at P150 were sold for P1,000 while Upper Box B tickets priced at P95 for P500. General Admission tickets priced at P55 were sold for P300.

In a recent letter from Uniprom, operations chief Manuel Atacador said it requested NBI Director Nestor Mantaring to assign a team for Araneta Coliseum.

Atacador said scalpers are apparent in the area and are not intimidated by their security personnel.

He added that security personnel in the area have already apprehended some of the scalpers but they still continue with their illegal activities.

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Reuters Media reports say Mariah Carey has married her boyfriend actor-rapper Nick Cannon. The pair are said to have tied the knot in a secret ceremony in the Carribean. Cindy Martin reports.

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Reuters

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Sellers and angry customers clashed over the price of rice in Haiti on Tuesday, three days after the government announced a deal to reduce the price by 15 percent after food riots that killed at least five people.

Vendors said customers had expected rice prices to drop immediately after the government announced on Saturday an agreement with importers to cut the cost of a 110-pound sack of rice from $51 to $43.

But vendors were still selling older, higher-priced stocks, angering hungry Haitians and keeping alive simmering tensions over skyrocketing living costs in a nation where most people get by on less than $2 a day.

There were no reports of injuries as a result of the heated confrontations, which in some places involved minor scuffles, but lawmakers called on the government to announce immediately when the price cuts would reach the market to prevent further violence.

"The government and importers have to say without any further delay when exactly the cut in rice prices will be effective," legislator Jean Beauvoir Dorson said on Tuesday as he prepared to attend a session in the Chamber of Deputies, Haiti's lower house of Parliament.

"Should the government fail to do so, we should expect more violent incidents between buyers and vendors," said Dorson, who called the government "irresponsible."

The Senate fired Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis on Saturday after days of unrest over the high cost of living in the impoverished Caribbean nation of nearly 9 million people, where malnutrition is rampant.

International agencies have appealed for emergency funds to help Haiti and other countries hit by food riots. Record oil prices, rising demand in Asia, the use of crops for biofuels and other factors have pushed up food prices across the globe.

Haitians says prices of some staples, such as rice, beans and cooking oil, have doubled in the past few months.

On the same day Alexis was ousted, President Rene Preval unveiled the rice deal. Private importers said they would contribute $3 to the price reduction and the government pledged another $5 to be paid from international donor money.

"Since the president announced that rice prices would be reduced, we have been constantly attacked and cursed by buyers," said Moline Numa, a rice vendor at the Iron Market in downtown Port-au-Prince. "We have been through a real ordeal."

Vendors reported clashes at the Iron Market, the Canape Vert market and other locations where rice is sold.

"A vendor and buyer were about to fight this morning as a result of disputes over rice prices," said Mercilia Molin, a rice and beans vendor, who said she had been repeatedly cursed by buyers over the past 48 hours.

Government officials were not immediately available for comment.

Five people were killed in the early days of the unrest when stone-throwing crowds battled U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police. Local radio reports on Tuesday said two others were killed in the remote town of Jeremie in the past few days, but officials had not confirmed those deaths.

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Reuters

NEW YORK - The days when troubled companies could spend years fixing their problems in bankruptcy court are fast evaporating.

As companies face the tightest credit market in decades, ready-made, pre-packaged and pre-arranged bankruptcies have soared in popularity, spurred along by tougher bankruptcy rules and worried lenders.

"The bias is going to be towards getting in and out of bankruptcy quickly," said Jerry Mozian, a director of restructuring at consultancy Tatum LLC.

"If it's a small company you really don't want to go in without going in on a pre-packaged basis."

Moving and relocation services company SIRVA Inc., for example, used a pre-packaged bankruptcy and received court approval for its reorganization plan this week—just three months after initially going into Chapter 11.

While pre-packaged bankruptcies, in which creditors vote on a bankruptcy plan before it is filed with the court, have been around since the 1980s, the current credit market conditions have made them a much more common form of filing.

While there were only four pre-packaged bankruptcies initiated in all of 2007, this year there were four pre-packaged bankruptcies filed in February alone, according to research firm Bankruptcydata.com.

Several more pre-packaged bankruptcies have been filed since then, as the tightening of the credit markets has changed the game for a U.S. company seeking bankruptcy protection.

Just a year ago, a bevy of banks, hedge funds and private equity groups were willing to fund a distressed firm or refinance its debt, but today there are few to pick from.

"Liquidity is very tight," said Roger Frankel, chairman of the creditors' rights and bankruptcy group at law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in New York. "It's not easy to get lenders who are willing to refinance in these markets."

Instead, Frankel said, indebted companies that would have just refinanced a year ago must use the Chapter 11 process in the courts to get out of debt they can no longer handle.

"If the problem is only that their debt load is too high, that is the perfect set-up for a pre-packaged bankruptcy," Frankel said.

NEW RULES

New bankruptcy filing rules that took effect at the end of 2004 have also helped boost the trend, by forcing companies to come up with their reorganization plans in just 18 months, whereas extensions were much more common before.

"It certainly encourages companies to plan better for their Chapter 11s," said Michael Henkin, managing director and co-head of the recapitalization and restructuring group at investment bank Jefferies & Co. "There's a shorter window to make decisions on leases, there's a limit on exclusivity," for financing, he said.

Another benefit of a pre-packaged bankruptcy filing is that it allows companies to plan how they are going to get out of bankruptcy before they get into it.

"You have to think about exit strategy going in," Henkin said, adding that lenders may often be willing to work with companies ahead of their filing because pushing a company into an ill-planned bankruptcy may not be the best solution.

Exit financing, which paves the way for companies to begin operating under their reorganized business plan, has become increasingly difficult for companies to get.

Auto parts maker Delphi Corp, for example, has struggled with its exit financing for months as financiers backed out of the deal. Specialty chemicals company Solutia Inc had to sue its lenders in February in order to force them to fund its exit financing.

Other troubled companies are hoping they won't get caught in that trap.

"With the capital markets being much more difficult to access, there is absolutely a premium on getting a pre-arranged plan," Henkin said. "I think that's certainly something we've seen increase."

Pre-packaged plans allow companies to negotiate with creditors and stockholders outside of court, and save companies millions they would have spent in court on accounting and legal fees.

Pre-arranged bankruptcies in which companies get pre-filing agreements from creditors, who do not officially vote on it, are also increasingly popular, bankruptcy experts say.

"Most debtors feel there is a benefit of not having to go through an expensive bankruptcy process unless they have to," said Cyrus Pardiwala, U.S. Restructuring Advisory Services leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.