DOF database

Business groups have quietly alerted Malacañang Palace to an open-ended congressional inquiry that they consider a risk to their operations because it is forcing the Department of Finance (DOF) to release its sensitive database on the operations of companies applying for tax credits.

While Congress has the power to require an Executive office to submit records and pertinent documents when Congress performs policymaking and oversight functions, the demand by Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella for the DOF’s One-Stop Shop (OSS) Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center to release to his office its entire database could jeopardize the welfare of private businesses, according to highly reliable sources.

Efforts to reach the center’s executive director Ernesto Hiansen at the weekend were in vain, but the sources said Hiansen was reluctant to release the database to the committee because Fuentebella had made very sweeping claims of “continuing anomalies” in the tax-credit system without giving specifics.

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Argument over Dog

Due to a misunderstanding brought about by a dog, a family driver was wounded after he was shot by his neighbor who is a policeman in Granada Heights Subdivision, Barangay Granada in Bacolod City 9 pm Thursday night.

The victim identified as Norberto Alvior, 49, survived from six gunshot wounds in his gut and thighs. He is still recuperating at the Doctor's Hospital.

The suspect, identified as Police Officer Nicholas Tancinco of Police Station 1, surrendered to authorities shortly after the shooting incident.

Inspector Renato Ofamen, Police Station 5 chief, in an interview over ABS-CBN Bacolod, said that the suspect's son was reportedly wounded after he (son) was attacked by the victim's dog prior to the shooting incident.

Angered by the incident, the cop-suspect went to the dog owner's house and confronted the Alvior family.

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Alliance Global profit

Alliance Global Group, Inc. (AGGI), the holding company of tycoon Andrew Tan, on Tuesday said its first quarter profit rose 84 percent to P910.4 million compared to the same period last year, pulled by the robust performance of its property unit Megaworld.

Consolidated revenues for January to March reached P7.3 billion, or an increase of 26 percent year on year.

"The company registered strong earnings in the first quarter inspite of the challenges that face our economy," AGGI president and COO Kingson Sian said.

Property developer Megaworld posted a record first quarter profit of P1.012 billion driven by the strong real estate sales of its mid-income residential and business process outsourcing office space developments.

Rental income also grew 59 percent to P333.53 million as it sustained the growth of its rental income with a combination of high occupancy rates in both its BPO office spaces and retail developments coupled with an aggressive buildup of its portfolio of investment properties.

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Floods kill 2

ILOILO - Two people were washed away by floodwaters and thousands are still in evacuation centers in the central Philippines after days of heavy rains pounded the area, officials said Friday.

A new tropical storm was also forming off the northern Philippines, the government weather station said Friday.

The storm was not expected to hit the country until Sunday according to weather officials.

Two women were washed away as they tried to cross a flooded bridge in the central island of Negros earlier in the week, disaster control officials said Friday. One body had been recovered while the other woman was still missing.

More than 1,130 families were still housed in evacuation centers in Iloilo City, near Negros where they fled to avoid rising waters earlier this week, city hall officials said.

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Tamaraw

Apart from the Philippine eagle, perhaps there is only one other animal that can best symbolize the mass extinction of species that is happening here in the Philippines—the Tamaraw. Once found in the thousands in the island of Mindoro in the early 1900s, it is estimated that fewer than 300 survive today.

The reasons for the dramatic decline in the Tamaraw’s population are many. The three most notable factors which led to it are:

1. the introduction of cattle into Mindoro in the early 1900s 2. rampant hunting of the species and 3. the widespread logging that destroyed much of Mindoro’s forests where the Tamaraws live.

In the 1930s, there was an outbreak of the deadly rinderpest disease among the cattle herds in Mindoro. The rinderpest plague eventually spread to the Tamaraws and caused thousands of deaths among them. When the plague subsided, less than a thousand Tamaraws were left.

In the 1960s and 70s, hunters with automatic weapons flew to Mindoro from Manila to hunt Tamaraws for sport.

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Pearl Farm Beach in Davao City

The Pearl Farm Beach Resort lies in a secluded cove on Samal Island off the coast of Davao City. This 11-hectare spread was once a pearl farm, where thousands of white-lipped oysters, transported from the Sulu Sea, were cultivated for their pink, white and gold pearls. Today, the resort beckons with the promise...

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BSP

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to hike its key interest rates, with inflation likely to surpass its target of 3.0-5.0 percent for 2008, according to an economist at Swiss bank UBS.

"We pencil in 100 basis points of policy tightening over the next 12 months for the BSP," Edward Teather said in a recent report.

He noted that further policy tightening could come if inflation expectations continued to trend higher, a robust minimum wage increase is agreed, or price inflation in non-commodity items rise above targets.

For this year, UBS sees inflation to average 7.2 percent from an earlier forecast of 6.7 percent after a surprise surge in inflation to a three-year high of 8.3 percent last month.

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PEARL FARM BEACH RESORT

Like the jewel for which it is named, the Pearl Farm Beach Resort is a precious get-away where guests can revel in tropical pleasures, relish life's flavors and feast on nature's bounties

The Pearl Farm Beach Resort lies in a secluded cove on Samal Island off the coast of Davao City. This 11-hectare spread was once a pearl farm, where thousands of white-lipped oysters, transported from the Sulu Sea, were cultivated for their pink, white and gold pearls. Today, the resort beckons with the promise of a relaxing, private retreat, under the care of our friendly, charming staff.

he resort's Samal Houses are patterned after the stilt houses of seafaring Samal tribes of the Sulu archipelago. By day, schools of tiny fish frolic between the sturdy poles that support the houses. At night, the sound of the waves are a soothing aid to slumber.

A jar of water and a coconut shell dipper are placed near the entrance to each house so that guests may wash away the sand after a day of barefooting on the beach. In local custom, this gesture is also symbolic of a cleansing of the spirit.

Source: www.google.com

Diesel

EW YORK - Oil prices rose 1.4 percent on Wednesday, extending further into record territory amid intensifying worries over tight world supplies of diesel fuel.

US crude leapt $1.69 to settle at $123.53 a barrel, before hitting an all-time peak of $123.89. London Brent rose $2.01 to $122.32.

Crude prices have doubled in a year and risen sixfold since 2002 on rising demand from China and other developing countries, adding pressure to economies already hard hit by a housing and credit crunch.

US President George W. Bush will ask the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production when he visits Saudi Arabia next week, a senior White House official said, adding to a slew of recent calls from consumer nations for more oil from the cartel.

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Project

Well we did not yet submit our project to our professor and only one group have present there proposal to our professor. I hope that even though we can not made to present it to our professor hope that he will give us high grade because we really put our effort on our project. I hope that he will going to appreciate what we have done. And we will cherish it.

Maintain Rice Price

JAKARTA - ASEAN trade ministers agreed Saturday to help each other during the global food crisis and to take measures to maintain the stability of rice prices and boost production.

"(ASEAN) will help each other in stabilizing the global (food) price and not take steps that will disrupt the price of rice," Indonesian Trade Minister Marie Elka Pangestu said on Elshinta radio.

"Ensuring the stability of rice (price) is the priority," she said.

Pangestu said the ministers had agreed to continue exports provided domestic needs were being met.

"We will not export if our domestic needs are not enough. Like Thailand, they have announced that they have a surplus in rice production and they will not stop exports," she added.

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Beaches in Palawan

The exotic beauty of Palawan remains undefiled. Branded as the country's last frontier, Palawan is a sanctuary to an amazing variety of exotic flora and fauna that are found nowhere else. Palawan is also home to Tubbataha Reef, the only national marine park that made it to the World Heritage List and whose grandeur is comparable to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.


With more than a thousand islands and islets, Palawan boasts of white-sand beaches, scenic rock formations, underwater rivers and magnificent caves. Other well-known attractions include Saint Paul's National Park which boasts of caves that nestle an underground river; El Nido, a world-class resort famous for its awe-inspiring seascape and limestone cliffs; and Calauit island, home of Philippine and African wildlife.


Also in Palawan is the primordial island of Busuanga, a perfect starting point for sorties to other nearby islands.In Palawan, each day is promising. The sun rises over the South China Sea and soon everything else sparkles, including the smiles of its people.

Source: www.google.com

Heart of Worship

Lord I come to You
Let my heart be changed, renewed
Flowing from the grace
That I’ve found in You
Lord I’ve come to know
The weakenesses I see in me
Will be stripped away
By the power of Your love

~ chorus ~
Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near
Draw me to Your side
And as I wait
I’ll rise up like the eagle
And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love

Lord unveil my eyes
Let me see You face to face
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me
Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day
By the power of Your love

(repeat chorus twice)

And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love
(repeat)