SATURDAY |MARCH 29, 2008| PHILIPPINES

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'Open up rice imports'
 Ex-planning chief links cartel to gov't

BY ASHZEL HACHERO and MAX ESTAYO

THE government should end its control of rice importation to insulate the availability of the staple from market shocks such as the current supply shortage, former Planning secretary Felipe Medalla said yesterday.

"The collective wisdom of the market should decide importation. The more the government interferes in the market, the more the economy is vulnerable to shocks and crisis," Medalla, an Economics professor at UP, said.

Opening rice importation to private stakeholders would also eradicate rice cartels, the people behind which he said "are closely linked to government operations."

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Art: I demand an apology;
Nene: You won't get it

BY JOB REALUBIT

AGRICULTURE Secretary Arthur Yap yesterday said his father-in-law is not in the rice trading business, contrary to the allegation of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. who raised the issue of conflict of interest.

"My father-in-law (Jimmy Gaw) was never involved in grains importing or trading. It is very sad for me and for our family that a senior statesman like Senator Pimentel can make such allegations without sufficient proof and basis," he said.

Pimentel said he has nothing to apologize for as he merely posed the question of whether Gaw is engaged in rice trading.

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Region seen as vulnerable
to global credit crunch

THE United Nations yesterday said the Asia-Pacific region is in a phase of "heightened uncertainty" over the current credit crunch, the threat from rising inflation, and a major economic slowdown in the United States.

This could affect long-term growth if not properly addressed, said the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

The UN arm in the region said it expects the Philippine economy to expand by 6.7 percent this year despite the current slowdown in the US economy, the prime engine of growth in the world.

 Full Story..

 

 
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 OPINION
Editorial

Republicanism is on the ropes but.
Column of the Day

Rating physicians
 BY PHILIP S. CHUA

BUSINESS
 WB to help set uniform procurement rules

SPORTS
 Qualifier sends Safin packing
ENTERTAINMENT
 Celebrating 30 years of Lea Salonga

LIVING
 Specialty recipes for home-based business

 Peso

$1=41.84

 


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