Obama is it! Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and his wife Michelle wave to supporters at a primarynight rally on Tuesday, in St. Paul, Minnesota. At bottom, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during her South Dakota and Montana primary-night event in New York on Tuesday. Though Clinton did not concede defeat to her rival, Obama, she spoke about the vice presidential spot on his fall ticket. --AP

WITH an apparent view to preventing panic among consumers on reports of steady increases in world oil prices, the Department of Energy (DOE) Wednesday reprimanded local oil companies for making projections on how much higher local prices will be as they strive to fill their claimed underrecoveries.

“We don’t want people panicking because of an erroneous statement. So let’s make it an understanding here that we do not project any price increase without clearing with DOE,” Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes told representatives of oil companies. 

IN these times of ever-rising prices of fuel, the rich are proving to be like the rest of ordinary folk, as even middle- and upper-class families begin to think twice before eating in high-end restaurants, replacing a three-year- old car or getting that extra fashionable watch.

This was shown in the Nielsen Co.’s latest biannual consumer confidence survey where consumer spending appeared to have dropped a relatively steep 9 points in the first half of this year.

THEY do business here, they invest here. They must then have some voice on government policy. It’s not interference.

That, in effect, is what the Makati Business Club (MBC) said in apparent defense of foreign business groups in the Philippines, whom senators rebuked for urging President Arroyo to stop efforts to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).

PRINCE Constantijn of The Netherlands urged the international community, particularly the Western countries hosting millions of migrant workers, to help developing countries address brain drain and social disruptions caused by the exodus of professional and skilled workers to the First World.

At a meeting with top business leaders in the Philippines, the Dutch prince, who chairs The Hague Process on Refugees and Migration, said developed countries should create an environment that allows migrant workers to fully use their talents and experience so they could have equal opportunities while in their host countries.

PRESIDENT Arroyo Wednesday ordered the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) to cut toll rates in the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) beginning June 30, citing the vastly improved peso-dollar exchange rate that had allowed operator Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) to reap a “financial windfall.”

THE Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) has revised its growth forecasts for the Philippines for this year in response to the global economic slowdown.

The council revised gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 6.3 percent, lower than the 7.2 percent reached last year, saying this was mainly due to its lower growth forecast for the United States, which is now seen to grow by only 1 percent in 2008.

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PRINCE CONSTANTIJN of The Netherlands exhorts big business and Western governments to help Third World countries that supply them with skilled workers to cope with the impacts of brain drain and social disruptions. The prince, who chairs The Hague Committee on Refugees and Migration, keynoted the joint meeting of the Makati Business Club, European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines and Management Association of the Philippines. --NONIE REYES