A SEWER in a local garment factory in Navotas City is one of the benefactors of the bill signed by the President on Tuesday exempting minimum-wage earners from payment of income tax. Jobs in factories such as her worksite, though, declined in April, a reflection of a weakening business climate as rising prices of oil impact on every aspect of most operations. --NONIE REYES

BUDGET Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said Tuesday that Congress has preapproved the government’s P4-billion fund release for subsidies to the poor and other sectors through the 2008 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which provides for the use of P114 billion in unprogrammed funds.

This developed as Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral said more than P80 million so far has been actually distributed to claimants under the power subsidy, which gives a one-time dole of P500 to each household consuming less than 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a month, or the so-called lifeline users.

THE current food and fuel crises that have slowed down the economy have now left their mark on the ranks of the unemployed, increasing their number to about 2.9 million in April or an increase to 8 percent from the 7.4 percent in the same period last year.

While unemployment and under-employment increased, the number of the employed was almost the same as last year (36.4 million), indicating the unemployed are almost all new entrants; and the rise in underemployment also owes to the economic slowdown.

THREE ‘”major blunders” by the government in energy policy are now taking their toll on Filipino oil consumers. These are the dismantling of the state energy complex, the subsequent deregulation of oil during the administration of former President Aquino and the sale of a controlling bloc of Petron shares to foreign interests during the administration of former President Ramos.

This is the view put forward by civil-society activists Maitet Diokno and Walden Bello, who spoke on Tuesday at a forum on oil and price issues, where the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) also assailed Malacañang’s P500 cash subsidy to poor families, saying this is not the solution to the skyrocketing cost of oil and electricity.

PRESIDENT Arroyo Tuesday signed a law that exempts more than half a million minimum-wage earners from tax payment and increases the level of personal exemption and deductions of individual taxpayers.

The measure would cost the government P14.25 billion in forgone revenues, but Republic Act (RA) 9504, which amends the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, imposes “optional standard deductions”—estimated to generate P15.03 billion—to make it revenue-neutral.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has again tapped the International Monetary Fund  (IMF)and other multilateral financial institutions for policy advice in the war against inflation.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. bared the renewed ties Tuesday as he recognized the complexity of the problems the Monetary Board faces every day in crafting policy decisions.

HOUSEHOLDS may expect a little relief from having to pay for high electricity prices this month, as power rates at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) significantly dropped last month owing to high availability of hydroelectric power plants and lower-than-expected demand. 

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Deadly noon Two suspected holdup men were killed, and two persons—a policeman and a jeepney driver—were wounded when four men riding two motorcycles robbed employees of a construction company while their car was cruising on Gil Puyat (Buendia) Avenue in Makati City at noon on Tuesday. Makati City Police probers said two of the robbers had sped off in the direction of South Superhighway from Pasong Tamo, eluding the police in hot pursuit. Two robbers were gunned down after opening fire on cops who tried to stop them as they grabbed P2.7 million in cash that the construction company had just withdrawn from a bank. --BIBO VENIDA