The Greatest. With former world champion David Diaz down and out, doubts about Manny Pacquiao’s place in boxing’s annals are laid to rest after a Saturday evening boxing clinic that saw some 100 million Filipinos worldwide cheering their countryman hoarse, this after Pacquiao captured the world lightweight championship at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The resounding victory shouts only one thing: Pacquiao, indeed, is the greatest Asian boxer of all time. --AP

Abuse of investor visas feared

WHILE Congress agonizes over the pending bill to rationalize the grant of incentives to investors, and leading chambers of commerce are totting up the taxes they’ve paid and jobs created in the Philippines after a grilling in the Senate, a quiet revolution of sorts to draw in so-called “investments” is going on in the unlikeliest of places: the immigration office and its posts across the archipelago, recently given semiautonomous powers.

BI not just enforcer, now a biz drawer

THE chief of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is proud of his agency’s “proinvestment” thrust, and highlighted this fact before members of the consular corps recently.

Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said his development agenda is geared both at the nation’s security and creating a proinvestment and good tourism climate in the Philippines.

NDCC: Typhoon repair costs at least P8B

THE government will need an initial P8 billion to repair the damage caused by tropical storm Frank in the more than 10 regions that it has affected, a disaster official said Sunday.

National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) executive director Glenn Rabonza said the amount is needed to bring back at least a “semblance” of life in the typhoon-battered municipalities and provinces, especially in Aklan, Iloilo and Antique.

Rising oil prices push up  construction materials’ cost  

THE unabated increase in oil prices has pushed up the wholesale prices of construction materials in the National Capital Region (NCR) in May, according to the latest data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Sulpicio wants 11 grounded ships to sail anew

SULPICIO Lines Inc. said it will ask the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to allow its 11 grounded roll-on/roll-off passenger (Ropax) vessels to set sail and ply their normal routes after the regulator had completed its inspection and found that these were seaworthy.

COA assumes UN agency auditing position

ROME, Italy—The Philippines’ Commission on Audit (COA) assumes its four-year appointment as external auditor of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), based here in Rome.

High labor cost, poor infra a drag

A GLOBAL outsourcing and consultancy firm cited high wages, a fall in Philippine labor-force productivity and poor business infrastructure as major threats to the country’s manufacturing and outsourcing competitiveness.

Executive just can’t ban export of scrap paper

ALTHOUGH it is allowed by the Constitution, the government would still need an enabling law if it would move to ban or regulate the export of waste paper as a way to protect local paper manufacturers.

Philippine sardines  in Turkey? Why not?

ISTANBUL—A member of the Philippine delegation to the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Bridge Conference here brought with him a Philippine product that is not yet a popular commodity in Turkey.

Antitrust bill being tweaked by tech’l group

A TECHNICAL working group is fine-tuning key provisions of an antitrust bill filed by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile that is likely to target suspected price-fixing activities by major players in the oil industry, the power sector, as well as so-called monopolies.

Facial-recognition device the ‘in’ thing

FACIAL recognition will be the next in thing for security, according to a Singaporean company engaged in developing the software.

The market is now ready to accept facial recognition as a security measure in facilities such as dormitories, power plants, buildings, airports and offices, among others, XID Technologies Pte. Ltd. chief executive officer Mike Holt said in an interview with the BusinessMirror on Friday. The earlier versions of facial recognition failed, he said, because these used only few reference points in the face of the subject.

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VICE President Noli de Castro opens the boxes of two brand-new generator sets which he later turned over to Aklan Gov. Carlito Marquez (in red polo shirt) for the use of the Dr. Rafael Tumbokon Memorial Hospital. The hospital was servicing many patients when Aklan was hit by Typhoon Frank. With de Castro during the relief operation were Sen. Mar Roxas III, Health Secretary Francisco Duque and Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral.