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Monday, July 21, 2008 |
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EDITORIAL
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Way past monetary solutions
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STANDARD & Poor’s Ratings Service put it best when it said
that the Philippines’ subsidies for food and fuel purchases of its
poor would only compound the country’s existing economic
difficulties. With the unabated rise in prices, the government would
be caught in a spiral of ever increasing subsidies, which would not
only bloat its budget deficit but also widen the country’s trade
gap.
S&P’s warning is a welcome corrective to
the current hard sell on targeted subsidies. Inspired by the
endorsement of multilateral institutions like the World Bank,
targeted subsidies for the poor are supposed to be worthwhile
because they minimize leakages of the said transfer payments to the
non-poor. This is particularly important for a government faced with
fiscal straits, as its scarce resources would be channeled to the
people who need them most.
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O T H E R C O L U M N S A
N D F E A T U R E S
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BIG
DEAL
By Dan Mariano
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Legit CTPL insurers
have nothing to fear
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Reacting to my July 14 column, titled “Last days for auto
insurance buccaneers,” reader Ron Dumlao said in an email that the
new Compulsory Third Party Liability (CPTL) insurance system would
dislocate “60,000 employees, including my mom.”
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OPEN
NOTEBOOK
By Random Jottings
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Raffles presents the best address in town
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WHEN Dubai based King 220 Raffles Residences that will occupy the
top 20 stories of the Raffles Hotel currently under construction
just off the Makati Business District...
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ENTHUSIASMS
& FOREBODINGS
By Rene Q. Bas
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Can’t GMA do CBCP
head’s call?
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President Gloria Arroyo’s minus 38 performance rating in the
latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey (conducted from June 27
to June 30) is the worst of any President except the late Ferdinand
Marcos’ after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino.
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INSIDE
CONGRESS
By Efren L. Danao
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Amend Epira or bust
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I asked in this corner last Wednesday: “What now, Senate, on Epira?”
The answer from Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was quick and
unequivocal—the Senate will go through with the Epira amendments
“to alleviate the burden of the consuming public on high cost of
electricity.”
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BIZZ
FIZZ
By Rene Martel
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Rustan’s and Citibank in unique partnership
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THE country’s leading luxury retailer and one of the world’s
largest banks have teamed up in a unique partnership to introduce a
plush credit card that offers the ultimate in privileged shopping.
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DOUBLE
TAKE
By Eric F. Mallonga
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‘These Kids
Syndrome’
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PRESUMPTIVE American President Barack Obama was recently confronted
by one passionate young teacher from Chicago’s Dodge Elementary
School on a fundamental problem characterizable as “These Kids
Syndrome”—the willingness of society to find a million excuses
for why “these kids” can not learn.
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