The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s largest business organization, upholds due process and supports the Supreme Court’s decision on executive privilege and has called the public, especially the private business sector to set aside partisan politics and together continue to move forward for greater economic development. In a statement, PCCI underscored the importance of the "rule of law" and "faith in institutional process" in maintaining the democratic ideals of the country and its institutions. "We have to abide with the processes that guide our Constitution and the institutions that operate within that framework. The Supreme Court’s role as the sole interpreter of our Constitution and government policies should not be undermined more so, its credibility and integrity should never be questioned," PCCI said. PCCI maintains that the preeminent role of the Supreme Court as a Constitutional body providing check and balance in government affairs must be upheld. "PCCI as the voice of business supports all means of processes and procedures that are found within the ideals of the Constitution. PCCI’s existence and advocacy thrives in the upholding of government institutions and respect to their functions, operations, procedures and decisions," PCCI concluded.

LBP sets P12 B more for agri

Land Bank of the Philippines has committed to extend P12 billion this year to support the programs of the Department of Agriculture to ensure food security. The P12-billion credit facility is on top of the heightened initiatives by Malacañang and the DA to stabilize rice prices amid the sufficient domestic supply, which include allowing the private sector to engage in rice imports, lowering tariffs on imports, and making the National Food Authority engage in the direct or supervised selling not only of government-subsidized rice by of medium-priced varieties as well. LBP President and CEO Gilda E. Pico said that of the total amount, P5 billion is earmarked for rice production, while P7 billion is for other crops and commodities. "We have earmarked the said amounts for these various economic activities, but we are ready to extend more financial support if there is a bigger demand for credit assistance from qualified farmers’ organizations such as cooperatives and from the small and medium enterprises sector," Pico stressed.

ABC-5 has entered into a major blocktime agreement with MPB Primedia, Inc., a Philippine corporation backed by Media Prima Berhad of Malaysia. ABC-5 President and CEO Antonio O. Cojuangco announced the deal yesterday as part of a long-term strategy to make the network more competitive. "This deal will ensure a steady and sustainable flow of innovative programming that will differentiate ABC-5 from the other networks, and at the same time guarantee that ABC-5 earns a healthy profit from its airtime," Cojuangco said. Details of the network’s new programming thrust will be announced soon, but in principle MPB Primedia Inc. will produce and source most of the entertainment programs while ABC-5 will continue to be responsible for news programming and operation of the stations. Media Prima Berhad is a leading media investment group in Malaysia with interests in television, radio, print and content creation.

Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) has encouraged local exporters to join the Tokyo International Gift Show this September 2 to 5 as a way to penetrate the huge Japanese gift market. Setsuko Okura, Jetro expert, said the gift show, Japan’s largest trade fair, will be participated by 2,400 exhibiting companies, showcase 4,200 booths and attract 200,000 visitors from different fields of the gift market. Visitors are retailers, wholesalers, sales promotion and advertising agents, manufactures, mass market, outlets, department stores, mail orders, trading firms and specialty shop. Okura said exhibitors can secure many influential future customers from among the floods of visitors. "Instead of making small booths, combine spaces to create a big booth representing the Philippines. This will enhance the image of your country," she advised. "As 90 percent of exhibitors are Japanese firms, the show would be also an opportunity for you to learn the wide variety of Japanese products," she added.