Makati Medical Center

- The best of Bicol products and the color of its festivals will be featured anew with the Department of Tourisms "Gayon Bikol Fiesta" and the Department of Trade and Industrys "Orgullo Kan Bicol" to be held at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall from October 2 to 5. PSE lauds approval of Credit Information System Act (CISA) The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) welcomes the approval by both chambers of Congress of the Credit Information System Act which seeks to establish a centralized system for credit history monitoring to benefit not only the financial sector but also publicly listed companies and the investing public.

- The Social Security System (SSS) conferred the SSS Balikat ng Bayan Award to Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank), the countrys largest bank, for being the Top Employer for the NCR South Cluster.

- BayanTrade, Global Idealogy Corporation & Kaisa Consulting, are now offering SAP eAcademy to those who seek an alternative educational medium to pursue a career as SAP professionals.

- The country's most prestigious awards search for outstanding young Filipinos is still accepting nominations for "The Outstanding Young Men" (TOYM) Awards for 2008.

- A study conducted by Ernst and Young UK shows that the Philippines remains an attractive market for biodiesel, but the country bowed out from the ethanol index because of the lack of domestic production.

- The Board of Investments has approved almost P3 billion worth of projects led by the P1.672-billion project of Makati Medical Center (MMC), which is expanding and modernizing into state-of-the-art medical facilities as the 37-year-old premier medical institution prepares for the booming medical tourism sector in the country.

- Megaworld Corporation and Banco De Oro Unibank, Inc. (BDO) have signed a P5-billion receivable and end-users financing deal the largest of its kind in the industry to date.

- Three local milk companies Magnolia Inc., Mead Johnson Nutritional Philippines, and Nestle Philippines assured the public yesterday that their milk products are safe for consumption.

- The country's trade deficit has soared to $ 5.34 billion in the first seven months of the year compared to $ 1.69 billion in the same period in 2007.

- The government spent P53.57 billion of the expanded value-added tax (VAT) proceeds for priority projects in infrastructures and social services as of June this year.

- Environments Global Ltd. (EG), a Filipino multinational player in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry remains bullish about the prospects of the real estate and construction business in the Philippines. It cites tourism, offshore investments in business process outsourcing, and the domestic real estate demand driving the upsurge. EG announced its plans to expand its business here and abroad in the next 12 months to increase the firms bandwidth to capture a bigger share of the market.

- The country's manufacturing industry picked up at 13.9 percent in July 2008 based on the value of production index (VaPI), compared with the year-ago figure, according to the preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) conducted by the National Statistics Office.

MANILA TIMES:

- Philippine factory output rose to its highest level this year in July due to increases in the production of a number of industries. In its Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that the manufacturing sectors Volume of Production Index (VoPI) grew by 8.1 per cent from 0.90 per cent in the same period last year.

- The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will jack up interest rates until next year to strengthen the peso and sustain price stability, according to the research unit of Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS).

- Local stock brokers will soon be allowed to trade on other Southeast Asian exchanges, after six bourses in the region, including the Philippines agreed to electronically link their markets.

- The Philippines dropped out of a list of attractive locations for producing ethanol, according to a study by Ernst and Young UK.

- Property developer Megaworld Corp. and Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. have agreed on a multibillion loan facility program for potential real-estate buyers.

- Philex Mining Corp. will buy out partner Anglo American Plc. in a gold and copper venture, the listed mining firm announced in a statement Thursday.

- The Board of Investments recently granted tax incentives and other perks to six low-cost mass housing projects costing over P1 billion that will be implemented all over the country.

- The Bureau of Customs has asked that its non-cash benefit be released by the Department of Budget and Management to support its expenditure plan next year.

- Nihao Mineral Resources International Inc. said it has secured the nod of regulators to assign Saprolite Mining Inc.s exploration permit in Zambales to the companys unit Mina Tierra Gracia Inc.

- The Cities Alliance, a Global Partnership Program housed in the World Bank (WB) has extended a grant to cities in the Philippines to help improve governance and delivery of social services in urban areas.

- The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said not subject to gross receipts tax, as long as the activity is part of its monetary authority, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said Monday.