LINGAYEN -- After last Monday’s inauguration of the newly-renovated Provincial Capitol building, next to be inaugurated will be the Finance Building Annex, the Kalantiao Building, the Penro Building and the Lingayen Gulf Resort Hotel, all located at the Capitol complex.

A World Bank study released last week said that corruption in the Philippines is perceived to be the worst among East Asia’s leading economies. The Philippines is now at the bottom of the list of East Asia’s 10 largest economies when it comes to control of corruption, edged out by Indonesia, which scored the worst in the region in the 2007 survey.

ALAMINOS CITY – It is said that it takes a community to raise a child. In the western Pangasinan city of Alaminos, the community, local government and the Department of Education have been pooling their resources to raise “bright children.”

SUAL, Pangasinan, Philippines — More than 10 years after a 1,200-megawatt, coal-fired power plant began operating here, residents of an island about a kilometer away from the plant will finally enjoy electricity.

THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration did it again; dishing out unreliable weather forecasts that only misled the public, causing deaths and mayhem in the aftermath of two strong typhoons that recently hit the country.

MANILA, Philippines—Administration officials probably saw nothing wrong with it, but President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s determined—and ultimately futile—pursuit of Sen. Barack Obama made a number of Filipinos cringe in embarrassment.