MANILA — President Benigno S. Aquino III may set aside his aversion to foreign travel to enhance the country’s ties with other nations as state invitations have started pouring in his office.

The President, who is ntly in China on a state visit, has been invited to visit the United States and Japan this month, but has not decided yet whether he would go, according to his Deputy Spokeswoman Abigail Valte.

Aquino, who had earlier said he will limit his foreign travel to essential ones, is expected to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City later this month.

He has also been invited to attend a summit on open governance in the same US city.

While visiting the US, President Aquino may also grab a chance to hold a meeting with President Barack Obama, but there is no confirmation yet.

“We can confirm that there is an invitation sent, but we have no confirmation yet on whether the President will acceptg it,” Valte said in a Palace press briefing on the President’s imminent visit to the US.

Asked if the President’s invitation to visit Tokyo was set this month, Valte said: “Yes, all September.”

Valte said several countries have sent invitations to the President Aquino, but the Department of Foreign Affairs is still threshing out the details.

She said the President could not help, but travel abroad to enhance the country’s relations with other nations.

“There is a need to visit our neighbors and of course, being one of the relatively new presidents in the region, he has received many invitations,” she said.

But the President, she said, is carefully choosing which places to visit due to his “very hectic schedule” in governing the country.

The President Aquino, travelling on a P25-million budget, is in China to attract more investments and ease a territorial row with Beijing. The trip is his eighth foreign visit since he assumed office last year.

Broadband deal revival

Back home, Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) confirmed that Malacañang is studying the proposed revival of the once-controversial broadband network to reduce communication costs.

“Yeah, that was discussed in broad strokes, but there’s no decision on that. And there has not been any discussion lately on that,” said Carandang, adding that it was proposed by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).

The past administration cancelled the controversial national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corporation a few years ago due to allegations of bribery and corruption which led to an alleged overpricing of the contract.

Carandang acknowledged there might be a need for the P800-million project to electronically interconnect government agencies across the country to save money. mb.com.ph

WASHINGTON - Gibson Guitar Corp. renewed its plea of innocence on Friday after US agents raided its Tennessee plants and seized rare ebony wood from India used to make some of the world's most coveted guitars.

"We were not engaged in smuggling," chief executive Henry Juszkiewicz told CNN television. "We have been importing fingerboard stock on a regular basis from India for 17 years."

It was the second raid in as many years targeting the makers of Les Paul, Epiphone and other guitars favored by such artists as B.B. King, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, U2's The Edge, and the late Bob Marley and John Lennon.

"It was a nightmare. We had people sitting there making guitars. We had no weapons," said Juszkiewicz, who reckoned the raids in Memphis and Nashville cost Gibson about $1 million in seized wood and documents.

Imported woods are important in guitar-making, with different species lending different tones and texture to an instrument's sound.

While Gibson has not been criminally charged, wildlife agents reportedly suspect it might have violated a US law that forbids the import of wood exported in violation of another country's laws.

"We're still in the investigating stage at this point so there's not a lot that we can say," a spokesman for the US Fish and Wildlife Service told AFP in Washington.

The raids on August 24 has left globe-travelling guitarists worried that their instruments could be seized by customs if they cannot prove the origin of the wood used to make them.

"The law says that if a guitar or instrument of any kind crosses a border, you have to know the species of wood that every component is made of and where it came from," Juszkiewicz said.

President Benigno Aquino III has appointed advertising executive Ramon Jimenez Jr., one of his image builders during the 2010 national elections, as Tourism secretary.

Jimenez replaced businessman Alberto Lim, who resigned as Tourism chief last month citing personal reasons.

“He is a marketing guy, and tourism is a marketing effort,” Mr. Aquino said of Jimenez.

Jimenez was the brains behind Mr. Aquino’s “sangang-daan” presidential election campaign material last year, in which he urged the nation to join him in treading the straight path and leave the crooked behind.

Jimenez is a Fine Arts graduate of the University of the Philippines. He was a former vice president of Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, and the founder of the advertising firm Publicis before he formed WOO (Winning Over Obstacles) Consultancy Inc. in 2008.

Mr. Aquino said he was confident that Jimenez would be able to “equal if not exceed” Lim’s accomplishments. He would meet him next week after his five-day state visit to China to discuss the Tourism Department’s priorities.

The Philippine Travel Agencies Association welcomed Jimenez’s appointment and promised to work with him to promote the industry.

Jimenez said his job was to focus on generating employment for the people and income for the government.

“My marching order was simple: tourism is people’s business,” Jimenez told reporters.

“Job number one is to galvanize the staff into an honest-to-goodness sales unit. I will make tourism a hallmark of this administration.”

Jimenez said the Philippines already had a good product to sell. All it had to do was to believe in it.

“The Philippines should be as easy to sell as Chickenjoy,” he said, referring to one of top restaurant chain Jollibee’s bestsellers.

Mr. Aquino said he was not keen on appointing Lim as a member of the central bank’s Monetary Board, as some reports said he might, out of respect for his desire to spend more time with his family.

He said a new Customs chief would be known by Sept. 16 as he was disappointed with the performance of outgoing bureau head Angelito Alvarez.

“I will make the announcement on September 16,” Mr. Aquino said.

“His [the incoming Customs chief’s] wife has asked for a few quiet moments because I think they are celebrating their anniversary before September 16.”

Mr. Aquino did not mince words over Alvarez’s performance.

“He had a year to do the things I tasked him to do and I am not satisfied,” hesaid.

“There were certain priorities of mine that were not attended to … Worse, now container vans have also been going missing.”

Palace sources said former Muntinlupa Rep. Rufino Biazon was the favorite to replace Alvarez.

Biazon, a member of Mr. Aquino’s Liberal Party, lost in the senatorial race last year.

ManilaStandardToday.com

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama Friday withdrew a new set of draft air quality standards, saying they would harm the economy, but environmentalists complained he had caved in to polluting corporations.

Obama, who will next week unveil a major new plan designed to revive the economy, is under fierce pressure to strip away regulations on businesses that his Republican foes say are denting growth.

"I have continued to underscore the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty, particularly as our economy continues to recover," he said in a statement.

Obama said that after careful consideration he had asked Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

He said that he had decided not to burden state and local governments with implementing new standards because they were due to be updated in any case in two years.

The announcement came hours after the Labor Department issued a set of dismal data showing that the stagnant US economy failed to create any jobs in August at a time of 9.1 percent unemployment.

Republicans and the US Chamber of Commerce had argued that introducing the new standards would cost billions of dollars and cost jobs, at a time when the stuttering economy has stopped creating new employment.

Wary of liberal fears he could be willing to water down some of his political principles in an all out drive to create jobs, Obama insisted his commitment to the environment was unwavering.

But the move was greeted with dismay by environmental groups already angered by the president's failure to pass efforts to combat global warming through a hostile Congress.

"The Obama administration is caving to big polluters at the expense of protecting the air we breathe. This is a huge win for corporate polluters and huge loss for public health," said League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski.

The president however insisted that he had not diluted his commitment to the environment.

"I want to be clear: my commitment and the commitment of my administration to protecting public health and the environment is unwavering," he said.

"I will continue to stand with the hardworking men and women at the EPA as they strive every day to hold polluters accountable and protect our families from harmful pollution."

Republicans in the House of Representatives, who have trumped Obama in a series of recent political showdowns, claimed victory, noting that Speaker John Boehner had written to complain about the regulatory burdens on businesses.

"This is certainly a good first step, and we're glad that the White House responded to the Speaker's letter and recognized the job-killing impact of this particular regulation," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

"But it is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to stopping Washington Democrats' agenda of tax hikes, more government 'stimulus' spending, and increased regulations --- which are all making it harder to create more American jobs."