NEWS BRIEFS

Diesel, kerosene, gasoline prices go down

Slowing global demand and supply recovery again triggered rollbacks in the pump prices of petroleum products by as much as P0.75 per liter on Tuesday, Nov. 21. In separate advisories, local oil companies said they slashed the prices per liter of gasoline by 75 centavos, diesel by 65 centavos and kerosene by 60 centavos. CleanFuel and Caltex implemented the rollbacks at 12:01 a.m., followed by Shell and Seaoil at 6 a.m. According to the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau, the price decrease was due mainly to lower demand in the United States and China, as well as an increase in weekly crude inventories. It marked the fourth consecutive week of rollbacks for diesel and kerosene, and the third for gasoline. Last week, pump prices per liter declined by P3 for diesel, 70 centavos for gasoline and P2.30 for kerosene. —MEG J. ADONIS

Customs bureau seizes pests misdeclared as candies

Customs officials at Ninoy Aquino International Airport have intercepted misdeclared pests from Thailand. According to the Bureau of Customs, through rigorous screening of postal items at the Sub-Port of the Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC), including X-ray scanning and thorough physical examination, a parcel was found to contain some 50 concealed pieces of isopods, invertebrates belonging to the greater crustaceans group of animals. The parcel had been misdeclared as candies. The exotic pests were confiscated for lack of import clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry, violating the Plant Quarantine Law of 1978 (Presidential Decree No. 1433) and the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the customs bureau said. “The Bureau of Customs pledges to prevent smuggling and protect the country’s borders against threats, including exotic pests, through strict border controls and reforms,” Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said in a statement. —TINA G. SANTOS