More than P3.6 million in placement fees were lost to illegal recruiters by 117 victims in Negros Occidental last year, figures of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Bacolod Satellite Office show.

The total amount that went to illegal recruiters in 2005 soared by 523.620 percent compared to only P585,850 in 2004 when only 19 were victims reported.

Of the 117 victims who reported their cases, 59 were male and 59 were female, and the POEA-Bacolod handled a total of 30 cases.

NAPOCOR
fuel expenses down by P1.2B

The National Power Corp. said in a statement its fuel costs were down by about P1.2 billion - from P13 billion in 2004 to only P11.8 billion last year.

In 2004, fuel oil expenses amounted to 1,041.6 million liters while in 2005, the figure went down to 709 million liters.

NAPOCOR president Cyril Del Callar said the savings can be attributed to the decreasing use of oil-fired power plants, resulting to the state-owned firm's improved financial condition.

Cars go digital at CES show

LAS VEGAS - A plethora of gadgets featured at the world's biggest electronics fair are designed to turn cars into multi-media digital command centers, providing navigation assistance for the driver and entertainment for passengers.

Software giant Microsoft unveiled an intelligent car of the future at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show, equipped with technology that allows a driver to find the nearest gas station or download e-mails, music, video games and films. The car is outfitted with a computer using the Microsoft windows operating system linked with satellite navigation and security software as well as digital entertainment.

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