The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Isabela provincial government are now ready to host more than 9,500 athletes and guests in the Annual Cagayan Valley Regional Athletic Association (CAVRAA) slated on February 24-28.

Authorities in north China’s Hebei Province have issued a mid- to long-term plan for the development of football in the 2016-2050 period. 

By Alvin I. Dacanay  Like many filmmakers of his generation, Gil M. Portes has worked with some of the most admired screenwriters in the Philippines, and their collaborations have resulted in a number of prize-winning films. These include 1990’s Andrea, Paano Ba ang Maging Isang Ina? (Andrea, How Does One Become a Mother?), written by Ricardo “Ricky” Lee; 1984’s ‘Merika …

Ballet Philippines (BP) is ending its 47th season, called “Wings,” with its seventh restaging of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece Swan Lake at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) from February 24 to March 5. 

To open its third season, Artist Playground is set to present, for the first time in Asia, James Chalmers’ 2009 one-act play Prelude to Macbeth at the 1701 The Little Room Upstars from February 23 to 26. 

From those looking for a family weekend activity to people catching the last wave of romance this month, Shangri-La Plaza has got shoppers covered by offering several fun activities. 

In a joint position paper, the country’s economic man­agers have recommended a fund called the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) as an alternative to moves in Congress to grant free tuition for all undergradu­ate students in state universi­ties and colleges (SUCs).

By Luis Leoncio The congestion in Metro Manila is now considered an urban nightmare and it has finally instigated the form­ing of a panel at the House of Representatives to look into the possibility of relocating the seat of nation­al government to help decongest the capital metropolis.

Red tape has been costing the government an estimat­ed P140 billion a year and a Senate bill now seeks to fi­nally stop this by removing the bureaucratic layers that had made the country a lag­gard in terms of providing a conducive environment for business.

By Riza Lozada The head of the Philippine Stock Exchange has assailed the “surprise” release of results of the audit by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of 28 mining oper­ations of firms listed at the lo­cal bourse, saying the move of Environment Secretary Regina Lopez created “a huge issue for those operating the stock exchange.”