The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

Eduardo Roy Jr.’s Pamilya Ordinaryo (Ordinary Family), a compelling portrait of two teenage street dwellers and their desperate search for their kidnapped baby, scooped five major awards at the conclusion of the 12th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival on Aug. 14.

An early Shakespearean comedy and a towering work of German literature, three one-act plays by a Palanca Hall of Fame inductee, and a drama about a postwar Filipino artist best known for his unusual depiction of Jesus are set to be staged by the Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (Dulaang UP or DUP) for its 41st season.

The Association of Pinoyprintmakers (A/P), formerly known as the Printmakers Association of the Philippines (PAP), will hold an exhibition, titled Papers and Layers, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’s (CCP) Second Floor Hallway Gallery and Little Theater Lobby from Aug. 27 to Sept. 25. 

As the Philippines commemorates National Heroes Day on Aug. 29, Richmonde Hotel Ortigas will give honor to all the men and women in the nation’s history whose acts of courage helped build the country and made the lives of others better by offering a special “Bayani ng Bayan (Hero of the Country)” room promo for the long weekend.

By Luis Leoncio The government crackdown on giant mining companies has started, with Environment Secretary Regina Lopez initially putting  in the firing line the Tampakan gold and copper mine operated by Sagittarius Mines Inc., and the Semirara open-pit coal mine, in response to demands by various agencies.    

The Duterte administration’s efforts to end Metro Manila’s monstrous traffic problem received a huge boost after Japan approved a $2.4-billion (P112.8-billion) loan to fund the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 7 project that will connect Manila to Bulacan and decongest the capital.  

A budget watchdog is demanding an end to the country’s automatic debt payments that give priority to debt servicing over allocations for vital social and economic services.   

By Riza Lozada Ayala Corp. seeks to become the first homegrown vehicle manufacturer initially through the production of electric vehicles targeting the Southeast Asian market.   

Communications giant Globe Telecom is beefing up its network infrastructure in Davao City, including the construction of the Philippine end of an international undersea cable system, the only facility of its kind in the country to directly connect Davao with the rest of the world.   

Ports operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) reported a lower net income of $87.3 million (P4.103 billion), down 13 percent against the $100.4 million (P4.7 billion) earned in the first half of 2015.