The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

By Alvin I. Dacanay Filmgoers can expect a bigger Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival next month after the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) announced the return of its full-length feature category after a one-year absence, and added new sections and a new venue in Cebu City. 

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the country’s leading professional orchestra, made history when it performed to a full house at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 18. 

Boston—Scientists are developing a new mobile software that can accurately identify where a person is looking in real time, an advancement that may lead smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices to be controlled by eye movements. 

Keep your Apple devices in great shape as Power Mac Center’s Apple-Authorized Service Provider offers a complete iPad and Mac maintenance program called “Tune Up Express” this July. Under this program, customers can avail themselves of total tuneups for Apple devices at special discounted rates of up to 60 percent. 

When business trips are crammed with meetings, field work, and ocular inspections, Richmonde Hotel Ortigas can provide the perfect and most convenient way to unwind at the end of the day and before you settle in for the night. 

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) opened last Thursday artists Jippy Pascua and Dennese Victoria’s latest exhibit Myth, described as the result of “a survey of years’ worth of photographs,” at its Pasilyo Victorio Edades. 

By Luis Leoncio  The economic managers of President Duterte are determined to undo the effects of the “massive underspending” of the previous administration, but Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the public must be prepared for some painful measures, as “things will get worse before they get better.”

As a show of commitment to the administration of President Duterte, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) offered last Friday an unprecedented $1 billion or P47 billion in sovereign loans to the country. 

Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said President Duterte’s marching order to him is to eliminate corruption in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) within six months, which he committed to meet through “tough” reform measures. Faeldon, a former captain in the Philippine Marines, said in a statement that under his wing, trade facilitation, rather than revenue collection, would be the top priority …

Now it can be told: Not too many people know that in the last two years of his administration, former President Aquino sat on or just plain ignored proposed solutions to Metro Manila’s traffic problems submitted to him and his advisers by the Japan Internatiional Cooperation Agency (Jica), which conducted a study on the problem in 2014.