The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

About 200 doctors, nurses, dentists, psychiatrists, and therapists joined hands for people with Down syndrome at the annual free clinic of the United for Down program at the Bayanihan Center, Mandaluyong City, on Mar. 20.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero is seeking to curb excessive working hours in the entertainment industry that expose its workers to unhealthy and unsafe conditions. 

The seventh and final season of The Mentalist kicks off this month on Warner TV with this question: After Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) finally confessed his love for California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney), will viewers finally see a romance blossoming between them? 

Maine Mendoza, one half of the overwhelmingly popular “AlDub” love team that not only took the Philippines, but also the world, by storm, is now a proud endorser of Banco de Oro (BDO) Unibank, one of the country’s top banks. 

Story and photos by Alvin I. Dacanay  It’s Holy Week again. For Christians, especially Roman Catholics, it’s that week when Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king, was executed like a criminal, and emerged from his tomb a conqueror. It’s also the week many people probably look forward to the most, for many reasons. 

By Luis Leoncio  For the past five years it has been in power, the Aquino administration spent an estimated P260 billion on the agriculture sector without producing substantial results in terms of the country’s farm output, according to former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno. 

By Luis Leoncio  The government continues to pay non-productive loans that did not benefit the economy. and of the total P214.5 billion scheduled debt servicing for this year, some P3.7 billion will go to the interest and principal payments of five questionable and illegitimate loans, the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said. 

The government has drafted a gameplan in preparation for tighter competition in the local business sector in a liberalized environment as a result of the launch of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Economic Community (AEC) late last year. 

By Riza Lozada The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) are at odds over steps the government should take to reduce smuggling in the country. 

By Riza Lozada Conglomerate Ayala Group has earmarked P174 billion for its capital expenditures this year mainly to support real-estate and telecommunications businesses and yield sustained growth as it reported a 20-percent surge in profit to P22.3 billion last year.