The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) highlighted its accomplishments, various benefit packages, innovations, and new and strengthened partnerships when its celebrated its 21st anniversary recently.

Cervical cancer is one of the most curable types of cancer, but despite this, it still ranks as one of the leading causes of death among Filipino women today. 

Cosmetic products exist to help women improve their facial features or cover imperfections. But while an average woman uses 12 different products everyday—which, all in all, contains about 170 ingredients, according to a study by US organization Skin Deep—their desire to look good might do more harm than good, especially when a proper skin regimen is not practiced. 

By Alvin I. Dacanay On Monday (Manila time), film buffs will finally learn who will bring home the American entertainment industry’s most coveted trophies when the 88th Annual Academy Awards reveals its winners in a star-studded ceremony at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater. 

In April, thousands of people will gather again in Capas town, Tarlac province, to commemorate an important part of Philippine history. Filipino and American soldiers from various military groups, as well as civilians from national government agencies, local government units, nongovernment organizations, academe, students, service organizations, and corporations, will march as one in remembering the sacrifice of the Death March …

As summer approaches, always be ready for spontaneous adventures with easy-style casual classics that are perfect for hot, sunny days. Now is the time to stock your closet with timeless, easy-to-wear pieces that can be paired with just about anything.

By Riza Lozada Fierce telecommunications rivals Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Globe Telecom appear to have temporarily set aside their “differences” and joined forces to denounce the “anti-competition act” of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in refusing to share the 700-megahertz (MHz) band needed to upgrade the country’s Internet connections.

By Luis Leoncio It will be Christmas in May for government employees, but mostly those in the top echelons, as President Aquino signed an executive order (EO) last Friday granting salary increases to 1.3 million state workers, including the Chief Executive, which would cost a total of P226 billion. The pay raises are retroactive to Jan. 1, 2016. 

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima hopes to contribute to the daang matuwid (straight path) campaign for continuity by seeking a new upgrade from credit watchdogs that would bring the country to two notches above investment grade.

Tokyo—Japan’s economy contracting in the last quarter more severely than median market expectations, against a backdrop of ballooning social-welfare costs connected to an ongoing demographic crisis, has led some analysts to believe that the “Abenomics” rhetoric has run its course.