The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

The news about the marriage of Ayala Land Inc. and the Lucio Tan Group in a property development venture sets forth a new paradigm in investments in the country: business rivals can become business partners. And this initial partnership between the two erstwhile business competitors could translate to other bigger things. 

The Senate is reportedly set to reopen its probe of the massacre at Mamasapano where 44 brave Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Forces men perished. 

Manila—Tensions broke out anew in the South China Sea after Beijing announced early January that it had sent a civilian plane to test a three-kilometer runway it had built on Fiery Cross Reef, one of the sites of China’s island-building activities. A statement released by Xinhua on new flights carried out by China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines followed this.

By Jerry Maglunog Banks have zeroed in on yuan buying to boost their foreign- exchange earnings in time for the scheduled inclusion of the currency in the basket of reserves of members of the International Monetary Fund called special drawing rights (SDR).

Security Bank Corp. (SBC) said it expects to raise P37 billion in new capital from a partnership deal with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (BTMU) in which the Japanese bank will take a 20 percent stake in the local bank.

By Weng C. Ocfemia To facilitate faster the renewal of licenses of contractors, the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) has revised the schedule of filing based on the following:

Sen. Loren Legarda has urged the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and local government units (LGUs) to implement road sharing particularly in Metro Manila, in a bid to improve the quality of life of citizens, as well as lessen air pollution. 

Maynilad Water will invest some P13.6 billion this year for its water and wastewater infrastructure projects. 

By Daryl Rose Virtudazo The Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) inched up 0.1 percent in December 2015. Based on statistics released Thursday, the CMWPI dropped by 0.2 percent in November last year and by 0.1 percent in December 2014. Except for the indices of cement; reinforcing steel; and fuel and lubricants, all the …

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has improved in 2015 a total of 16 access roads leading to tourism spots in Region 1 under the DPWH-Department of Tourism (DOT) Convergence Program.