The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

By Lito U. Gagni I first learned about Tzu Chi and its charity work in the aftermath of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name: Haiyan) that devastated Eastern Visayas when I read the news about its cash-for-relief program that cleaned Tacloban and its environs of tons of mud, heaps of garbage and washed-out clothes.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has effectively rejected proposals in Congress to lower individual income-tax payments through a bill updating the tax schedules, as the multilateral lender is requiring a counterpart measure that would offset the revenue losses.

By Riza Lozada The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised the need for the government to increase the fuel tax to recoup lost revenues as a result of the dwindling prices of oil products. Chikahisa Sumi, the head of the IMF mission that recently visited the country, said the increase in fuel excise taxes becomes more urgent if a tax package …

By Riza Lozada State scientists fear that 31,000 people would perish and structural losses could reach P2.3 trillion in the event a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hits Metro Manila, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said, based on simulations it made.

By Jerry Maglunog Pawnshops are vital businesses. They help people who run out of cash to get instant money for a modest interest of 3 percent to 4 percent a month. In the Philippines, there are several big-name pawnshops that have become part of people’s lives, especially those who need instant cash.

If mining had music, its melody would be discordant where what popular tunes might be in direct contradiction with its libretto, the notes and the cleft, the specific details that comprise its music violently divergent and contradictory resulting in a cacophony of noise, painful and excruciating.

It had confounded me that I couldn’t find a package of misua in four shelves of what looked like an all-nation variety of Oriental noodles at our neighborhood Chinese-run produce store here in Vancouver. My frantic state of mind must be blinding me, I had thought—as the clock over the garlic/onion/ginger/yam/potato bins clicked fast to suppertime—or maybe, it’s going by a …

In the strongest indication that he is, indeed, running for president, Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas announced last week that he is ready to face President Aquino’s declaration that he is the top choice to continue with the government’s anti-corruption campaign.

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and the Pison family of Iloilo province have partnered in the development of Atria Park District.

By Riza Lozada SM Foundation Inc. (SMFI) will sponsor 275 students from public schools nationwide  under its college scholarship program for this year.