The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

By Cherie Mercado Santos First of two parts In all those decades I’ve been dreaming of setting foot in southern France, I would never have guessed that my favorite place would turn out to be a stretch of road.

Mesfin Fekadu and Nekesa Mumbi Moody / The Associated Press New York—Will Beyoncé reign as queen of the Grammys, or will the pop diva be dethroned by newcomer Sam Smith?

Few Filipino albums capture the disorienting intensity of heartache as compellingly as Songs to Slash Your Wrist By (MunkeyMusic), composer/lyricist/musical director/actor/playwright Vincent de Jesus’s terrific, if underheralded, collection of 11 songs written over a 24-year period that were sung by some of the most talented vocalists in the Philippine music industry today.

By Alvin I. Dacanay This February, several local performing-arts companies will present their final productions for the 2014–2015 season. By many accounts, this season has been a strong one that featured entertaining, yet thought-provoking works and improved ticket sales, despite the government’s continued neglect of artists, performing and otherwise. If the productions set to open this month are any indication, …

By Riza Lozada Despite the country being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the worst forms of child labor exist locally, with the most glaring incidence of violation involving the use of drugs for minors to withstand 16 hours of work in mining areas, based on a European Union-commissioned study.

Saying it wants a “factual, truthful report clear of bias,” the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO) has strongly called for an “independent commission to investigate the Maguindanao operation” that led to an alleged “mis-encounter” with Muslim rebels, leaving 44 dead police commandos mobilized to arrest two most wanted terrorists.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas said Sunday it “is the duty of the state to give you the full support, equipment and training and not to send you into hopeless operations.”

Lito Gagni /   Special to The Market Monitor Shares of mass-housing developer 8990 Holdings soared more than 30 percent last week mirroring the record close of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEI), which hit 7,689.91 points, as foreign investors entered the Philippines market in a big way.

Riza Lozada The government, through the Department Of Trade And Industry (DTI), is looking at the standardization of indigenous products to compete in the Asean integrated market.

The government is considering .the use of drones or remote-controlled air vehicles to monitor key projects as a show of determination of the Aquino administration to assure the people that public funds are well spent, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.