The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

Teresa Cerojano / Associated Press Manila—When the Pope comes to town, a big bill awaits the host country, but the mammoth crowds whipped up by the Roman Catholic Church leader also offer plenty of good business.

The Philippines is considered among the biggest beneficiaries of falling crude which just recently passed a record low of below $50 per barrel. The low oil prices will support the growth momentum of the country that momentarily slowed down as a result of stalled public spending that was believed to be the backlash of a Supreme Court ruling that declared …

Riza Lozada (Conclusion) “Rationalizing fiscal incentives is good economics’, but poor politics,” Diokno said. “Why can’t the Aquino III administration that is committed to the ‘straight path’, to doing what is right, do the right thing?” he asked.

Mass-housing proponent 8990 Holdings Inc. booked a 74-percent increase in net income for the third quarter to P1.02 billion from P589 million a year ago on the back of a sustained 60-percent gross and a 45-percent net margin for the past three quarters. 8990 is traded in the PSE under the ticker name House.

Jonathan Fahey New York—At some point this will end, perhaps even soon. The price of gasoline will not fall to zero.

Dean dela Paz / The Next Page It was rather telling that in the midst of ostentatious and indecent plenty, under the glistening Palace chandeliers, the most luxurious coiffures, the reddest rouge and the stiffest starch set upon the most portly and powerful, the most influential, and in some, the wealthiest and fattest pork barrel-fed politicians, the Holy Father, iconic …

Alegria A.Imperial / Peregrine Notes Another gray sky blankets Vancouver. Through the blinds, a slivered world of bare trees, bland walls of glass divided in parts by empty alleys as if evacuated, belie a fresh day, which I suppose has just risen a vast ocean away; I imagine another gold-ish day swaths Manila, sustaining the serene haloed air. The hosts …

Ed Javier / Where I Stand For a brief while, the country focused on what really matters to the ordinary Filipino: food. Just before the papal visit, Sen. Grace Poe called on her colleagues in the Senate to address hunger woes besetting our countrymen, particularly our children.

Edmund Tayao / Mettle Works Why do we measure? Why do we need to determine whether one is big or small, tall or short? When do we say that it is substantial or insignificant? We measure for purposes of comparison? We compare for purposes of reference? We need reference to determine how to go about doing things? Certainly, measurement is …

Sebastian Santiago Not a few may have considered as ill-advised Wesley So’s decision to drop out of school and go full-time professional. But only a year after making that controversial choice, the Filipino chess prodigy has shown that it made sense after all.