The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

Although Madam Suzette Arandela is a well-known feng shui expert and psychic of well-rounded possibilities in government, economy, ecology, religion, sports etc., she is also a popular seer about the entertainment field. Her multimedia appearances reveal her penchant for predicting events to happen this Year of the Wooden Snake which will commence on January 29, 2025. In showbiz, Madam Suzette …

How is it reimagining in a film the Philippine entertainment export to Japan in the 1980s and 1990s when the Japanese government was open to Filipino entertainers performing in the House of the Rising Sun? And how is it if the narrative involves Filipino transgenders? Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Ma. Mendoza immediately replied to the query. “Napakakulay ng mga karanasan …

Finally, the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Grand Winner in Full-Length Play, “Ang Bangkay” (2012) penned by Vince Tanada is now on the big screen. Aside from initial previews done two years ago, there was a limited special screening of the film held four days before Christmas Day last year at the Blackbox Theater of Philstagers Foundation in Calabash Road …

Will Lyel Rhemeia L. Mahusay jump into the bold bandwagon at 14? “Naku, baka hindi po payagan ng kanyang mga magulang (Oh! Her parents might not allow),” said Mar Arvin Agcaoili Bago, Lyel’s mentor. Her photo shows the young girl’s temerity to don a sexy attire. That’s only in a photoshoot. Mahusay loves dancing, modeling and acting. (Boy Villasanta)

By Rose de la Cruz In the days leading to Christmas and New Year, I never saw, read or heard any prohibition against fireworks, which is why it did not surprise me that on New Year’s eve, I saw powerful and deafening fireworks being blasted in the air and land, which cause the poor air quality in Manila. It is …

Has it really been 10 years? Where did all those days, weeks, and months go? Time truly flew so fast we could now hardly remember what went on in-between opening day of Limbaga 77 in 2014 and the here and now. How many lunches and dinners have we hosted here, how many events have we covered, how many meetings have …

The Metropolitan Theater celebrated its 93rd anniversary with a grand performance entitled “Samot-Saring Bida: Bodabil ng Pag-Asa” last December 7, 2024 at its very own stage in Ermita, Manila. Bodabil is the Filipino term for vaudeville, a form of entertainment popular in the Philippines during the 1910s to the mid-1960s. It was a source of mass entertainment in theaters, showcasing …

Pablo Tariman’s second book, Encounters in the Arts, is due for release in January 2025. With introduction by writer Jose Dalisay, the book has 586 pages with profiles and reportage on the country’s leading artists from music, opera, literature and cinema. The book author with Cecile Licad after the March 19 Met concert. Leading the personages in music are Cecile Licad, …

by Boy Villasanta Like the iconic Beatles, Hollywood action star, martial artist and Hong Kong Prid6e Bruce Lee is immortalized in the annals of global popular culture history as the finest actor on the kiss-kiss, bang-bang genre. Fans were devastated when Bruce’s life ended tragically at the age of thirty two in 1973. But the world never stopped adoring Lee …

By Rose de la Cruz The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has spent nearly P6 billion for the production abroad of polymer bank notes in P1,000; P500; P100 and P50 denominations, which also erased the memories of heroes who have shed their blood and lives for the independence and integrity of the country. Instead, the BSP has completely replaced them with …