The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

The re-enactment of the Freedom March or Death March in Bataan was concluded over the weekend with a cultural presentation depicting Filipino and American soldiers being herded into the internment camp by their Japanese captors.  Mike Villa-Real, vice president for marketing and communications of Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB), announced Friday the start of the re-enactment of the fateful march the …

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. eyes to explore trade in meat products as he expresses interest to the medicines used by the Czech Republic to ensure the quality of meat and livestock products in the country. In an interview with the Philippine media delegation during his three-day state visit to Czech Republic, President Marcos said the Department of Agriculture (DA) is …

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on Friday called for the passage of the ‘Konektadong Pinoy Bill’ or the Open Access in Data Transmission Bill to strengthen the country’s internet infrastructure and enhance digital connectivity. “NEDA supports the advocacy for the passage of the Open Access Bill, or its newest iteration, the Konektadong Pinoy Bill. This landmark …

The government has so far completed the printing of over 60 percent of the physical copies of the national identification cards (IDs), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). During the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing on Friday, Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Registry Office Deputy National Statistician Fred Sollesta said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has so far printed 54 …

The Philippine Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry (PCPI), the major industry group of Filipino-owned pharmaceutical companies, on March 7, inducted its 2024 Board of Directors and Officers in its first General Assembly for 2024 that featured Director-General Dr. Samuel A. Zacate of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Director-General Ernesto Perez of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA). During the …

The national government posted a budget surplus of PHP88 billion in January this year, up by more than 90 percent from a year ago’s PHP45.7 billion. “The fiscal outturn was brought about by a faster 21.15% year-over-year increase in revenue collection outpacing the 10.39% expansion in government spending,” the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said in a report on Friday. …

By Rose de la Cruz It took House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to involve a full-blown House probe into the illegal operation of a resort inside the Chocolate Hills protected park that was supposed to host this year a swimming competition by the local government of Bohol, despite a closure order slapped by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. …

With 100,000 hectares of sugarcane fields in the country’s sugar capital – Bacolod, Negros Occidental –  having been affected by the ongoing drought, supply will be further tight and would necessitate more imports. The United Sugar Producers Federations of the Philippines (UNIFED) said rising temperatures and lack of rain have devastated vast tracts of sugarcane fields in the Negros provinces, …

The Department of Agriculture has alloted P24.9-billion for machineries procurement of the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) even as PhilMech has distributed 26,412 farm equipment over the last four years funded by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. The farm machineries, distributed between mid-2020 and March 3, 2024 were delivered to 368 local government units (LGUs) and 6,385 …

State-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) recently inaugurated agri-hubs in Oriental Mindoro and Misamis Occidental, in its continued bid to boost the rice production and economic activities in these provinces. LANDBANK has been establishing agri-hubs in the country’s top rice-producing provinces to bring various financial services under one roof. These include banking services such as account opening, withdrawals, and …