The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

The pandemic continues to affect many Filipinos and many have lost their jobs due to the closure of establishments, cancellation of projects, and downsizing of businesses. Even OFWs were forced to come home after being displaced from their jobs overseas.

The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) assailed the suggestion of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to abolish the licensure examinations for nurses, instead, government should give more attention to the sorry plight of nurses and other medical frontliners during the pandemic.

The consortium that was awarded Service Contract 72 for the exploration of oil and gas in an area in the West Philippine Sea, is looking for a technical partner before the project can proceed, according to Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP) who heads the consortium.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez called on various government agencies to intensify their support for struggling micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), particularly those in the food and beverage business that had been seriously affected by the economic downturn due to the pandemic.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said at a Senate hearing that less than half of all micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines are fully operational due to the effects of COVID-19 lockdown protocols.

Suspicious transactions worth P556.24 billion have been discovered by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) over a three–year period.

Local and foreign business groups are urging Congress to pass 17 priority bills to support the much delayed economic rebound.

Over a million Filipinos were added to the Philippine population every year for the last five years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

More than 100 institutional major investors called on major banks to fight harder against global warming, in particular by cutting funds to projects that involve coal.

Generation Z and Gen X in Southeast Asia (SEA), including the Philippines, are less afraid of handling advanced technologies such as biometrics, smart appliances, robotic devices and deepfakes, according to a recent research.