AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) saw its net income rise 12% in the first three months, driven by higher residential sales and strong commercial leasing revenues.

LT Group, Inc. (LTG) will be spending about P19 billion in capital expenditures (capex) this year, a big chunk of which will be used to support the planned stock rights offering of its banking unit.

CHELSEA Logistics Holdings Corp. said on Tuesday that it was exploring a possible joint development of a fuel and liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and terminal with Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) in the state-run company’s site in Mabini, Batangas.

GROSS international reserves (GIR) in the country climbed further in April for the fifth straight month on higher inflows from the central bank’s foreign exchange operations, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Tuesday.

LIKE THE gag reflex, the 1^st of May gives rise to the usual public clamor for living wages and the end of contractualization. Artists are also vulnerable to such “precarity,” as these deplorable working conditions are politely termed. The so-called creative industries — from the performing artists in resorts to the piece-work crafters of fashion accessories — are generally unregulated. What does it behoove an unemployed, part-time jobber or the artist who may not even have a written contract for an occasional project, to register with the BIR and invest in stacks of official receipts which s/he will likely use once in a blue moon? A renowned writer, himself an independent contractor, was lumped with dance instructors when he registered with the BIR because professional writers were a nonentity on the BIR roster. He had to issue ORs to his many corporate clients, but his case is rare. Most Filipino artists do not have formal contracts or such a surfeit of projects. Many simply fall through the cracks, without the safety nets of SSS, PhilHealth, or Pag-Ibig.

METROPOLITAN BANK & Trust Co. (Metrobank) saw higher net income in the first quarter driven by consistent lending and margin expansion as well as higher fee-based income.

TOWARDS the end of Spanish colonial rule, architect Felix Roxas, Sr. designed the San Ignacio Church in Intramuros, Manila for the Jesuits. The structure was completed in 1899 but it, along with the other seven churches of the walled city, were devastated in the Battle of Manila at the close of World War II. When the smoke cleared, only the centuries old San Agustin Church still stood. San Ignacio was reduced to rubble.

THE Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) has called on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to look into whether foreign retailers are violating the rules on minimum investment levels to operate in the Philippines.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed into a law a measure waiving fees and charges for government documents typically issued to first-time jobseekers, the Palace said.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is expecting the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to be a major food producer for the Philippines in five years.

As the mid-terms election approaches, we see and hear more “good economic news” coming from the administration. The goal is to dupe the voters into voting the administration senatorial and congressional candidates. Numbers below show that the administration is spewing half-truths.

The conduct of electoral contests has been a defining element of a democratic life. As a litmus test for democracy, elections bring into the fore the power of the ballot and the sanctity of the vote.