Tag: Michelle Anne P. Soliman

THE COUNTRY’S unemployment and underemployment rates declined in July compared with those seen in April as lockdown restrictions were gradually eased.

LATEST official labor data showed a decline in the country's unemployment and underemployment rates in July compared to April, but were higher when compared...

THE wholesale price growth of construction materials in Metro Manila picked up in July, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), likely reflecting the restart of major building projects after the easing of some quarantine restrictions.

MARKET PLAYERS snapped up Axelum Resources Corp. (AXLM) last week immediately after Metro Manila and surrounding areas returned to general lockdown, despite the coconut products exporter booking lower profit in the second quarter.

GROWTH in wholesale prices of construction materials in Metro Manila slowed in June, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Monday.

DOMESTIC TRADE sharply fell in the first quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

YIELDS ON government securities (GS) fell last week following news that the Philippine economy entered a recession, increasing demand for these papers.

FACTORY OUTPUT extended its losing streak for a fourth month in June, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday.

THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY is widely expected to have declined much faster in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter, according to economists.

INVESTORS rebalanced their positions on Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) last week after it released its first-half earnings report.

In mid-March, Black Box Production had to cancel the sold-out final shows of its extended rerun of Dekada ‘70 the Musical. The Luzon lockdown had rendered in-theater shows all but impossible.

“WE HAVE food at home.” In normal times, an excuse to skip eating out. During a pandemic, a blessing.

YIELDS on government securities declined following auctions conducted last week, with investors and traders deploying their excess liquidity to get these papers.

WHEN most theater producers postponed or canceled their shows because of the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, the Virgin Labfest (VLF) went in a different direction — it migrated online. With the help of the online technical team of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the festival of untried, untested, and unstaged one-act plays went on as originally scheduled with livestreams on Facebook and Vimeo.

ALL aspects of life have been affected by the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, and the art world is no exception. From art fairs that have to consider how to deal with the need for social distancing, to artists discovering new ways to reach their audiences and reconsidering their relationship with galleries, every part of the art world has had to adjust.

SALCEDO Auctions’ subsidiary Gavel&Block will hold its “editions” online auction, which includes art toys, on June 27.

SINCE Italy went on lockdown due to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak early in March, Filpino artist Stephanie Honrado’s classes at the Angel Academy of Art have been postponed. But throughout the lockdown, she continued to paint in the classic style in her apartment in Florence.

VIRGIN Labfest 2020: KAPIT — the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ theater festival of new, unstaged one-act plays, which has moved to the digital realm because of the restrictions imposed to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus — is two days away from its first online premiere.

OVER the three months of the lockdown, people have had the opportunity to enjoy recorded theatrical productions. Now, intensive theater workshops have also transitioned online.

PLAYWRIGHT Jay Crisostomo’s entry to this year’s Virgin Labfest theater festival, Dapithapon, tackles the struggles of student life and adolescence.

TV host and model Bianca Gonzalez-Intal has been coping with migraines and taking maintenance medicine for almost 30 years.

PLAYWRIGHT Luis Nario and director James Harvey Estrada had just finished their first few technical rehearsals for their Virgin Labfest play Gin Bulag when they spoke with BusinessWorld.

NORMAN Boquiren’s Mayang Bubot sa Tag-araw — one of the main plays in this year’s Virgin Labfest (VLF) theater festival — tackles the problems encountered in an Ayta community, focusing on how the Indigenous People’s community values ancestral land and livelihood.

A PLAYWRIGHT who is participating in the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Virgin Labfest (VLF) theater festival for the first time, is presenting a play that portrays women involved in war.

HOW a family deals with mental illness is the theme behind one of the entries in this year’s Virgin Labfest (VLF), the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ festival of new, unstaged one-act plays, which is going online this year because of the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.

OUR realities are based on our decisions, but at the same time these come with uncontrollable consequences.

Like most businesses, construction abruptly stopped once enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was enforced.

LEÓN Gallery will hold the 15^th León Exchange Online Auction, featuring art, jewelry, books, and furnishings, at its official website (www.leonexchange.com) on May 30 and 31.

PALANCA award winner and filmmaker Dustin Celestino and director Roobak Valle reunite for their second collaboration in VLF 2020 KAPIT: Lab in the Time of Covid (A Virtual Labfest Lockdown Edition).

A YOUNG student named Patrick got into trouble at his new school. Scared that he might face a sanction, he hides inside a dilapidated storage room. Titser Kit finds him there and helps him with the situation he is facing.

TANGHALANG Pilipino has released the “monovlog” Lola Doc starring award-winning actress Nora Aunor through its online platform PansamanTANGHALAN.

THE Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) revisits the tradition of storytelling, this time online.

FOR the first time since its launch in 2005, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)’s Virgin Labfest (VLF) theater festival, which focuses on new, unstaged works, is going online.

THE enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila has hit its 60-day mark. While selected industries will slowly begin to resume operations as the metropolis transitions to a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), live performances and other activities which entail large gatherings remain postponed. Still, over the past two months, singers, musicians, actors, directors, and writers have collaborated to raise money for the benefit of those who have been badly affected by the enhanced community quarantine. And they are already planning for the future.

BROKEN bits of fishing boats drift on the sea before making landfall on the beach in Panglao, Bohol. The bangka are used for transportation between islands, by fishermen, and people taking leisure trips. As time goes by, parts of the fishing boats wear out and come off, some after rainy season storms.

WHILE museums and art galleries remain closed, and gatherings for art events are still prohibited, enjoying — and purchasing — art continues online.

CASA DE MEMORIA, Palacio de Memoria’s auction house, celebrates its fourth anniversary with two online auctions.

AUCTION houses, much as art fairs and galleries, are now selling and exhibiting online, having made a total shift to digital platforms during the quarantine period.

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has been transitioning to the digital platform as live shows and programs have been suspended until the end of the year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SALCEDO Auctions’ subsidiary Gavel&Block will hold an online benefit auction on its official website on May 23, 2 p.m., to support communities affected by the COVID-19 enhanced community quarantine. The fundraising auction will be for the benefit of the international hunger relief organization Rise Against Hunger (RAH) Philippines.

THE Board of Commissioners of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) approved a cumulative budget of P63.8 million for an assistance fund for arts and culture workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHEN COVID-19 started to spread across the globe early this year, big public events in the arts industry were either postponed or canceled. As much of the world went under quarantine, the arts moved online with performers, musicians, theater and entertainment companies offering shows via streaming. This led international art fairs, such as this year’s edition of Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Dubai, to cancel the physical fairs but to push through via their respective virtual viewing platforms.

THE Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) has launched its YouTube Channel featuring works by and inspired by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare.

IN LIGHT of the COVID-19 outbreak and enhanced community quarantine, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has realigned its artistic programs with the aim of protecting lives and livelihoods, and deliver content to Filipinos on alternative platforms.

ALREADY a hotbed of the new and cutting edge in theater, the 2020 Virgin Labfest theater festival does not disappoint this year. Instead of cancelling outright in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival will stage its new “untied and untested” plays online for the first time. The use of green screens, recorded material, and meeting platforms are all being considered in this unique staging of the festival.