SOFT lights illumine the Manila Grand Opera Hotel early Saturday evening, when the newest luxury hotel opened with a bang, evoking memories of a grand era and historic events. In photo below, hotel owner Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua (right) who said opening a new hotel in bad economic times signals his bullishness about the country, presents a copy of his updated biography to President Arroyo and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo as cowriters Pete Lacaba (left) and Eric Caruncho look on. --NONIE REYES, ROY DOMINGO

‘Peza exempt from realty tax’

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has declared that the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) is exempt from paying real property tax, being an instrumentality of the national government.

At grand and operatic debut, new luxury hotel wows ‘em

AUGUST 30 marked a remarkable moment in Philippine history with the opening of the country’s newest luxury hotel right in the heart of Chinatown, and on the site of one of the country’s most important cultural icons from which it draws its name—the Manila Grand Opera Hotel.

DOF pushed on antismuggling AOs

DOMESTIC manufacturers called on the Department of Finance (DOF) to start issuing the long-delayed administrative orders (AOs) that will serve as interim solutions to rampant technical smuggling, including the review and closure of common bonded warehouses (CBWs).

Far from the fighting, Mindanao ideal for agri devt–Minbizcon

DIPOLOG CITY—Pursuing a unified private-sector-led development agenda for agriculture, fisheries and the food industry topped the six-point Mindanao Business Policy Agenda adopted by the participants of the 17th Mindanao Business Conference (Minbizcon) that ended on Friday in this city.

When authentic texts are inauthentic

IN my first article for the BusinessMirror, I bemoaned the world’s increasing preference for form over substance, using language in the media as example. Because Truth is varnished and veiled, it is presented not as itself but as something in a more acceptable form.  What should have been abhorrent becomes acceptable.  The line between fact and fiction becomes blurred. And to those with young, impressionable minds, all of that becomes okay.

94,000 RP workers in Europe need government aid

SENATE President Manuel Villar prodded Malacañang to immediately take steps to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Europe who may be adversely affected by new immigration measures passed by the European Union (EU) on overstaying or illegal migrants.

Bishops seek pause to military strikes during Ramadan

CATHOLIC bishops have asked for a halt in military strikes in Mindanao, especially for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid widespread speculation that revelations of the government side’s apparent mishandling of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain could trigger more violence in the South.

CA stops auction of government lots in CCP Complex

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has issued a preliminary injunction indefinitely stopping the Pasay City government and the Republic Real Estate Corp. (RREC) from taking over two government lots located within the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Complex owing to the government’s alleged failure to pay their expenses for the reclamation of such areas in the amount of P49.17 billion.

HK groups nix psychiatric test proposal

HONG KONG—Nongovernment organizations here say the Department of Foreign Affairs’ proposal for mandatory psychiatric tests for domestic help is “totally misleading.” The view of the NGOs added more fire to earlier criticisms of the plan.

AS fighting between soldiers and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas has ceased in this part of Mindanao, some of the displaced residents of Pikit, North Cotabato, have returned to their villages, but about 50 families from Bualan village in Pikit are still temporarily staying at Buisan warehouse as of August 28. The evacuees have reached 4,000 families at the height of renewed hostilities early this month. --KEITH BACONGCO