Where truth shines in business

MANILA, Philippines — In this era of misinformation and disinformation, untruths and half-truths and outright fake news, the challenge is no longer gathering information – it is discerning what is true.

That is where journalism matters most.

For decades, The STAR’s Business Section has served as a chronicler of everything that has shaped the economy, in good times and bad, from market movements to government policies.

The aim, first and foremost, was to keep a record of the factors that affect the Philippine economy and then to explain why policies matter, how businesses shape lives and what economic decisions mean for every Filipino family.

We have consistently sought to look behind every business headline and provide our readers with the bigger picture when it comes to inflation, investments, trade, energy, corporate earnings and everything else that affects the country’s future and our people.

The Filipino people

Yes, everything is about our people, because while business journalism is often perceived as being about statistics, figures and the movements of money, in reality, it has always been about the people of this nation of 115 million – generations and generations of Filipinos.

And that’s the truth. When markets rise and fall, when companies hire and retrench, when technologies emerge and become obsolete, there will always be people who are affected.

Thus, through every boom and bust and every cycle, The STAR is guided by the principle of truthful, fair and accurate reporting.

This special issue for our 40th anniversary, themed “Where truth shines,” is no exception, as we celebrate this enduring mission.

Our reporters Louella Desiderio (trade and macroeconomy), Richmond Mercurio (capital markets), Elijah Felice Rosales (telco and aviation), Keisha Ta-asan (banking and monetary policy), Aubrey Rose Inosante (public finance), Adrian Kenneth Halili (agriculture) and Brix Lelis (energy), and our correspondent covering property Catherine Talavera, have put the spotlight on the real picture of the different aspects of our economy in the first half.

Desiderio looks into the first six months of 2026 and how they tell a tale of two economies. One is graduating to upper-middle income status. The other, about Filipinos still grappling with the high cost of living.

Mercurio’s report focuses on the country’s listed companies, their excitement and optimism as they entered 2026 and how they found themselves battling another external shock.

Read Rosales’ report if you want to learn the truth about mobility, which, as he discovered, is that more Filipinos are now opting to bike to work because of the high cost of commuting.

Ta-asan examines how the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has been walking a tightrope as it fights inflation while the country grapples with growth risks.

The country’s public finance position is facing one of its biggest challenges, the unprecedented flood-control corruption scandal, as Inosante reports.

Halili reports on the looming El Niño and gives us the real picture while also discussing the Department of Agriculture’s long-term plans.

In his report, Lelis focuses on the energy emergency and also re-examines the promise of renewable energy.

Talavera, meanwhile, takes a deep dive into the Philippine property sector and how the industry has been doing so far since the start of the year.

These stories and more fill the page of The STAR Business Section’s anniversary issue.

This issue is also a reaffirmation of the values that continue to guide our newsroom, values that have guided our coverage through defining moments in this nation’s history – from the Asian financial crisis to a global conflict, a pandemic and political chaos.

We also continue to report on our rapidly changing world – new and emerging markets, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, sustainability and a global economy that has become more interconnected than ever.

Looking ahead

As we celebrate this milestone, we reaffirm our commitment to the core purpose of journalism – to inform, to explain, to hold institutions accountable and to help citizens make better decisions. This is amid evolving platforms, advances in technology and changes in the way audiences consume news.

That commitment has defined The STAR through the years.

We are honored to celebrate this milestone with you, our faithful readers.