MANILA, Philippines – SM Prime Holding Inc. and Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) – two giants in the Philippine real estate industry – will embark on more projects together as a sign they have indeed buried the hatchet from years of rivalry and legal feud.

SM Development Corp. is the residential market’s “poster boy” for condominium development, according to property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Philippines.

THE staging of Mindanao Culinary Festival was said to be the biggest come on of this year’s World Food Expo (Wofex) that attracted some 7,000 visitors last June 25 to June 27 at SM Lanang Premier. (King Rodriguez)

The decision of the Commission on Elections to partner with the country’s major malls such as SM to put up satellite registration booths for voters, especially those who are in danger of getting disenfranchised due to lack of biometric data, is laudable. According to Comelec chief Andy Bautista – who was practically pleading for people to spread the word about the poll body’s “No Boto, No Bio” campaign – some 4.3 million voters face disenfranchisement in next year’s polls – and we all know that number would make a huge difference considering the looming four-way race to the presidency.

The SM-ALI Group, a consortium formed by two rival property giants in the Philippines, secured the winning bid of $221.6 million (P10 billion) for a portion of the South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City.

WITH former World Cup bowling champion CJ Suarez at the helm, the SM Lifestyle and Entertainment, Inc. is on the lookout for future champions.

My CITY, My SM, My Cuisine cookbook recently won two Gourmand World Cookbook Awards during recent ceremonies in Yantai, China. The book was honored with a Prestige Award by the international jury, and placed third in the Local Cuisine category, qualifying it to be among Gourmand’s Best in the World.