Singapore-based Macquarie Capital has committed to invest at least $1.2 billion in the Philippines to build a 1,300- megawatt (MW) floating solar plant on Laguna Lake, touted to be the biggest of its kind in Asia. The investment firm signed a letter of intent during the state visit of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in...
Category: News
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For Fiat, the reward is seeing that others are helped
In 1995, a group of 15 women professionals decided that it was time to give back and be of service to their fellow Filipinos. They knew they had the capability to make a difference and that it would mean a missed opportunity if they could not make use of what they could share. They came up...
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Is it true that 90% of Filipino 10-year-olds can’t read?
In 2019, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and the World Bank introduced the notion of a “learning poverty rate,” or the share of children who cannot read or comprehend a simple text at the age of 10. Figures that emerged before the coronavirus pandemic indicated that the average learning poverty rate...
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Cyberattacks rising in the Philippines
A week ago, “Marie,” a resident of Quezon City, was preparing to share a funny YouTube video with her friends on Facebook. Her smile turned into a frown when she was told to log in. For over 10 years, Marie, 40, had not logged out, and could not readily remember her log-in details. While looking for them, she...
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Live theater, digital interaction educate teens on drinking issue
Filipinos consume an average of seven liters of alcohol every year, according to the World Population Review. While that might appear manageable to many, the Philippine College of Physicians recently presented numbers sufficient to give Filipino parents a nightmare: About 70% of students had their first taste of alcohol at age 14, and many of...
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Agrava reports didn’t answer question of why Ninoy Aquino was killed
Editor’s note: Former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was shot dead on Aug. 21, 1983, upon arriving from exile in the United States at the airport now named after him. Fourteen months later, a fact-finding board assigned by President Ferdinand Marcos to look into the assassination submitted two reports—one by its chair and the other...
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Coming home to Manila in the pandemic: inward journeys
SYDNEY—“This is your captain speaking. We shall soon commence our descent into Melbourne …” I felt a lump in my throat. Every year when I visit my daughter here, I make a side trip to Victoria’s capital to see a dear friend from college. The pandemic paused the practice, and now, after three years, I...
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Smallest rafflesia blooms reveal some family secrets
Most likely, the world has heard about the awesome rafflesia bloom, its rarity and inherent malodorous turnoff. But Filipino scientists are keen on further unlocking the mystery and meaning of the plant’s parasitic existence. Nearly half, or 13, of the more than 30 rafflesia species currently identified and all endemic to Southeast Asia are found...
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Abra quake was less destructive but a complex seismic event
A magnitude-7 earthquake has long been associated with a nightmarish aftermath: massive devastation and hundreds of deaths. But more than two weeks after one such temblor jolted Abra province and its vicinity last July 27, disaster response officials reported only 11 fatalities so far and a little over P2 billion in damage to infrastructure and...
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Hurdling missteps in face-to-face learning
After two years of holding classes remotely and online, some universities in Metro Manila will open the academic year 2022-23 on Aug. 15 and gradually return to in-person and onsite learning. Once again, a reimagination of “class,” “class activities, and “learning” is needed. When classes were abruptly halted in March 2020 due to the Covid-19...