Youth

Why do you still prefer the “like” button?

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 18) – Facebook is the most popular and most commonly-used  social networking site. People love this because of its accessibility and simple features. You can post your pictures and ideas, have conversation through chat,  comment on your  friends’ posts and share and agree on other’s perspective. It’s easy, all you have to do is hit the “like” button. From the start, the “like” button has confused several people. The big question is why […]

We’re hospitable, but there’s mañana: negative Filipino values we need to kick-out

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 18) – Filipinos are known for being hospitable and jolly blokes. We’re willing to push the limit of our wallets just to pamper our bisitas and smile and laugh to all things despite of an earthquake or a savage storm that struck our country. But as the famous saying goes, we cannot have it all. All Pinoys out there are guilty of doing one, two or more of these bad habits. Brace […]

Heart disease – age doesn’t matter

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 17) – This February, we celebrate  National Heart Month, reminding the public to take good care of their heart through healthy lifestyle, nutrition and exercise. Heart Month, which is observed in many countries, aims to promote heart disease awareness and address the most common prevalent forms of cardio-vascular diseases, particularly coronary artery disease. Keeping your heart healthy, whatever your age, is the most important thing you can do to help prevent and […]

Brain Health

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 15) – The brain as part of the nervous system is responsible for memory, consciousness and voluntary actions. It also controls the maintenance for respiration, heart rate, digestion and blood pressure. As the master control of our body, it is important that this organ remains healthy. To maintain good health, the body has to exert physical efforts and maintain supplements. The brain needs cognitive effort to maintain good health. As we age, our brain […]

Like a sloth – free Wi-Fi is slow Wi-Fi

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 15) – 256 kbps and lower. That’s the promised allotment of data transfer given to each of the users of free Wi-Fi in selected public places that was launched by Department of Science and Technology’s Information and Communications Office (DOST-ICTO) last year. They proudly said, “Hey, it’s available 24/7 and free!”. Our response? It’s not enough. That speed is not worth the taxpayers’ money. To enlighten you all, 256 kbps is the lowest speed […]

Bad teeth, broken dreams!

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 15) – When taking picture everyone says, “Say cheese! Smile!” So, you do and show your teeth. The healthier your teeth are, the happier you look. Cleaning our teeth needs proper knowledge; it’s like learning how to read A-B-C, and learning how to tie your shoes. Many of us do not prioritize teeth and gum problems;  some of us would rather have their nails or hair done, than go and see a […]

Are you a hipster?

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 12) – Thick rimmed glasses, beard for men, skinny and sometimes ripped jeans, vintage clothes, and messy hair don’t care fashion. The term hipster was coined in 1940s, during the war when there is racial division. It was to reject the societal norms and mainstream to have a sense of individuality. The middle class white American youths seeks to a more carefree and opposite way to live life. During this time the […]

Take care of your teeth!

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 12) – We can’t deny that once we experience any tooth problem, our whole body is painfully affected. But said effects don’t just stop there, it can also affect our quality of life in the form of our physical, mental and social well-being.  Sadly, tooth problems can affect the way we speak, eat and socialize. These problems occur because sometimes when we already feel something is wrong with our teeth, we often ignore […]

February is National Heart Month

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 12) – Every time the month of February arrives, I know that several of you might be planning ahead of the time to set a date with your partner or plans of better ways to express your love to your family, friends and loved ones. But, more than that, don’t you know that February is also the “National Heart Month”? In the Philippines, based from Proclamation No. 1096, s. 1973, the month of […]

Advancing reform in Philippine elections

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 8) – For the 2016 polls, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is letting the public see precinct-level results by posting them on its official website. They are challenged to carefully draw the balance in the never-ending conflict among rights and regulations, liberties and limitations, and opposing demands of the different segments of society to maintain a honest, peaceful, free and realistic elections. Senator Grace Poe advocates for the Freedom of Information Act […]

Every voter is an enumerator

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 8) – The Commission of Elections (COMELEC) is confirmed to give the public a privilege to view the election results via their website. According to COMELEC Chairman Andres Bautista, this will be done for the sake of transparency and accessibility, allowing people to see blow-by-blow counts from 90,000 precincts, every single counting machine – essentially making each and single one of us an enumerator. This was already done in 2010 and 2013, […]

Transparency and good governance

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 8) – The COMELEC (Commission on Elections) proposes that the election returns should be posted in their official website. This is to show the transparency of the election that can be monitored by public. Can this prove the transparency of our election? So what if we have access to that, how sure are we that this information is accurate? The Filipino citizens were not born yesterday. Our generation is too smart to […]