By THONY DIZON DAYS before the New Year’s Eve celebrations, environmental watchdog BAN Toxics appealed to the Philippine National Police and regulatory agencies to intensify enforcement against the manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of prohibited firecrackers to prevent physical injuries and harmful health exposures. During recent market monitoring, the group found several illegal firecrackers being sold by ambulant vendors along M. De Santos Street in Divisoria, Manil

By Ernie Delgado LEGAZPI CITY --- The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is urging local government units (LGUs) in the Bicol region to establish a center dedicated to human rights protection and advocacy in their communities. CHR Regional Director Arlene Alangco said that the Human Rights Action Center (HRAC) will manage complaints, provide information, and coordinate efforts on human rights issues at the provincial, city, municipal, and barangay (village) levels. The CHR, an

By Ernie Delgado MASBATE CITY --- In the past two days, over 400 earthquakes have occurred along a fault beneath Burias Island in Masbate, about 500 kilometers south of Manila, including a magnitude-3.1 tremor on Christmas Eve. The series of earthquakes has been centered in Claveria, one of the two towns on Burias Island. The strongest in this seismic swarm occurred on Wednesday, December 24, at 9:22 a.m. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Ph

By Rosalita Manlangit DAET, Camarines Norte --- In the aftermath of Super Typhoon Uwan (Fung-Wong), the importance of thorough preparation for emergencies and disasters has become increasingly clear in Camarines Norte. Despite thorough preparations by local disaster management councils, the situation escalated unexpectedly, highlighting the need for a structured response plan. The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) has acknowledged this necessi

By Jay Salvosa The Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU) community— composed of faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni representatives—gathered at the Administration Building of the Bagumbayan campus on 18 December 2025, at 4:00 p.m., to formally bid farewell to the university’s iconic wooden structure. The event, aptly titled “Looking Back, Moving Forward,” marked the community’s collective goodbye to the building, which is set to be deconstructed as part of the university’s

THE year 2025 has weighed heavily on the global conscience. Climate disasters have grown more frequent and more destructive. Conflict and injustice continue to displace lives and strain already fragile systems. For many communities, especially in the Global South, these crises are no longer abstract—they are daily realities. In moments like these, the temptation is to feel powerless, to believe that individual action no longer matters against problems of such scale. But this

Parishioners wait for the priest to celebrate the Simbang-gabi mass. In the recent decade or so, the Simbang-gabi has become literally Simbang gabi. Traditionally, these masses were actually held technically in the early morning. (Not that it went away, there is still Simbang gabi in the early morning.) Well, as far as the Filipino culture and language is concerned, when it’s dark, it’s gabi. So, regardless of the time being 4 or 5 am, if it’s dark, that’s “gabi”. Anyway

If there is one New Year wish that could unite every peace-loving Filipino alive, it is this: to finally have decent, honest, and accountable leaders governing our country—at both the national and local levels. The old and decadent habits of corruption, vote-buying, dynastic entitlement, and plunder with impunity must go. They must die. For too long, Filipinos have been trained to endure what should never have been tolerated: abuse of power, deception, and the systematic thef