Baguio City most vulnerable to climate change-study

Asia News Network *Original Link

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN)- Baguio City in northern Luzon in the Philippines is most vulnerable to climate change of the four cities outside the National Capital Region that were studied by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines.

A Climate Risk Assessment Study made by the WWF and the Bank of the Philippine Islands Foundation Inc. of the cities of Baguio, Cebu, Iloilo, and Davao showed that the northern Luzon metropolis is most vulnerable to extreme weather events.

According to the study, this was due to Baguio City's density and amount of rainfall that it gets every year. Of the four cities surveyed, Baguio City, also known as the country's Summer Capital, is the only that is on the direct path of the typhoons, which usually hit Central and Northern Luzon.

Davao was seen as the least vulnerable among the cities with room for sustainable, integrated area development, the WWF said.

Although Iloilo is rapidly becoming urban and is flood-prone, it has managed to keep its population growth down to 1.53 percent, addressing the population density issue.

Cebu, dubbed the Queen City of the South, remains prominent in manufacturing and trade industries and as such has an opportunity to reinvent itself with investments to "climate-proof" infrastructure and technology to strengthen its current economic supply chains, the WWF study said.

Bulacan students win 4th place in World Robot Olympiad

PhilStar *Original Link

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines  – A team of high school students from this province won fourth place in the annual World Robot Olympiad (WRO) held recently in Abu Dhabi.

The team from Dr. Yanga’s Colleges Inc.(DYCI) in Bocaue town also bagged the Best Technical Design Award for their robot “MAGIS,” which stands for “Man’s All-Around Global Interactive Solutions.”

Noy gets media climate change declaration

PhilStar *Original Link

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – President Aquino yesterday received here the Philippine Media Declaration on Climate Change 2011 composed and signed by representatives of four major media organizations in the country.

The declaration will be included in the portfolio that will be presented by the Philippine government to the 17th Conference of Parties (COP 17) to be held in Durban, South Africa from Nov. 28 to Dec. 10.

The declaration was ratified by the Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists (PNEJ), the National Press Club, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, and the Publishers Association of the Philippines, and was submitted to Secretary Herminio Coloma and Albay Gov. Joey Salceda who recommended it to the President.

Maguindanao massacre photos on exhibit

Inquirer *Original Link

In remembrance of the Maguindanao massacre, 23 images taken by documentary photographer Jes Aznar in Mindanao before and after the grisly carnage are being displayed at a multi-media gallery in Makati City.

The exhibit, dubbed “Under the Lord’s Shadow” opened on Wednesday and will run until Dec.14 at the Kanto Artists-Run Space at The Collective in Makati City.

For Aznar, who has been working as a freelance photojournalist and a documentarist in Mindanao for three years, the exhibit is an attempt to share what he believes is the deeper reason behind the killing of 58 people, 32 of them journalists, in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.

Grand lotto pot to hit P125 M

PhilStar *Original Link

MANILA, Philippines - The jackpot prize of the 6/55 Grand lotto could breach P125 million in tomorrow’s draw.

Jose Ferdinand Rojas II, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager, said nobody got the 49-37-30-54-48-13 combination in Wednesday’s draw, but at least nine players hit the second jackpot prize of P150,000 each.

Rojas said the sale of grand lotto tickets also doubled from an average of P25 million per draw to P48 million in the latest draw.

“A lotto frenzy is building up,” he said.

Philippine court orders Aquino kin to give up land

Associated Press *Original Link

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine Supreme Court has ordered vast sugarcane plantation lands owned by relatives of the president to be distributed to thousands of farmers under a government land reform program.

The high court — which has recently been at odds with President Benigno Aquino III — said the 11,115-acre (4,500-hectare) Hacienda Luisita in northern Tarlac province should be turned over to 6,296 farm workers. The ruling, which was made public Thursday, changes a decision last July that gave the workers the option of getting shares of stock in a corporation that runs the plantation instead of land.

Rename EDSA to Cory Ave? No way, say Netizens

GMA News *Original Link

After announcing the proposal to rename Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) to Cory Aquino Avenue, Filipinos turned to Twitter to express their reactions.

 

In honor of former President Corazon Aquino, Bohol Rep. Rene Lopez Relampagos filed House Bill (HB) 5422. The proposal is currently pending in the House of Representatives before the House Committee on Public Works and Highways.

Puerto Princesa kicks off celebrations for underground river

Inquirer *Original Link


Puerto PrincesaCITY, Palawan, Philippines—A musical concert featuring young performers from at least 20 countries will showcase this city’s kickoff celebration for the inclusion of the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) in the provisional list of winners in the recently concluded online global search for the seven new wonders of nature.

The concert, to be held Saturday night, is part of a series of events the city government here would be holding to “celebrate a successful campaign” that catapulted Palawan’s main tourist attraction into the provisional seven winners that was announced Friday last week by the Swiss-based private foundation that spearheaded the search.

Davao is world's 87th top city

Sun Star *Original Link

DAVAO -- The only Philippines city included in the Top 100, Davao City placed 87th in the list of fastest-growing cities and urban areas in the world.

Web-based research group City Mayors Foundation published on its website at www.citymayors.com a listing of 200 cities around the world that were ranked based on assumed annual growth rates.