MGA DOKUMENTARYONG PELIKULA NG BULACAN TUNGKOL SA WWII, TAMPOK SA ‘KASAYSAYAN SA MET’

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region 02 strengthened its science communication initiatives as it conducted Science That Sees: A Workshop on Videography for SciTech Storytelling.

The workshop was held from December 11-12, 2025, at NGN Hotel focused on elevating the quality and consistency of visual outputs used in field documentation, project reporting, and public information materials, emphasizing the growing role of videography in evidence-based science communication.

Participants took part in the session facilitated by videography resource speaker Sir John Lewie Reyes, an Information Officer from the Cagayan State University (CSU) who discussed the fundamental elements of videography, including framing, camera angles, shot types, camera movement, and visual continuity.

Reyes emphasized that videography plays a critical role in science communication by effectively capturing processes, transformations, and sequences that static images alone cannot fully convey, particularly in documenting scientific interventions and community-based projects.

He also highlighted ethical considerations in filming activities and community beneficiaries, stressing the importance of accuracy, consent, and proper representation in science, technology, and innovation (STI) documentation.

A storyboarding session guided participants in structuring their visual narratives prior to filming. Participants identified key messages, organized sequences, selected appropriate angles, and developed shot lists for their planned videos.

This was followed by an editing workshop where participants assembled video clips, refined pacing, and incorporated narration and graphics to enhance clarity and narrative cohesion.

As the culminating activity, participants were grouped into four teams, each tasked to produce a two- to three-minute video in different genres, incorporating the videography fundamentals discussed during the workshop. The final outputs demonstrated improved application of framing, sequencing, storytelling, and ethical documentation.

The groups presented their videos, showcasing enhanced competencies in visual sequencing, explanation, and narrative flow.

The workshop forms part of DOST Region 02’s ongoing efforts to standardize documentation practices and strengthen visual storytelling for programs such as SETUP, CEST, Smart and Sustainable Communities, and other STI initiatives.

Moving the region closer to a truly VAW-free community, the Department of Science and Technology Ilocos Region (DOST Ilocos Region) once again showed its strong and continued support for the nationwide advocacy to End Violence Against Women (VAW) as it joined the Department of Tourism Region 1 for this year’s “Orange Your Icon” activity under the 18-Day Campaign to End VAW. Held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Barangay Madayegdeg, City of San Fernando, La Union, the gathering brought together regional agencies and community leaders united by one message ‘every woman deserves safety, respect, and a life free from violence.’

Under the leadership of Regional Director Teresita A. Tabaog, who also serves as Chairperson of the Regional Gender and Development Committee (RGADC) Region 1, DOST Ilocos Region continues to push forward programs and initiatives that empower and protect women and children. Her guidance reflects the Department’s belief that building safer communities goes hand in hand with promoting science, technology, and innovation.

During the activity, DOST Ilocos Region participated in the Bougainvillea Planting—a simple yet powerful symbol of resilience, hope, and the shared vision for a violence-free community. The event also featured the lighting of orange icons around the monument, serving as a reminder that awareness and collective action are essential in ending gender-based violence.

Assistant Regional Director Raquel M. Espiritu, who represented Dr. Tabaog, delivered the Department’s message of support. She emphasized that the 18-Day Campaign is not just a yearly observance but a year-round, day-to-day commitment that everyone must take part in. She shared that DOST Ilocos Region remains dedicated to promoting safety, equality, and empowerment—values that continue to guide the Department in its community engagements and advocacy efforts.

Through consistent action, strong partnerships, and genuine compassion, DOST Ilocos Region stands firm in helping build a Region 1 where women and children are empowered. (Aryan Joy M. Soliman )

The Provincial Government of Cavite extended its appreciation to its frontline health and nutrition workers through the Distribution of Incentives for Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) and Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) held on December 10, at the Tanza Convention Center.

A total of 921 BNS received incentives amounting to ₱9,384,000, while 2,400 BHWs were granted ₱24,480,000, recognizing their vital role in delivering basic health and nutrition services to communities across the province. The initiative underscores the province’s continuing commitment to strengthening grassroots health programs and supporting the welfare of its dedicated workers.

Gracing the distribution were 7th District Representative Ping Remulla, 7th District Board Members Aldrin Anacan and Camille Del Rosario, and Tanza Mayor Archangelo “SM” Matro, who all expressed their gratitude and commendation to the BHWs and BNS for their unwavering service, especially in advancing public health at the barangay level.

The activity highlighted the Provincial Government’s steadfast support for its health workforce, reaffirming that the dedication and sacrifices of BHWs and BNS remain a cornerstone of effective and responsive community healthcare in Cavite. — OPIO

LIPA CITY, Batangas – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) CALABARZON reported the November 2025 inflation in the region during an online press conference on 12 December 2025. Regional Director Charito C. Armonia announced that the region’s inflation rate in November 2025 decreased at 1.8 percent. This figure is 0.9 percentage point lower than the 2.7 percent posted in November 2024. 

A slower increase in prices for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages commodity group─averaging at 0.7 percent─contributed to the decelaration in the overall inflation rate (IR).

Compared to previous month’s inflation, Food groups in CALABARZON that incurred increments in IR include Flour, bread and other bakery products, pasta products, and other cereals at 1.3 percent inflation (from 1.1 percent); Oils and fats at 17.9 percent inflation (from 17.3 percent); and Sugar, confectionery and desserts at 1.0 percent (from 0.6 percent). inflation

On the other hand, Food groups that recorded lower increase in prices include Corn at 12.1 percent inflation (from 13.5 percent); Meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals at 4.9 percent inflation (from 7.4 percent); Fish and other seafood at 6.6 percent inflation (from 7.8 percent); Milk, other dairy products and eggs at 0.4 percent inflation (from 0.9 percent); Vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and pulses at 0.8 percent (from 22.1 percent); and Ready-made food and other food products n.e.c. at 1.9 percent (from 2.1 percent).

Meanwhile, Food groups like Rice showed a slow decrease in prices at -13.1 percent inflation (from -13.4 percent) and Fruits and nuts at -0.1 percent inflation (from -5.3 percent).

Compared to October 2025, inflation rate in November 2025 decreased in the areas of Batangas (from 1.0 percent to 0.5 percent), Cavite (from 3.0 percent to 2.2 percent), Laguna (from 2.6 percent to 2.1 percent), Quezon (from 1.9 percent to 1.5 percent), and Rizal (from 3.2 percent to 2.2 percent). Meanwhile, the highly urbanized Lucena City maintained its inflation rate at 0.6 percent.

The purchasing power of peso (PPP) in the region was recorded at 77 centavos in November 2025, compared to its value in 2018 (base year).

Quezon City, Philippines — The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) responds to the recent portrayals of Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (Del Monte) on social media and the internet. The positive narratives Del Monte touts overlook long-standing concerns about land dispossession, environmental degradation, and human rights issues linked to Del Monte’s operations in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental.

The so-called success of Del Monte’s agribusiness plantation is a cover-up of an unscrupulous system of continuing historical land dispossession dating back to the American colonial period, where monocropping and formal land titling disrupted indigenous peoples’ land rights, impacts that continue to shape present-day conflicts.

An international watchdog linked Del Monte to being complicit in the 2017 killing of Manobo-Pulangiyon leader Renato Anglao in Bukidnon. After requesting that local rancher and mayor Pablo Lorenzo III give their land back—which Lorenzo’s corporation was utilizing for agribusiness plantations—Anglao was shot and killed.  Lorenzo shares ownership of the adjacent Kiantig Development Corporation, which had a crop producer-growership agreement with Del Monte. 

“Del Monte, like other notorious global food giants, is not as good as it presents itself to be. These business-as-usual narratives of Del Monte only wash their hands with the blood of the indigenous peoples who are killed due to their resistance to the continuing business partnership of profit-hungry Del Monte and the blood-stricken land-grabbing corporations in Mindanao,” said Daisy Aballe, senior Mindanao campaigner on food, land, and water of PMCJ.

A 2023 report found traces of “highly toxic agricultural pesticides” in dust and urine samples from residents living near pineapple plantations in Davao, raising alarm that agrochemical drift and contamination affect not only farm workers but also their families and surrounding communities — including children.

“International studies demonstrate that pesticide residues from pineapple plantations can kill aquatic life, disrupt ecosystems, and pose serious health risks to wildlife — highlighting that exposure to agrochemicals is harmful to both humans and the environment. Climate-resilient and community-centered agriculture cannot rely on extractive monocrop systems that heighten vulnerability and undermine food sovereignty,” Aballe stressed.

In July 2025, Don Carlos Bukidnon United Farmers Association Inc. (DCBUFAI), the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), and other groups held a protest in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Region X office in Cagayan de Oro, where a dialogue was simultaneously held between the DAR and the farmers. They urged the DAR to expedite the process of awarding the Certificate of Land Ownership (CLOA) for the land the farmers have been tilling for decades. Del Monte pineapple plantation has been encroaching on rice lands, intimidating and threatening rice farmers to give way for pineapples.

“The people of Bukidnon and the whole of Mindanao, especially the farmers, have been fighting multiple battles to uphold their rights. This historical land conflict of  Del Monte against the marginalized small farmers and indigenous people of Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental is a long-standing, systemic, institutionalized land grabbing that is tacitly allowed by the Philippine government,” said Ian Rivera, national coordinator of PMCJ.

In August 2010, then-DCBUFAI President Franklin Labial was killed inside his home. Farmers reported that a day before, Labial had gone to Davao Agricultural Ventures Corp. (DAVCO)’s office to appeal to the company to stop the clearing operations it had conducted on the pineapple plantation. The DCBUFAI president and officials, through the years, continue to face multiple cases of harassment from those who have vested interests in their land. According to DCBUFAI, DAVCO had a crop producer-growership agreement with Del Monte. 

“No matter how many times they suppress and violate the rights of the people on these lands, the people will fight back and reclaim these lands. For peace, justice, and genuine development to exist on these lands and for the peasants and indigenous peoples to survive the impacts of the climate crisis, Del Monte and all other big agribusiness corporations in Mindanao must cease operations and return these lands to the rightful owners. Eventually, these lands will be reclaimed by peasants and indigenous people to secure their survival amid the multiple crises they face. For them, this is what justice is about, and climate justice demands meaningful, systemic change,” Rivera ended.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday expressed his deep gratitude to the employees of Malacañang for their dedication to their work throughout the year.

During the flag raising ceremony at the Office of the President (OP), President Marcos said the employees have done their duties above and beyond their responsibilities.

The President urged the employees to stay focused on their work in spite of the political noise, recognizing their commitment and contribution towards the implementation of the administration’s reforms.

“We have actually been very effective disruptors of the old guard, and that is something that we will just have to weather because what we are doing is correct, what we are doing is right, what we are doing is necessary,” the Chief Executive said.

“It is time. It is our opportunity here, now, today to make things right, to make things better, to make the lives of each Filipino better. That is how important our jobs are,” President Marcos emphasized.

The president thanked the employees as he wished them to enjoy the Christmas season with their families and loved ones.

“From the depths of my heart, I am grateful to you for the work that you have done, because I know that you have dedicated above and beyond, lahat ng ginagawa ninyo, above and beyond the common duty, as we say in the military,” said President Marcos. | PND