‘Not poor’ on paper
THERE IS good reason to welcome every report that suggests fewer Western Visayans are living in poverty. Any decline in poverty incidence is an...
A market must work for everyone
THE DILEMMA confronting Iloilo City’s public markets goes beyond the dispute between stallholders and ambulant vendors. It is a test of governance — of...
‘Sweat equity’: Building homes, building responsibility
THE HOUSING problem has been viewed largely through one lens: government must provide houses while beneficiaries simply wait for the keys. Iloilo City’s decision...
Break the cycle of predictable disease outbreaks
EVERY rainy season, Western Visayas braces not only for floods but also for a familiar consequence: disease outbreaks. The latest warning from the Department...
Winning the battle against malnutrition means finishing the war
CHILD malnutrition robs countless children of their health, intelligence, and future. That is why Iloilo Province’s remarkable five-year decline in underweight, wasting, stunting, and...
Greenbelts are cheaper than disasters
NO LONGER a distant threat, climate change is already reshaping coastlines, intensifying typhoons, accelerating sea-level rise, and exposing thousands of families to greater danger...
The next disaster cannot find us unprepared
ILOILO Province has made steady progress in disaster preparedness. Every municipality (there are 42) and the province’s lone component city (Passi) now has at...
No medal is worth a young life
IT IS COMMENDABLE that the Department of Education in Western Visayas has tightened safety protocols for student-athletes.
Certainly, winning medals brings pride to schools,...
Childhood is not motherhood
The slight decline in adolescent births in Western Visayas offers little reason to celebrate. Behind the seemingly encouraging numbers is a far more disturbing...
Smartphones are raising our children
ACCORDING to the Commission on Population and Development, in Western Visayas alone 41 percent of adolescents aged 10 to 19 have accidentally encountered online...