A few days ago, a story was published by the Philippine Star about a study by a Swiss insurance firm which stated that Manila was the 2nd most at-risk metropolis from natural disasters. With such a story, one has to get more information, preferably straight from the source. Fortunately, Swiss Re, the firm that commissioned or has done the study, has a copy of this study online, which you can check here. One thing to note though is that this study has been published way back in September 2013. So how it managed to fly under the radar of local journalists until a few days ago is a puzzle to…
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Internet in the Philippines: 20 Years Online
This is somewhat of an off-topic entry, but today is a momentous occasion, not only for me but for all of us who are reading this or some other website, connecting to people via email or social media, posting or reacting to memes and other viral messages or posts, streaming or uploading online media, among many, many others we have been doing in cyberspace for the past 20 years. It should be, because on this day 20 years ago, the Philippines went online, making that historic entry in the young but growing Internet landscape thanks to the efforts of the Philnet project, which was a collaboration of the Department of Science…
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It’s Earth Hour Once More
On Saturday, March 29, the world will once again turn off their lights for 1 hour as part of a global event called Earth Hour. And of course, the Philippines is taking part in it.
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Kasa Boix: Restoration in Progress
Throughout the more than 4-year history of the Urban Roamer, we have been all to familiar with the sad fate that befell much of the city’s heritage due to rapid and unchecked urbanization in recent years. For us who have come to appreciate the ciyt’s glorious past, it is heartbreaking to learn much of this heritage have either disappeared or in danger of being lost forever; unfortunately it is a trend that will most likely continue as long as there are people who are unaware or do not care about the importance of these heritage structures. Fortunately, there are still bright spots to this gloomy situation, like the story the…