Recently, the nation and the Boy Scouts not only in the Philippines but also elsewhere around the world commemorated perhaps one of the most tragic stories in the annals of Boy Scout history. It was to commemorate that fateful day on July 28, 1963 when Flight 869 of United Arab Airlines, (the precursor of today’s EgyptAir) en route to Greece for the 11th World Jamboree of the international Boy Scouts, crashed into the sea off the coast of a village called Madh, near Mumbai (Bombay as it was known before) in India. The flight killed all 63 people on the plane, including the captain, crew, and the 24-member Philippine contingent…
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A Trade Fair for Science
Despite the perception among many that the Philippines suck when it comes to science and technology, the country actually has a thriving, developing environment in the field of science and technology. Not as advanced as in other countries admittedly, but thriving nonetheless. Only that it is not well-publicized partly due to the low-key efforts of the people behind it, not to mention that our media tends to overlook these stories of innovation in favor of politics, entertainment, as well as trivial stuff like trending online videos. Thankfully, there are events that give focus on this overlooked aspect of our country’s development. One of them is what the Urban Roamer checked…
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The Villars and Las Piñas
In the story of modern Las Piñas, one man (and to an extent, family) has managed to put the city on the map and help it progress to what it is today. I’m talking about Manuel Villar, the real estate developer who became member of the House of Representatives and the Senate and a one-time candidate for the Philippine presidency in 2010. He has then gone back to his property development business Vista Land (at least at this time of writing) while wife Cynthia is in the Senate and son Mark is the House of Representatives. (two other children, Paolo and Camille, remain in the business side) Villar has been known for…
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Ideas Immortalized: Telling the Story of the University of the Philippines
The University of the Philippines is one institution that needs no introduction. Just mention UP and people express their awe to show how much they look up to this university, the country’s premier university where many of the country’s brightest minds sprang from. UP’s status and prestige today makes one overlook how far it has come ever since it was established more than a century ago. Then again, not many know the story of the university’s early years, the struggles and the triumphs it encountered during that pioneering period in UP’s history. That was, until the Museum of a History of Ideas opened in UP’s Manila campus last October 22, 2014.