Features
Health, science, culture and stories worth your time.
Features Page 3 of 6

Gringo Honasan explains why the Philippines keeps reliving the same political crises
Forty years after EDSA, the Philippines finds itself in the middle of another political crisis—a Senate shooting, an ICC arrest warrant, a leadership shakeup, and an impeachment trial all converging in a single week—and former Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, who has lived through more of these…

Filipino farmers get steady buyer as President Marcos sources rice program from local producers
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is ensuring Filipino rice farmers have a steady and guaranteed market by requiring local government units to source the supply of his administration’s free rice program directly from local producers, bypassing traders and middlemen under the government’s Sagip…

‘Now is the best time to go solar’: Energy crisis makes solar rooftop a practical choice now, says industry leader
If you have been thinking about putting solar panels on your roof, the numbers may finally convince you to act. Tetchi Capellan, chairperson of the Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance (PSSEA), laid out the case in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on May 9, saying the…

Quezon bets on dairy farming as province’s new livelihood frontier, says Governor Helen Tan
Quezon province is moving to build a homegrown dairy industry, with Governor Helen Tan identifying the sector as an emerging livelihood opportunity that could reduce the province’s dependence on the National Dairy Authority (NDA). In an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on May 9…

Vietnam is on a $1.5 trillion infrastructure spending spree amid a global oil crisis. Can the Philippines keep up?
Vietnam is in the grip of a construction frenzy unlike anything Southeast Asia has seen in a generation—and while Hanoi breaks ground on bullet trains, nuclear plants, and the world’s largest stadium, the Philippines is fighting a different kind of battle: keeping fuel affordable for ordinary…

Philippine Red Cross offers ‘Safe Card’ with ambulance, blood, and insurance benefits for only ₱1,200 a year
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is pushing wider enrollment in its Safe Card membership program, which provides accident-related ambulance service, blood supply, hospitalization allowance, and insurance coverage for P1,200 a year per member. PRC Chairman and former Senator Richard Gordon promoted…

Anti-microbial resistance could kill more than cancer by 2050—and it’s already showing up in Manila street food
It sounds like a distant threat—bacteria so resistant to antibiotics that they become nearly impossible to treat. But scientists at the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila say antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is not a problem for the future. It is already here, already in the food Filipinos…

Global oversupply was pushing oil below $60 before the Iran war: economist says high prices may not last
Before the first US-Israeli strikes on Iran in March, the world was not bracing for an oil crisis—it was sitting on too much oil. That is the argument an economist is making as he pushes back against the prevailing assumption that high fuel prices are a permanent new reality. University of Asia…

The infrastructure spending collapse is a bigger crisis than the oil shock — and we’re not talking about it, economist warns
While the country’s attention has been consumed by rising fuel prices, an economist is arguing that the Philippines walked into the oil crisis already in the grip of a more damaging emergency—one that has been quietly dragging economic growth to some of its lowest levels in recent history, and…

Veteran broadcast journalist Cesar Chavez named ‘Best AM radio program host’ at 20th UP Gandingan Awards
Veteran broadcast journalist Cesar Chavez has been named Best AM Radio Program Host at the 20th Gawad Gandingan Awards, organized by the UP Community Broadcasters’ Society, an organization based at the University of the Philippines College of Development Communication. The Gawad Gandingan is an…

Your Meralco bill is dropping in May 2026 — but by how much, exactly? Meralco spox explains
Following the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) order to accelerate Meralco’s release of a ₱14-billion refund, many customers have been asking the same question: how much will they actually save? Meralco Vice President and Spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga, interviewed on DZRH News program Special…

It’s the law: Meralco has no choice but to collect Lifeline Rate charge
Congress passed it, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) enforces it, and Meralco simply collects it — that is the straightforward reality behind the lifeline rate charge that has been drawing viral outrage on social media. Meralco Vice President and Corporate Communications Head Joe Zaldarriaga…

Why the Philippines keeps delaying its barangay elections
Since 2022, the barangay elections have been postponed twice. Filipinos voted in 2023, a year behind schedule. The next cycle was pushed from December 2025 to November 2026. Now a third delay is on the table—and critics say the justification being offered is the same one the Supreme Court already…

PH, Thailand most exposed to jet fuel shortage in Asia, says Oxford Economics
The Philippines is among the most vulnerable economies in Asia to the ongoing refined fuel crisis, according to a research briefing released by Oxford Economics on April 15, as disruptions stemming from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz ripple across regional supply chains. The briefing…

The Philippines is four years away from cheap electricity — if it chooses nuclear, according to Rep. Mark Cojuangco
The Philippines could dramatically reduce its electricity costs by shifting to nuclear power, with fuel imports for a 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant costing only $20 million a year compared to $400 million for an equivalent coal or gas facility, Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco said Saturday. “Twenty…


