BOLINAO, PANGASINAN – Fishery authorities warned fish cage operators here that oxygen level in waters where they culture bangus (milkfish) was dropping at alarming rates and could lead to another massive fishkill reminiscent of the one that all but wiped out cultured fish in the town six years ago.

A former administrator of the National Food Authority (NFA) on Friday said P2 billion in taxpayers’ money were lost to corruption after the food agency sold more than seven million bags of newly imported rice to private traders.

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Senate will soon be called upon to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. These are the forgotten human rights, rarely the stuff of headlines, banners and mass protests but, when violated, cause pain and sadness just the same. We must support our senators in the righteous work of ratifying this Convention, and support them in palpable and unmistakable terms. Why are disability rights often relegated to the legislative backburner?

Sometime ago, at a teacher training session I conducted, I made the mistake of suggesting that Math and Science teachers consider code switching (using English and Tagalog) as a strategy for making lessons less difficult for their students. I did not know that the school had just implemented an English-only policy in the classrooms, corridors and faculty lounges. No wonder teachers and students rushed to the quadrangle during break time!

Pangasinan (9 April) — THE provincial government headed by Governor Amado Espino Jr. has vowed to intensify rice production to meet the reported impending rice crisis in the coming months.

Pangasinan (9 April) — Whenever one hears about the kind of ’subsidizing’ of rice price by a government agency, the National Food Authority, to the tune of billions of pesos, what inevitably comes to mind is the word ‘loss’ for government.