By THONY DIZON DAYS before the New Year’s Eve celebrations, environmental watchdog BAN Toxics appealed to the Philippine National Police and regulatory agencies to intensify enforcement against the manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of prohibited firecrackers to prevent physical injuries and harmful health exposures. During recent market monitoring, the group found several illegal firecrackers being sold by ambulant vendors along M. De Santos Street in Divisoria, Manil

By Ernie Delgado LEGAZPI CITY --- The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is urging local government units (LGUs) in the Bicol region to establish a center dedicated to human rights protection and advocacy in their communities. CHR Regional Director Arlene Alangco said that the Human Rights Action Center (HRAC) will manage complaints, provide information, and coordinate efforts on human rights issues at the provincial, city, municipal, and barangay (village) levels. The CHR, an

By Ernie Delgado MASBATE CITY --- In the past two days, over 400 earthquakes have occurred along a fault beneath Burias Island in Masbate, about 500 kilometers south of Manila, including a magnitude-3.1 tremor on Christmas Eve. The series of earthquakes has been centered in Claveria, one of the two towns on Burias Island. The strongest in this seismic swarm occurred on Wednesday, December 24, at 9:22 a.m. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Ph

By Jay Salvosa The Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU) community— composed of faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni representatives—gathered at the Administration Building of the Bagumbayan campus on 18 December 2025, at 4:00 p.m., to formally bid farewell to the university’s iconic wooden structure. The event, aptly titled “Looking Back, Moving Forward,” marked the community’s collective goodbye to the building, which is set to be deconstructed as part of the university’s

THE year 2025 has weighed heavily on the global conscience. Climate disasters have grown more frequent and more destructive. Conflict and injustice continue to displace lives and strain already fragile systems. For many communities, especially in the Global South, these crises are no longer abstract—they are daily realities. In moments like these, the temptation is to feel powerless, to believe that individual action no longer matters against problems of such scale. But this

Parishioners wait for the priest to celebrate the Simbang-gabi mass. In the recent decade or so, the Simbang-gabi has become literally Simbang gabi. Traditionally, these masses were actually held technically in the early morning. (Not that it went away, there is still Simbang gabi in the early morning.) Well, as far as the Filipino culture and language is concerned, when it’s dark, it’s gabi. So, regardless of the time being 4 or 5 am, if it’s dark, that’s “gabi”. Anyway

If there is one New Year wish that could unite every peace-loving Filipino alive, it is this: to finally have decent, honest, and accountable leaders governing our country—at both the national and local levels. The old and decadent habits of corruption, vote-buying, dynastic entitlement, and plunder with impunity must go. They must die. For too long, Filipinos have been trained to endure what should never have been tolerated: abuse of power, deception, and the systematic thef

Ang mensahe kan opisina para sa Pasko kan nakaaging 2024 iyo ang minasunod: “Dakul man inagihan ang sektor kan pagtanom asin pag-sira, satuya man ining nalampasan. Sa pagtapos kan taon, maogma kita sa mga narecibe ta man na pag rekonosir sa mga espwerso kan sektor. Sa paglaog nin panibagong taon, mas madangog kita sa boses kan satong mga paraoma asin parasira! Maogmang Pasko asin Ma-SARIG na Bagong Taon!” Exacto sarong taon na ang nakaagi segun sa social media ang nasabing po

Natatandaan ko an parating pig tataram sa programa sa radyo ni depuntong David Dollano, naging sikat na radio announcer sa Naga na mayo daang Propeta ang pig tutubod sa sadiri niyang lugar. Sa istorya ko, bako man propeta ang pag oorolayan Kundi esperetista na nagbubulong nin mga naiibahan nin tawong lipod asin nagbubulong nin kulibra kan mga aki, asin naghihilot nin mga goromok na tulak kan mga omboy. Si Inya na agom ni Roming, saro sa pinag dadayo na esperetista sa saind

By Fr. Roy Cimagala HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone! As we open another year, let us first of all be thankful for everything that took place in the last year, regardless of what color they came, and look forward to this new year with great desire to do a lot of good things. We certainly have to continue with our usual routine which had been helpful in filling our day with meaningful and fruitful work, but let us not be unmindful of the new challenges that certainly would also presen

Atty. Paolo Tolentino Problema kan kapitbahay sa boundary kan lote Atty., kung dai kami nagkakaintindihan kan kapitbahay sa boundary kan lote, ano an pwedeng gibuhon para maresolba an problema peacefully? Pwede ba kami mag-meeting sa barangay o magpa-notarize nin kasuratan bago mag-escalate nin kaso sa korte? --- Iyo pwde kamo mag olay muna sa barangay para maresolba peacefully ang dae nindo pinagkakasundoan. Sa tabang kang barangay, pwde nindo sabihon, ipaliwanag saka iresol

By Ana-Liza S. Macatangay LEGAZPI CITY --- Children in the rural village of Monbon in Irosin, Sorsogon, have more to celebrate this Christmas. Their Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) organized several festive activities before Christmas Day. Twelve-year-old Jhoemico Lincuna joined a spelling bee and won first place, earning P1,000, while his team also took part in a quiz bee, finished second, and received P500 during the “Padurunungan: Academic and Literary Contest” on Monday, Decemb

By Rhaydz Barcia LEGAZPI CITY --- Five members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed two days before Christmas in a broad daylight encounter between troops of the Army’s 83rd Infantry Battalion and the Philippine National Police in an outlying area of Barangay Burabod, Lagonoy, Camarines Sur, on Tuesday, December 23, 2025. Army Major Frank Roldan, spokesperson of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division (9ID), identified the rebel casualties as Christopher Endrinal, alias Bal, h

By Ernie Delgado LEGAZPI CITY --- Recent powerful typhoons and torrential rains have severely impacted agriculture in the Bicol region, leaving small farmers needing support. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) acknowledged their plight and implemented a response policy. On December 16, Tuesday, CHED Bicol announced its new policy “to serve only locally produced foods as snacks and meals during meetings and other occasions.” On its Facebook page, CHED Bicol said the pol