By Marcelle P. Villegas Department of Energy (DoE) announced that the Philippines now allows foreign companies to fully own large-scale geothermal projects in the Philippines. This decision was made to further promote renewable energy and to shift away from coal as an energy source. [1] DoE signed the circular on the guidelines for the third Open an...
By Marcelle P. Villegas The newly overhauled MRT-3 train was tested by running it at a maximum speed of 50 kph. Here is a view from the driver’s compartment on MRT-3 during test run last 29 October 2020. (Screenshot from Department of Transportation video) MRT-3 or the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 conducted test runs on its first newly overhauled train...
By: Dr Carrianne Ewe, Medical Director, International SOS PhilippinesThe Philippines is approaching its eight-month into the COVID-19 lockdown that began in March. While it feels that we have made it through the more restrictive Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to General Community Quarantine (GCQ), it is important to note that this ‘unseen enemy’ is l...
Nickel Asia Corp. - Hinatuan Mining Corp. (NAC-HMC) provides rice to the Municipality of Tagana-an and its three host communities: Barangay Talavera, Sitio Bagong Silang and Sitio Campandan.The provision of 150 sacks of rice to Tagana-an is done to provide assistance to residents affected by the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) in the municip...
By Marcelle P. Villegas Last 21 October 2020, Makati City government passed and approved an ordinance authorizing the acquisition of right of way covering the underground portions of nine roads that are affected by Makati City government’s subway project. As per Ordinance No. 2020-204, the roads that will be affected by the project are: Sen. Gil ...
By Marcelle P. Villegas President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Proclamation 1030 last 21 October 2020 declaring September 8 of every year as the “National Green Building Day”. This is a step to strengthen the promotion and establishment of energy-efficient and green buildings in the Philippines. Malacañang Palace released a copy of the proclamation last O...
Gold BCR (GBCR): Building an empire of enduring wealth based on innovative blockchain technologies with junior mining companies. In this new era, modern science and innovation technologies are changing rapidly every day. Innovative new disruptive technologies ideas in mining are now meeting together with blockchain. These new disruptive technologies such ...
NAC-CMC donated PHP1 million for the construction of a Molecular Testing Laboratory (MTL) in Surigao del Norte to boost the province’s detection capability.By: Sarah Mae M. PalacioAs the world is facing a historic crisis brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the economic impacts of the pandemic is felt around the world—especially among far-flung ...
Without a question of doubt, the mining industry nowadays is becoming even more complex. It deals with natural resources that are harder and more complicated to access, stricter regulations for both safety and environment, and a redefinition of what “profitable” means with a growing focus on sustainability and quality of life. last October, the country’s ...
By Marcelle P. Villegas Rare plants that naturally accumulate large quantities of nickel are believed to be hiding in Indonesia’s forests. (Photo credit: Dr. Antony van der Ent, University of Queensland) Previously, on Part One of our featured story, we shared the findings of a group in Indonesia that studied rare plants that absorb high concentrati...
By: Patricia A. O. Bunye I have always wondered how the founder of Zoom, Eric Yuan, feels about making over USD12 billion since March 2020, when the pandemic began and practically everyone on the planet has been ‘Zoom-ing’ for work or play. With its simple features, Zoom has left competitors like Skype in the dust. Yuan is now ranked No. 85 on Bloom...
By: Fernando Penarroyo The Philippine economy grew on average by 6.3 percent annually over the last decade due to the country’s sound macroeconomic policies and structural economic reforms under President Rodrigo Duterte and his predecessor Benigno Aquino III. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine economy ranked among the best performers in Asia...
No business, no industry sector has been left unscathed by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, nearly a year since the COVID-19 disease was first detected in China -- and that includes mining. A recent report said that in the Philippines, as many as 138,000 jobs in the mining sector were lost during the pandemic, according to Mines and Geosciences Bureau ...
Aroroy, Masbate -- Niña Acuña and Ivy O. Rivero, trainees for the Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) NC-I and NC-II courses (Photo by Marcelle Villegas, Philippine Resources Journal) By Marcelle P. Villegas In the male-dominated industry of construction and infrastructure, women are starting to make their mark and participating in its development as ...
“If the nickel within these rare plants could be tapped, it would provide a sustainable source of nickel for use in electric vehicle batteries.” (Credit: Antony van der Ent) By Marcelle P. Villegas Science journalist, Dyna Rochmyaningsih, recently wrote a feature about three scientists who published their research about the existence of rare plants ...
Electric vehicles and battery manufacturers - Exhibitors at the 7th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit - July 2019, SMX Convention Center, Pasay City (Photo by Marcelle P. Villegas, Philippine Resources Journal) By Marcelle P. Villegas While most environmentalists believe that mining is bad for the environment, they somehow encourage or even demand ...
By Marcelle P. Villegas “The deadliest things in the world are usually invisible to the naked eye.” This is a statement from a social media advertisement of Pinoy Builder, a website about infrastructure, design and construction industry in the Philippines. Their informative post aims to spread awareness of preventing respiratory illness while working i...
By Marcelle P. Villegas The Philippine economy in general, along with many local infrastructure projects are greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The highly contagious trait of the virus became a source of anxiety and fear in the work setting since safety and life-threatening issues are now at play. For the past months, the construction industry ...
By Marcelle P. Villegas “We believe that our SLEX TR5 and Pasig River Expressway projects will be the next game-changers. These will fuel economic growth that’s sustainable -- new jobs will be created, tangible assets delivered and more private sector-led investments stimulated. Sama-sama. Babangong tayo.” (Ramon S. Ang, San Miguel Corporation) Mr R...
2019 Manila FAME at World Trade Center - (Top photo) Joseph Castillo (a.k.a. Joe Green) with the author. (Lower photo) Joseph Castillo (second from left) with his teammates in The Bamboo Initiative -- Jose Camus, Stephen Araneta and Aisa dela Cruz of OLLI, Larissa Alivio of Bamboo Initiative, and more. (Photo by Marcelle P. Villegas, Philippine Resources ...
By Marcelle P. Villegas The Apolaki Caldera is currently considered as the world's largest caldera. It was discovered in Benham Rise by marine geophysicist Jenny Anne Barretto and her team. Last June 5, 2020, an online talk show and forum in New Zealand titled "NetKapihan" had Ms Barretto as their special guest for their Philippine Independence Day spe...
While COVID-19 remains a threat to different parts of the country, a local community in barangay Sapa, Claver, Surigao del Norte has turned to farming to brace for another threat – food availability and livelihood amid the pandemic.A total of 25 members of Sapa Integrated Farmers’ Association (SIFAS) spent months of the community quarantine attending to t...
BY: Fernando “Ronnie” S. Penarroyo Late last year, the International Rights Advocates filed a lawsuit in a Washington DC court on behalf of fourteen (14) Congolese families against several companies, alleging that their children were killed or injured while mining for cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The lawsuit further alleges ...
BY: Patricia A. O. Bunye: Over the past few months, the price of gold has been going haywire. As the coronavirus pandemic changed the world as we knew it in March, the price of gold crashed alongside stocks then quickly regained. Thereafter, a frenzy of investment drove up the price to an all-time high. On August 4, it shot up to USD2,021/troy ounce for t...
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