A rare piece of volcanic agate rock was discovered in the Rio Grande do Sul region near Soledade in Brazil last November 2020. It is an oval-shaped rock with a hard, white pitted outer shell. On the outside, it looks like a perfect egg. When you split the rock at the center, you will see in each of the two halves a strange resemblance of Cookie Monster, a...

By Marcelle P. Villegas Last year (2020), eleven Filipino scientists were included in the Asian Scientist Magazine 100 list for most outstanding researchers and scientists. The list pays tribute to the best and brightest in Asia in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Asian Scientist Magazine is an award-winning, Singapore-...

By Marcelle P. Villegas President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his remarks during the virtual plenary session of the 37th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits hosted by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse, Malacañang Park. (Photo credit: King Rodriquez / Presidential photo, Presidential Communications Operations Offi...

By Marcelle P. Villegas A moratorium on the endorsements of greenfield coal power plants was issued by the Department of Energy (DoE). This announcement was made while allowing foreign investors to now have full ownership of geothermal plant projects in the Philippines. DoE’s decision to stop the endorsements of coal power plants is the result of an as...

21 Dec. 2020 – Landslide at Carmen pit -- A screenshot from the video sent to SunStar Cebu Amid the holiday festivities in Toledo City in Cebu, a sudden tragedy happened last Monday afternoon in a mining pit in Barangay Biga. 21 Dec. 2020, Monday -- Carmen Copper Corporation (CCC) said that the landslide happened at around 4:15 pm at the Carmen Pit....

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 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...

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...

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...