The current crisis affecting our agriculture sector caused by the 2024 El Niño phenomenon should no longer come as a surprise. When the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issued an advisory as early as July last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. waited about half a year before issuing Executive Order 53 as a response. He delegated a number of bureaucrats to supposedly oversee preparations as the El Niño task force, even putting up a website specifically for this. But yet again, here we are in the midst of another disaster, with 82,994 fami ..read more

Every day, Dang Phuc and his family members water and weed green vegetable beds in his 2,000-square-meter farmland. They make organic fertilizer from garbage, straw, and manure to grow radishes, spinach, pennywort, and other vegetables; selling these products as their main income, Phuc said, they can earn 40 million dong (about $1,600) per year, even more than from growing rice. “We are delighted to make our farmland viable for growing food to eat and to sell to others. Our farmland has yielded its harvests again,” he said.  But in previous years they failed to cultivate rice, their main ..read more

Environmental groups have slammed a Hong Kong government plan for a high-tech urban development despite warnings it will destroy a crucial wetland habitat for migratory birds, including the endangered black-faced spoonbill. The city’s Advisory Council on the Environment approved a controversial environmental impact assessment for a high-tech development known as the San Tin Technopole on Monday, despite warnings from 10 environmental groups that it would cause the worst damage to the city’s coastal wetland and fishpond habitat in 30 years. “San Tin Technopole … will cause the most extens ..read more

Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, strongly condemned the recent Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, which resulted in significant casualties, predominantly children and women. According to authorities in Gaza, of the 34,151 Palestinian casualties, 14,685 are children and 9,670 are women, with an additional 77,084 injured and more than 7,000 presumed buried under rubble. Türk noted the disturbing rate of casualties, saying that “every 10 minutes a child is killed or wounded.” He said children, though protected under war laws, are disproportionately affected.  He ..read more

Pope Francis on Wednesday opened a new chapter in his ongoing catechetical series on virtues by pivoting to a reflection on the three theological virtues — faith, hope, and charity — which he noted form the key pillars of Christian life. The Holy Father bolstered his analysis by looking at the legacy of St. John Paul II. “Looking at his life, we can see what man can achieve by accepting and developing within himself the gifts of God: faith, hope, and charity,” the pope said to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.  Saturday will mark the 10th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s cano ..read more

Water is life. Each culture has its own way of recognizing the value of water as part of rituals and practices, either for bathing, washing, drinking or as a sacrifice. Water covers 70% of the earth’s surface and is vital for all known forms of life. The cells in our bodies consist of 65 – 90% water. We cannot survive without it. Water has many functions in religions: there are rituals to call forth more water and others to stop the deluge of water.  There are lakes, rivers, and springs that by religious people are regarded as having the power to heal the sick and overcome ..read more

Like many Nepalis, Surendra Dhami left his home village in Darchula District in the Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal for Malaysia in the hope of improving his family’s quality of life. He returned in a few months because the work and pay were not what he had been promised by the recruiter. But there were no jobs in Darchula, and farming in the rugged, arid mountains would not feed his family. Location of the Kailali District in Nepal. Map created by Rarelibra via Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0. So, like many other mountain farmers, Dhami, 36, migrated with his family dow ..read more

Record heat in the Philippines this month has forced schools to send children home for online classes, reviving memories of COVID lockdowns and raising fears that more extreme weather in the years to come could deepen educational inequalities. Pupils at 7,000 public schools in the Southeast Asian country were sent home last week due to unusually hot weather in many areas that forecasters have linked to the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon. Teacher Erlinda Alfonso, who works at a public elementary school in Quezon City near the capital, said she did not know what was worse f ..read more

Justice remains elusive for the 290 people who lost their lives in the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, as the fifth anniversary of the tragedy approaches and calls for accountability persist.  Despite the time elapsed, the demands for justice from the Sri Lankan people continue, with little closure achieved. The bombings on April 21, 2019, involved explosions at several churches and international hotels, leaving a nation in mourning and demanding answers and accountability.  The local church, led by Colombo’s Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, has been vocal in calling for an independen ..read more

April 22 became the most daunting moment for all Indonesians who had been awaiting the nation’s Constitutional Court’s (MK) ruling on whether Gibran Rakabuming’s bid for power is legitimate. Gibran is the eldest son of the country’s President Joko Widodo.  His decision to run for power as the country’s next Vice President has been widely considered a result of nepotism due to the ruling previously made by MK’s former chairman Mr. Anwar Usman who is Jokowi’s brother-in-law. MK rejects all claims as groundless Since the MK’s ruling legitimized the candidacy of government officials under 40 ..read more