PH internet speed improves in February— Ookla

BY BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT

Apr 2, 2023 08:46 AM

  

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The country’s fixed broadband internet speed improves in February, according to the latest Ookla Speedtest Global Index report.

Based on the report, the country’s fixed broadband median speed improved to 90.03Mbps from the 88.13Mbps registered the month before. Average fixed broadband speed registered at 142.57Mbps.The latest download speed represents an improvement of 18.95% since the Marcos administration began in July 2022.

Mobile median speed slightly dipped as the country yielded a download speed of 24.58Mbps from 24.59Mbps the month before. Average mobile speed registered at 58.66Mbps. The latest download speed represents an improvement of 9% since the Marcos administration began in July 2022.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said that ensuring improvement of internet speed remains a priority as the country fast-tracks its digitization. NTC Commissioner Ella Blanca B. Lopez said, “We are also happy that Elon Musk’s Starlink is also now available in the country to give Filipinos in underserved and unserved areas fast and reliable internet.”

Streamlining and speeding up the issuance of LGU permits in July 2020 generated a significant increase in permits granted to telcos from July 2020 to January 2023.

Improvement on internet speed is largely attributed to this development as telcos are able to fast-track building infrastructure (cellular towers and fiber optic network) necessary in boosting services and connectivity.

Global women who rule 2023: PH women leaders celebrate Women's Month

Global Women Who RULE (GWWR) is a celebration of awe-inspiring tales from a collective of women forward-thinkers and achievers, out to pay it forward to society.

BY MB LIFESTYLE

Mar 21, 2023 11:30 PM

  

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Celebrating International Women's Month, this women leaders group is pulling out all the stops. Created at the start of the pandemic by Apple Esplana-Manansala, the past two years is seeing nothing but growth. Global Women Who RULE (GWWR) is a celebration of awe-inspiring tales from a collective of women forward-thinkers and achievers, out to pay it forward to society. On March 25, GWWR holds its main event, the GWWR Summit committed to use the power of social media to promote community and use #DigitalForGood.

On its third year, the GWWR Summit 2023 features 22 profiles of Filipino women leaders from all industries from all over. Pushing 4 pillars: Education, Mental Health, Human Rights, specifically Violence Against Women (VAWC) and Health, this year's event is on track to break its own record.

"The support has been tremendous, for which we are grateful. We have about a hundred nominees this year from PH and from the US, NA, APAC, ME and even Oceania—everywhere. It feels good to receive this kind of acknowledgement from our peers, from young women and men, and from colleagues and co-leaders, and of course from entrepreneurs and business leaders. GWWR is a 'Circle of Sisters' so to speak, and the outpouring of well wishes fills our hearts," says Apple.

GWWR 2023 is the first hybrid event for the year. With the world opening the more people are intent on socializing. For Apple, this is careful strategizing. The more eyes, the better. The more direct interaction, the more memorable and compelling it is for the hundreds of attendees that will join onsite at Enderun Extension, the venue partner. PuzzleBox BPO, Inc. and WELLife Corporation also joined in support of the event.

For online attendees, Apple's own 24\7 streaming media platform The New Channel (TNC) is the site. Though Global Women Who RULE is a separate entity from The New Channel, both are connected at the hip with GWWR providing opportunities for meaningful partnerships and programs with brands and media.

"We, at The New Channel, are very proud of our flagship movement Global Women Who RULE. We're helping GWWR encourage Filipino women to be brave and innovative and we give them a platform to speak up and be heard," says the prime mover.

This year's event GWWR Summit on March 25th stages the 3rd of what has been envisioned to be an annual search for amazing profiles to join their growing group targeting 22 new additions to GWWR from more than a hundred nominated profiles. Another first for GWWR 2023 is the hopeful release of the digital version of its PowerBook featuring the 2021 and 2022 profiles of GWWR women leaders.

Apple adds, "We are so proud to hold GWWR this year. It's a culmination of a full year's sweat and toil. We've gotten some buzz, but we have the chops to show for it. The topics for each keynote speech are rich and inspiring, and the speakers are the best in their fields and they teach from experience."

Apple isn't exaggerating. Among the enlightening talks will be coming from:

Mamie Lamley, founder of Empowerment On Fire and founding partner of Heroic Voice Academy. She will join via stream live from Colorado USA.

Marieton Pacheco, Omni News Filipino producer will be joining via stream live from Vancouver Canada.

Le-an Lai Angeles Lacaba, co-founder of 2xYou who will stream live from Cebu City.

Erika Canoy-Sanchez, executive vice president and COO of RMN Networks.

LTC Jannette C. Arceo GSC (MNSA) PA (R), commanding officer, 403 Ready Reserve Infantry Battalion National Security Fellow, Philippine Council for Foreign Relation (PCFR).

Mona Magno-Veluz a.k.a. Mighty Magulang, national president of the Autism Society Philippines.

Ace Gapuz, chief executive officer of Blogapalooza Inc..

Jenny Bautista Wieneke, chief marketing officer-Tokyo Tempura and an MSME Advocate.

Marjorie Carlet Edmonds, "The House Flipping Queen" and CEO of Carlet Edmonds Housing Solution, LLC who will be streaming live from Central Valley, California, USA.

Dianna David, creator of MVMT Medicina Somatic Practice & Authentic ExprEssence Coaching and will stream live from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The primary beneficiary of GWWR Summit is Alopecia Philippines with the vibrant and larger than life Abby Asistio as spokesperson.  Completing this year's 22 profiles are:  Second Officer Marie Ison Maximo, Teresa Dumadag, Carmie de Leon, Arizza Nocum, Audrey Pe, Dra. Necy Juat, Gracie Miranda-Maulion, Atty. Josephine Santiago, Wandalyn Tan-Calupig, Ellen Perez, and Chazeline Caberos-Bautista.

"We're here to inspire, to compel women to harness their power and be a vehicle for good. GWWR is a group that can help young girls to start dreaming and work towards achieving goals, and therefore build and strengthen communities," adds Apple.

Selena Gomez becomes first woman to have 400M Instagram followers

 

Jan Milo Severo - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — A few weeks after dethroning Kylie Jenner as the most followed female celebrity on Instagram, Selena Gomez became the first woman to have 400 million followers on the platform.

Kylie has 382 million Instagram followers. 

Selena, however, is the third celebrity who has the most followers on Instagram. Football stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are on the top with 562 followers and 442 million followers respectively.

In her Instagram account, Selena posted photos with her fans celebrating the accomplishment. 

"Wishing I could hug all 400 million of you," she captioned the post. 

Selena was the most followed woman in 2019 until Ariana Grande and then Kylie took the title. 

Her comeback as the most followed woman on Instagram came in the middle of her retreat from social media. 

She recently told Vanity Fair that she only has TikTok app in her phone and tried to put filters to avoid hurtful comments. 

“People can call me ugly or stupid and I'm like, 'Whatever',” she said. 

“But these people get detailed. They write paragraphs that are so specific and mean. I would constantly be crying. I constantly had anxiety... I couldn't do it anymore. It was a waste of my time,” she added.

Marcos says help underway for landslides, flash floods victims in Davao region

by Joseph Pedrajas, MB

President Marcos said Thursday night that concerned agencies are now in charge of those affected by flash floods and landslides in Davao Del Sur and Davao Occidental.

Marcos, in a series of Twitter posts, said necessary actions were already taken to secure individuals affected by heavy rains brought by the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in two Mindanao provinces. 

Photo courtesy of President Marcos Twitter page

The President, who is currently in Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, said agencies that have already been mobilized are the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Clearing operations and distribution of relief goods are already underway, he added.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Bureau of Fire Protection, together with NDRRMC, have “been conducting search and rescue operations since this morning,” Marcos said.

“I have also instructed DSWD to make sure all evacuees get immediate help. They assured us that teams on the ground are continuously repacking relief goods,” he added.

Hidilyn Diaz spearheads PH team to world weightlifting championships Published November 10, 2022, 12:51 PM

by Kristel Satumbaga-Villar

Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz banners the elite cast of weightlifters when they see action in the 2022 IWF World Championships on Dec. 5 to 16 in Bogota, Colombia.

Hidilyn Diaz starts her 2024 Paris Olympics campaign when she competes in the world championships in Bogota, Colombia next month. (File Photo)

Diaz will compete in the women’s 55kg class – the same weight division where she won the Olympic gold in Tokyo last year – in the tournament that offers ranking points to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Joining Diaz are fellow Tokyo Olympian Elreen Ando, Asian champion Vanessa Sarno, world juniors gold medalist Rosegie Ramos, Southeast Asian Games gold winner Kristel Macrohon, and Lovely Inan.

Ando will battle in women’s 59kg, Sarno and Macrohon in 71kg, and Ramos and Inan in 49kg.

The men’s team will feature 2015 Asian champion Nestor Colonia, John Febuar Ceniza and Dave Lloyd Pacaldo.

Colonia will compete in the 55kg, Ceniza in 61kg and Pacaldo in 67kg. 

Accompanying the athletes are coaches Ramon Solis, Richard Agosto, Joe Patrick Diaz and Julius Naranjo, as well as weightlifting president Monico Puentevella and Team HD members Jeaneth Aro and Karen Trinidad.

Diaz hopes to maintain or surpass her bronze medal finishes in the 2015 Houston, 2017 Anaheim and 2019 Pattaya editions, while Sarno and Ando seek a podium finish after both placed fifth in their weight classes last year in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Councilor wants Davao City to showcase IP attire

PAYING HOMAGE Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio (left) walks with Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa 'Imee' Marcos during the first State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on Monday, July 25, 2022. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

By Ruth Palo, Manila Times

DAVAO CITY: Second District Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre has proposed an ordinance requiring the city government employees to wear an Indigenous Peoples (IP) attire every Monday of the month to celebrate local culture.

Alejandre's move came after various political leaders during the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. took this chance to showcase their respective city or municipality's cultural and ethnic attires.

Alejandre, who chaired the 20th City Council Committee on Tourism, in his privilege speech during its regular session on Tuesday, July 26, said culture and tradition receive less acknowledgement and appreciation.

"It came to my knowledge that although we are a country rich in culture, tradition and history, we have somehow failed to appreciate our diversity and mocked the identity that shaped us," he said.

During Marcos' SONA on Monday, Vice President and Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio chose to wear the traditional attire of the Bagobo Tagabawa tribe, which is one of the eleven tribes in the city.

He said many praised Duterte-Carpio for promoting her city's culture. However, Alejandre said a few people have called out what she wore and called it a "cosplay."

They failed to realize that the Bagobo traditional attire worn by Duterte-Carpio, which she borrowed from Bae Sheirelle Anino, the deputy mayor of the Tagabawa tribe in Davao City, is not a cosplay, but a representation of one of the biggest indigenous tribes in Davao City, said Alejandre.

She wore the Bagobo Tagabawa traditional attire because she wanted to show appreciation for the IPs, he said.

"Those who insulted Duterte have proven their ignorance of our country's culture when they labeled her as a cosplayer without even realizing that they have also insulted the efforts made by the Bagobo Tagabawa tribe in weaving the said attire," Alejandre added.

"The vice president was also bashed on social media for cultural appropriation, when in fact, she had consulted the Tagabawa tribe on the proper way of using this traditional attire. May this incident, therefore, become a learning experience for all of us. We must learn the difference between cosplay and paying homage to our culture and tradition."

He said the comments of some Filipinos on Duterte-Carpio's traditional attire likewise opened his eyes to the harsh reality that there is still more to be done in appreciating our culture.

"May we always promote our culture in any way that we can. Even President Marcos emphasized in his first State of the Nation Address the crucial role of tourism and culture in providing regular employment for the Filipinos. Finally, may we never forget our culture and just call it a mere cosplay," Alejandre added.

Alejandre, who was appointed by then President Rodrigo Duterte as executive director of the National Commission on Culture and Arts, described the Bagobo tribe as one of the largest groups of IPs in Southern Mindanao. The tribe is composed of three sub-groups, namely the Tagabawa, the Clata or Guiangan and the Ubo.

VP Sara to wear traditional Bagobo dress on SONA

These subgroups may belong to one sociolinguistic group called the Bagobo, but they differ in some ways such as dialects, dance steps, costumes and color preferences.

Alejandre believes that it is high time we raise the level of cultural awareness of society, especially among youth, so they will be more sensitive to the words they say or post online.

In 2020, the City Council passed an ordinance requiring all public and private schools in all levels in Davao City to include in their curriculum the teaching of local history.

Christian leaven and the Metaverse

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

WE have a tremendous challenge with the coming of the new digital platform called the Metaverse. It is supposed to be the internet’s next frontier focusing on virtual and augmented reality, which is really quite a development. Like any development in the world, Metaverse offers us tremendous advantages, but we should also be most wary of the huge dangers it can give us.

Are we ready for it? And by “we,” what is meant is everybody, of course, but especially the young who are easily seduced by its immediate conveniences without knowing how to make good use of these advantages and conveniences.

Do we exactly know what to do with it to help us achieve what is truly in good in us? In the first place, do we know what is truly good for us? Do we have a clear idea of what would comprise dangers arising from its use?

Somehow this kind of wariness was expressed by Christ when he warned his apostles about the leaven of the Pharisees. (cfr. Mk 8,14-21) At first, the apostles did not get what Christ meant, something that can also happen to us due to our poor understanding of Christ’s will and words. But when they did, they knew they had to be most faithful to the teachings of Christ which is what is truly good for all of us.

We have to realize that any development, especially in the technologies, would require an upgrade in the virtues, especially of prudence that helps us to judge and make choices and decisions properly. We just cannot enter into a new phase of development without the proper preparation, not only in terms of skills, but also and most importantly, in terms of the virtue of prudence.

Otherwise, there is no other way but to be swallowed up by the very strong pressure to fall into self-indulgence and into simply making knee-jerk reactions that can only satisfy our immediate but shallow needs while undermining our more important needs, especially our moral, spiritual and supernatural goals in life.

We need to see to it that the use of the Metaverse, as in any development in the world, should fuel our duty to be more coherent in our Christian identity and our duty to be Christian leaven, consistently radiating the Christian spirit all over.

In other words, for the Metaverse to be of real use to us, it should bring us closer to God and to everybody else. It should foster greater love which in the end should make us all a better person. If, on the other hand, it would make us more self-indulgent, self-centered, vain, arrogant, etc., then it is nothing but a sweet poison, a replication of the Tower of Babel.

We have to institute ways of educating everyone on the proper use of this new technology. I wonder what is being done in this direction. While it’s nice to hear that in many centers of education and formation, there is concern for up-skilling people, we should have more concern regarding how to prepare everyone to be consistent in his Christian identity as he immerses himself in this new technology.

The Metaverse can be a tremendous means for us to be true Christian leaven in the middle of the world if we only know how to use it properly.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Did you have a good sleep?

By: Alexis Romero (philstar.com)


Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’ Neill asked President Rodrigo Duterte the question Saturday as the Philippine leader faces criticism for skipping some events during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Singapore.

O’ Neill, the chairman of this year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, had a small chat with Duterte during the arrival of leaders at the APEC Haus Holding Room here.


When Duterte arrived at the venue, O'Neill greeted him with "Nice to see you," to which the Philippine president replied "Happy to see you."

After a few pleasantries, the Papua New Guinean leader was heard asking his Philippine counterpart: "Did you have a good sleep?"


Duterte, known for his lengthy remarks, answered "Yeah."

After a few more friendly exchanges, O'Neill asked Duterte again: "Did you have a good rest?"

Duterte replied "Yeah."

O'Neill and Duterte then shook each other's hands and posed for the photo opportunity.

Duterte created a buzz among foreign and local media after skipping the ASEAN special summits with Australia and South Korea, the working lunch for ASEAN leaders and the gala dinnrer last Wednesday in Singapore.

Officials have said the 73-year-old president had to take power naps because of his tiresome schedule.

Duterte also cut short his visit here and was expected to depart for the Philippines tonight.

Hate speech

TUE, JULY 4, 2017 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

Besides fake news, hate speech is the second big problem in social media.

It has been longtime overdue, but finally German lawmakers have approved a controversial law that would impose high fines on social media companies like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube for failing to swiftly delete posts deemed to exhibit hate speech.

Under the new legislation, social media companies have 24 hours to remove posts that obviously violate German law and have been reported by other users. In cases that are more ambiguous, Facebook and other sites have seven days to deal with the offending post. If they don’t comply with the new legislation, the companies could face a fine of up to 50 million Euro ($57.1 million).

The law was passed with votes from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – Social Democratic Party (SPD) government coalition. The Left Party in the Bundestag voted against it, while members of the Greens abstained.

The new rules are supposed to drastically reduce the number of posts containing hate speech, fake news and terror propaganda on social media. In January and February 2017, YouTube deleted 90 percent of hate speech videos reported by users – but Twitter only deleted one percent. Facebook did a little better at 39 percent.

Skeptics criticize, however, that under the new rules social media managers are the ones who have to decide whether content complies with German law. They also worry that freedom of speech will suffer since, in their opinion, companies are likely to delete many posts just to be on the safe side and avoid fines.

It’s in-deed a Land-mark legislation in Europe and should be adopted worldwide.

In addition to the strict new rules about deletion, the law forces networks to reveal the identity of those behind the hateful posts and to offer users “an easily recognizable, directly reachable, and constantly available” complaint process for “prosecutable content,” which includes libel, slander, defamation, incitement to commit a crime, hate speech against a particular social group, and threats.

Germany is the first country in Europe to introduce such clear legal guidelines against online hate speech.

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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me in Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn or visit www. germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com.

Rebuilding Marawi

EDITORIAL - Rebuilding Marawi

 (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 1, 2017 - 12:00am

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The battle for Marawi is expected to be over soon, according to the government. The next phase will be the tortuous road to recovery. With much of the city razed by war, and with the lingering threats posed by those who staged the siege, the task can prove to be more challenging than the reconstruction of Tacloban City and other areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

In shifting from war to reconstruction, the government may want to take a page from the military’s counterinsurgency playbook: “clear, hold, build.” Clearing Marawi of Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists is still ongoing. Once the AFP considers its mission accomplished, the government must move in and ensure that the victory is sustained. The terrorists must not be allowed to regroup and rebuild their strength for another strike anywhere in the country.

This entails cooperation from the local political leadership all the way down to the grassroots. The military offensive, backed by police commandos, indicated that the Mautes received support from a segment of the Marawi community, which provided funds, guns, ammunition and other supplies to the terrorists. The local supporters might have also had links with fighters of the Islamic State, whose commander in the Philippines, the Abu Sayyaf’s Isnilon Hapilon, could have escaped the government offensive in Marawi.

Now that Marawi residents – and the rest of the nation – have seen the atrocities that the Mautes are capable of perpetrating and the suffering inflicted on the city, there should be greater readiness to work with the government in permanently neutralizing this threat.

Residents’ cooperation is critical in rebuilding Marawi from the ashes of war. The Mautes and their supporters may try to derail reconstruction work. City residents should be at the heart of efforts to thwart any such attempt.

In Tacloban and other areas ravaged by Yolanda, the mantra was to build back better. This can also be done in Marawi. As President Duterte has vowed, the city will rise again. The sweetest victory, and the best way to reject the Islamic State and its gospel of violence and hatred, is to show that Marawi not only recovers but also becomes a better city.

I am the way

WED, JUNE 28, 2017 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINION

Klaus Doring

Many times we compare our life with a path. We talk about “the way”. We describe a determined man as, “He’s on the right track”. We go about our tracks, but we are reproved if we take a short cut and not the path across a rice field. We learn that there are many ways of solving problems.

We also don’t want to stand in other people’s way. Sometimes we prefer to keep put of someone’s way and plan to avoid getting in their way. Often we try to find the golden middle course….

Many different ways have been offered to us during our whole life. How can we be able to choose the right and correct one? Which signs at our way can be trusted blindly? These are urgent and vital questions for all of us, and, especially during this time, very important like never before.

In the past, traditions and customs are the paths, we took. Nowadays, we make decisions and long for the correct path – mostly on our own.

The German atom physician Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) described it very impressively. The man of today is like a ship’s captain. This ship is made out of iron. The compass needle is no longer able to show the Northern direction, as expected, because of the ship’s iron inflexible body. You have one choice only: look up to the stars and study their guiding sup-port!”

We’re all happy and proud, when we have every need at our disposal. On the other hand, it only confuses our aims, goals, and objectives in life.

“I am the way” is NOT ONLY a traffic sign – or a shepherd without responsibility – or a religious founder, who thinks, that “only he is the right way, if one follows him”….

HIS way is the only right way. Only His deeds colored our fates. Let’s keep our eyes open for the important signs at our way, such as :

– Unselfish participation in the life of others;

– Courage to uncover prejudice;

– Ready to help the unprotected and defense-less;

– Struggle for freedom and justice;

– Commitment for peace.

Most of all: Love, which does not calculate and count. Love without measurements, boundaries and limits.

If you can share with others, you’ll know one day in future, that someone walked this way – earlier then you – and, and, FOR YOU!

Roxanne Barcelo - The Way I Am (Ingrid Michaelson Cover) for FHM Sessions

A child named "Peace"

Born amid Marawi conflict: A child named 'Peace'

ABS-CBN News

Posted at Jun 25 2017 05:16 PM

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Sahir closes his eyes as her mother lulls him to sleep inside a packed evacuation center in Iligan City. Rod Bolivar, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - In a packed evacuation center in Iligan City, Tarhata Mustari carries her month-old child she initially named Marcial as they try to celebrate Eid al-Fitr on Sunday.

Mustari gave birth to her baby last May 23, the day Islamic State-inspired terrorists took over portions of their hometown, Marawi City.

She named her baby Marcial at first because it was the day President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the whole Mindanao island.

But later on, Mustari said she decided to change the name of her child to Sahir, the Maranao word for peace, hoping for good things to come for her baby boy.

"Sana lumaki siyang maging masigla, makapag-aral siya nang mabuti. Sana mahaba pa rin ang buhay naming lahat," the mother said.

Mustari said Sahari's name is not yet legal as they have yet to get and sign documents needed from the Marawi City Hall's registry due to the ongoing war.

There are over 3,000 displaced Marawi residents staying in five evacuation centers in Iligan City, while 45,604 stay are home-based evacuees, data from the local government show.

In Barangay Buru-un alone, there are already some 269 evacuees. The most crowded evacuation center in Iligan is the Santa Elena Gymnasium where around 1,198 uprooted residents stay.

Displaced Marawi residents are hoping and praying that the conflict ends as soon as possible so they can return to their homes.

But a military spokesman last week said military operations against the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups in Marawi may still take time.

As of latest count, the government said they have killed at least 280 suspected terrorists while there are already 69 deaths on the government side.

At least 26 civilians, meanwhile, have also died due to enemy fire, according to the military, who admitted having difficulty in forcing enemy snipers out of their hiding places. -- Report from Rod Bolivar, ABS-CBN News

BusinessWeek Mindanao: Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany

Filipinos remain among world's most emtional

By Jeremaiah Opiniano (philstar.com) 

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In this Nov. 23, 2016 file photo shows Philippine National Police chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa turned emotional during the Senate probe into the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa. The STAR/Mong Pintolo, File photo

LIPA CITY, Philippines (The Filipino Connection) — Maricar Garcia got a small strip of paper near the police station here and thought it was a scented sheet. The two sentences on that strip gave a different "scent": positivity.

 

"PRAY until your SITUATION CHANGES. MIRACLES happen EVERYDAY," reads the strip.

 

I am just amazed, Garcia said in Filipino on her post to this city's biggest Facebook group "Lipa City Philippines." "It (the message) gives good vibes especially in this humid weather while I was walking," Garcia said.

 

This simple showcasing of positivity, at least through the Filipino social media universe, continues to make the Philippines among the world's most emotional societies.

 

The Philippines tied for third among 142 countries with the highest positive experiences, says an annual survey of people's emotions by the polling firm Gallup. This is while the Philippines, in Gallup's annual Global Emotions Report, remained as Asia's most emotional country for the third year in a row.

 

The 2017 GER's Positive Experiences Index showed that the Philippines' index score was at 82 percent, tied with Panama. Paraguay was the highest at 84 percent, followed by Costa Rica with 83 percent.

 

 

For this specific Index in the said Global Emotions Report, the Philippines is the highest among Asian countries.

 

The Philippines' 2017 mean score in the Positive Experiences Index was higher than the global mean of 70 percent.

 

Meanwhile, in the major finding for "Total Emotions," the Philippines was third with 58 percent. Ecuador topped here with 60 percent while El Salvador and Liberia each posted 59 percent.

 

 

The "Total Emotions" item of the Gallup Global Emotions survey featured ten questions that make up the survey's positive and negative experiences indices. This indicates which countries are the most and least emotional.

 

The Gallup's Global Emotions Report contains five questions each for positive and negative indices that help measure "life's intangibles" — pertaining to feelings and emotions — that traditional economic indicators such as gross domestic product cannot or never even intended to capture. 

 

Either the positive or negative experiences index, Gallup adds, "provides a real-time snapshot of people's daily experiences" so as to give indications on the health of societies that economic measures alone cannot capture. 

 

About 149,000 individuals from 142 countries were surveyed in this 2017 Global Emotions Report. 

 

The ten questions were part of the annual Gallup World Poll that annually tracks some of the most important issues like food access, employment, leaders' performances and well being. This Gallup World Poll includes more than a hundred global questions as well as region-specific questions, Gallup explains.

 

Gallup asks the same questions "every time, in the same way" that allows analysts to trend data annually, or even make direct country comparisons.

 

On the 149,000 people surveyed worldwide for the 2017 World Poll, and for results based on the total sample of national adults, the Gallup World Poll's margin of sampling error ranged from ±2.1 percentage points to ±5.3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

 

The Global Emotions Report's positive experiences set of questions asked questions such as:

 

• Did you feel well-rested yesterday? 

• Were you treated with respect all day yesterday? 

• Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday? 

• Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday? 

• Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about enjoyment?

 

The scores for the Positive and Negative Experiences Indices are the mean (or average) scores of "all valid affirmative responses" — multiplied by 100 — for the five questions in each index, Gallup explains. 

 

The Philippines, in the 2016 edition of the Global Emotions Report, was among four countries — together with Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala — with the highest emotions worldwide. 

 

In the 2015 edition, the Philippines tied with Ecuador for second (58 percent) behind Bolivia and El Salvador (59 percent each) in terms of the most emotions.

 

But it was only in the 2017 edition of the Global Emotions Report that the Philippines broke into the top ten of the Positive Experiences Index.

 

In releasing the 2017 Global Emotions Report, the polling firm notes what it claims to be an important observation in the field of  behavioral economics: only 30 percent of an individual's behavior is "rational — (and) the other 70 percent is emotional," Gallup said.

 

"While organizations are starting to apply this (said) concept at a microlevel, governments have been slow to do it at a macro-level," Gallup wrote.

 

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Jeremaiah Opiniano is the publisher of The Filipino Connection