HERE WE GO DAVAO!

#ConstructionUpdate

87% COMPLETION OF DAVAO BYPASS ROAD TUNNEL

The construction of 2.3 km. Twin Mountain Road Tunnel part of Davao City ByPass Construction Project is almost done.

It's 87.72% ( 1,965 meters ) completion progress as of October 2024 for Northbound side and for Southbound side, it's 78.30% ( 1,761 meters ) progress.

FYI: The entire Davao City Bypass Construction Project has 45.62 km. from Barangay Sirawan, Toril, Davao City to Brgy. J.P. Laurel, Panabo City, Metro Davao.

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#TheDavaoeños

#TheDabawenyos

#DavaoCityBypassRoadProject

#davaodigitalnews #DavaoCity

#Davao #MetroDavao

#DavaoDigitalNews #DavaoNewMedia

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F.E.E.D. Philippines: A journey to feed the needy during calamities

BY MANILA BULLETIN

Jan 24, 2025 05:21 PM 

By Haydee Awayan

In the wake of Super Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013, which devastated countless coastal communities, I found myself overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the destruction and the heartbreaking stories of loss. Entire towns were flattened, families displaced, and lives forever changed. Like so many others, I couldn’t sit idly by. I began searching for groups or opportunities to contribute, even in the smallest way. Then, while scrolling through social media, I stumbled upon a heartfelt plea from a group of friends who had decided to take action. They were pooling their resources—pots, pans, ingredients, and sheer determination—to prepare hot meals for survivors.

These survivors, flown to Villamor Air Base via military C-130 planes from Tacloban City, were seeking refuge in makeshift shelters. Inspired by their initiative and the power of collective effort, I knew I had found my way to help.

Without formal structure, funding, or logistics support, we shared only a common goal—to bring warmth and sustenance to those in dire need. Word of our efforts quickly spread, and others joined the cause. Donations poured in from friends, relatives, neighbors, and even strangers who wanted to support our mission. Social media became a powerful tool for rallying volunteers and spreading the word. What began as a simple act of kindness in the aftermath of a tragedy snowballed into a collective movement that began to fill a critical gap in disaster response.

A need for structured approach

The impact of that event inspired us to formalize our efforts. Recognizing the need for a structured approach, I, along with other volunteers, registered a nonprofit organization under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2016. Thus, F.E.E.D. Philippines Inc. (Food for Empowerment in Emergencies and Disasters Philippines Inc.) was born and has grown into a fully established and respected organization focused on providing hot, nutritious meals to communities in need during and after natural disasters, calamities, and emergencies.

Recognizing that collaboration is key to maximizing impact, F.E.E.D. has built strong partnerships with various stakeholders. Local governments and disaster response agencies provide logistical support, while private corporations contribute funding and resources. Educational institutions and civic groups often volunteer manpower, creating a sense of shared responsibility.

Beyond providing immediate relief, F.E.E.D. focuses on building long-term resilience by conducting training sessions and community development initiatives after each mission. These include creating community gardens to enhance food security and teaching communities how to prepare affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate meals using locally available ingredients, fostering self-reliance during crises. Our teams of volunteers work tirelessly in mobile kitchens, often braving harsh conditions to reach remote areas.

We are also expanding our “Alay sa Mag-Aaral” project, which began with a simple donation of encyclopedias. This initiative supports far-flung and impoverished schools across the country by providing complete school supplies, garden tools, sports equipment, ­­­and establishing libraries to foster learning. We are also committed to creating more scholarship opportunities, building on the success of programs first launched in Ifugao and Cagsiay in Quezon.

We will proudly continue our “Share a Meal” initiative, a heartfelt tradition that began in 2016 with a humble sack of rice donation. Every Dec. 24, this program brings hope and warmth to street children, homeless individuals along Roxas Boulevard, and patients at the Philippine General Hospital, Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, and Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Hospital.

The activity includes distributing hygiene packs and food supplies, storytelling sessions, arts and crafts, free haircut, unlimited ice cream and cotton candy for kids, and games, making it a festive celebration for everyone. This tradition ensures that no one eats alone on Christmas Eve (Noche Buena), offering not just a meal but a sense of care and belonging. Over the years, these people have become like family to us. I’ve had the privilege of watching these young children grow—seeing their excitement every year is a powerful reminder of why we do this.

Stories of survival

It’s these very stories—stories of loss, survival, and unimaginable hardship—that inspire us to continue doing what we do. There was the woman who lost her family to a typhoon yet found the strength to smile when she received a warm meal. The child, hungry for days, who lit up with joy when they finally tasted their first hot meal after a calamity. The farmer, whose crops were swallowed by floodwaters, grieving the loss of his livelihood. The students in Quezon, who had never tasted taho, and that student in Ifugao, carefully wrapping the school supplies we gave him to keep them dry on his way home in the rain.

We do this not just for the meals, but for the dignity, the hope, and the warmth we bring in times of despair.

(Haydee Awayan is a FEED volunteer, an advocate for communities in need, and a single mother to two boys.)

A WHOLE LOTTA ANGELS

BY ANGEL B. DUKHA III

JANUARY 23, 2025

Myla Pablo (No. 15) has been soaring for the Angels. —PVL IMAGES

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Terrafirma, of all teams, halts TNT win streak

Petro Gazz discovered something important on Tuesday night: the Angels don’t need to solely rely on Brooke van Sickle to be successful.

It’s an important lesson to learn as early as this part of the PVL All-Filipino Conference slated to run until April. This is the longest conference the league has ever hosted and it would do well for Petro Gazz to know that the rest of the Angels are always ready to step up to the plate.

But the lesson didn’t come easy. Petro Gazz needed to muster all the strength it had and, even then, had to rely on a sudden change in momentum to turn back a formidable Chery Tiggo side, 20-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-7, late Tuesday at PhilSports Arena.

Davao Doctors Hospital (DDH) served as the Official Medic Partner for the recently concluded Davao Women’s Run PH event.

 Davao Doctors Hospital (DDH) served as the Official Medic Partner for the recently concluded Davao Women’s Run PH event.

With DDH’s trusted expertise and commitment to health and wellness, participants were provided with immediate and reliable medical assistance throughout the event. The hospital’s medical team was on-site to ensure the safety and well-being of all runners, offering prompt care when needed.

***

Davao Doctors Hospital is a proud member of Metro Pacific Health (MPH), the largest group of private hospitals in the Philippines and a part of the MVP Group. The 27 hospitals that make up MPH include Makati Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Riverside Medical Center, and Davao Doctors Hospital, as well as 33 outpatient care centers, 6 cancer centers, 2 allied health colleges, a centralized laboratory, and several pharmacies across the country – all working together to deliver high-quality compassionate healthcare to Filipinos.

For more information about Metro Pacific Health, visit our website at www.metropacifichealth.com

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638Bea Moscoso - Bucu, Arian Jane Ramos and 636 others

Is that really a best new artist?

The long and complex tale of a controversial Grammy category

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jan 22, 2025 11:26 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Take Sabrina Carpenter,who finds herself nominated for best new artist this year — on her sixth full-length release. There’s little doubt that the “Espresso” singer ruled the airwaves in 2024, but she was already making a mark on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as early as 2021 with the No. 48 song “Skin.” 

Sabrina Carpenter (Images courtesy of Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — When is something old considered new? If you’re talking about the Grammy Awards, that’s often whoever lands in the best new artist category, easily the weirdest of the races.

Take Sabrina Carpenter, who finds herself nominated for best new artist this year — on her sixth full-length release. There’s little doubt that the “Espresso” singer ruled the airwaves in 2024, but she was already making a mark on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as early as 2021 with the No. 48 song “Skin.”

The category of new artist is constantly evolving, trying to capture the zeitgeist each year as the process of categorizing fame gets more complicated, from raw LP sales in the 1970s to TikTok videos today.

“I do think that they are constantly tweaking that category to make a bigger splash with it,” said Theo Cateforis, director of undergraduate studies in music history at Syracuse University. “They are kind of gaming the system to say, ‘Yes, we want artists nominated for this category who will draw eyeballs, who will have an audience, who will make for a better kind of media representation.’”

The Grammy rules currently say nominations hinge on whether “the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence” — and it delegates that determination to a screening committee. Eligible artists must have released at least five singles or one album, but there is no longer a maximum.

Under those rules, Carpenter fits. She had three top 10 hits in 2024 — “Espresso,” “Please Please Please” and “Taste” — and her album “Short n’ Sweet” spent four weeks at No. 1. Suddenly she was very prominent.

“I’ve got to confess, even as a pop music scholar, I wasn’t talking about Sabrina Carpenter’s fifth album, but I was talking about her sixth album,” said Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist at Berklee College of Music in Boston. 

Green Day

A history of dubious

The Grammys have long stretched the meaning of “new” into a pretzel. Cyndi Lauper won best new artist in 1984 despite having released an album with the band Blue Angel four years before. Green Day were nominated after “Dookie,” but that was the trio’s third album.

Bennett recalls teaching a songwriting class that featured Amy Winehouse’s first album “Frank” in 2003 — a full five years before she would win the crown for best new artist. Bon Iver won on their second album and Esperanza Spalding won after her third. Chance the Rapper walked up to accept the Grammy for best new artist in 2017 with a baseball cap that had a “3” stitched on it — the number of albums he’d created by then.

That loosey-goosey nature is in stark contrast to the strict past, when Whitney Houston famously wasn’t deemed eligible for best new artist in 1986 because she had already recorded duets with other artists.

Some best new artist candidates are really fresh, but that’s rare. Lil Nas X is one example — his major label debut EP contained “Old Town Road” in 2019 and a year later he was at the Grammys. Or Olivia Rodrigo, whose debut “Sour” came out in 2021 and helped her be crowned best new artist in 2022.

“I think a large part of the issue is that it’s just a poorly named category,” said Jasmine Henry, a musicologist and sound engineer who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. “I think the way the public conceives of this category is as best debut artist award. And the reality is that it’s really a breakout award in its function.”

Esperanza Spalding wins best new artist award in 2011.

Lady Gaga leads the change

The rules for best new artist last came under a harsh spotlight in 2009 when Lady Gaga was barred from the category because her first single, “Just Dance,” had been nominated for best dance recording the year before. 

The rules back then said best new artist nominees couldn’t appear on any Grammy-nominated recording, even if they were a feature. Under the 2010 revised rules, artists were eligible for the best new artist prize unless they had previously released an album or already won a Grammy.

In 2016, the Recording Academy updated its eligibility requirements again, “to remove the album barrier given current trends in how new music and developing artists are released and promoted.” In 2019, it expanded the number of nominations to include eight artists instead of five. In 2021, it removed the maximum amount of musical output — 30 singles or tracks or three albums.

“Best new artist is now viewed — and rightly, in my opinion — through the eyes of public opinion, not through some strictly applied set of grubby numerical criteria,” said Bennett.

The current rules also allow best new artist nominees who were formerly in a duo or groups, ”provided the duo/group had not attained prominence.”

That means three past winners for best new artist — 1970’s Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1988’s Jody Watley and 1999’s Lauryn Hill — likely wouldn’t be eligible. David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were all already known for their work in previous groups, as were Watley (in Shalamar) and Hill (the Fugees).

These days, there’s a certain career momentum that best new artist nominees share, said Henry. It’s a mix of red-hot singles and virality.

“We usually see the breakout song and then we’ll see them do a Tiny Desk Concert, and then they may open up for Taylor Swift and have a viral moment. And then they’re probably going to be on ‘Saturday Night Live’ or late night,” she said. “You can really see that trajectory crystallizing over the last decade.”

Best new artist 2025 nominees

In addition to Carpenter, this year’s best new artist nominees are: Benson Boone; Doechii; Khruangbin; RAYE; Chappell Roan; Shaboozey and Teddy Swims.

‘We were all flabbergasted’

Carpenter isn’t the only act that got a best new artist nod after years of touring and album releases. So too was Khruangbin, a Texas trio that formed in 2010.

They got their nomination following the release “A La Sala,” their well-received fourth studio album that reached the top 40 of the Billboard 200, but not as high as their 2022 EP with Leon Bridges, the No. 23 “Texas Moon.”

The band was at soundcheck before a concert in Berlin when news broke that they’d been nominated. They came offstage to congratulatory texts and a bouquet of flowers.

“We were all flabbergasted,” said bassist Laura Lee.

None of the members were aware they were up for a Grammy and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson researched how they became best new artist candidates. He understood it by explaining Carpenter’s inclusion.

“She’s been around for a minute, but ‘Espresso’ kind of made a big impact this year. I can definitely see she’s by no means a quote-unquote new artist. But to most people who didn’t know who she was, at a certain point, she’s new,” he said.

The 67th Grammy Awards will be held Feb. 2 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The show will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. For more coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards.