Kadayawan sa Davao

The wait is over—Kadayawan Month is finally here!

Come on, let's dance and have fun together!

Because We Are One, KadayaONE! Kada-Kada!

#KadayawanFestival

#Kadayawan2026

#WeAreOneKadayaONE

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BARMM ministry cites role of science in disaster preparedness

 

By Keith Bacongco

Published Jul 31, 2026 05:50 pm

DAVAO CITY – The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) underscored the role of science in strengthening its disaster preparedness and response.

In the recent Bangsamoro Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (BDRRM) Summit, MOST Minister Baileng Mantawil stressed the urgency of strengthening collaboration as disasters continue to increase in both frequency and complexity.

Mantawil, vice chairman of the Bangsamoro Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (BDRRMC), told participants the role of science in advancing innovations and strengthening institutional coordination.

“Science informs us, technology empowers us. But resilience is achieved only when knowledge is transformed into timely action that protects every Bangsamoro community,” said Mantawil, who spoke on behalf of BARMM interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua.

The summit was attended by representatives and responders from different local government units in BARMM, Bangsamoro ministries, offices, and agencies (BMOAs), development partners, civil society organizations (CSOs), and academe.

During the summit, participants discussed innovations on disaster response and reduction as well as strengthening coordination among key agencies.

The MOST minister acknowledged the need to foster a culture where disaster risk information is understood, trusted, and acted upon to build a safer, more adaptive, and disaster-resilient community.

To protect lives and livelihoods, it requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach anchored in partnership, preparedness, and shared responsibility, Mantawil added.

She underscored that disaster response must be grounded in science, strengthened by technology, and guided by reliable and timely information.

Mantawil said scientific knowledge becomes truly meaningful only when translated into concrete action through early warning systems, hazard mapping, evidence-based planning, and inclusive disaster preparedness that reaches even the most vulnerable sectors.

Manuel L. Quezon,

 On this day in 1944, Manuel L. Quezon, who served as the second president of the Philippines, died of tuberculosis. He was 65 years old.

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Girls' Generation member Yuri leaves SM Entertainment after 19 years, stays with group

By Jonathan Hicap

Published Jul 31, 2026 02:07 pm

Yuri of K-pop girl group Girls' Generation will leave SM Entertainment after nearly two decades, ending a partnership that began with her debut in 2007, the agency announced Friday.

SM Entertainment said Yuri, whose real name is Kwon Yuri, will conclude her exclusive contract with the company on Aug. 31 following mutual discussions.

"It has been a precious time for SM Entertainment to be with Kwon Yuri throughout her entire journey, from her debut with Girls' Generation in 2007... and finally shining as an actress," the agency said in a statement.   

The move marks the latest high-profile departure from one of South Korea's biggest entertainment companies as veteran K-pop artists increasingly pursue independent careers while continuing activities with their groups.

That said, SM Entertainment clarified that Yuri will remain a member of Girls' Generation despite leaving the agency.

"Although her exclusive contract with our company has ended, she will continue her activities as a member of Girls' Generation without change," it said.

Debuting in 2007, Girls' Generation became one of K-pop's defining acts, helping drive the genre's global popularity with hits including "Gee," "Genie" and "I Got a Boy."  

Outside music, Yuri has built a successful acting career, starring in dramas such as "Bossam: Steal the Fate," "Good Job" and "Parole Examiner Lee." She has also appeared in variety programs including "The Zone: Survival Mission" and "Business Genius Baeksajang."

Yuri of Girls' Generation (Instagram)

Yuri of Girls' Generation (Instagram)

LIFE IS TOUGH

Ever since I could read I have been obsessed with the power of words, and it’s words that invariably turn things around for me when life gets tough. The phrase "life is tough, but so are you" is a popular reminder of human resilience, overcoming past hardships, and finding inner strength.

The quote means that even though life brings hard challenges and pain, you have the inner strength and power to survive and beat them. It is a message of hope and courage.

Life is full of ups and downs. It's okay to find yourself feeling frustrated and lost when you're going through some hard times. Accept whatever negativity you have to face, and choose to face them with a positive attitude.

Life can be tough, and it's not your fault. Despite what many people might say, you are not responsible for the challenges that come your way. There are many factors that contribute to the difficulties we face in life, and it's important to recognize that they are not always within our control.

When you make your way through tough times, you'll become stronger and more successful in life. That's why the phrase “what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger” really does ring true. The wisest and most well-rounded people you meet are usually those who have gone through tough times themselves.

Putting yourself through hard things, and holding yourself accountable will automatically build discipline and mental strength. You will be so locked in, and disciplined, that exercise will be an essential part of your day. Because of that, you will become stronger and in better shape than you've ever been in.

“In this life, people will love you and people will hate you and none of that will have anything to do with you.” — Abraham Hicks

So important to remember when life gets tough.

Every time I speak at a public event, give an opinion at a meeting, go to a networking event, or just meet new people, I think of this quote.

At the end of the day, what other people think doesn’t matter as much as we think it does.

Haters gonna hate, likers gonna like, and life goes on.

There were some tough days, there were some good days, but you have to just keep going, keep dreaming, and keep believing.

Buddha’s famous saying tells us: “It is your resistance to ‘what is’ that causes your suffering.” Think about that for a minute. It means that our suffering only occurs when we resist how things are. If you can change something, then take action! Change it! But if you can’t change it, then you have two choices: (1) either accept it and let go of the negativity, or (2) make yourself miserable by obsessing over it.

 

How thinking about the future makes life more meaningful

 The Daily Guardian is a renascent Iloilo-based publishing firm and media outfit with bureaus across Western Visayas and beyond. Led by Iloilo's most respected journalists, we pledge to tell the Ilonggo story as seen through the various lenses of society so that every side may be told.

August 1, 2026

By Klaus Döring

During these awful and negative times around the world, thinking about the future does not really keep me positive.

Well, mindfulness is all the rage these days, and for good reason. Focusing on the moment can improve our well-being, foster compassion, and help our relationships. What about going beyond the present moment? Yes, thinking about the future can trigger anxiety — but a growing body of research suggests that it can also make our lives more meaningful.

Humans aren’t alone in having some ability to consider the future, a process that scientists call “prospection.” After all, your dog gets excited when they see you holding a leash because they anticipate that a walk is imminent; your cat may show similar excitement at the sound of a can being opened. There’s even evidence that some animals — like bonobos and ravens — can choose and save tools that they plan to use in the future.

But prospection’s unique benefits for humans extend beyond those of other animals. Not only do we fantasize about our next vacation or decide whether it would be better to take the stairs or the elevator, but we can also look far into the future: We might save for our children’s education or plan for our retirement decades from now. We can make predictions about our own futures based on what we’ve learned from other people’s experiences and even from characters in books and movies. And we can consider multiple directions our futures might take.

It is this remarkable ability to simulate our possible futures that makes prospection special. Just as gold prospecting may literally make you rich, studies suggest that prospection about your future can enrich your life in at least four ways.

Perhaps one of the most fundamental and important functions of prospection is that it helps us decide how to act: Thinking about what the future likely holds helps us decide what course to take in the here and now. Several studies have examined how thinking about the future shapes our decision-making.

Researchers have been particularly interested in the psychology that drives our process of deciding between receiving something now and receiving something of greater value later. In general, people tend to choose smaller but more immediate rewards over larger rewards that they have to wait for, a phenomenon known as “delay discounting.”

But they don’t always choose short-term rewards over long-run gains. For instance, studies have shown that a present-day connection to a possible future event can counteract delay discounting.

Another study showed that participants who felt closer to their future selves were more willing to wait for a larger reward than those who anticipated that they would change; the same was true when they were asked to make decisions on behalf of a fictional character who they knew would go through a life-changing event, such as a religious conversion or returning home from war.

While interesting in its own right, this research could have important personal ramifications. If people could be made to feel a more immediate connection to their eventual retirement and the consequent drop in income, they may be more motivated to make prudent decisions.

In fact, one experiment found that manipulating how people think about the time until their retirement — in days rather than years — caused them to plan to start saving for retirement sooner because the shift in time perspective made the participants feel more connected to their future selves. A 2014 study found that viewing realistic, computer-generated images of what they might look like in the future decreased their discounting of future rewards and led them to contribute more to a hypothetical retirement account.

Prospection has another important application: It motivates us to achieve our goals. But the relationship here is not a simple one. Work by psychologist Gabriele Oettingen and colleagues shows that whether thinking about the future helps us actually reach our goals depends on how we think about the future.

In fact, research has found that positive thinking about our future can backfire. The more people positively fantasize about successfully reaching their goals, the less effort they actually put into realizing them. For example, in one study, the people who fantasized more about successfully losing weight actually lost less weight. Another study found that students who fantasized about their transition into a professional career were less successful in their job searches, and that students who dreamed more about their crushes were less likely to start relationships with them.

Importantly, both of these studies found the opposite effect of having positive expectations, or “judging a desired future as likely.” People who expected to lose weight were more likely to actually lose weight; students who expected they would find a job were more likely to actually land one; and students who expected to enter a relationship with their crush were more likely to actually do so.

It makes sense that having positive expectations — optimism, essentially — could increase our ability to achieve our goals, but why might fantasizing about the future actually decrease the chance of achieving what we want? Because, write Oettingen and Klaus Michel Reininger, positive fantasies “lead people to mentally enjoy the desired future in the here and now, and thus curb investment and future success.”

But often our goals come from our fantasies. We want to excel at work, find Mr. or Mrs. Right, or run a marathon. How do we turn these fantasies into behaviors that can help us reach our goals? Research suggests that while optimism is important, it is also helpful to draw a contrast between our fantasies and our current reality, which allows us to see barriers that must be overcome.

For example, one study asked students to mentally contrast their positive fantasies about benefiting from a vocational training program with aspects of the program that could impede their progress. This reflection caused students who expected to do well in the program to commit more fully and those who expected to do poorly to commit less — again pointing to the importance of optimistic expectations for success. But the mental contrast was also key: Positive expectations did not increase commitment in participants who were not assigned to compare their present situation with their future desires.

Results from a later study suggest that the effectiveness of mental contrasting is due to “energization” — meaning that when people have high expectations for succeeding at something, considering what might impede their goals gives them energy to try to overcome those barriers. In other words, it helps to stress yourself out a little bit.

Mental contrasting, particularly when used in conjunction with “implementation intentions” — making plans to help move past potential barriers — has been shown to help people reach their goals. To describe this process, Oettingen and colleagues use the acronym WOOP: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. In studies, WOOP-type interventions have helped people break a bad snacking habit, get more exercise, and improve academic performance.

Thus, research suggests that thinking about the future can motivate us to take the steps necessary to reach our goals — but only if we take obstacles into account.

Discover the four stages of change. Find out how to set up the right environment for changing your habits.

How to choose goals that make you come alive.

Besides helping us make decisions and reach our goals, there is evidence that prospection may improve psychological health more generally. It might even help people who are struggling with depression and those recovering from trauma.

Indeed, some researchers posit a link between poor prospection and certain psychological disorders, such as depression.

“We see faulty prospection as a core underlying process that drives depression,” write psychologists Martin Seligman and Anne Marie Roepke in the book “Homo Prospectus.” In particular, they note that people with depression imagine possible futures that are more negative than those imagined by people without depression. Moreover, people with depression tend to overestimate risk and have more pessimistic beliefs about the future.

One way to engage in anticipatory savoring, suggested by Roepke and Seligman in a review article, is to modify the “three good things” gratitude exercise. Instead of writing three good things that happened today, you can write three good things you anticipate happening tomorrow and what you can do to make it more likely that those things will actually happen. For people who are struggling, they also suggest writing down three methods that could be used to mitigate disappointment if the good things do not happen. These could include coping strategies, such as exercising or reaching out to a friend, or alternative strategies for making the good thing happen. For example, if a friend canceled lunch, you could suggest having lunch the following week.

While there’s a lot left for researchers to discover about prospection, you don’t need to wait for their published studies. You can try your own experiments right now to see if prospection helps you live a more generous, happier, and more meaningful life.

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