More than 400 visual artists from across Mindanao are showcasing

 DAVAO CITY – More than 400 visual artists from across Mindanao are showcasing the diversity and vitality of contemporary art as Mindanao Art 2026 opened at SM Lanang here.

The exhibition, which started Sunday and will run until Oct. 1, highlights the creativity, culture and stories that shape the region through works by local artists.

In an interview, Kublai Millan, president of Lawig-Diwa Inc. and a renowned Mindanaoan sculptor and painter, said the annual event has become a venue for artists to sell their masterpieces and connect with the community.

"Every year we're getting bigger. Based on the sales, we have a good relationship with the community. Consistently, they appreciate art. We are happy to share that every year we have bigger sales," Millan told the Philippine News Agency.

He added that the fair has inspired artists to dream bigger.

"Our artists are growing. But we really dream big for our artists to sell and earn big," he said, reminding them not to forget the richness of Mindanao culture if given a break.

This year's staging also marked a milestone with the participation of an organization from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the first time all regions of Mindanao are represented.

"Slowly, we've been able to bring them in. We want everybody to be part of this event," Millan said.

He added that the expanded participation underscores the fair's role in uniting Mindanao's diverse communities through art while strengthening recognition of local talent on a broader stage.

On sustaining creativity, he advised young artists to draw inspiration not only from the internet or social media but also from real people and culture.

"Artists are ambassadors of culture. By turning culture into works of art, we share it in new and interesting ways. The challenge is that many artists themselves need support, which is why we are working hard to give them a platform like this," Millan said.

| via Che Palicte/Philippine News Agency

photo courtesy of Mindanao Art

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Long weekend!

 

Long weekend! PBBM declares Nov 16 to 18 as special non-working days in Metro Manila

President Marcos Jr. (Photo by Mark Balmores)

President Marcos has declared Nov. 16 to 18 as special non-working days in the National Capital Region (NCR) to accommodate the country's hosting of the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits. Read more

DENR launches Pinoy Biotech Hub

Among the innovations showcased during the National Biotechnology Week was the H2Organics™, a new hydroseeding-hydrogel technology developed by Rejaynil M. Valdez, RCh., designed to rehabilitate mined-out and degraded lands.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) launched on Tuesday, Sept. 22, an accessible digital platform that connects ordinary Filipinos directly to local innovations, practical solutions for specific community needs, and potential collaborators across agriculture, natural resources, and environmental management. Read more

CHEd sets rules on AI use in higher education

(Photo from Pixabay)

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has issued new guidelines governing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Philippine higher education, covering teaching, learning, research, and institutional operations. Read more

 

EU-Philippines move closer to signing free trade deal

In a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 22, Trade Secretary Cristina Roque and European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič announced that both sides had reached a “substantial agreement” on the FTA. This is expected to clear the path toward the formal conclusion of the free trade pact in the coming months, with the signing set for next year. Read more

The Family that never ends

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

@gmail.com AT first glance, Christ's words seem unsettling. "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it." (Lk 8,21) Was Jesus distancing himself from his own Mother? Not at all. He was revealing why Mary is the greatest of all creatures. She is blessed not simply because she gave birth to Christ, but because she heard God's word, welcomed it with complete faith, and lived it to the full. Blood relationship is a gift. Spiritual relationship is greater. Christ throws open the doors of his family to everyone. Membership is not determined by race, status, or ancestry. It depends on one thing: hearing God's word and putting it into practice. That changes everything. Christianity is not simply about belonging to an institution or carrying a religious label. We become members of Christ's family by living in communion with him. The Gospel is meant to shape our thoughts, decisions, work, relationships, and even the smallest details of daily life. We may know the teachings of the faith, attend Mass, and say our prayers, yet still fail to let God's word direct our lives. Hearing without obeying is incomplete. Faith must become life. God's word is not merely information to be learned but a living reality meant to transform us. Every command of God is an invitation to share in his own life. Every circumstance becomes an opportunity to seek and fulfill his will. The consequences are far-reaching. If hearing and doing God's word make us members of Christ's family, then holiness cannot be confined to churches or moments of prayer. It must reach the office, the classroom, the marketplace, the home, the traffic jam, and even our moments of rest. There is no neutral ground in the Christian life. Every situation can and should bring us closer to God if we respond with faith and love. Work is no longer just work. It becomes prayer when offered to God. Family life becomes a school of charity. Daily duties become opportunities for sanctification. Ordinary life is not an obstacle to holiness but its ordinary path. This also transforms how we see other people. If everyone is called to belong to Christ's family, then every person deserves respect, patience, and genuine charity. The difficult colleague, the demanding client, the noisy neighbor, and even those who oppose us are persons loved by God and called to holiness. We cannot claim to belong to Christ while refusing to love those whom he loves. There is another important consequence. Belonging to Christ's family also means sharing in its mission. Every Christian is called to be an apostle—not necessarily through preaching, but through professional competence, cheerful service, integrity, kindness, and authentic friendship. Our ordinary life becomes our apostolate. Mary remains our perfect model. She listened, trusted, and obeyed. She united prayer and daily duty so completely that every ordinary task became an expression of her love for God. That is why she is both the Mother of Christ and his first and greatest disciple. The Gospel leaves us with a simple question: Are we merely hearing God's word, or are we living it? The answer is found not in what we say but in how we work, forgive, serve, suffer, and love. Every ordinary day offers countless opportunities to show that we truly belong to Christ's family.

I am thinking about moving to Germany. What are some things I should know beforehand?

 

Manak Shah

 · 

M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, Hochschule Furtwangen University (Graduated 2016)

The following points are important to know:

1. Learn some German and then come to Germany. Most of them know English but knowing German will help you a lot.
2. Ask for help whenever you need, Germans are the most friendliest people I have ever met. Most of them will try to talk with you in English, just be patient and explain them your situation.
3. It is a safe and a secure place; currently 3 km away from my house there is a refugee camp from 2 months and nothing has changed, I still walk back home at 2 in night safely.
4. Keep yourself posted about the DB Bahn before landing in Germany, the train strikes takes place sometimes in Germany, so that you don't get stuck on Airport when you land. If you are having multiple connections and when you can't get on your 2nd train due to strike or bad weather you can ask for a Taxi at the DB Bahn office.(This condition is rare though)
5. Check the Weather and have proper provisions in order to face them. It rains regularly, sometimes its windy and sometimes it also snows.
6. Don't pay for your rent in advance from your home country if you are renting an apartment for 6 months or more. There are scams sometimes.
7. Learn to keep things clean. Germans take cleanliness seriously and they like things clean and neat.
8. Don't be loud after 10 pm, during afternoon and on weekends.
9. Avoid talking loudly in Public transport too at anytime.
10. Smile at strangers, most of the Germans will say Hello or Morgen in return.
11. If you are coming as a student then you should keep some cash with you, avoid credit cards because at some places they don't accept them.
12. Get temporary health insurance for 2 or 3 moths in order to take care of health problems if they arise.
13. Most of the Train Stations have WiFi and also some restaurants. So use them whenever you need them.
14. Telephone booth still exists in Germany, so you can make calls wherever you want to in Germany.
15. Keep small coins like 1 or 2 € coins for small stuff. If you don't have them, then generally at Airports they do exchange 10 or 20 € notes with small coins
16. Don't talk about the World War 2 and the things of Hitler in Public and don't do the Nazi salute in public, you may get arrested.

Edit:

Joe Hoy suggested one of the most important points which I forgot.

Be Punctual and be always on time or little bit before time

 

Governing education right

BY CIELITO F. HABITO

SEPTEMBER 22, 2026

Our future as a nation literally hangs on the education of our children and the education system that molds them, and the way things stand, we’re facing a rather murky future indeed. I wrote last week how the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment no longer puts us at the bottom in education outcomes. But we remain among the bottom one-fifth in the world, and up to three out of four Filipino students remain below minimum proficiency levels. On top of that, the already wide learning gap between rich and poor widened even more. Our education crisis persists.

It became evident early on to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2) that fixing our flawed education governance is paramount. The heaviest drags on the sector have to do with (1) too centralized, top-down governance; (2) policy directions that change with every new secretary of education (who changes even more frequently than the President); (3) insufficient budget worsened by inefficient and ineffective budget execution; and (4) inadequate appreciation and support for optimizing the role of the private education sector in the overall education system.

I’ve written of the “memocracy” that prevails in the Department of Education (DepEd). Edcom 2 learned that school principals will not (and believe they cannot) decide and take any action, especially on creative, locally adapted learning approaches, methods, and content, unless a memo from above explicitly instructs or permits it. Local government officials with a genuine desire and capacity to improve the learning environment in their schools cannot effect beneficial changes when principals and district supervisors feel constrained by perceived restrictions from above. And yet the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 (Republic Act No. 9155) promulgated “shared governance” and “school-based management,” explicitly empowering principals to, among others, “introduce new and innovative modes of instruction to achieve higher learning outcomes.” To his credit, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara has enabled wider latitude for school heads and their immediate superiors, so they do not feel straightjacketed by imagined restrictions from above. He is also enabling moves toward decentralization and devolution of education governance functions best left at lower levels. This contrasts directly with the atmosphere that appears to have prevailed under his predecessor, known for whimsical directives that trumped time-tested education practice, apart from the suspicious use of unprecedented confidential funds. Still, “memocracy” is an ingrained culture that will not vanish overnight and will take years of sustained and consistent empowering leadership to overcome.

Those who hear the word of God and act on it

 

By Manila Bulletin Newsroom

Published Sep 22, 2026 12:05 am | Updated Sep 21, 2026 05:22 pm

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Practice makes perfect. This also applies to our life of faith.

Hearing God’s word remains incomplete unless what has been heard is put into practice.

We have to live up to the challenge of acting on the word of God, submitting our will to God’s divine will. God’s divine will includes the raising of God’s divine family on earth.

Today’s Gospel narrates that the mother and brothers of Jesus came because they wished to see Jesus.

Jesus points out that his mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and act on it. With these words, Jesus emphasizes what his mother Mary has actually exemplified—hearing God’s word and acting on it (Lk 1:38).

Upon hearing God’s word, Mary acted on it by saying her “Yes” to God’s divine plan.

Mary cooperated with God, becoming an instrument in God’s salvific act. She is truly a handmaid of the Lord through whom the divine will is done according to God’s word.

How do we put into practice God’s word? How willing are we to cooperate with God’s divine plan? Do we say yes to God’s will?

Gospel • Luke 8:19-21

The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2026,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.

Philippines needs ₱1.1-trillion investments to avert water security risks by 2040—OECD

 

The Philippines needs about ₱1.07 trillion in water and sanitation investments through 2030 as mounting demand, fragmented regulation, as well as financially weak service providers threaten the country’s long-term water security, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Read more

54 years after Martial Law, rallyists push Filipinos to remember

 

54 years after Martial Law, rallyists push Filipinos to remember; Rep. Diokno advocates vigilance to protect democracy

Young rallyists gather at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, to mark the 54th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. (Photo taken by Shane Quiachon/MANILA BULLETIN)

Fifty-four years after Martial Law was declared, young protesters and those who experienced the period firsthand gathered in Manila on Monday, Sept. 21, calling on Filipinos to remember the lessons of the past while raising concerns over issues facing the country today. Read more

Meanwhile, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno, whose life was deeply affected by martial law, asked Filipinos on Monday, Sept. 21, to keep alive the lessons of martial law and remain vigilant in protecting democracy, freedom, and the people’s right to hold government officials accountable. Read more

7 Rules of Happy Life

1. LET IT GO. Never ruin a good day by thinking about a bad yesterday.
2. IGNORE THEM. Don't listen to other people live a life that's empowering to you.
3. GIVE IT TIME. Time heals everything.
4. DON'T COMPARE. The only person you should try to beat is the person you were yesterday.
5. STAY CALM. It's okay to not have everything figured out. Know that in time you'll get there.
6. IT'S ON YOU. Only you are in charge of your happiness.
7. SMILE. Life is short.