Kabacan responders top Gov. Lala Simulation Exercise

 

By Keith Bacongco

Published Aug 1, 2026 05:34 pm

DAVAO CITY – Responders from the local government of Kabacan in Cotabato topped the 6th Gov. Lala Simulation Exercise (SimEx) on mass casualty incidents in Banisilan, Cotabato from July 26 to 31.

The Kabacan Incident Quick Response Team (KIQRT) outperformed their counterparts from different towns in most of the disciplines during the competition.

The KIQRT was also the Best in Swift Water/River Crossing, Best in Hailing, Best in Low Angle Rescue, and Best in Emergency Transfer, List, and Carries.

Responders from Matalam placed second after earning the Best in Patient Management and Best in Extrication in the Mass Casualty for Earthquake, Landslide, and Flooding Incidents. Third was responders from Pikit which was the Best in Transfer, Coordination, and Endorsement in the same scenario.

In the same scenario, responders from Tulunan were Best in Camp Management; Makilala as Best Organized Team, and Best in Search and Rescue Uniform was also awarded to responders from Antipas and Makilala.

Special awards were given under the Mass Casualty Incident and Vehicular Crash to responders from Kabacan for Best in Extrication; Arakan for Best in Triage; M’lang for Best in Patient Management, and Pikit for Best in Transfer, Coordination, and Endorsement.

The five-day activity was part of the provincial government’s effort to hone the skills of every responder in the province in man-made disasters and geohazards.

According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), the simulation exercises also aim to identify the competencies of all Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils and partner-agencies in the province in managing events or incidents.

The PDRRMO acknowledged that the province is exposed to a wide range of natural and human-induced hazards, necessitating a high level of preparedness among responders and stakeholders.

“With its strategic locations and expanding road networks, the province continues to experience increasing risks of vehicular accidents that may result in mass casualty incidents,” the PDRRMO said.

The agency noted that the province lies in a seismically active region, making it vulnerable to earthquakes that may trigger secondary hazards such as flooding, landslides, and infrastructure collapse.

“These realities underscore the need for continuous capacity building, interventions, particularly simulation exercises that replicate real-life emergency scenarios and test the readiness of response systems at all levels,” PDRRMO said.

Banisilan Mayor Arlene Alisasis said that the local government is grateful for being chosen as the host of the activity.

“Calamities could strike anytime and anywhere, we cannot predict when disasters could strike. That is why we have to always be prepared, we should remain united because there are no challenges that we cannot overcome,” Alisasis said.

Maymay Entrata flaunts bikini body during Palawan getaway with boyfriend

By Neil Ramos

Published Aug 1, 2026 11:52 am

At A Glance

• Maymay Entrata delighted fans after sharing sweet moments with boyfriend Joaquin Enriquez during their Palawan getaway, where her stunning bikini photos also went viral.

Maymay Entrata is making waves on social media after sharing snaps from her recent vacation in Palawan with boyfriend Joaquin Enriquez.

The actress-singer treated her followers to photos from their stay at a private resort, giving fans a glimpse of the couple's relaxing island getaway.

Several of the images captured the pair enjoying the picturesque destination, while others highlighted Entrata's toned physique in a bikini, drawing praise from netizens.

"Palawan, La Isla Bonita. A grateful heart, breathtaking views, my bonito, and a beautiful newly engaged couple... what more could I ask for? Praise God indeed," Entrata wrote in the caption.  

Fans quickly flooded the comments section with compliments, with many gushing over the couple's sweet moments and admiring the actress' beach-ready look.

Others also praised the scenic backdrop of Palawan, one of the country's top tourist destinations.

The post has since gained thousands of reactions and continues to circulate across social media, with many fans calling the couple one of showbiz's sweetest pairs.

THE POWER OF LISTENING

 

The power of listening is the ability to build deep trust, stop fights, and help others feel safe. It means paying full attention without judging or thinking about what to say next.

Great leaders are great listeners, and therefore my message today is a simple one – talk less and listen more. The best leaders are proactive, strategic, and intuitive listeners. They recognize knowledge and wisdom are not gained by talking, but by listening. Take a moment and reflect back on any great leader who comes to mind…you’ll find they are very adept at reading between the lines. They have the uncanny ability to understand what is not said, witnessed, or heard. In today’s post, I’ll quickly examine the merits of developing your listening skills. 

Warning: this post isn’t going to coddle you and leave you feeling warm and fuzzy – it is rather blunt and to the point.

How to Do It RightGive Full Attention: Put away phones and look at the person.Stay Quiet: Let the other person finish their whole story without cutting in.Ask More: Say simple things like "Tell me more" instead of giving quick advice.

Want to become a better leader? Stop talking and start listening. Being a leader should not be viewed as a license to increase the volume of rhetoric. Rather astute leaders know there is far more to be gained by surrendering the floor than by dominating it. In this age of instant communication, everyone seems to be in such a rush to communicate what’s on their mind, they fail to realize the value of everything that can be gleaned from the minds of others. Show me a leader who doesn’t recognize the value of listening to others and I’ll show you a train-wreck in the making.

Do you sometimes feel like this, my dear readers, that you want to discuss something, but the people opposite to you simply cannot listen to you? Sometimes, I would love to tell them, "first, learn to listen"!

Listening is indeed the key in effective communication. A person does not have to speak all the time to be the smartest person in the room. Lack of listening may result in frustration, disappointment, and resentment in our relationships. When we listen, we are able to create stronger emotional connections with people.

Many times during my teaching, I'm happy when my students have one or more questions for me - so, I can listen to them first. Active listening promotes mindful thinking, which can reduce anxiety and depression in students. It can also help students build relationships because as they engage themselves in conversation, their peers are more likely to view them as open and interested.

However, every time you use active listening, it gets a little easier. It can help you to navigate through difficult conversations. More than that, it helps improve overall communication, builds a better understanding and ultimately leads to better relationships with family, friends and co-workers too.

Listening is an active process by which we make sense of, assess, and respond to what we hear. The listening process involves five stages: receiving, understanding, evaluating, remembering, and responding. Not only in school or at the workplace. But especially talking about the workplace: Listening helps managers to solicit feedback and proactively find out about problems before they escalate. It's also the only way for management to get to know people as individuals and ensure that they feel genuinely valued.

Listening and the supreme gift of wisdom belongs together. You can only become a wise person, if you know how to listen. Do you still remember the university lectures in your old student days once upon a time? Anybody can become wise, Proverbs says. Wisdom is not reserved for a brainy elite. Becoming wise requires self-discipline to study and humbly seek wisdom at every opportunity. And allow me to repeat: and, first, learn to listen.

Electricity doesn't fall free from heaven

By Manila Bulletin Newsroom

Published Aug 1, 2026 12:05 am

A former Cabinet official likes to remind listeners of an unyielding truth: “Nothing comes free from heaven, and everything is a trade-off.”

It is a principle that populist politics regularly tries to sidestep. For decades, a political culture built on sweeping promises has fed the illusion that basic costs can simply be legislated away. In Congress, pending bills routinely propose consumer relief without ever identifying where the funding will come from.

The latest crowd-pleasing soundbite came during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), when he called for an immediate amendment to the 25-year-old Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to ban utilities from passing “system loss” charges onto consumers.

The logic feels appealing—nobody wants to pay for power they did not use. But recovering the cost of electricity loss is standard practice worldwide, even if calculation methods and billing displays vary by country. Crucially, energy distribution operates under the laws of physics, not legislative decree.

When electricity travels across copper wires, natural resistance converts a portion of that energy into heat. Even ultra-modern power grids in Singapore and South Korea experience these unavoidable “technical losses.” Combine that physical reality with “non-technical losses”—power theft through illegal jumper cables, defective meters, and administrative errors—and you get total system loss. Erasing that loss entirely is a physical impossibility.

Energy stakeholders have voiced support for reviewing EPIRA, but they caution against cutting system loss charges without a clear plan to recover those costs. The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest utility, noted that while it keeps its charges around five percent—well below the Energy Regulatory Commission's (ERC) 5.5 percent cap for private utilities—some level of technical loss remains inherent in operating any grid.

The real crisis looms in the provinces. The Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca), representing 121 electric cooperatives, warned that losses on rural networks stem from thermodynamics and sprawling terrain rather than poor management. While the ERC caps co-op losses at 8.25 percent, the Department of Energy (DOE) noted that some inefficient cooperatives suffer losses as high as 16 percent. Outlawing loss recovery without state subsidies, Philreca warned, will simply drive non-profit co-ops into bankruptcy.

If rural distributors fail, state entities like the National Power Corp. will have to step in to keep regional grids running. Taxpayers would ultimately fund government bailouts and loan guarantees, while the treasury forfeits the value-added tax (VAT) revenue currently collected on those billing lines.

Government agencies are now scrambling to figure out how to handle the proposed ban. The ERC emphasized that any reduction in system loss caps must be grounded in technical reality rather than arbitrary mandates, asking whether utilities are actually ready to absorb the hit without compromising operations. Instead of an outright ban, Philreca has urged Congress to adopt a performance-driven transition model with customized, feeder-specific caps, paired with government funding for grid upgrades and anti-pilferage enforcement.

To cushion the policy shift, the DOE noted that the agency and the National Electrification Administration are evaluating soft loans to help co-ops modernize. Yet financing grid upgrades through state-backed loans merely shuffles the bill from one government account to another.

As Meralco's chairman pointed out, nature is commanded only by obeying its laws. Moving electricity creates resistance, resistance creates loss, and someone has to absorb that cost. Shifting tens of billions of pesos in losses onto power producers and distributors threatens the stability of the entire energy sector.

Pretending that technical line loss is merely corporate greed makes for great political theater, but terrible economic policy. Outlawing the laws of physics will not lower the cost of living; it only ensures that citizens pay a much steeper price when the grid goes dark.

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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