OF TREES AND FOREST In 1992, I reluctantly decided to run for the lone congressional seat in the then-district of Las Piñas-Muntinlupa. My introduction to politics came when my father-in-law, Congressman Filemon Celestino Aguilar, fell ill. As the May 1992 elections neared, people were busy...
Let’s be honest: the best kind of city is not just the one with the big roads, ambitious plans, and that amazing “future-ready” energy. It’s also the one where you can say, “Coffee muna?” and somehow end up spending the entire day there. That is the lifestyle Villar City is starting to...
OF TREES AND FOREST In school, when we were kids, we were presented with a magnificent, almost divine image of Mayon Volcano. In our textbooks, Mayon is often described in superlatives. Rising 2,463 meters above Albay, its near-perfect cone shape has made it one of the most recognizable natural...
OF TREES AND FOREST I have seen the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) Social Weather Survey of March 24-31, 2026 which found that 50 percent of adult Filipinos felt that their lives got worse, 26 percent said it was the same, and 23 percent saying it got better, compared to twelve months ago....
Senator Mark Villar has urged lawmakers to expedite passage of a bill that seeks to expand social protection for workers and small businesses that are reeling from the rising cost of fuel. In filing Senate Bill No. 2032 or the proposed Relief and Recovery Interventions for Low-Income Earners,...
OF TREES AND FOREST Going to the movies is no longer the automatic weekend ritual it once was, even though cinemas have never looked—or sounded—better. Box office revenues remain disappointing, not just in the country but globally, as more and more audiences turn to streaming screens at home. A...
While global geopolitical tensions send fertilizer prices soaring and threaten to shrink Philippine rice and vegetable outputs, a domestic antidote has been decades in the making. As the region 's most import-dependent nation, the Philippines is uniquely exposed to $800-per-ton urea prices...
Senator Mark Villar has filed a measure calling on government financial institutions to implement loan moratoriums, grace periods and penalty condonation to help Filipinos cope with the rising costs of fuel. Villar filed Senate Resolution No. 366 urging government owned and controlled corporations...
Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) is maintaining its top-tier credit rating for Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., moving to distance the homebuilder from a criminal complaint filed by regulators against a separate entity within billionaire Manuel Villar Jr.’s business empire. The local...
OF TREES AND FOREST Just like everyone else, I 've been watching how the Middle East conflict is unfolding and praying that somehow all the parties involved realize that peace is better than war. The economic ripples of the conflict are already showing up at sari-sari stores, tricycle drivers,...
The Senate has approved on third and final reading the bill seeking to protect overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) remittances by requiring transparency in fees and foreign exchange rates. Sen. Joel Villanueva, sponsor of Senate Bill No. 1917, otherwise known as the Overseas Filipino Workers’...
OF TREES AND FOREST I write these words not just as a former colleague, but as one who had the privilege of sharing with Speaker Joe de Venecia the burden—and the joy—of shaping our nation’s path. When I served as Senate President while he led the House, we stood on opposite ends of the same...
