The Geminids are considered one of the best meteor showers every year because the individual meteors are bright, and the peak can see meteors stream across the sky at rates as high as 120 meteors an hour. Under light-polluted skies, fewer meteors will be visible.

The annual Geminids meteor shower will be active from December 4-17. The observation of its peak activity is on the night of December 14 until the early morning hours of December 15 on the eastern horizon, meteors or “falling stars” can be seen at an average rate of forty (40) meteors per hour under a dark and cloudless sky condition. The shower will appear to radiate from the constellation of Gemini, the Twin. Gemini is easy to spot through its two bright stars Castor and Pollux, which are just to the left of constellations Orion and Auriga.

There is a big difference between the Geminids and other meteor showers. The Geminids meteors do not originate from a comet, they come from an asteroid (3200 Phaethon). Meteors from this shower are very rocky and gritty and slightly easier to see compared to the other showers.

Source: pagasa.dost.gov.ph
Photo Courtesy: Kenneth Brandon

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By: BusinessMirror

THE entire province of Zambales will be the country’s major tourist and economic hub in the next 20 years.

This was the picture envisioned by Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso, who is optimistic the province will not only dominate the entire region but also sees it to be a global stage for tourism, trade and commerce.

Deloso believes the province is poised to be the highlight of the Philippines’s future, with billions of pesos in investments and construction projects set to be implemented by both local and foreign investors for the next 10 years.

Kicking off with this 10-year economic plan in the province is the construction of the Zambales Convention Center and the provincial capitol as early as January next year. The governor wants to ensure the people of Zambales will benefit from this development.

Deloso said Zambeleños continue to spend extra money and travel time from their place to neighboring places like Clark, Baguio and Bulacan just to conduct conferences. With these plans in place, locals  don’t have to spend to fly to Baguio, Manila or Makati just to have access to a decent venue for their meetings, seminars, symposia or any corporate and official gathering.

“The construction of this convention center will answer the needs of all sectors here for seminars and conventions of big groups,” Deloso explained.

For the last three decades, Zambales has been relegated to a mere rustic and laid-back summer alternative in the country. Despite having the best beaches in the country, the province is seen as merely a traditional place for fiestas and age-old cultural traditions.

With the vision of local officials and the support of its people, Zambales is finally emerging into a modern province, befitting its stature as a premier tourist destination in the country and in all of Asia.

“We are strategically situated. We are only four hours away from Hong Kong and other Asian countries through navigation. The world is getting congested but, here in our province, there is a vast resource for land, seas and mountains, and it’s about time we turn things around.”

Infrastructure projects will kick off starting next year.

The province has been considering partnerships with foreign and local investors that will see the rise of five-star hotels, a world-class airport and business establishment that will boost industries and trade and commerce in the region.

Asked how he plans to sustain all these development projects of the province, Deloso said Zambales is rich in natural resources and human capital to make these plans a reality.

“Zambales is a very rich province, it has 27 minerals. It might interest you to know that the biggest gold deposits in Asia are in Zambales, and the biggest deposit of chromite in the whole world is in Zambales. Now, chromite mining in Zambales has been going on for 90 years. For 90 years, mining companies have exploited that aside from the gold in San Marcelino.”

Source: businessmirror.com.ph
image source: dot.spindev.ph

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Engr. Manzano passed the November 2017 civil engineering licensure exam on her first take.

Photo Source: gineersnow.com

Rarely do indigenous people get the chance to have formal college education. Opportunities for them to attend school are rare, and to be able to graduate is already the entire tribe’s pride.

What more if one, a woman at that, is able to pass an engineering board exam? And on her first take?

That’s what Ezel Joy Pablo Manzano had accomplished for her Aeta community. She was the reason of the recent celebration of the Amianan tribe, which was moved to the Iram settlement area near Olongapo City in the Philippines after the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

In an interview with GMA News, she proudly introduced herself as a passer of the November 2017 civil engineering board exam. She is one of the 6,075 who made it out of the 12,447 takers.

Engr. Manzano, who finished civil engineering in Ramon Magsaysay Technology University in Iba, Zambales, revealed that at one point during her review, she burst into tears because she could no longer understand what she was studying.

She was asked about tips for future board exam takers. Ezel Joy said that they should give it their all because the chance to take board exam only comes rarely.

Her journey to being a registered civil engineer was tough. She recalled that she had to quit school for one semester due to financial reasons.

This became her motivation to pass her board exam. And she also persevered to achieve the dream of her deceased father for her.

She said, “Pangarap ‘yun ng tatay ko, kaya ‘yun po talaga ang nagpu-push sa akin na i-pursue ‘yun. [It was my father’s dream for me, so I pushed myself to pursue this field.]”

Estrelita Manzano, Ezel Joy’s mother, witnessed her daughter’s struggles. She shared that even without the presence of her father, Ezel Joy still did what she could do best in terms of her academics.

Now that she is an engineer, Ezel Joy doesn’t forget those who have helped her along the way. She plans to pursue a career that will help her tribe in any way possible.

Source: gineersnow.com

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SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — After hatching in a busy beach resort here, some 100 baby sea turtles (pawikan) made their way back home on Saturday.

by:Allan Macatuno

INTO THE SEA Children release newly hatched sea turtles at a beach resort in Subic Bay Freeport.—PHOTOS BY ALLAN MACATUNO

The olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) were born at a hatchery of All Hands Beach and began their voyage as soon as they were released back to the open sea.

“We let them crawl and reach the sea on their own. They have imprint characteristic. They imprint on the unique magnetic field of their birthplace and the female ones use this information to return to this beach to nest,” said Emerita Sebial, chief of the Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Services in Olongapo City.

The female pawikan would return to this beach to lay eggs in the next 20 to 25 years, she said.

But the journey of these from their birthplace will be difficult, according to Marife Castillo, the community environment and natural resources officer.

“Only 1 percent of this batch of sea turtles is expected to survive to adulthood because of several obstacles, including the presence of predators in the ocean,” Castillo said.

Aside from being eaten by bigger marine creatures, such as sharks and fish, baby sea turtles face threats caused by humans, including ocean pollution and poaching, she said.

“It is important that we take care of our marine ecosystem so we could help protect these marine animals from various threats to their survival in the wild,” she said.

Sebial said olive ridley is among the three species of sea turtles found in Zambales province. Green sea turtles

(Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) have also been sighted in the province’s waters.

Amethya dela Llana, head of the Ecology Center of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, said seven more nests of eggs found at All Hands Beach were expected to hatch in the next few weeks.

“This batch is the first this season. The 120 baby sea turtles released now raised to 3,877 the number of turtles that the management of All Hands Beach had released since 2011,” Dela Llana said.

source:newsinfo.inquirer.net

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CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—At least 295 centenarians in Central Luzon have availed themselves of P100,000 centenarian-cash gift from the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Photo by: webbline.com

Susan Hernandez of the DSWD’s Social Pension Unit said the figure represents 86 percent of the 342 target who already received their centenarian cash incentive.

Bulacan has the highest number with 90 beneficiaries for total centenarian cash incentives of P9 million; Nueva Ecija with 69 beneficiaries, P6.9 million; Pampanga with 49 beneficiaries, P4.9 million; Tarlac with 45 beneficiaries, P4.5 million; Zambales and Bataan with 17 beneficiaries each, for a P3.4-million total; and Aurora with eight beneficiaries, P800,000.

In addition, there were 107 senior citizens who complied with the requirements per guidelines of the program, Hernandez said.

The DSWD field office in Region 3 coordinated with local government units (LGUs) for the payout, using the door-to-door scheme as mode of payment to some centenarians who could no longer travel, are bedridden, or in the hospital.

Section 2 of Republic Act 10868 or the “Centenarians Act of 2016,” stated all Filipinos who reach the age of 100 years old, whether residing in the Philippines or abroad, shall be honored with a Letter of Felicitation from the President of the Philippines congratulating the celebrant for his or her longevity, and a centenarian gift in the amount of P100,000.

The centenarians will receive a plaque of recognition and cash incentive from their respective city or municipal governments in appropriate ceremonies. The amount of the additional incentive shall be determined by the LGUs concerned.

Under the law, the awards and incentives are given to the centenarians on the first Sunday of October, declared as the National Respect for Centenarians Day in line with the Elderly Filipino Week celebration.

However, considering the age of the centenarians, the DSWD released the cash gift to the identified beneficiaries earlier.

Centenarians who died upon the effectivity of the law will be given a posthumous plaque of recognition together with the cash incentive to be received by their nearest surviving relative or family.

To avail themselves of the cash incentive, a centenarian must present their birth certificate or Philippine passport for those living overseas.

If these documents are not available, the centenarian may present their senior citizen’s identification card or any other Philippine government-issued ID showing their citizenship and date of birth.

source:businessmirror.com.ph/a>

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