NOT WITH SUBSTANDARD STEEL AROUND
The Myanmar mega-quake that toppled structures in its Asean neighbors sends the Philippines scrambling, for the nth time, to assess its readiness for a major disaster. But this time, focus is on a key culprit: compromised structural integrity from substandard steel.
By Andrea E. San Juan
STEEL industry experts and government officials are reckoning with the loose ends hounding the Philippines’s preparedness for “The Big One,” as substandard building materials have again become the focus following the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that recently struck Myanmar and Thailand.
The spectacular collapse of a building in its finishing stages in Thailand spawned another frenzy of panicked reminders from stakeholders who lamented the Philippines’s own unpreparedness for a major killer earthquake—projected to be way more destructive than the ones it reckoned with before. In Congress, both chambers vowed to conduct investigations in aid of legislation, not just because of the Myanmar/Thailand quake but also because, just days before that event, a newly opened bridge in Isabela province collapsed, injuring six people and causing massive property damage.
Last week, the race to monitor the integrity of Philippine structures, and identify those that need urgent retrofitting—or even condemning for public use—became even more urgent with alarming revelations of the proliferation of substandard steel bars around the country.
Being located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region prone to
earthquakes and volcanic activity, the last thing the country needs to avert a major disaster is to have such substandard steel bars being used for ongoing and future construction.
The revelation that the issue of substandard steel bars—which had been the subject of a DTI white paper way back 2019—remains a problem has prompted experts to pick up lessons from the recent earthquakes that struck Myanmar and Bangkok.
Substandard steel very much around AT a media briefing in Manila last week, Roberto Cola, former president of the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) and a member of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), reported that substandard steel bars already banned in some countries are still lurking around the steelmaking plants in the country.
These are steel bars produced by facilities using induction furnaces (IF) which experts have long deemed substandard and could pose a threat to building safety. Cola emphasized that these IF-produced steel bars continue to proliferate in the market.
In fact, he said: “For the Philippines, induction furnace steelmaking capacity increased from less than 150,000 MT per year in 2017 to around 3 million MT [MMT] today.” He explained that these facilities are the main source of substandard deformed steel bars and angle bars in the market today. This is because IF facilities do not remove harmful elements in
Flat slab design, steel quality under scrutiny after Thai tower collapse
By Jerry Harmer, Jintamas Saksornchai & Elaine Kurtenbach | The Associated Press
BANGKOK—Thai authorities
said they are investigating why a single office tower block under construction in Bangkok collapsed during last month’s earthquake that otherwise caused limited damage in the capital.
Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt visited the site as heavy equipment pulled away rubble from the 30-story State Audit Office building in hopes of finding the 78 people still missing.
“Even one life saved is worth all the effort, so I think we have to move on, carry on,” he said. But in the longer run it’s important to ensure building safety in the city, where millions of people live and work in thousands of high-rise buildings.
The magnitude 7.7 quake, which was centered more than 800 miles (1,200 kilometers) away, killed more than 2,000 people in Myanmar and at least 18 in Thailand, most at the Bangkok construction site near the popular Chatuchak Market.
“I think we need to find the root
cause so at least we can learn some lessons and improve building regulations,” Chadchart said. “In the end, we will have some results that will improve safety in Bangkok.”
Shares in the property developer handling the project, Italian Thai Development, fell 27% in trading as questions were raised about the building’s design, enforcement of construction safety codes, and the state-run Chinese contractor building the State Audit Office.
The construction company, a subsidiary of state-run China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group, last year posted a video online celebrating the 137-meter-tall (about 450 foot) structure’s topping out, showing plenty of drone footage and boasting about the quality of the design, construction and management of the project.
Questions over safety and quality
INTERIOR Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, whose family owns one of Thailand’s largest construction conglomerates, told reporters he has ordered an investigation committee to be set up and to report the results back to him within seven days. He pointed to three possible factors behind the collapse: the designer, the inspectors or the builders.
“We will definitely find the true reasons as to why this building has collapsed, because it’s all scientific,” Anutin said.
While not on a geologic fault, Bangkok is built on relatively unstable alluvial soil, on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. That can amplify ground motion for tall buildings. The city has long been sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers, leading authorities to restrict the use of groundwater to help reduce subsidence.
The earthquake gave the Thai capital an unusually long and strong jolt, causing water from rooftop pools to cascade down skyscrapers, light-rail trains to rock on their tracks, and millions of people to flee homes and offices. People waited for hours outside in the blazing midday heat for buildings to undergo safety checks. A warning of aftershocks caused a brief panic, with some people again
heading to the streets.
Questions about enforcement of safety and quality standards in Bangkok were raised earlier by the collapse of parts of a highway under construction in the city’s outskirts that killed several construction workers. One potential concern was the quality of the steel rods embedded in concrete slabs and pillars to reinforce them.
Most other damage in the city appeared to be superficial, such as fallen ceiling panels and fittings and cracked plaster, and mainly in relatively newer buildings put up by private developers.
Revised construction standards
CHADCHART said building owners need to inspect their properties to determine whether any cracks were old or new. The Thailand Structural Engineers Association was recruiting volunteers to help with inspections. Recently, it urged a review of all large-scale projects in the city.
Most buildings in Bangkok were built before the government revised construction standards to require meet earthquake safety requirements, said Christian Malaga-Chuquitaype, a lecturer in civil and environmental engineering at the Imperial College in London.
Many structures are constructed without beams using “flat slabs” and slender columns, which maximizes open floor space and minimizes costs, he noted. The company building the State Audit Office boasted in its video that it used a beamless design.
“While this design has cost and architectural advantages, it performs poorly during earthquakes, often failing in a brittle and sudden [almost explosive] manner,” he wrote in an analysis. “A thorough forensic analysis is needed, but this building type is no longer recommended in earthquake-prone areas.”
Ready for Big One?
This, Cola stressed, can be hazardous since these steel products are used in the construction of buildings and other infrastructure.
For his part, PISI President Ronald C. Magsajo said the iron and steel industry group’s counterpart in Thailand had informed PISI that Thai authorities found out that the government building that collapsed during an earthquake was made by a plant that used induction furnaces (IF).
“The one that fell was made by an IF plant. So what Thailand did, they closed that plant, because they saw the result of this, and they looked at all the other plants; the process is the same,” said Magsajo.
The PISI chief said 10 other plants that used the same IF process were also shut down by Thailand.
With this, Cola said prevention can start with implementing “process auditing” of steelmaking plants across the country to weed out IF-produced steel bars.
He explained that the country has two markets of steel. One is the corporate market and the other is the reseller market, which are the hardware stores.
Ang kawawa ang reseller market kasi pumupunta ito sa mga hardware [The reseller market is problematic because this one reaches the hardware stores]. And the customers of the reseller market are the ordinary people like us,” said Cola.
This, the former PISI chief said, is where the government should step in. “The government should be strict in enforcing this at the reseller level or even in warehouses and distributor centers because most people buy from there. That’s what we always emphasize; we must monitor these hardware stores,” Cola said.
Root cause: Plants for IF HE underscored that the root cause of the problem are the plants that
churn out substandard steel bars. “They should be closed down; and no licenses issued to them,” added the former PISI chief, speaking in Filipino. Cola divulged that plants that use IF process are scattered around the country, particularly in Pampanga, Bukidnon, Bataan and Valenzuela.
In 2017, Cola said the Chinese government issued a policy statement banning induction furnace facilities for the production of construction-grade steel.
“The Chinese government then proceeded to enforce the policy and the entire induction furnace facilities producing steel products were completely closed down in June 2017,” he said.
However, some unscrupulous parties apparently found a way to dump them in other countries like the Philippines, so that in 2019, the Department of Trade released a monitoring report showing the places where substandard steel from IF factories were proliferating.
The first local government unit to move decisively on this was Baguio City, underscoring the crucial role of political will, particularly by LGUs, in ensuring public safety. Then Mayor Benjamin Magalong, shown a copy of the report indicating the Cordillera region and greater Baguio among the most notorious places for selling substandard steel, quickly dispatched teams to check on sellers and soon closed down about half a dozen of them in a day. The mayor, a no-nonsense, fast-action leader, was reportedly agitated that substandard steel would proliferate in his city: the irony being that in the July 1990 killer quake, the iconic Hyatt Regency in Baguio completely collapsed, killing many people.
Impose ‘total ban’ FAST-FORWARD to today: Cola called on the government to impose a “total ban” on the use of these substandard steel products, saying, “Because it’s more danger-
ous in the Philippines. We’re in a more dangerous place.”
The steel industry expert said the use of induction furnaces for steelmaking is already prohibited in Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand.
Meanwhile, John Steven Magboo, senior trade industry development specialist at the Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Philippine Standards (DTI-BPS), said the government has not yet prohibited the use of steel from IF facilities.
“No policy has been issued on the prohibition of the use of the induction furnace for the manufacture of deformed steel bars, but we are definitely open to discuss regarding that issue,” he said, partly in Filipino.
“With our PS [Philippine Standard] licensees, we both issue PS licenses for those who use induction furnace and electronic arc furnace since based on our systemic product audit, they conform to the Philippine National Standards,” he added.
OCD: Are we ready? THROUGH the lens of the Office of Civil Defense, the implementing arm of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), OCD Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno stressed the importance of preparing for “The Big One” especially after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar last month.
As he raised the question: “Are we prepared for this?” Nepomuceno said OCD’s candid answer is: Maghahabol tayo [We will have to catch up].”
He explained the three levels of preparation for The Big One. The first level or first line of defense is the engineering solutions, meaning if the houses, structures, buildings, condominiums, warehouses and offices are strong enough to withstand an 8.5 magnitude earthquake.
“So, structural integrity is our first line of defense. Why? No matter how good is the second line of defense, which is the reaction— the first is prevention—no matter how well we teach things like ‘duck, cover and hold’ or run to an open space, if the structure where you are, your house, building or office, collapses, baka naka duck, cover, and hold kayo mamamatay [you’d likely be doing duck, cover and hold, and then die],” Nepomuceno said.
“So our first line of defense is the structure. That means, the right design, the proper implementation of the design and the building permit, construction permit and occupancy permits, there should be no shortcut, no anomalies,” the OCD official also stressed.
Editor: Angel R. Calso
50 years later, Vietnam’s battlefields draw retrospective veterans and other tourists
By David Rising & Hau Dinh The Associated Press
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam—Hamburger Hill, Hue, the Ia Drang Valley, Khe Sanh: Some remember the Vietnam War battles from the headlines of the 1960s and 1970s, others from movies and history books. And thousands of Americans and Vietnamese know them as the graveyards of loved ones who died fighting more than a half-century ago.
Today the battlefields of Vietnam are sites of pilgrimage for veterans from both sides who fought there, and tourists wanting to see firsthand where the war was waged.
“It was a war zone when I was here before,” reflected US Army veteran Paul Hazelton as he walked with his wife through the grounds of the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, which was known as Saigon when he served there.
Hazelton’s tour just shy of his 80th birthday took him back for the first time to places he served as a young draftee, including Hue, the former Phu Bai Combat Base on the city’s outskirts, and Da Nang, which was a major base for both American and South Vietnamese forces.
“Everywhere you went, you know, it was occupied territory with our military, now you just see the hustle and bustle and the industry, and it’s remarkable,” he said.
“I’m just glad that we’re now trading and friendly with Vietnam. And I think both sides are benefiting from it.”
The history and the museum recounting it
VIETNAM’S war with the United States lasted for nearly 20 years from 1955 to 1975, with more than 58,000 Americans killed and many times that number of Vietnamese.
For Vietnam, it started almost immediately after the nearly decadelong fight to expel the colonial French, who were supported by Washington, which culminated with the decisive defeat of French forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
The end of French Indochina meant major changes in the region, including the partitioning of Vietnam into Communist North Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, and USaligned South Vietnam.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong guerrilla troops, and the 30th anniversary of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the US and Vietnam.
Tourism has rebounded rapidly since the Covid-19 pandemic and is now a critical driver of Vietnam’s growth, the fastest in the region, accounting
for roughly one in nine jobs in the country. Vietnam had more than 17.5 million foreign visitors in 2024, close to the record 18 million set in 2019 before the pandemic. The War Remnants Museum attracts some 500,000 visitors a year, about two-thirds of whom are foreigners. Its exhibits focus on American war crimes and atrocities like the My Lai massacre and the devastating effects of Agent Orange, a defoliant widely used during the war.
The US was to open the first exhibit of its own at the museum this year, detailing Washington’s extensive efforts to remediate wartime damage, but it is indefinitely on hold after the Trump administration slashed foreign aid.
Other wartime sites in Saigon, which was the capital of South Vietnam, include the South Vietnamese president’s Independence Palace where North Vietnamese tanks famously crashed through the gates as they took the city and the Rex Hotel where the US held
press briefings derisively dubbed the Five O’clock Follies for their paucity of credible information.
On the northern outskirts of the city are the Cu Chi tunnels, an underground warren used by Viet Cong guerrillas to avoid detection from American planes and patrols, which attracts some 1.5 million people annually.
Today visitors can climb and crawl through some of the narrow passages and take a turn at a firing range shooting targets with war-era weapons like the AK-47, M-16 and the M-60 machine gun known as “the pig” by American troops for its bulky size and high rate of fire.
“I can understand a bit better now how the war took place, how the Vietnamese people managed to fight and protect themselves,” said Italian tourist Theo Buono after visiting the site while waiting for others in his tour group to finish at the firing range.
Former North Vietnamese Army artilleryman Luu Van Duc remembers the fighting firsthand, but his visit to the Cu Chi tunnels with a group of other veterans provided an opportunity to see how their allies with the Viet Cong lived and fought.
“I’m so moved visiting the old battlefields—it was my last dying wish to be able to relive those hard but glorious days together with my comrades,” the 78-year-old said.
“Relics like this must be preserved so the next generations will know about their history, about the victories over much stronger enemies.”
Outside the city
THE former Demilitarized
Zone where the country was split between North and South in Quang Tri province saw the heaviest fighting during the war, and drew more than 3 million visitors in 2024.
On the north side of the DMZ, visitors can walk through the labyrinthine Vinh Moc tunnel complex, where civilians took shelter from bombs that the US dropped in an effort to disrupt supplies to the North Vietnamese.
The tunnels, along with a memorial and small museum at the border, can be reached
Vietnam’s war with the United States lasted for nearly 20 years from 1955 to 1975, with more than 58,000 Americans killed and many times that number of Vietnamese.
on a day trip from Hue, which typically also includes a stop at the former Khe Sanh combat base, the site of a fierce battle in 1968 in which both sides claimed victory.
Today, Khe Sanh boasts a small museum and some of the original fortifications, along with tanks, helicopters and other equipment left by US forces after their withdrawal.
Hue itself was the scene of a major battle during the Tet Offensive in 1968, one of the longest and most intense of the war. Today the city’s ancient Citadel and Imperial City, a UNESCO site on the north bank of the Perfume River, still bears signs of the fierce fighting but has largely been rebuilt. West of Hue, a little off the beaten path near the border with Laos, is Hamburger Hill, the scene of a major battle in 1969.
About 500 kilometers (300 miles) to the southwest near
the Cambodian border is the Ia Drang valley, where the first major engagement between American and North Vietnamese forces was fought in 1965.
Fighting in North Vietnam was primarily an air war, and today the Hoa Lo Prison Museum tells that story from the Vietnamese perspective.
Sardonically dubbed the “Hanoi Hilton” by inmates, the former French prison in Hanoi was used to hold American prisoners of war, primarily pilots shot down during bombing raids. Its most famous resident was the late Sen. John McCain after he was shot down in 1967.
“It was kind of eerie but fascinating at the same time,” said Olivia Wilson, a 28-year-old from New York, after a recent visit.
“It’s an alternative perspective on the war.” Rising reported from Bangkok.
VIETNAMESE flags fly on the Hien Luong Bridge, with a memorial in the distance, at the former border between North and South Vietnam, Quang Tri province, February 22, 2024. AP/DAVID RISING
Ukraine war exposes potential cracks in Europe’s hottest defense startup
By Christina Kyriasoglou, Mark Bergen & Gian Volpicelli
THE defense company Helsing was created for this moment. Three German entrepreneurs formed the business in 2021 with the belief that modern warfare demanded modern technology—and that Europe, despite growing security threats, had no credible firm to build it.
Today, as EU leaders prepare to commit record amounts to rearmament, Helsing is Europe’s most valuable defense tech startup. With deep pockets and close ties to Germany’s military, the Munichfounded company is, at least on paper, optimally positioned to benefit from the coming spending spree.
But interviews with 40 people, including former Helsing employees, investors and military experts have revealed concerns about the company, and whether it can live up to its €5 billion valuation. A strategic partnership with Germany’s biggest defense firm, Rheinmetall AG, fell apart last year.
In Ukraine, where Helsing says its technology has been in use since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, attack drones equipped with the company’s software have been criticized by frontline soldiers and military experts as significantly more expensive and not as effective as comparable products.
What’s more, even in a field known for discretion, the company has been described by former business associates, defense investors and industry executives as being both excessively secretive about its product development as well as overly confident in public claims about its technology.
Criticism of newcomers is not unusual in the defense sector. The major players in the more than two-trillion-dollar global industry have been around for decades, and aren’t keen on upstarts looking to disrupt the status quo. “The primes don’t want to see companies like Helsing break in,” said former UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey.
The startup, which now has more than 400 employees, has tried to stand out by offering technologically advanced systems that can be produced on a mass scale. Yet the war in Ukraine suggests “that this is very difficult to achieve,” said Franz-Stefan Gady, a defense consultant and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, describing a challenge familiar to many companies. Facing the whiplash pace of electronic warfare and changing
battlefield demands, “European suppliers often seem to struggle to keep up,” he added.
On March 21, criticism of Helsing burst out into the open when a Ukrainian soldier and prominent military blogger posted a lengthy complaint on Facebook about a drone outfitted with the company’s software. Oleksandr Karpyuk, who has been working with military drones for more than a decade, wrote that the drone’s explosive device was “crap” and relied on a “very primitive targeting system.” When contacted for an interview, Karpyuk directed journalists to speak to the authorities that handle press requests for soldiers.
Simon Brünjes, Helsing’s vice-president of sales who also oversees its solutions and operations, said that Helsing stands by the performance of its technology. He said that Ukrainian officials have described Helsing’s targeting software as “first-inclass,” and that soldiers on the front do not always see the full picture.
More broadly, Brüjens stressed that confidentiality was essential for security, and that the company’s technology was continually evolving in response to the changing realities of war. Since its founding, Helsing said in a statement, it has “won over a dozen contracts” with “total order volumes of hundreds of millions of dollars.” It did not comment on why it had ended its strategic partnership with Rheinmetall.
For now, criticism hasn’t dampened investor interest, especially as European defense stocks soared at the start of the year. (They have fallen in the last week following US tariffs.) Multiple banks have approached the company’s investors in recent months about a prospective public listing, according to people familiar with the matter, who also said that investment funds have asked to participate in future financing rounds or buy existing shares. The company says it is not speaking to bankers or actively fundraising.
Khaled Helioui, a partner at Londonbased venture firm Plural, is one of several Helsing investors to say that the company has made tremendous progress in a brief
period of time. Despite the challenges of the industry, he said, the startup has “already demonstrated more than most people were anticipating.”
He pointed to it recently winning a “multi-million pound” contract in the UK, which a Helsing representative confirmed. Both declined to provide further details.
Given what Helioui views as Helsing’s successes—and the intense interest in European defense companies—he said he wasn’t surprised by recent online attacks. “When you have a clear winner that seems to be emerging,” he said, “of course, it’s going to drive criticism.”
AI for the military
HELSING started out with a plan to build artificial intelligence software that could process and integrate sensor data from tanks, fighter jets and other military equipment—a sort of AI brain for arsenals and battlefield decisionmaking. Central to its pitch was that it would “play a significant role in giving democracies the ability to deter and defend.” The startup grew quickly, and raised most of its initial funding from Spotify’s Daniel Ek, who invested €100 million through his Stockholm-based fund Prima Materia. In its first year, Helsing opened offices in France and the UK.
Soon, Helsing began cutting deals with defense contractors and bidding directly on military contracts, largely in Germany. That was where its connections were strongest: cofounder and co-Chief Executive Officer Gundbert Scherf spent two years working in the country’s defense ministry under Ursula von der Leyen, now president of the European Commission.
These ties proved crucial after Russia invaded Ukraine, prompting the German government to create a special €100 billion defense fund in 2022 to shore up the army. As cash began flowing into the sector, Helsing teamed up with Rheinmetall to work on the “joint development of software-based defense systems and retrofitting of existing platforms,” the companies said. In 2023, the German government selected Helsing and Saab AB to work on the Eurofighter jet program, prompting Helsing to note that it had secured a budgeted military contract faster than a US counterpart, defense tech startup Anduril.
“It’s just a marker of execution excellence,” Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, head of Europe for General Catalyst, a Helsing investor, said of the contract in an interview last November.
In the past year, Helsing won a €40 million sealed tender from the German government to help fortify the Lithuanian border with sensor systems and drones, according to two people familiar with the deal who declined to be identified discussing a confidential matter. Helsing and Germany’s Ministry of Defense also declined to comment. In July, while announcing a €450 million funding round, Helsing said it was opening an outpost in Estonia. At that point, roughly three years after its founding, the company’s valuation exceeded €5 billion.
As Helsing has expanded, however, it has alienated and parted ways with some associates. According to six people familiar, the company has churned through staff quickly, including Nick Elliott, the head of its UK office, who left within three years. (Elliott declined to comment through a representative.) Corporate partnerships have fallen through due to Helsing’s insistence on taking a leading role on projects, said three people familiar with such discussions, who noted that such behavior stands out in an industry where firms often are required to collaborate closely on contracts that can span decades. “Helsing’s clear approach is to provide military customers software-defined products, delivered either by Helsing alone or in partnership with other leading defense or tech companies,” the startup said in a statement. It also
described its “unwanted attrition” as very low. By the end of 2024, Helsing’s flagship agreement with Rheinmetall had collapsed, according to a person familiar who declined to be identified discussing sensitive information. The partnership “never entered the stage of technical collaboration,” Helsing confirmed, adding that it still had ongoing arrangements with Saab and French AI startup Mistral. Late last year, Rheinmetall unveiled a partnership with Auterion, a Helsing competitor that makes software for autonomous drones. A month later, Rheinmetall announced it was taking a majority stake in Blackned, a German software developer that specializes in military equipment upgrades. Rheinmetall did not reply to multiple requests for comment.
Drones in Ukraine
AS the war in Ukraine has dragged on, drones have become the most effective weapon in the country’s defense, and increasingly central to Helsing’s strategy. Kyiv plans to purchase some 4.5 million drones this year—some costing as little as €360—largely from local manufacturers.
In November, the German news outlet Bild reported that Helsing had struck a deal with Ukrainian startup Terminal Autonomy to equip 4,000 of that company’s cheap, plywood drones with Helsing’s new custom-made software, known as Altra.
A former NATO official said Ukrainian forces have reported that these HF-1 drones have had more problems than comparable models.
Another person who said they had seen the drone in use in Ukraine described the software as glitchy and said that soldiers found it hard to handle. Both didn’t want to be identified discussing sensitive matters.
Maxim Sheremet, the founder of Dronarnia, a Kyiv laboratory that works to improve unmanned aerial systems used on the front, said that while “there are indeed problems” with Helsing’s Altra, the software is still “really effective” and the HF-1 drones work in the field at ranges of up to 75 kilometers. A person familiar with the company’s plans and production said that as Helsing updates its drone systems about once a week, technical complaints about the HF-1 software may have already been resolved.
Helsing said criticisms of its software are not representative of overall customer experience, and aggregate user feedback from more than 100 missions is extremely positive. In a statement, it described instances of drone operators striking targets without the help of a video feed, and drones able to “execute the mission successfully” without operator control.
Oleksandr Yarmak, a staff sergeant in the Unmanned Systems Force, the drone-focused branch of Ukraine’s army, said that his unit had received about 120 HF-1 drones in midFebruary. While they had “quite a good final targeting system,” he did not think they offered any significant
technical advances compared to lowerpriced domestic drones.
“We’re talking about a product that is made of cheap components and is being marketed as cutting-edge technology,” he said in an interview, adding, “I can assure you, because I disassembled it.” In his experience, Yarmak said, “such a product is worth at most 100,000 hryvnia (€2,200). And it costs €16,700, which is exorbitant.”
“I doubt a single specialist on the battlefield would defend this product at this price,” he said of the HF-1 drones, adding that some soldiers could be reluctant to use them out of fear that they would be held responsible if a product that expensive were lost. Yarmak, who is also a wellknown rapper in Ukraine, noted that the best guidance system he had seen was embedded in an AmericanUkrainian drone that cost €3,000.
Two other people familiar with Helsing’s drones said that it charges an unusually high premium for its software, adding thousands of euros in additional costs per device. Officials within one of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies have also expressed concern about the price, according to a person who did not want to be identified when discussing sensitive matters. The person specified that while the matter had been flagged, the company is not under any kind of investigation.
Francisco Serra-Martins, the Australian founder and CEO of Terminal Autonomy, Helsing’s dronemaking partner, declined to comment on the drone’s cost. Last summer, the company listed the drone on its website for €1,800 without Helsing’s software. That figure has since been removed.
Helsing’s Simon Brünjes also declined to share details on HF-1 pricing, but he dismissed allegations by Karpyuk, the soldier who shared the negative post on Facebook, of each unit costing €18,000 as incorrect and exaggerated. He said that Helsing’s pricing was deemed to be in compliance with standards set by the defense ministries in Germany and Ukraine, and that frontline drones with Helsing software have destroyed up to 20 times the value of their original cost in terms of Russian military and communications assets.
“The German procurement agency looked into it very, very deeply,” Brünjes said in response to a question about Helsing’s markup, “and they agreed the price was suitable.” Germany’s Ministry of Defense, which oversees the agency that reviews weapons pricing, declined to comment on the matter.
Resilience centers AT the end of last year, Helsing announced plans to start making its own drones equipped with Altra software that could navigate and strike targets without the use of satellite positioning.
These drones, called HX-2, are designed to be mass produced, and
HELSING says its technology has been in use since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Photo shows graves of Ukrainian soldiers killed since the beginning of Russian invasion, at the military cemetery in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. AP/EVGENIY MALOLETKA
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Russian-American woman jailed for $52 Ukraine donation freed in prisoner swap
By Jon Gambrell & Dasha Litvinova The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—A RussianAmerican woman freed by Moscow arrived back in the United States late Thursday as part of a prisoner swap completed as the two countries aim to repair ties.
A plane carrying Ksenia Karelina landed around 11 p.m. EDT at Joint Base Andrews, where she was greeted by her fiancé. Morgan Ortagus, President Donald Trump’s deputy special envoy to the Middle East, presented her with a bouquet. She was released earlier in the day in exchange for a Russian-German man who’d been jailed in the US on smuggling charges.
Karelina was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. US authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.”
“They released the young ballerina and she is now out, and that was good. So we appreciate that,” President Donald Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Thursday. He said the release followed conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Arthur Petrov was released as part of the swap in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia’s main security and counterintelligence agency. Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the US on charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia and extradited to the US a year later.
Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the US carried out in the last three years—and the second since Trump took office and reversed Washington’s policy of isolating Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe hailed “the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort.” The CIA also emphasized that “the exchange shows the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep
challenges in our bilateral relationship.”
Meanwhile, Russian and US diplomats met in Istanbul for a second round of talks on normalizing embassies’ work, following the first such meeting in February. The State Department said the delegations “exchanged notes to finalize an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and US bilateral missions.”
It said the US reiterated its concerns about the Russian ban on hiring of local staff, “the key impediment to maintaining for stable and sustainable staffing levels at the US Embassy in Moscow.”
Alexander Darchiyev, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, who led Moscow’s delegation in the talks, praised their “positive atmosphere” and noted the parties agreed to continue discussions to facilitate diplomats’ travel. He added that the Russian side also pushed for a quick return of its diplomatic property seized by US authorities.
In February, Russia released American teacher Marc Fogel, imprisoned on drug charges, in a swap that the White House described as part of a diplomatic thaw that could advance peace negotiations. That same month, Russia released another American just days after arresting him on drug smuggling charges.
Karelina, a former ballet dancer also identified in some media as Ksenia Khavana, lived in Maryland before moving to
Los Angeles. She was arrested when she returned to Russia to visit her family last year.
The FSB accused her of “proactively” collecting money for a Ukrainian organization that was supplying gear to Kyiv’s forces. The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the charges stemmed from a $51.80 donation to a US charity aiding Ukraine.
“I am overjoyed to hear that the love of my life, Ksenia Karelina is on her way home from wrongful detention in Russia,” Karelina’s fiancé, professional boxer Chris van Heerden, said in a statement. “She has endured a nightmare for 15 months and I cannot wait to hold her. Our dog, Boots, is also eagerly awaiting her return.”
He thanked Trump and his envoys, as well as prominent public figures who had
Republicans pass budget, now face uphill battle to enact tax cuts and spending cuts
By Kevin Freking The Associated Press
ASHINGTON—Republicans
narrowly got their budget plan over the finish line. Now comes the hard part. The resolution adopted this week was only a first step that allows Republicans to draft legislation that they can push through Congress without Democratic support. Next, they begin crafting a final bill with enough spending cuts to satisfy those on the right while not
Ukraine. . .
Continued from A4
according to a press release, will be significantly cheaper than conventional missile systems. As part of this push, Helsing has built up production capacity via what it calls “resilience centers” in Europe. In February, it announced that it was able to manufacture 1,000 HX-2 drones a month, and that it planned to ship 6,000 to Ukraine to fulfill an order from the German government. The company did not provide a concrete timeline, and said that the model is still being tested in undisclosed locations across Europe. When reached for comment, Germany’s Ministry of Defense said it has not yet made a binding financial commitment to such an order, and that these are generally made only if all underlying conditions are met.
In interviews and social media posts, the company’s leaders have talked up HX2’s potential. Speaking to the German news agency DPA, Scherf touted the idea of setting up a “drone wall” along NATO’s nearly 1,900-mile-long eastern flank. Torsten Reil, a co-CEO
jeopardizing the reelection prospects of more vulnerable lawmakers whose constituents rely on key safety net programs.
With thin majorities in the House and the Senate, Republicans can afford to lose hardly any votes from their side of the aisle as they draft legislation, giving each lawmaker leverage over the process.
“It’s going to take all of us to get it done,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. The road ahead is daunting. Republicans are determined to
and co-founder, posted on LinkedIn that “100,000 HX-2 strike drones would deter a land invasion of Europe once and for all,” and claimed that Helsing was ready to produce them. The announcement came as competitors and defense tech investors have been openly questioning Helsing and its ability to produce high-quality drones. Bobby Sakaki, a drone consultant and investor, recently removed a video he had posted online denouncing Helsing’s pricing practices. Sakaki had previously criticized the company on LinkedIn. “Dear Helsing: what is it you guys do?” Sakaki wrote weeks earlier, voicing a question frequently raised by investors and specialists within the defense sector. “I am genuinely curious because nobody has been able to tell me consistently.” Brünjes, the Helsing executive, acknowledged that “in the first three years, it was very difficult to understand what Helsing was doing” but said that the company is now working to be more transparent, pointing to its communication push around the HX-2.
On October 31, Florian Seibel, the founder of Quantum Systems, a rival startup that
extend the individual tax cuts that were approved during President Donald Trump’s first term before they expire at year’s end. But they intend for the legislation to do far more than that, potentially enacting a host of tax reductions that Trump promised during the campaign, such as no income tax on tips and overtime.
And the tax cuts are only half the equation. Conservatives in the House gave the budget plan the final votes needed for passage Thursday after they said they received assurances from
has shipped hundreds of surveillance drones to Ukraine, posted a photo of a promotional flyer on LinkedIn featuring technical details of the HX2. He described the drone’s proposed range and weaponry specifications, and then said he’d donate €100,000 to charity if Helsing could actually meet them. “The war in Ukraine is deadly and shouldn’t be misused for marketing purposes,” Seibel wrote.
Within a day, Seibel removed the post and then signed a ceaseand-desist letter from Helsing assenting to stop sharing confidential details about the startup, according to two people familiar with the events. Helsing and Seibel’s other dronemaking company, Stark Defence, recently agreed to provide the German military with attack drones for trials, according to an official with knowledge of the deal. Representatives for the German military and Helsing did not respond to requests for comment, while Seibel said that he is in favor of “competitive testing that leads to larger scale procurement—no marketing, just facts.”
In a statement to Bloomberg, Helsing rejected the idea that it had manufacturing difficulties,
leadership in both chambers that they would work to have a final product with at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts— forcing changes to federal programs including Medicaid that could prove hard for some in the party to support.
“The struggles Republicans have faced so far are only a glimmer of what’s to come,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, senses a difficult fight for Republicans. He said Trump has made clear he doesn’t want any benefit cuts for those who get health
saying it had successfully produced drones on a tight timeline which had been tested and approved within official Ukrainian processes. It did not com
All this is playing out at a critical moment for both Europe and its defense industry. In the coming weeks, Germany will settle on the composition of its next government. After that, focus will turn to rearmament. Following the country’s landmark decision in March to lift all borrowing restrictions on defense spending, billions in military contracts are suddenly on the table. That will give Helsing the opportunity to bring in new business—and answer its critics. With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska, Olesia Safronova, Laura Alviz and Michael Nienaber/Bloomberg
showing her being escorted to a plane somewhere in Russia. The footage then featured what appeared to be the scene of exchange at the Abu Dhabi airport, with Petrov walking off a plane and shaking hands with Russian officials on the tarmac. The video showed Petrov undergoing medical checkups on a flight to Russia. “I have no particular complaints, just a bit tired,” he said.
Another video released by the FSB later in the day showed him walking off a plane after arriving in Russia.
championed her case, including Dana White, a Trump friend and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Trump also credited White, too, saying the UFC boss had called him about the case.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on X, “President Trump and his administration continue to work around the clock to ensure Americans detained abroad are returned home to their families.”
The exchange was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The United Arab Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency released photos of Karelina boarding a plane and one of her standing next to Yousef alOtaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the US.
The FSB, which said Putin had pardoned Karelina before the swap, released a video
insurance coverage through Medicaid, which could conflict with the desire some conservatives have for steep spending cuts.
“If it’s this rocky now, it’s only going to get worse from here on out if the speaker is not able to get the entire conference in line,” Miller said.
Democrats have framed the debate as Republicans looking to slash key government programs so they can pass tax cuts that predominately help wealthier households. It’s a message Democrats will hammer home leading up
Petrov was accused by the US Justice Department of involvement in a scheme to procure microelectronics subject to US export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical components for the country’s weapons industries. He was facing a 20-year prison term in the US.
Abu Dhabi was the scene of another high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the United States. In December 2022, American basketball star Brittney Griner was traded for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The UAE has been a mediator in prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine, while the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai has become home to many Russians and Ukrainians who fled there after the start of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.
to the 2026 midterm elections.
“At this point, they’re all worried about primaries and they are worried about Elon’s money, but they ought to be worried about a general election as well,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., referring to Trump’s billionaire ally and adviser, Elon Musk.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult for a moderate Republican, if there’s still any left, to be able to vote for this and go home and defend it.”
See “Republicans,” A6
KSENIA KARELINA arrives Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. AP/ALEX BRANDON
Eaton wildfire survivors allege insurers deny coverage for toxic smoke damage
By Claudia Lauer & Sally Ho The Associated Press
ALL sense of survivors’ guilt was fleeting for those residents whose homes remained standing after wildfires ripped through the Los Angeles area three months ago.
Many worried that smoke from the Eaton wildfire that destroyed more than 9,000 structures and killed 18 people may have carried toxins, including lead, asbestos and heavy metals, into their homes. But they struggled to convince their insurers to test their properties to ensure it was safe to return.
Nicole Maccalla, a data scientist, said embers burned more than half of her roof, several windows and eaves were damaged, and her house in Altadena was left filled with ash, debris, soot and damaged appliances. She said her insurance adjuster said USAA would pay for contamination testing, but after choosing a company and coming back with the results, her claim was rejected. The adjuster said the company only covered testing in homes with major damage.
“Every single item is a battle,” said Maccalla. “It’s denials and appeals and denials and appeals, and you wait weeks and weeks and weeks for responses.”
Crowdsourcing contamination data
MACCALLA and others banded together as Eaton Fire Residents Unite, sharing environmental testing data and compiling the results in an online map. Of 81
Some Republicans also made clear to GOP leadership before Thursday’s budget
homes tested so far for lead, all show elevated levels, according to the group.
“I’ve already had multiple people reach out and say: ‘Thank you for publishing this map … because my insurance company has changed their mind and approved testing,’” said Maccalla, who helped design the data collection to verify results and maintain privacy.
Many homeowners paid privately for the testing after their insurance companies refused, revealing gaps in coverage. The group hopes the data will help residents who can’t afford it to convince their insurers to cover testing and remediation.
“If I can prove my community is not fit for human habitation then maybe I can show my home won’t be,” said Jane Lawton Potelle, founder of Eaton Fire Residents Unite.
It’s not easy to understand how and when it is safe to return home, Lawton Potelle said. The fine print of insurance policies can be frustrating and confusing, and the government has not stepped in to help.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it has no plans to conduct widespread environmental testing. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is tracking
vote that they will be closely monitoring the changes to Medicaid in the final bill.
“This was just making sure that there is a clear understanding here that there are a group of members that will not cut benefits from seniors and our most vulnerable New
environmental testing largely by academic researchers and a handful from government agencies, but most studies assess outdoor contamination.
Toxic air and limited coverage
REPORTS from other urban wildfires, in which building materials, appliances, cars and more burn at incredibly high temperatures, show increased levels of heavy metals including lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benzene that are tied to negative health risks. But insurance companies haven’t standardized testing for those contaminants.
Home insurance broadly covers fire damage, but there is a growing dispute over what damage must be covered when flames don’t torch the property.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara released a bulletin in March that put the onus on companies to properly investigate reported smoke damage, saying they cannot deny such claims without investigating thoroughly, including paying for professional testing as warranted. But many residents have been left to fight for coverage anyway.
Janet Ruiz, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute that represents many major insurance companies, said it’s hard to compare neighbors because every claim is unique due to each home’s physical structure, actual damage and defined insurance coverage limits.
“It can vary and insurance companies are sensitive to what the claim is,” Ruiz said. “You have to work with your insurance companies and be reasonable about what may have happened.”
Dave Jones, director of
Yorkers who rely on Medicaid,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is up for reelection next year, said she’s also made her position known to leadership.
“I could not make my position on Medicaid cuts clearer,” she said. “I am not going to support cuts that affect lowincome families, disabled individuals, low-income seniors, rural hospitals.”
Republicans say their focus is on instilling work requirements for ablebodied beneficiaries and more rigorous eligibility assessments. But Democrats say Republicans can’t generate the savings being discussed without also cutting benefits.
the Climate Risk Initiative at University of California, Berkeley, and former state insurance commissioner, said testing should be covered even though some insurance companies disagree.
“It’s perfectly reasonable for people to have some kind of environmental test done so that their home is safe and their property is safe,” Jones said. “We’re talking about very catastrophically high temperature fires where all sorts of materials are melted and some of them become toxic.”
State plan struggles
THE state’s insurer of last resort, known as the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, has been scrutinized for years over how it handles smoke damage claims.
A 2017 change to the FAIR Plan limited coverage to “permanent physical changes,” meaning smoke damage must be visible or detectable without lab testing for claims to be approved. State
Meanwhile, Republicans see extending the individual and estate tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term as key to their electoral success next year. The House Ways and Means Committee says a family of four making $80,610 a year, the median income in the United States, would see a $1,695 tax increase if the tax cuts are not extended.
Republicans spent the last few years blaming President Joe Biden’s administration for increasing the debt, and a key test will be how many keep that focus as they seek to extend and expand tax cuts.
A recent estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation projects that extending the 2017 tax breaks will add
officials said that threshold was too high and illegal, and ordered a change.
Dylan Schaffer, an attorney leading a class action lawsuit challenging FAIR Plan’s threshold, said he was surprised private carriers are disputing similar fire damage claims.
“The damage is not due to smoke, the damage is contamination from fire,” Schaffer said. “They make it complicated because it saves them money.”
Meanwhile, Altadena residents on the FAIR Plan say their claims are still being denied. Jones believes the debate will only end when lawmakers take action.
FAIR Plan spokeswoman Hilary McLean declined to comment on the ongoing litigation and individual cases, but said the FAIR Plan pays all covered claims based on the adjusters’ recommendations.
“Our policy, like many others, requires direct physical loss for there to be coverage,” McLean said.
$5.5 trillion over the next decade when including interest, and $4.6 trillion not including interest. On top of that, adding Trump’s campaign promises would swell the price tag to $7 trillion.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he’ll advocate for splitting the measure into two reconciliation bills if Republicans take too long to get to a final product.
“I’m going to say break it apart, because they need money for the border yesterday and they also need money for DoD,” Graham said, referring to the Department of Defense.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he looked forward to the challenge and there was a lot of work ahead.
Worries over kids’ safety LAWTON Potelle said the first inkling that her house might be toxic came after meeting with her AAA insurance adjuster in the days after the fire. Even though she had worn a mask, her chest still ached and her voice rasped, and she wondered whether her home was safe for her 11-year-old.
Stephanie Wilcox said her toddler’s pediatrician recommended testing their home. Her Farmers Insurance policy includes coverage for lead and asbestos in addition to her wildfire coverage, but after multiple denials, she paid out of pocket.
“After the initial inspection, (Farmers) had told us remediation would cost about $12,000 and that it would be habitable, like we could move back in tomorrow,” she said. “But now there’s no way.” She plans to ask for a new estimate including lead abatement and other costs, citing the results.
Similarly, Zach Bailey asked in late January for contamination testing. The house he shares with his wife and toddler sits in an island of largely spared homes among blocks wiped out by the fire. After months of denials, State Farm agreed to pay for lead and asbestos testing because the remediation company cited federal worker safety regulations.
It shouldn’t have been that hard, he said.
“It feels like the insurance companies should have a playbook at this point,” he said. “They should have a process to keep people safe because this isn’t the first disaster like this.”
“The American people are counting on us,” Johnson said.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said he’s confident a final bill will pass with the House winning the most important tussles on the scope of taxes and spending cuts.
“I will bet you they will fold rather than inflict the largest tax increase in American history on their voters,” Cole said of the Senate. “And two-thirds of them, with all due respect, aren’t on the ballot next time.... Whereas everyone here is on the line. And our majority is much more on the line that their majority is.”
The Associated Press staff writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
EATON fire survivor Dr. Nicole Maccalla, a data scientist and a lead investigator, checks the
interior of her home after cleaning and repairs were performed to her smoke damaged residency in Altadena, California, on Friday, April 4, 2025. AP/DAMIAN DOVARGANES
THE Science department vowed to strengthening research utilization of Filipino-developed health solutions during the recent 43rd anniversary celebration of the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOSTPCHRD) in Pasay City.
“Let us build on the utilization and commercialization of scientific and medical discoveries, ensuring that the knowledge and wisdom we create becomes a force for national progress and prosperity,” said Science Secretary Solidum in his message to the DOST-PCHRD and its stakeholders.
Bannering the theme, “Building a Healthier and Wealthier Future: Advancing Research Utilization for Greater Impact,” the DOST-PCHRD highlighted the critical importance of effectively translating research findings into practical applications that can improve health outcomes in the country.
As the national coordinating body for health research in the country, the DOSTPCHRD has led initiatives to enable the utilization of research outputs by Filipino researchers.
The Council’s programs include support for research dissemination and publication, assistance for commercialization and adoption of health technologies and innovations, as well as assistance for the translation of research results into evidence-based health policies.
“For over four decades, the DOST-PCHRD has worked tirelessly with researchers and institutions to bridge the gap between innovation and action, ensuring that discoveries lead to impactful change,” said DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Dr. Jaime Montoya, emphasizing the Council’s commitment to research utilization.
In his report, Montoya shared the latest progress in the Council’s research utilization programs. In 2024, it provided over P28.9 million in funding support for technology transfer initiatives, over P4 million for
support to research dissemination, and over P3 million for support to policy translation of research.
Research utilization as a shared responsibility
RECOGNIZING the obstacles in successfully transforming research into real-world health solutions, Solidum stressed that utilization is a shared responsibility.
“Policy-makers, researchers, industry leaders, technology generators, and entrepreneurs must work together to create a system where scientific and medical discoveries fulfill their purpose to improve lives” he said.
In this mission, the Science chief reminded stakeholders to be guided by the DOST strategic pillars focusing on promoting human well-being, fostering wealth creation, reinforcing wealth protection, and institutionalizing sustainability.
Integrating these in the health research community’s work enables holistic progress, according to Solidum.
In his keynote message, Health Secretary Dr. Teodora Herbosa also recognized the challenges mentioned by Solidum.
“Bridging the gap between research and implementation requires stronger collaboration among government agencies, academia, the private sector, and healthcare providers,” Herbosa said.
“Strengthening our evidence-based decision making will enhance our health programs and optimize resource allocation for better patient care,” he added, calling on fellow decision makers to make research more accessible and actionable.
The celebration put the spotlight on research utilization with a plenary discussion that focused on existing policies, strategies, and gaps on effectively linking research outputs to tangible benefits.
Representatives from key stakeholders such as DOH, Food and Drug Administration, and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry shared their insights during the discussion.
Scientists map part of mouse’s brain that turns out complex like galaxies
By Lauran Neergaard
WASHINGTON—Thanks to a mouse watching clips from “The Matrix,” scientists have created the largest functional map of a brain to date—a diagram of the wiring connecting 84,000 neurons as they fire off messages.
Using a piece of that mouse’s brain about the size of a poppy seed, the researchers identified those neurons and traced how they communicated via branch-like fibers through a surprising 500 million junctions called synapses.
The massive dataset, published Wednesday by the journal “Nature,” marks a step toward unraveling the mystery of how our brains work.
The data, assembled in a 3D reconstruction colored to delineate different brain circuitry, is open to scientists worldwide for additional research—and for the simply curious to take a peek.
“It definitely inspires a sense of awe, just like looking at pictures of the galaxies,” said Forrest Collman of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, one of the project’s leading researchers.
“You get a sense of how complicated you are. We’re looking at one tiny part... of a mouse’s brain and the beauty and complexity that you can see in these actual neurons and the hundreds of millions of connections between them,” Collman said.
How we think, feel, see, talk and move are due to neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain—how they’re activated and send messages to each other.
Scientists have long known those signals move from one neuron along fibers called axons and dendrites, using synapses to jump to the next neuron.
But there’s less known about the networks of neurons that perform certain tasks and how disruptions of that wiring could play a role in Alzheimer’s, autism or other disorders.
“You can make a thousand hypotheses about how brain cells might do their job but you can’t test those hypotheses unless you know perhaps the most fundamental thing—how are those cells wired together,” said Allen Institute scientist Clay Reid, who helped pioneer electron microscopy to study neural connections.
With the new project, a global team of more than 150 researchers mapped neural connections that Collman compares to tangled pieces of spaghetti winding through part of the mouse brain responsible for vision.
The first step: Show a mouse video snippets of sci-fi movies, sports, animation and nature.
A team at Baylor College of Medicine did just that, using a mouse engineered with a gene that makes its neurons glow when they’re active.
The researchers used a laser-powered microscope to record how individual cells in the animal’s visual cortex lit up as they processed the images flashing by.
Next, scientists at the Allen Institute analyzed that small piece of brain tissue, using a special tool to shave it into more than 25,000 layers, each far thinner than a human hair.
With electron microscopes, they took nearly 100 million high-resolution images of those sections, illuminating those spaghetti-like fibers and painstakingly reassembling the data in 3D.
Finally, Princeton University scientists used artificial intelligence to trace all that
wiring and “paint each of the individual wires a different color so that we can identify them individually,” Collman explained. They estimated that microscopic wiring, if laid out, would measure more than 3 miles (5 kilometers). Importantly, matching up all that anatomy with the activity in the mouse’s brain as it watched movies allowed researchers to trace how the circuitry worked.
The Princeton researchers also created digital 3D copies of the data that other scientists can use in developing new studies. Could this kind of mapping help scientists eventually find treatments for brain diseases?
The researchers call it a foundational step, like how the Human Genome Project that provided the first gene mapping eventually led to gene-based treatments. Mapping a full mouse brain is one next goal.
“The technologies developed by this project will give us our first chance to really identify some kind of abnormal pattern of connectivity that gives rise to a disorder,” another of the project’s leading researchers, Princeton neuroscientist and computer scientist Sebastian Seung, said in a statement.
The work “marks a major leap forwards and offers an invaluable community resource for future discoveries,” wrote Harvard neuroscientists Mariela Petkova and Gregor Schuhknecht, who weren’t involved in the project.
The huge and publicly shared data “will help to unravel the complex neural networks underlying cognition and behavior,” they added.
The Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONS) consortium was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s BRAIN Initiative and IARPA, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity. AP
Sustainable fabric in Carlos Yulo’s show-stopping look
FASHION is more than just style—it tells a story of heritage, innovation, and national pride.
At the “Gintong Sinag: Hinabi ng Lakas, Ginawa nang may Pagmamalaki” fundraising fashion show on March 25, world-class gymnast Carlos Yulo took his final walk in a show-stopping outfit that honored the beauty and innovativeness of Philippine textiles.
Designed by Avel Bacudio in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Textile Research Institute, Paris Olympics double gold medalist Yulo’s outfit was a fusion of tradition and technology, said the DOST-PTRI in a news release.
Crafted from Philippine Tropical Fabrics made with cotton-pineapple blended yarns developed by DOST-PTRI, and featuring an intricate Yakan weave from Basilan, the garment highlighted resilience, sustainability, and the artistry of Filipino weavers. DOST-PTRI has developed yarns that blend natural textile fibers, such as pineapple leaf, banana, and abaca with cotton or other carrier fibers, resulting in durable, texture-enhanced fabrics with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
During his message on Day 2 of the 2025 National Textile Convention (TELACon) at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, DOST-PTRI Director Dr. Julius L. Leaño Jr. emphasized the importance of high-quality, authentic Philippine fabrics.
“The value of Philippine textiles goes beyond beauty and creativity; it’s about authenticity, and ensuring these textiles bring tangible benefits to our communities,” he said.
Leaño highlighted the role of these textiles in supporting athletes who proudly represent the Philippines on the world stage. The Institute is set to soon unveil innovative athletic wear that merges function, comfort, and sustainability.
UP physicist wins in Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
edented energies, enabling discoveries like the Higgs boson and searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model.
it was designed to investigate the fundamental building blocks of matter and the forces governing our universe. Its cutting-edge systems track particles produced in particle collisions at unprec -
The Breakthrough Prize specifically highlights the Atlas Collaboration’s significant contributions to particle physics, including detailed measurements of Higgs boson properties, studies of rare processes and matter-antimatter asymmetry, and the exploration of nature under the most extreme conditions.
“The Breakthrough Prize is a testament to the dedication and ingenuity of the Atlas Collaboration and our colleagues across the
LHC experiments,” said Atlas Spokesperson Stephane Willocq.
“This prize recognises the collective vision and monumental effort of thousands of Atlas collaborators worldwide,” he added.
UPD-CS NIP has been at the forefront of Atlas research since 2021, contributing to the search for new physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM).
“Our team’s work on BSM modelling and simulation exemplifies the innovation driving Atlas forward,” said Flores. “This recognition affirms the impact of our contributions and inspires us to continue
The runway show featured a powerful lineup of athletes, including stars from the National Academy of Sports, Filipino Paralympic athletes, and some of the country’s most iconic sports figures, such as multiple Sambo gold medalist Chino Sy-Tancontian, Olympic silver medalist in women’s featherweight boxing Nesthy Petecio, and Olympic bronze medalist in 50 kg women’s boxing Aira Villegas.
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Daniella Regie dela Pisa also graced the runway, wearing a piece co-created by DOST-PTRI and Bacudio. Her elegant and powerful presence embodied the designer’s vision of showcasing Filipino pride through a blend of traditional clothing and modern design. For Bacudio, this collection was a heartfelt tribute to athletes and weavers. In a Facebook post, he said: “To the weavers on every island of our homeland, you will always be in my heart. Through thread, weaving, and love, we honor the culture and artistry that we will pass down to the next generation.”
exploring the universe’s most fundamental questions.”
“The successes of Run 2 showcase the ingenuity of the Atlas Collaboration—not only in collecting data with a detector of outstanding precision, but also in our relentless drive to improve our understanding of it,” said Andreas Hoecker, former Atlas Spokesperson.
While the Atlas Collaboration celebrates the recognition of the Breakthrough Prize, its focus remains firmly on the future, the news release said.
The third operation period of the LHC is currently underway and preparations for the High-Luminosity LHC upgrade are advancing rapidly.
UPD-CS NIP’s High Energy Physics and Phenomenology team of 15 physicists and students is deeply involved in preparing Atlas for its next chapter.
Although their current contributions are currently in the theoretical and phenomenological side, the team is ramping up their experimental involvement through concrete steps like the formation of the Atlas Philippine Cluster involving other Philippine universities, the Collaboration said.
“We are now preparing the Atlas detectors of the future—designed to harness this unprecedented data and further push our understanding of the universe’s fundamental building blocks,” Willocq said.
SECRETARY Dr. Renato U. Solidum
DR . Marvin Flores at the Large Hadron Collider Detector. PHOTO CREDIT TO DR. MARVIN FLORES
A8 Sunday, April 13, 2025
Faith Sunday
The sickbed as a holy place
Pope Francis reflects on his own illness at Jubilee of the Sick
By AC Wimmer
STILL recovering from bilateral pneumonia that hospitalized him for nearly 40 days, Pope Francis made a surprise appearance in St. Peter’s Square on the Jubilee of the Sick, sharing profound reflections on suffering, care, and the transformative power of illness.
Wearing nasal cannulas that provide supplemental oxygen, Pope Francis arrived in a wheelchair accompanied by a nurse.
Twenty-thousand faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square on April 6, receiving him enthusiastically around 11:45 a.m. local time.
In his homily for the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers, which was read aloud by Archbishop Rino Fisichella as the pope continues his recovery, Francis drew inspiration from the prophet Isaiah and the day’s Gospel reading to explore the spiritual dimensions of illness and healing.
The pontiff said that “the sickbed can become a ‘holy place’ of salvation and redemption, both for the sick and for those who care for them.”
“I have much in common with you at this time of my life, dear brothers and sisters who are sick: the experience of illness, of weakness, of having to depend on others in so many things, and of needing their support,” the pope told his audience.
“This is not always easy, but it is a school in which we learn each day to love and to let ourselves be loved, without being demanding or pushing back, without regrets and without despair, but rather with gratitude to God and to our brothers and sisters for the kindness we receive, looking toward the future with acceptance and trust.”
The 88-year-old pontiff invited the
Filipino
faithful observe the Holy Week
WITH almost 80 percent Catholics and other Christians, Filipinos observe the Holy Week where they perform solemn religious activities from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.
On Palm Sunday, worshipers bear palm fronds to church for blessing by the priest, that imitate the entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem.
From Holy Monday to Holy Wednesday, people chant the “Pabasa ng Pasyon [Reading the Passion of Christ]”, hold processions or the “senakulo,” a staged re-enactment of the Passion and death of Jesus Christ.
On Maundy Thursday, the Chrism Mass, parishioners attend their priest for morning Mass, on which the clergy renew their priestly vows. The “Visita Iglesia” or church visit, is a practice of visiting and praying in at least seven churches. Worshipers also pray the Stations of the Cross inside or outside the church.
In the evening, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper is held, where a re-enactment of the Washing of the Feet of the Twelve Apostles is done by the priest to 12 parishioners. Good Friday, the most solemn day of the year, is observed with street processions, the Way of the Cross and meditating on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. Some places hold processions where devotees flagellate and some have themselves nailed to crosses.
While Mass is not celebrated on this day, people go churches in the afternoon for the Veneration of Cross and the Mass of the Presanctified.
On Black Saturday the Easter Vigil is held in the evening. Easter Sunday is marked with joyous celebrations. The pre-dawn rite called “Salubong” depicts the reunion of Christ and his Mother, the Virgin Mary, after the Resurrection. Statues of both are borne in two separate processions that converge at a designated area.
faithful to contemplate the Israelites’ situation in exile, as Isaiah described.
“It seemed that all was lost,” Francis noted, but added that it was precisely in this moment of trial that “new people were being born.” He connected this biblical experience to the woman in the day’s Gospel reading who had been condemned and ostracized for her sins.
Her accusers, ready to cast the first stone, were halted by the quiet authority of Jesus, the pope’s homily explained.
In comparing these stories, Pope Francis emphasized that God does not wait for our lives to be perfect before intervening.
“Illness is certainly one of the harshest and most difficult of life’s trials, when we experience in our own flesh our common human frailty. It can make us feel like the people in exile, or like the woman in the Gospel: deprived of hope for the future,”
conditions and even instances of aggression against them.
Bringing his address to a close, the pontiff recalled the encyclical “Spe Salvi” of Pope Benedict XVI, who reminded the Church that “the true measure of humanity is determined in relation to suffering.”
Francis warned, with the words of his predecessor, that “a society unable to accept its suffering members is a cruel and inhuman society.”
The Holy Father urged all present to resist the temptation to marginalize and forget the elderly, ill, or those weighed down by life’s hardships: “Dear friends, let us not exclude from our lives those who are frail, as at times, sadly, a certain mentality does today.”
the pontiff’s homily said.
“Yet that is not the case. Even in these times, God does not leave us alone, and if we surrender our lives to him, precisely when our strength fails, we will be able to experience the consolation of his presence. By becoming man, he wanted to share our weakness in everything.”
Pope Francis thanked all health care workers for their service in a particularly moving passage: “Dear doctors, nurses, and health care workers, in caring for your patients, especially the most vulnerable among them, the Lord constantly affords you an opportunity to renew your lives through gratitude, mercy, and hope.”
The pontiff encouraged them to receive every patient as an opportunity to renew their sense of humanity. His words acknowledged the challenges facing medical workers, including inadequate working
Holy Week Masses, activities at Megaworld Lifestyle Malls Chapels
IN observance of Holy Week, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls announce their special Masses and activities schedule across its chapels. Guests are invited to join the services and reflect during this sacred season.
Saint John Paul II, Eastwood City
April 13 (Palm Sunday) Procession of Palms: 8:30 am Masses: 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12 nn,
April
In his brief Angelus remarks following the Mass, the pope shared his personal experience: “Dear friends, as during my hospitalization, even now in my convalescence I feel the ‘finger of God’ and experience his caring touch.”
The pope also called for prayers for all who suffer and for health care professionals, urging investment in necessary resources for care and research, so that health care systems may be inclusive and attend to the most fragile and poor.
Pope Francis concluded with a plea for peace in conflict zones, including Ukraine, Gaza, the Middle East, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Haiti.
The Holy See has not yet commented on whether Pope Francis will participate in Holy Week ceremonies, with the Vatican press office indicating that “it is premature to discuss this” and assuring that further details will be provided later.
Catholic News Agency
sea and the Sunken Cemetery. Rooted in Roman Catholic traditions, the Panaad includes penance,
confession, and
the Panaad
from any
of
at
friends, or as an organized pilgrimage group. The traditional starting point is at Benoni Port in Mahinog town, the province’s port of entry from mainland
Mindanao. There will also be the solemn Maundy Thursday Washing of the Feet, the Good Friday Seven Last Words and Procession, and the Resurrection Sunday dawn “salubong [meeting of the risen Christ and his Mother Mary]” at different churches around the island. The capital town of Mambajao takes pride in its elaborate Good Friday ritual as it displays in the procession century-old carozas depicting various scenes in the Passion of Christ.
April
April 19 (Black Saturday)
Passover for many Jews will occur amid anxieties, divisions
PASSOVER is a major Jewish holiday, celebrated over seven or eight days each year, commemorating the exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible.
It is considered the most widely observed of any Jewish holiday, symbolizing freedom and the birth of a Jewish nation.
This year, the celebrations again occur amid anxieties and divisions among many Jews related to the unresolved IsraelHamas conflict in Gaza and the specter of widespread antisemitism.
When is Passover this year?
PASSOVER —known as Pesach in Hebrew—began at sunset on April 12, and ends after nightfall on April 20. By tradition, it will be celebrated for seven days in Israel and for eight days by some Jews in the rest of the world.
What are key Passover rituals and traditions?
FOR many Jews, Passover is a time to reunite with family and recount the exodus from Egypt at a meal called the Seder.
Observant Jews avoid various grains known as chametz, a reminder of the unleavened bread the Israelites ate when they fled Egypt quickly with no time for dough to rise.
Cracker-like matzo is OK to eat; most breads, pastas, cereals, cakes and cookies are off-limits.
What’s different this year?
A YEAR ago, for many Jews, any celebratory mood was muted by the scores of hostages captured by Hamas in Israel and held in Gaza. Many Seder tables, in Israel and elsewhere, had empty seats, representing those killed or taken hostage on October 7, 2023.
Even after the recent release of some hostages, others remain held. Hopes for a formal end to conflict have been dampened by the collapse of a ceasefire and resumption of fighting.
As was the case last year, there also is intense concern in some countries about a high level of antisemitic incidents.
More than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the United States were reported between October 7, 2023, and September 24, 2024—the most ever recorded by the Anti-Defamation League.
The Secure Community Network (SCN), which provides security and safety resources to hundreds of Jewish organizations and institutions across North America, has been issuing frequent advisories ahead of Passover.
Specifically, the group has warned of possible threats from white extremist groups, including some organizing along the US-Canada border. SCN said key extremist anniversaries, including Hitler’s birthday on April 20, coincide with the holiday, raising concerns about the risk of violence
targeting Jewish communities.
One notable change this year: ProPalestinian protests that roiled many college campuses in spring 2024 have been fewer and less disruptive, in part because of Trump administration pressure.
“Since January there has been a marked change in the seriousness with which hate on campus is being dealt by the federal government as they set out clear consequences to the previous inaction of university leaders,” said Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union.
However, some Jewish leaders have been dismayed by the Trump administration’s threats and funding curbs directed at universities it considered too tolerant of antisemitism.
“None of this is about fighting antisemitism,” Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said in a social media post. “It’s about gutting our education institutions and democracy under the guise of fighting antisemitism. And it ultimately makes Jews less safe.”
What special events are taking place?
THE Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the city’s Museum of Tolerance are hosting a special Seder for interfaith leaders and community members directly affected by recent wildfires. Organizers invited various first responders, civic leaders and elected officials, seeking to honor “the spirit of community resilience and the enduring strength of togetherness.”
The fires destroyed or damaged dozens of houses of worship and other faith-based facilities.
Interfaith Seders have been organized in many other cities, including Houston, Dallas, New York, Phoenix, and Milwaukee.
“We understand that now more than ever, Jewish communities across North America must open their doors to forge stronger friendships,” said Rabbi Joshua Stanton, Jewish Federations associate vice president of interfaith and intergroup initiatives.
The New York-based Met Council, a Jewish nonprofit operating various antipoverty programs, says it has delivered free kosher-for-Passover food to more than 250,000 Jewish Americans burdened by skyrocketing grocery costs. The packages, distributed at 185 sites in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida, included traditional Passover essentials such as matzo, kosher chicken, gefilte fish, tuna, and grape juice. Chabad-Lubavitch, a global Hassidic Jewish organization, plans a parade of more than 100 converted RVs known as “Mitzvah Tanks” through New York City’s streets. The aim, says Chabad, is “to spread kindness and celebrate Jewish heritage,” as well as distributing traditional matzo. David Crary/Ap National Writer
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
La Mesa Ecopark: A ‘rare gem’ in green space PPP
By Jonathan L. Mayuga
NATURE lovers came together to celebrate the International Day of the Forest with the theme “Forests and Food” at the La Mesa Ecopark (LME).
The event on March 21, dubbed “Feast from the Forest: A Taste of Biodiversity,” was organized by MAD Travel, in partnership with Manila Water Foundation. It highlighted the rich biodiversity of the Philippines while promoting sustainable livelihood and conservation efforts.
Participants enjoyed a curated tasting experience, featuring locally sourced coffee, tea, and honey, showcasing the unique flavors of the country’s most biodiverse regions, while through storytelling and discussions, participants gained insight into the environmental challenges faced by communities and the role they can play in preserving nature.
Eco-walk
ONE of the highlights of the event was an eco-walk through the La Mesa Ecopark, culminating with a tree planting to contribute to ongoing reforestation efforts in the area.
The proceeds from the event will support the redevelopment of the ecopark and MAD Travel’s sustainability initiatives.
“The event successfully fostered a deeper appreciation for nature, uniting individuals in their commitment to environmental preservation. As reforestation and conservation continue to be pressing global issues, Feast from the Forest served as a powerful reminder of how small actions can make a significant impact,” Murphy Amparo, operations manager of La Mesa Ecopark, said.
According to Amparo, La Mesa Ecopark plays a crucial role in preserving the health of La Mesa Dam and its water sources, which aids in ensuring water supply availability for Metro Manila, through forest conservation, sustainable practices,
and environmental stewardship and education.
Additionally, LME promotes food security and enhances biodiversity by maintaining a balanced ecosystem.
It also serves as a buffer zone, protecting the dam from encroachment.
A park in the city
THE ecopark is a public park in Greater Lagro, Quezon City. Covering an area of 33 hectares, it sits along the natural boundary of the La Mesa Watershed Reservation and the La Mesa Dam.
Among the activities in the park are hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, rappelling, zip-lining, fishing, and paddle-boating in the lagoon.
In the National Capital Region, a vast concrete jungle, La Mesa Ecopark is one of the very few green spaces where people can go for a quick weekend getaway, commune with nature, and take a break from the busy city daily life that is overcrowded with busy people, fast and noisy motor vehicles, and polluted air.
Rich biodiversity
THE park is home to numerous Philippine endemic trees—such as molave, narra, namio, antipolo, and pili.
According to Amparo, the preliminary count of species at the La Mesa Ecopark indicated the presence of 220 species of flora and fauna, including small mammals, birds, and reptiles, which consider the forest their home in the city.
At least three species of fish were counted in the lagoon.
Like most green spaces in a rapidly developing area, the ecopark provides a wildlife-like sanctuary to animals, and the protection of the park against various threats, including hunting, can never be overemphasized.
Outdoor classroom
AMPARO, a forester, told the BusinessMirror in an interview on April 8 that the ecopark, which was reopened in June last year after a major rehabilitation, is starting to receive more visitors.
He attributed this to the proximity of the ecopark to the city. He said the place offers visitors a learning experience about the environment.
“[It is] one of the big green spaces in Metro Manila.… Another advantage is La Mesa’s biodiversity. We have 220 species here. And La Mesa’s entrance fee is very affordable,” he said partly in Filipino.
La Mesa Ecopark management charges P20 for non-Quezon City residents, and free entrance fee for Quezon City residents.
Guided tour
ACCORDING to Amparo, with just 18 maintenance personnel under the new management, essentially led by Manila Water, the private water concessionaire of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System for the East Zone of Metro Manila, a guided tour for a minimum fee of P220 per head, including students, is available.
“The La Mesa EcoPark is open to all visitors. One of our come-ons, especially for schools, is generally the landscape. We provide learning sessions. Many schools send their students here for field trips,” he said.
He added that the guided tours have modules for information and education campaign.
World’s largest deforestation project fells forests for bioethanol fuel, sugar and rice in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Indonesia plans to clear forests about the size of Belgium to produce sugarcane-derived bioethanol, rice and other food crops, potentially displacing Indigenous groups who rely on the land to survive.
Local communities say they’re already experiencing harm from the governmentbacked project, which environmental watchdogs say is the largest current planned deforestation operation in the world.
A vast tropical archipelago stretching across the equator, Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest rainforest, home to many endangered species of wildlife and plants, including orangutans, elephants and giant forest flowers. Some live nowhere else. Indonesia has been building food estates, massive plantations designed to improve the country’s food security for decades, with varying level of success. The concept was revived by former President Joko Widodo during his 2014-2024 administration.
The current president, Prabowo Subianto, has expanded such projects to include crops to produce bioethanol, a renewable fuel made from plants like sugar cane or corn, in pursuit of Indonesia’s ambition to improve its energy mix and develop more renewable sources.
“I am confident that within four to five years at the latest, we will achieve food self-sufficiency,” Prabowo said in October 2024. “We must be self-sufficient in energy
and we have the capacity to achieve this.”
Biofuels, such as bioethanol, play an important role in decarbonizing transport by providing a low-carbon solution for sectors that heavily rely on fossil fuels such as trucking, shipping and aviation, according to the International Energy Agency. But the agency also cautions expansion of biofuel that should have minimal impact on land-use, food and other environmental factors in order to be developed sustainably. That’s of particular concern in Indonesia, where more than 74 million hectares (285,715 square miles) of its rainforest—an area twice the size of Germany—have been logged, burned or degraded for development of palm oil, paper and rubber plantations, nickel mining and other commodities since 1950, according to Global Forest Watch.
Indonesia has vast potential for bioethanol production due to its extensive agricultural land but currently lacks sustainable feedstocks, like sugarcane and cassava.
A previous attempt to introduce bioethanol-blended fuel in 2007 was discontinued a few years later due to a lack of feedstock supply.
Since then, the government has accelerated work on its food and energy estate mega-project, which spans 4.3 million hectares (about 10.6 million acres) on the islands of Papua and Kalimantan.
Experts say the combined size of the
numerous project sites makes the megaproject the largest current deforestation project in the world.
The largest site, called the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate, will cover more than 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) in the far-eastern region of Papua, according to the international environmental organization Mighty Earth.
Overlapping with the Trans-Fly ecoregion, it’s home to critically endangered and endemic mammals, birds and turtles and to several Indigenous groups who rely on traditional ways of living.
“Imagine every piece of vegetation in that area being completely cleared ... having all the trees and the wildlife erased from the landscape and replaced with a monoculture,” said Glenn Horowitz, CEO of Mighty Earth. “It’s creating a zone of death in one of the most vibrant spots on Earth.”
An unpublished government feasibility assessment obtained and reviewed by The Associated Press (AP) estimates that carbon dioxide emissions from clearing land for the project will total 315 million tons of CO2 equivalent.
An independent assessment by the Indonesia-based think tank Center of Economic and Law Studies estimated double that.
Deforestation contributes to erosion, damages biodiverse areas, threatens wildlife and humans who rely on the forest and intensifies disasters from extreme
“[The] sets of modules [depend] on the students’ needs. We have one for nature tours, for trees, for animals, and for architects. Lastly, we have biodiversity and climate change,” Amparo said.
The buildings in the park were designed by National Artist for Architecture Francisco Mañoza that makes La Mesa a perfect place to visit by architecture students.
Green space
A GREEN space is an area of grass, trees, or other vegetation set apart for recreational or aesthetic purposes in an otherwise urban environment.
In Metro Manila, there are several green spaces that are often overlooked.
Among the more famous green spaces in the metropolis are Rizal Park, Arroceros Forest Park, Paco Park, and Intramuros in Manila, the Quezon City Circle, and the Ninoy Aquino Park and Wildlife Rescue Center in Quezon City.
Even cemeteries and campuses have set aside green spaces that allow urban biodiversity to survive and thrive.
Environmental advocate Gregg Yan underscored the importance of keeping spaces “green,” especially in an urban jungle like Metropolitan Manila.
“Green spaces provide Filipinos with much-needed breaks from the hustle and bustle of city life,” he said.
“They help regulate and cool down urban spaces while providing habitats for birds, lizards, insects, and other critters that were once ubiquitous throughout our landscapes. Most of
weather.
Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Subianto’s brother and envoy for energy and the environment, said the government will reforest 6.5 million hectares (16 million acres) of degraded and deforested land.
“Thus, the food estate program continues while we mitigate the possible negative impacts with new programs, one of which is reforestation,” he said.
But experts warn that reforestation, while essential, cannot match the ecological benefits of old-growth ecosystems, which store vast amounts of carbon in their soils and biomass, regulate water cycles and support biodiversity.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture, which oversees the food and energy estate project, did not respond to requests for comment from The AP.
Merauke Sugar Group and Jhonlin Group, the two main Indonesian companies in charge of the project in Merauke, likewise did not respond to requests for comment from The AP.
Local communities in Papua that rely on the area for hunting, fishing and other aspects of their cultural identity say their basic needs have been harmed by the projects.
Vincen Kwipalo, 63, a villager living in the area, said that land he and other villagers used for hunting was turned into sugarcane nurseries guarded by groups of men, preventing them from engaging in their usual ways of survival.
“We know the forests of Papua are one of the biggest lungs of the world, yet we are destroying it,” Kwipalo said. “Indonesia should be proud to protect Papua...not destroy it.” Victoria Milko/Associated Press
all, they can also recharge us spiritually,” Yan told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on April 9.
“Just walking under the trees does wonders for one’s soul,” he said.
Some of the best green spaces near Metro Manila include the sprawling campuses of University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, the Marikina River, public parks like the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center and La Mesa Dam.
Biodiversity corridors
URBANIZATION , however, continues to threaten the remaining green spaces in Metro Manila, and they need to be protected to help protect and conserve our endangered wildlife.
Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim, an international biodiversity expert, said studies have already shown that green spaces in urban areas can serve as “biodiversity corridors,” helping to connect wildlife habitats that have been fragmented by human activities.
“One of the key challenges in protecting remaining green spaces is the lack of incentives for real estate developers to preserve them,” Lim told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on April 8.
“The high economic returns from converting land into residential or commercial areas are often too compelling to resist,” she pointed out.
A rare gem
ACCORDING to Lim, public-private partnerships (PPP) can help save the remaining green spaces in Metro Manila and other areas threatened by urbanization and massive land conversion. She described the La Mesa Ecopark as one of the best examples.
“La Mesa is a rare gem. The success of its PPP can be largely attributed to the strong public awareness of its vital role in supplying water to Metro Manila—a message powerfully championed by the late Gina Lopez. This clear environmental and social rationale has helped attract and justify private sector investment in its conservation,” said Lim, former director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
“If we apply the same strategy used in La Mesa Ecopark—identifying and highlighting the ecosystem services a green space can provide and linking these to long-term business sustainability—similar models of conservation and investment may also work for other green spaces,” she ended.
“At the same time, the ecosystem services provided by urban biodiversity remain undervalued, with no clear pricing or market mechanisms that reflect their true importance to public health, climate resilience, and overall quality of life,” explained Lim, former executive director of the Asean Centre for Biodviersity.
UNIVERSITY of Delaware entomologist Doug Tallamy’s research has identified “keystone” plant species that make up the foundation of many US ecosystems by producing food for native insects, thus supporting the ecological food web. Even planting just one keystone plant in the yard or in a container will help restore biodiversity on a property. Here are eight of the most important trees and plants that Tallamy, author of the new book, “How
I
recommends. The complete list at https:// homegrownnationalpark.org/keystoneplant-guides/
Women to outnumber men in LA28 Olympics
The International Olympic Committee’s headline decision was redressing an inequality since women’s soccer debuted at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with just eight teams—half as many as the men’s tournament.
By Graham Dunbar The Associated Press
Gsoccer tournament will be bigger than the men’s edition for the first time in 2028, the International Olympic Committee (IO) decided recently, with 16 teams for women and now just 12 for men—flipping the gender imbalance at the Paris Olympics which had 16 men’s teams and 12 in the women’s tournament. That decision by the IOC executive board helped push the core quota of athletes for LA to 50.7 percent women and 49.3 percent men—5,333 for women and 5,167 for men, the IOC said. The gap is closed slightly when athletes for the sports being added specially to the LA program—involving 322 female and 376 male competitors— are included. Those sports include cricket, flag football and lacrosse.
The landmark progress for women athletes was made at an online board meeting Wednesday co-chaired in Lausanne for the first time by Kirsty Coventry as president-elect since her win last month. In June she will formally replace her mentor Thomas Bach and become the IOC’s first female leader in its 131-year history. Two more women’s teams were
How about women on rings, men on balance beam? Anything goes...
PITTSBURGH—Brody Penn tried every sport as a kid. He started with gymnastics, but his parents worried the gym was too far away. So they signed him up for baseball and soccer, only to have a familiar scene play out over and over. The games would start, and Penn would inevitably find himself turning cartwheels.
added in water polo so that tournament in Los Angeles will be equal with the men’s event with 12 nations each.
Boxing will have one extra women’s weight class to equal the men’s lineup of seven medal events.
“The message of gender equality is a really important one for us,” IOC sports director Kit McConnell said. ““We really thank LA 28 for supporting this. It’s central to their vision as well.”
The IOC’s headline decision was redressing an inequality since women’s soccer debuted at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with just eight teams—half as many as the men’s tournament.
The board confirmed a proposal revealed last Thursday by FIFA President Gianni Infantino when he spoke at the annual meeting of European soccer body UEFA.
The case for change was made more compelling because the women’s soccer tournament is a top-tier title with national teams sending their best players.
The men’s tournament, however, only rarely attracts the best players because of selection conflicts with clubs worldwide and is mostly for players aged 23 or under. The French men’s team which took silver in Paris last year was unable to select Kylian Mbappé who had just signed for Real Madrid. There were 16 men’s soccer teams at every
A10 SundAy, April 13, 2025 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph
Editor: Jun Lomibao
Summer Games since Moscow in 1980 through Paris last year.
The women’s lineup increased to 10 teams at the 2004 Athens Olympics then to 12 four years later in Beijing.
FIFA and Infantino had repeatedly called for equality with a 16-team women’s tournament, which would have added about 70 extra players, plus team officials, to push the limits on athlete accommodation quotas for Olympics organizers.
The solution found was to favor the women’s edition over the men’s and further drive the IOC’s policy of gender parity at the Olympics that was first reached in Paris. Women and men competing together GOLF and the 4x100 sprint relay on the track are among events which will have mixed gender team events for the first time in Los Angeles. Other new team events will be in artistic gymnastics, archery, coastal rowing and table tennis. A new Olympic record of 351 medal events in 2028 will comprise 161 for women, 165 for men and 25 mixed events, the IOC said.
“It’s about artistry, it’s about emotion,” he said. “I couldn’t stop watching it.”
He just couldn’t do it. Sure, there were times when Penn would hop on the balance beam during practice, but only when his coach’s head was turned. Why?
“My family was like, ‘You know what? Maybe you should just be in gymnastics,’” said Penn, now a student at Ohio State. “And so I went back to gymnastics.” More specifically, Penn went back to men’s gymnastics. He competed as a Level 10 in the USA Gymnastics system in high school, one step short of elite. Penn just didn’t find happiness. Not true happiness anyway. Asked what drew him to the sport in the first place, Penn doesn’t talk about pommel horse or parallel bars—two of the six men’s apparatuses—but floor routines set to music, a staple on the women’s side.
“It was always sort of like a forbidden thing,” he said. It’s not in the National Intercollegiate Association of Gymnastics Clubs, which has taken the sport’s gender norms and practically erased them. The NAIGC gives its athletes the freedom to compete in whatever discipline they want
Gymnastics a la carte
FOR Penn, now a member of the Ohio State University Club Gymnastics Team, that meant the opportunity to lean into the things that made him fall in love with the sport in the first place. He’s hardly the only one. The NAIGC offers “Unified Artistic Gymnastics,” which lets athletes compete in any event they like, a la carte style.
Want to do men’s floor exercise and uneven bars? Sure. Still rings and balance beam? Go for it.
Nearly a quarter of the over 1,700 competitors who participated in the NAIGC’s 2025 national competition in Pittsburgh this month tried at least one UAG event. Nearly 100 gave “the decathlon”—performing all six men’s disciplines and all four
women’s disciplines—a shot.
During the all-around or individual events at nationals, the athletes are eligible for awards based on whichever gender group they registered under (women’s-plus or men’s-plus), their skill level, and whether they’re part of a college or community team.
It’s not that way in the decathlon and the omnithon—which are the 10 artistic events plus trampoline and tumbling. In those events, athletes compete against everyone else at their level, regardless of gender identity.
“It’s pretty beautiful, really,” said Penn, who took first in the decathlon in the open/advanced group at nationals. “It’s a great vibe.”
It’s also, in a way, a great equalizer.
Picking an event
JULIA SHARPE had two brothers who did men’s gymnastics growing up. She joined the gym on the women’s side and had plenty of success. But it was kind of boring. Sharpe started experimenting with men’s events during what the MIT club gymnastics team called “switch day” more than a
ILAN—Organizers of next year’s Milan-Cortina
decade ago. She was hooked.
“The men actually have variety,” said Sharpe, who finished third in the decathlon at nationals behind Penn and just ahead of her husband, Nate. “There’s all these different things that they get to do. Rings and parallel bars are just completely different. I just thought it would be cool to try those other things.” Now, a full 10 years-plus into competing while also teaching men’s and women’s gymnastics to beginners, Sharpe has learned that while there are some events in which cisgender men may have a potential advantage because of their body composition— like say, still rings, which requires significant upper-body strength— there are also events in which a man’s body might struggle.
Sharpe pointed out that in the lower level of NAIGC men’s artistic gymnastics events, the women are “destroying the men” in part because the women typically come to the men’s events with an established background in the sport; most novice men are typically completely new to it.
Doctors: Maradona should not have undergone surgery before his death
JURASSIC Gymnastics’s Raiden Hung and Boston University Gymnastics Club’s Ten Harder perform on the balance beam at the NAIGC national competition in Pittsburgh. AP
INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee (IOC)
(right) speaks next
White
Lotus
hotels target Gen
Z travelers–but luxury resorts don’t reflect their travel habits
APRIL 13, 2025 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com
GROUNDED YET AMBITIOUS Culture Wars eye headlining shows and global expansion
By John Eiron R. Francisco
THEY’VE already conquered streaming charts, shared stages with the likes of LANY and Maroon 5, and made waves across the globe with their dynamic sound—but for Austin-based band Culture Wars, the journey is only just beginning.
As the hype builds around their upcoming 2025 album, the band is dreaming bigger than ever: headlining their own shows across Asia, cracking new international markets, and pushing their sonic revolution into full-blown world domination. In an exclusive interview with SoundStrip, lead vocalist Alex Dugan shared the band’s aspirations: “Doing our own shows in Asia would be a great benchmark for us. But really, continuing to tour and reaching new territories is what we’re after—it’s all part of our mission for what we jokingly call ‘world domination.’”
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“But, we’re just really excited and happy and lucky to be doing what we’re doing,” he said.
Despite the ambitious goals, the band remains grounded. “We’re just really excited, happy, and lucky to be doing what we’re doing,” Dugan added. “We’re just taking it one step at a time and letting the music speak for itself. That’s what keeps us going.”
‘The organic journey behind Culture Wars’ formation’ WHILE their dreams are undeniably big, the roots of Culture Wars are grounded in the humble beginnings of their formation.
The story of how the band came together, as recounted by Dugan, is as organic and unforced as their music. It all started when Dugan moved to Austin for school, with a clear desire to start a band.
His first connection came through a mutual friend, a guitarist who suggested they jam together. This led to the discovery of David Grayson, the drummer who would become a central figure in the band’s journey.
Dugan and Grayson began playing and forming various bands over the years, with their musical partnership eventually morphing into what is now Culture Wars.
As the band’s lineup solidified, Dugan met bassist Dillon Randolph through a childhood friend. The connection was immediate, and Randolph joined the group.
The formation of the band was further solidified when Caleb Contreras, a studio intern, first worked with Dugan and Grayson on a previous project. Over time, Contreras transitioned from engineer to producer, and eventually, to a full-fledged member of Culture Wars.
“It just became like, ‘Alright, well, we’re making all this music together for fun, we might as well turn it into something,’” Dugan reflected.
Josh, another key member, was an intern at a different studio while they were recording their original EP.
Dugan noted, “We’ve all just kind of randomly run into each other at different times. There are so many musicians out there, and it’s really about who you vibe with—who you get along with—that’s what matters most.”
As the band evolved, Dugan shared the biggest lesson they’ve learned from their early days to where they are now: the importance of investing in songwriting and in themselves, viewing songwriting as a skill to nurture.
“There are a lot of labels that will bring in songwriters and producers to do the work for you,” he explained. “But I compare it to someone doing your homework—you don’t really learn anything that way. So invest in yourself, invest in songwriting, and understand that you’re going to fail a lot in order for it to work.”
‘A band transformed’ ASKED about the pivotal moments in their career, Dugan reflected on how each show in Manila had been a transformative experience for the band.
One of the most memorable moments was performing at the Philippine Arena with LANY in
stepping into the Roman Colosseum, initially feeling overwhelmed and intimidated.
However, he added that the band thrived in the massive venue, and performing in front of such a large crowd became easier than playing to smaller audiences.
“It just felt unreal,” Dugan explained. “With so many people, it didn’t feel real at all—like a simulation. I wasn’t embarrassed, I could do whatever I wanted.”
He emphasized that this performance remained a significant turning point for the band.
Another key moment for Dugan came during a performance with Maroon 5 in Manila in January 2025. It was the first night of their tour together, and Dugan was surprised when Adam Levine allowed him to use the massive catwalk extending into the crowd.
Initially skeptical that they were joking, Dugan soon realized it was a real opportunity, which required him to adapt his performance style.
“It was a great learning experience,” he said. “I was in hog heaven, just in awe of the moment.”
‘Typical Ways’
IN addition to these performances, Dugan pointed to the release of “Typical Ways” as another defining moment for the band.
The song’s response from fans surpassed their expectations, generating two to three times more engagement than their previous highest-performing tracks.
In the meantime, the alt-rock band is preparing to revise the latter half of their upcoming album, set for release this year.
“After touring with LANY and Maroon 5, we learned a lot, and we realized that these last four songs needed to change,” Dugan explained. “So, I’d definitely say that a lot of touring and more new music are in store, and we’re hopeful that the success of ‘Typical Ways’ will continue on this trajectory.”
CULTURE Wars. Photos: Eliot Lee
MY BACK PAGES
Reflections on the film, ‘Jingle Lang Ang Pahina’
By Rick Olivares
MY grandfather in the paternal side had a shop/ office at the old Maranaw building where Landmark is now located in Makati. It was the Manila Export House where my grandfather, my dad, and some uncles and aunts shipped local handicrafts to foreign countries. The shop was just a few steps away from the second floor escalator.
Next to the shop was this general merchandise store and they had on the magazine racks, Jingle magazine. Rod Stewart was on the cover that was colored orange.
I asked my dad if he could get me one (which he did) and that was my first ever copy of Jingle magazine.
That was my entry point to many things – guitar chords where I would learn to play songs from America, the Beatles, and Jackson Browne; I was introduced to satire and bizarre editorial cartoons; I learned a great deal about Pinoy Rock; and music news and album reviews that opened me up to even more music.
It is because of Jingle that I bought Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, Jackson Browne’s Running On Empty, Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s Rust Never Sleeps, Rolling Stone’s 30 Greatest Hits, and the Beatles’ Love Songs.
We lived along 8th Avenue in Cubao, a threeminute walk away from the Jingle offices along 7th Avenue corner P. Tuazon Boulevard. Eventually, I would just go to their offices and buy my copy of the latest Jingle magazine.
I would tear open the flimsy cellophane and smell the fresh print of a mag that just rolled off the press. I would read and re-read them from cover to cover. Like punk rock, I got my education about the world around me from Jingle.
The staffers were amused at this 11-year old kid going there to buy any magazine they put out, to talk to anyone who would listen to me tell them they got the chord to this song wrong, or to bug the heck out of the Guillermo brothers why the new magazine wasn’t out yet.
Snapped back the late Gilbert Guillermo one time, “Bata, hindi kami dyaryo.”
I remained undeterred.
Eventually, Gilbert sent me up to the editorial offices to get me out of his hair. That was where I met Ces Rodriguez, Pennie Azarcon, Butch Maniego, and company. But the editorial staff soon found a way to turn the kulitan around. It was they who pestered me about my record collection.
After they successfully pried away my copy of Rockpile’s Seconds of Pleasure in exchange for my first published letter in the Bongga and BoQuilla letter pages, I stopped going there because they were badgering me to sell my Ramones records.
However, I tell you… it was the coolest thing to have my letter printed.
Except, it ignited a firestorm.
One time, record reviewer Tony Maghirang gave the bangaw rating to Rush’s Moving Pictures while comparing them to the Jerks. As much as I loved the Jerks, I felt it was an apples and oranges comparison and fired off an angry missive.
Imagine my surprise when I saw the Jingle documentary during lockdown and Tony mentioned me and that letter. I was proud and ashamed at the same time.
In case you want to know, I apologized to Tony a few years before seeing the documentary. It was at a press conference for a show by Lolita Carbon and Noli Aurillo as organized and produced by my cousin, Bing Olivares-Pascual.
Tony was in attendance and he went up to me and asked if I was angry at him after all these years. I apologized profusely and said, ‘Sir Tony, I was in sixth grade then!”
He laughed and gave me a hug.
However, that wasn’t the end of it. A couple of
years after that letter was published in Jingle, there was a lot of fighting in Bongga and BoQuila – punk and metal heads vs the hip hop kids.
One guy wrote in and said, “A lot of this fighting started because of Rick Olivares’ letter.”
You know how in the Book of Revelation, the gnashing of teeth was mentioned several times?
That must have been how it felt. Like I even know for sure.
I laughed and felt a perverse sense of pride.
That did not detract my love for reading Jingle. Rolling Stone magazine and Creem were expensive if you purchased it off the racks of PDPI (there was one in Ali Mall right in front of where Tokyo Tokyo is now located).
With Jingle, it was like getting both Rolling stone and Creem (that I absolutely loved for its Quirky writing and offbeat sense of humor).
It is because of Jingle I got into those truly tasteless books titled, Truly Tasteless Jokes, that you could buy at the humor section of National Bookstore in Ali Mall. Those books would be the subject of today’s goddam woke and cancel culture today.
I would go with my mom to the nearby Farmer’s Market or the one along 15th Avenue (Murphy Market) where I would buy other Songhits (Jingle’s competition) as well as posters of Sharon Cuneta, Sampaguita, and the Juan dela Cruz Band.
As I got older, discovered girls, rumbles, and other things in life such as Penthouse, Playboy, and continued to get Creem, I kind of forgot Jingle. I mean, it was there around the corner. But I began working as a college student to buy records and comics, as well as to go out on dates.
It was when my mom threw out my collection of
Jingle magazine that I began to revisit or look for back issues. By then, the magazine closed down. And those old offices at the corner of 7th Avenue and P. Tuazon is gone. Not even a marker to tell the world that this is where the keeper of pop culture in the Philippines once held court. And to this day, every time I pass by, I think of Jingle. It is automatic.
During today’s special screening for the Jingle Lang Ang Pahina as part of the 10th Anniversary celebration of The Rest Is Noise, a Question was asked if a magazine like Jingle would thrive today or even be repeated.
It would be nice to see it happen, but I do not think so.
The magazine was conceived in the spirit of the times – counter-culture and music, it was the Woodstock Generation, Vietnam War, and Martial Law; hippie culture, poetry and long-form writing inspired by the Beat Generation. It was a time when our own government exercised heavy censorship. Jingle was initially deemed subversive, but they were eventually allowed to continue to publish. Somehow, they inserted political commentary and satire along the way.
Furthermore, many of their writers and editors became key figures in mainstream media aside from working in related fields. Former managing editor Ces Rodriguez opened the first ever alternative music store in the country, A-Z Records along Anonas Road. Others became music executives, band managers, and such. It was a time when people bought records and cassettes in Cubao and Raon, read magazines and books, a time when we actually went out to shows, poetry reading sessions, dance parties, and underground punk shows.
That made a different breed of men and women with a love for the print medium. And of course, music.
Find the right ingredients and experiences today, and it can be done.
For now, we have the old magazines and memories of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. And this magnificent and nostalgic film, “ Jingle Lang Ang Pahina ” by Chuck Escasa.
RICK Olivares and Tony Maghirang
PANEL discussion on ‘Jingle Lang ang Pahina’ with (from left) Jing Garcia, Aimee Apostol, Chuck Escasa, Rick Olivares and Tony Maghirang
FROM left: Jing Garcia, Aimee Apostol, Chuck Escasa, Rick Olivares and Tony Maghirang
RICK Olivares and Chuck Escasa
Photos: Rick Olivares
White Lotus hotels target Gen Z travelers–but luxury resorts don’t reflect their travel habits
By Ross Bennett-Cook Leeds Beckett University
HBO’s hit television series, The White Lotus, is as renowned for its stunning hotels and filming locations as it is for its mixture of unsettling, hilarious and sultry storylines.
Set in fictional five-star “White Lotus” resorts, fans quickly learned the true locations of the luxury hotels. Each season has been set in a different destination–Hawaii, Sicily and, most recently, Thailand–and every resort has seen a surge in interest since featuring on the show. This has been labelled the “White Lotus effect.”
Four Seasons Hotels, the actual brand behind the resorts, said the original White Lotus in Hawaii saw a 386 percent increase in availability checks after appearing on the show. And Hotels.com reported a 40 percent spike in booking interest for the filming location in Koh Samui, Thailand, following the release of the season three trailer.
Four Seasons says the show’s popularity among Gen Z and millennials is introducing a new market to their hotels. According to the company’s internal research, 71 percent of millennials who watch the show and are aware of Four Seasons have expressed a strong likelihood of visiting the featured properties.
Younger age groups are key targets for Four Seasons, which is keen to attract the next generation of luxury travelers. But do luxury resorts really represent the travel habits of young people?
“When you are empty inside, with no direction, you end up in some crazy places, but you’ll still be lost.”
—Tanya McQuoid
ACCORDING to a 2023 survey by consultancy firm Deloitte, young people have been hit particularly hard by the rising cost of living. Many are losing hope of owning a home and even starting a family. It has been widely reported that younger generations are worse off than their parents.
With property ownership out of reach, many young people seem more willing to splurge on travel than save for an uncertain future. According to a 2017 poll by Realty Mogul, a real estate crowdfunding platform, almost half of young people aged 18 to 34 would prioritize travelling over buying a home. This compared to just 26 percent of those aged 45 and over.
But Gen Z generally aren’t as inter -
SARAH CATHERINE Hook as Piper Ratliff in season 3 of HBO’s hit dark comedy anthology TV series The White Lotus. “Luxury travel must change to cater to the tastes and interests of younger generations,” writes the author of this story, Ross Bennett-Cook, a PhD Candidate in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. PHOTO FROM IMDB.COM
ested in five-star resorts as they are in five-star experiences. Many travelers from this age group opt to spend big on once-in-a-lifetime activities rather than splash out on luxury accommodation. According to a 2022 YouGov poll, over one-third of young people say they’d pick a standard three-star or below hotel, making this the most popular accommodation option.
However, the European Travel Commission has found that this generation embraces mixing budget and luxury options when they can. For example, they may use budget airlines to reach their destination so they can spend a little more elsewhere.
According to the same YouGov poll, luxury hotels and resorts still rank among Gen Z’s top three travel accommodations.
As Victoria Ratliff would say it, “Overtourisssm”
FOR many Gen Z travelers, the journey is also just as important as the destination–and the impact they leave behind matters,
While locals faced heavy restrictions due to water scarcity, the island’s hotels and resorts were allowed to maintain vast golf courses, lush gardens and pools and welcomed up to 8,000 tourists a day.
Thousands signed petitions to delay the return of mass tourism to the islands. And community groups held what was called a 24 hour “fish-in” protest to prevent tourists from using the popular Kā’anapali Beach, a long stretch of pristine coastline where several high-end resorts are located.
Protesters said their aim was to bring attention to the displacement of locals made homeless due to the wildfires and unable to find permanent housing due to short-term holiday rentals taking priority.
Leaders have long worried the islands are losing their culture as the cost of housing fuels an exodus of native Hawaiian residents. The 2022 census revealed that more native Hawaiians live outside of Hawaii than within.
Connection is their Lorazepam GEN Z may well be the next generation of luxury travelers. In 2017, millennials and Gen Z consumers were responsible for 32 percent of sales in the global personal luxury goods market. This figure was forecast to increase to 45 percent by 2025.
But luxury travel must change to cater to the tastes and interests of younger generations. These people largely crave unique, shareable and story-worthy travel–not just comfort, but connection. For this new generation of luxury travelers, a remote glamping trip under the stars, or an off-grid adventure with experienced locals, may be more attractive than the traditional luxury resort.
Some brands are already making changes. In 2024, the Hyatt Hotels group introduced its “Be More Here” brand initiative, a collection of bespoke guest activities with a focus on wellness and experience.
too. Research by Booking.com reveals that over half (52 percent) of Gen Z travelers say the environmental impact of tourism on a destination influences their travel choices. Even more (63 percent) would consider avoiding a destination altogether if they
And the latest addition to the Maldives’ luxury resort portfolio, Six Senses, has an ethos centered on sustainability. Its resorts have an onsite environmental learning space, and offer immersive marine conservation experiences and sustainability tours
‘Gen Z generally aren’t as interested in five-star resorts as they are in five-star experiences.’
knew it was threatened by overtourism. Many of these values may not align with the opulence typically associated with luxury travel. On the Hawaiian island of Maui, the setting for season one of The White Lotus, local opposition towards tourism erupted after deadly wildfires swept across the island in 2023–the deadliest wildfire event in recent US history.
to guests.
As young people navigate a complex future, their travel choices reflect a deeper desire: not just to see the world, but to engage with it responsibly and thoughtfully, and gain something meaningful from it. The Conversation
n Cover photo by Chelsea Gates on Unsplash