I have packs and packs of muscovado sugar in my kitchen. Some of them have been there for months! I buy them in the grocery store on moments I feel like “going organic” or “going green”. But I forget to use them or fail to tell the maids to use them. The distinct flavor that comes with the brown sweetness takes some getting used to, I guess.

But when I talked to muscovado sugar farmers at the Good News Kapihan yesterday, I realized that with all the chemicals used in making sugar come in white granules, we could be slowly putting in toxins in our body or killing the environment with pesticides. (Here’s an excerpt but you can read my entire article here.)

A lot of people use “sweetness” to get their way. For muscovado farmers Reynic S. Alo of Negros province and Cornelio E. Castañeda Jr. of Sultan Kudarat, it brought in money, a business that is not only good for the environment but also helps poor farmers in the countryside.

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In the remote places of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu where electricity only comes from solar panels through a project called AMORE, it’s not hard to find fishermen and most adults in late afternoon who are trying to unwind from a full day of hard work. Most of them sing away their blues through the videoke machine. Those clunky contraptions have, in many cases, replaced the traditional social halls of barangays. Who could forget that compelling tune sung out before the final score is revealed? :).

Read this article and learn of a Filipino that has made money from the videoke trend!

By Delfin Mallari Jr.
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 06:42pm (Mla time) 11/10/2007

LUCENA CITY — His passion for singing and technical expertise acquired from a vocational school helped influence local businessman Fernando Vasquez, 43, to embark on videoke machine production.

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I first heard about the “Why Not” forum from Smart’s Mon Isberto. At the time, I thought it was just a marketing gimmick or people pounding their fists on the table about something nationalistic when they are actually just marketing themselves. This blog post by Niña Terol has made me see that there must be something real here for the politics-weary Filipino who wants to change the world — often through entrepreneurship. I post this with the permission of Mark Ruiz, one of the founders of Why Not. Read on:

By Niña Terol
 
It was an ordinary Thursday night, and yet Warehouse 135, the hip warehouse-turned-club on Yakal Street in Makati, was filled to capacity. Only it wasn’t filled with clubgoers and party scenesters—it was filled with young professionals, creative minds, thinkers, and dreamers who all dared to ask a question that would set the tone for the entire evening’s talks: Why not?
 
The WhyNot? Forum, according to founders Mark Ruiz and Bam Aquino, is a “smorgasboard of great, brave ideas—an open-source innovation soup that will hopefully inspire other Filipinos all over to connect adjunct thoughts, take impactful action, and weave together new breakthrough ideas.” Inspired by the TEDTalks of the United States ( www.ted.com), it is based on the simple idea of gathering some of the best minds in the country to share their respective ideas for 15 minutes each. By asking The Question and challenging outmoded assumptions, it is hoped that WhyNot? Forum will spark a thought revolution that will encourage people to “think new thoughts, share big dreams, do brave things.”

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(Photo from AFP)

By Amy R. Remo
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–The local banana industry is poised to take advantage of the projected growth in world banana exports, estimated to reach 15 million metric tons by 2010, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Strategic Plan for bananas.

Banana exports already reached 12.94 million MT in 2004.

The DA said it believes that prospects for banana, which has been a consistent top dollar earner, remains promising, both for the domestic and foreign markets.

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