Since retiring on January 1, 2016 as a public teacher, Ellen Acain Rosario embarked a life of productivity in her hometown in Bacolod, Lanao del Norte. Her 40 years of teaching and empowering young minds are now punctuated with more time spent in her established farm Queensland.   

It was a fine Thursday morning when we arrived at the farm of Carlito Cortez in San Fernando, Bukidnon. We were scheduled to interview this young farmer who preferred to work on his farm after securing his college diploma.   

Since the onslaught of the pandemic, food prices have continued to rise, reaching its highest point since last year. In the Philippines, food prices have increased across the country while income source of people have declined during the pandemic, making it harder for people to access the food they and their families need. Some of our neighborhood and residents of far-flung areas have heavily relied on the distribution of ayudas and other care package assistance from various government agencies.

What sets Rey Sumania apart from all coffee lovers? His passion and his relentless effort to help coffee farmers and coffee lovers make a living from it.

When it comes to coffee entrepreneurship and expertise, it's the Sumania family of Jamaican F&B Training and Assessment Center in Metro CdO that comes to mind. And I couldn’t agree more.

The unique properties of rubber make it one of the most widely used material since it is elastic, bouncy, and moldable. It is found in finished products ranging from children’s toys and birthday balloons to car tires and hand gloves.

The Filipino farmer is going to be a vanishing breed very soon, and the Philippine government is concerned that this trend could worsen food insecurity with the rising population of consumers to meet current food demand, since the average age of the Filipino farmer is 57.