The final washing out of the sinking portion of Halsema Highway in Pilando, Bakun, Benguet has given rise to ambitious dream of constructing a cable-stayed bridge, an idea from Benguet Congressman Eric Yap. Many are questioning if it is possible. The short answer is: The proposed Cable-stayed Bridge is as possible as a non-Benguet person becoming a Benguet Congressman. It is very Possible. How?

National Road Priority Project– This is a national road serving Cordillera Provinces such as Benguet, Mt Province, Ifugao, and other provinces. The congressmen of all these provinces can combine their political influence to pressure the DPWH to prioritise this project, if not use their own office funds and source out other funds from their networks.

Contractors- This big project is very possible, and will be constructed with quality and spot-on schedule, if constructed by an international contractors and not settled by networks of contractors and subcontractors attached to politicians and the DPWH.

Funding- Funding is not a problem since Philippines is wealthy, evidently seen on the billions of pesos spent on undamaged roads and infrastructures being repeatedly demolished and reconstructed plus the billions of confidential and intelligence funds, the country has a lot of money.

Flyover Versus Cable-Stayed Bridge- The Marcos Highways Flyover is one of the most successful mega-infrastructure project in the Cordilleras. Since its construction, after the 1990 earthquake, the project has been beneficial to motorists going in and out Baguio City, thanks to its robust built that it is still intact for almost three decades. If the same has been implemented along the stretch of Halsema Highway, there could have been lesser washed-out portions of the road. Unfortunately, we have chosen to do small kabites or rip rap which easily collapses and being eroded and rebuilt over the years. The wasted monies which were used on reconstructions could have built similar flyover projects. Obviously, considering the altitude and geographical make-up of halsema highway, fly-over projects will be more practical, sturdy and cost-effective approach than an ambitious cable-stayed bridges. We also need to consider the the accessibility of the local communities most especially farmers that will be affected by the structures.

As a Cordilleran, what is your opinion?

Carlos Yulo is a true Filipino hero not only because of his superb olympics performance but also because of his careful handling of the issues between him, his mum and girlfriend. Bad critics say he should have honoured his mum instead of his girlfriend but he actually did more than that and knew his priority.

Carlos knew what his olympics performance meant. Investing blood and sweat on his training from when he was young, he felt the heavy responsibility in making sure he will give good returns for his country. He needed to make sure he gives his best, to be the best among the rest of nations in his chosen sport.

Surely, his 2 gold medals made Philippines into the headlines. Our Philippine National Anthem was played and it echoed thru the ears of different witnessing nations; something that our other neighbouring countries failed to achieve.

Carlos Yulo achieved these for the nation despite his heavy inner battle, the feud between him, his mum and girlfriend. No matter how painful, disheartening and discouraging, most especially when you’re own mum, is cheering for other contestants while your fight is on the line. This is the most painful thing a son would ever hear from his mum. The pain is more than that of a salt and vinegar being poured over his wounds. It is more than a spear pricking the heart. With this, Carlos could have crumbled and lost; but luckily, he got inspiration from the only person cheering him, his girlfriend, and with his strong fighting spirit, he managed to forget the miseries and instead gave his best. Amidst all the pain and jeer from his own mum, he survived and won.

Carlos’ win could have gave him the motivation to get back to his mum and despised her act but he chose to just explained his side. He only enumerated the reasons of the misunderstanding and what he experienced that lead to the family feud. He even gave his best wishes to his mum and advised of the best thing they can all do for the moment, to get healed. With this, Carlos did not closed the door for his mum, his gesture opened future chances for their reconciliation.

Carlos standing by his girlfriend is an act of being a gentleman.

Some jealous netizens don’t appreciate the fact that Carlos made the best decision.

Carlos’ girlfriend being around at his interviews, recognitions and all undertakings does not mean Carlos is disrespecting or disregarding his mum and family. Carlos knew that his achievement must be the focus and not about the issues with his family. It is something that shows his mental discipline, stability and maturity, not involving the family, something that even our President Bong Bong Marcos could learn from. Carlos Yulo is a true hero.

Philippines has its best performance so far at the Paris 2024 Olympics, 37th place among 206 competing nations,

Paris Olympics 2024 medal tabl

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	40	44	42	126
2	China	40	27	24	91
3	Japan	20	12	13	45
4	Australia	18	19	16	53
5	France	16	26	22	64
6	Netherlands	15	7	12	34
7	Great Britain	14	22	29	65
8	South Korea	13	9	10	32
9	Italy	12	13	15	40
10	Germany	12	13	8	33
11	New Zealand	10	7	3	20
12	Canada	9	7	11	27
13	Uzbekistan	8	2	3	13
14	Hungary	6	7	6	19
15	Spain	5	4	9	18
16	Sweden	4	4	3	11
17	Kenya	4	2	5	11
18	Norway	4	1	3	8
19	Ireland	4	0	3	7
20	Brazil	3	7	10	20
21	Iran	3	6	3	12
22	Ukraine	3	5	4	12
23	Romania	3	4	2	9
24	Georgia	3	3	1	7
25	Belgium	3	1	6	10
26	Bulgaria	3	1	3	7
27	Serbia	3	1	1	5
28	Czech Republic	3	0	2	5
29	Denmark	2	2	5	9
30	Azerbaijan	2	2	3	7
30	Croatia	2	2	3	7
32	Cuba	2	1	6	9
33	Bahrain	2	1	1	4
34	Slovenia	2	1	0	3
35	Chinese Taipei	2	0	5	7
36	Austria	2	0	3	5
37	Hong Kong	2	0	2	4
37	Philippines	2	0	2	4
39	Algeria	2	0	1	3
39	Indonesia	2	0	1	3
41	Israel	1	5	1	7
42	Poland	1	4	5	10
43	Kazakhstan	1	3	3	7
44	Jamaica	1	3	2	6
44	South Africa	1	3	2	6
44	Thailand	1	3	2	6
47	Ethiopia	1	3	0	4
48	Switzerland	1	2	5	8
49	Ecuador	1	2	2	5
50	Portugal	1	2	1	4
51	Greece	1	1	6	8
52	Argentina	1	1	1	3
52	Egypt	1	1	1	3
52	Tunisia	1	1	1	3
55	Botswana	1	1	0	2
55	Chile	1	1	0	2
55	St Lucia	1	1	0	2
55	Uganda	1	1	0	2
59	Dominican Republic	1	0	2	3
60	Guatemala	1	0	1	2
60	Morocco	1	0	1	2
62	Dominica	1	0	0	1
62	Pakistan	1	0	0	1
64	Turkey	0	3	5	8
65	Mexico	0	3	2	5
66	Armenia	0	3	1	4
66	Colombia	0	3	1	4
68	North Korea	0	2	4	6
68	Kyrgyzstan	0	2	4	6
70	Lithuania	0	2	2	4
71	India	0	1	5	6
72	Moldova	0	1	3	4
73	Kosovo	0	1	1	2
74	Cyprus	0	1	0	1
74	Fiji	0	1	0	1
74	Jordan	0	1	0	1
74	Mongolia	0	1	0	1
74	Panama	0	1	0	1
79	Tajikistan	0	0	3	3
80	Albania	0	0	2	2
80	Grenada	0	0	2	2
80	Malaysia	0	0	2	2
80	Puerto Rico	0	0	2	2
84	Cape Verde	0	0	1	1
84	Ivory Coast	0	0	1	1
84	Refugee Olympic Team	0	0	1	1
84	Peru	0	0	1	1
84	Qatar	0	0	1	1
84	Singapore	0	0	1	1
84	Slovakia	0	0	1	1
84	Zambia	0	0	1	1
92	Afghanistan	0	0	0	0
92	American Samoa	0	0	0	0
92	Andorra	0	0	0	0
92	Angola	0	0	0	0
92	Antigua and Barbuda	0	0	0	0
92	Aruba	0	0	0	0
92	Bahamas	0	0	0	0
92	Bangladesh	0	0	0	0
92	Barbados	0	0	0	0
92	Belize	0	0	0	0
92	Benin	0	0	0	0
92	Bermuda	0	0	0	0
92	Bhutan	0	0	0	0
92	Bolivia	0	0	0	0
92	Bosnia-Herzegovina	0	0	0	0
92	Brunei	0	0	0	0
92	Burkina Faso	0	0	0	0
92	Burundi	0	0	0	0
92	Cambodia	0	0	0	0
92	Cameroon	0	0	0	0
92	Cayman Islands	0	0	0	0
92	Central African Republic	0	0	0	0
92	Chad	0	0	0	0
92	Comoros	0	0	0	0
92	Congo	0	0	0	0
92	Cook Islands	0	0	0	0
92	Costa Rica	0	0	0	0
92	Djibouti	0	0	0	0
92	DR Congo	0	0	0	0
92	El Salvador	0	0	0	0
92	Equatorial Guinea	0	0	0	0
92	Eritrea	0	0	0	0
92	Estonia	0	0	0	0
92	Eswatini	0	0	0	0
92	Finland	0	0	0	0
92	Gabon	0	0	0	0
92	Gambia	0	0	0	0
92	Ghana	0	0	0	0
92	Guam	0	0	0	0
92	Guinea	0	0	0	0
92	Guinea-Bissau	0	0	0	0
92	Guyana	0	0	0	0
92	Haiti	0	0	0	0
92	Honduras	0	0	0	0
92	Iceland	0	0	0	0
92	Iraq	0	0	0	0
92	Kiribati	0	0	0	0
92	Kuwait	0	0	0	0
92	Laos	0	0	0	0
92	Latvia	0	0	0	0
92	Lebanon	0	0	0	0
92	Lesotho	0	0	0	0
92	Liberia	0	0	0	0
92	Libya	0	0	0	0
92	Liechtenstein	0	0	0	0
92	Luxembourg	0	0	0	0
92	Madagascar	0	0	0	0
92	Malawi	0	0	0	0
92	Maldives	0	0	0	0
92	Mali	0	0	0	0
92	Malta	0	0	0	0
92	Marshall Islands	0	0	0	0
92	Mauritania	0	0	0	0
92	Mauritius	0	0	0	0
92	Micronesia	0	0	0	0
92	Monaco	0	0	0	0
92	Montenegro	0	0	0	0
92	Mozambique	0	0	0	0
92	Myanmar	0	0	0	0
92	Namibia	0	0	0	0
92	Nauru	0	0	0	0
92	Nepal	0	0	0	0
92	Nicaragua	0	0	0	0
92	Niger	0	0	0	0
92	Nigeria	0	0	0	0
92	North Macedonia	0	0	0	0
92	Oman	0	0	0	0
92	Palau	0	0	0	0
92	Palestine	0	0	0	0
92	Papua New Guinea	0	0	0	0
92	Paraguay	0	0	0	0
92	Rwanda	0	0	0	0
92	Samoa	0	0	0	0
92	San Marino	0	0	0	0
92	Sao Tome and Principe	0	0	0	0
92	Saudi Arabia	0	0	0	0
92	Senegal	0	0	0	0
92	Seychelles	0	0	0	0
92	Sierra Leone	0	0	0	0
92	Solomon Islands	0	0	0	0
92	Somalia	0	0	0	0
92	South Sudan	0	0	0	0
92	Sri Lanka	0	0	0	0
92	St Kitts and Nevis	0	0	0	0
92	St Vincent and the Grenadines	0	0	0	0
92	Sudan	0	0	0	0
92	Suriname	0	0	0	0
92	Syria	0	0	0	0
92	Tanzania	0	0	0	0
92	East Timor	0	0	0	0
92	Togo	0	0	0	0
92	Tonga	0	0	0	0
92	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	0	0
92	Turkmenistan	0	0	0	0
92	Tuvalu	0	0	0	0
92	United Arab Emirates	0	0	0	0
92	Uruguay	0	0	0	0
92	Vanuatu	0	0	0	0
92	Venezuela	0	0	0	0
92	Vietnam	0	0	0	0
92	British Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0
92	American Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0
92	Yemen	0	0	0	0
92	Zimbabwe	0	0	0	0

Source: BBC

Algerian Boxer, Olympic Gold Medalist Imane Khelif has been controversial for its participation at the Olympics Paris 2024 despite disqualification from previous boxing match due to its high testosterone levels and XY chromosomes. Imane was criticised for fighting with normal women. The boxer was accused to be a man and not supposed to fight norman women.

Khelif’s fans and supporter’s came to defense, stating that the boxer was born woman, a female and will always be a woman. Apprently, has been also defeated by women in the past.

Then this picture at the boxing match finals came. There is now an evidence! So looking at this latest picture of her and coach. What can you say? VOte now!!!

Now vote to express your opinion on this matter!