Despite the 20 national laws safeguarding the children in the country and the “excellent response” of the government officials to children issues, the work to protect them is nowhere near done, according to Unicef Representative Nicholas K. Alipui.
            During the North Luzon Legislative Summit for Children, Alipui also acknowledged that the Filipino society is nurturing and caring and concerned about the welfare of the children.
            But despite the nurturing environment and the laws on protecting children, “an increasing number of children are falling through the cracks because of the deepening poverty and widening deprivation and disparities,” Alipui said. Read more

Liquefaction (noun) is defined by a dictionary as the process of becoming liquid. A virtually unfamiliar word to city residents before July 16, 1990, it became a household word when an Intensity 7.7 earthquake struck in the city on that day.
 
            It may be a simple word, but it gave a great lesson to the residents who found out that the land they stood on can liquefy and that vehicles, houses, big buildings and everything can just sink on the watery and sandy ground.
 
            At about past four o’clock (Daylight savings time) in the afternoon of that day, the ground furiously shook for almost a minute. Every vehicles and structures and trees violently swayed back and forth while the parts of the ground alternately opened and closed. When the first tremor stopped, water gushed forth from the Earth and almost the entire city was inundated with at least knee-deep water. Read more