ikeseneres

IS IT POSSIBLE TO CLOSE LANDFILLS AND DUMPSITES ONE HUNDRED PERCENT? No, that is not a hypothetical question, because it has already actually happened in Tilos, Greece. Tilos is a small island in the Dodecanese with a relatively small population. Yet through the Just Go Zero Tilos program, its old landfill was shut down and transformed into a Circular Innovation Centre. Public waste bins were removed and households and businesses began segregating their waste at source, followed by door-to-door collection. The reported recovery rate has exceeded 85 percent, with the program designed to recover all waste streams.  So, what can we learn from Tilos? The first principle that comes to my mind is subsidiarity . Simply stated, problems should be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Higher authorities should do what lower authorities cannot effectively do. The second principle is “Small Is Beautiful,” the idea associated with economist E. F. Schumache...

CAN MORINGA BE THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF REMOVING MICROPLASTICS FROM OUR OCEANS? The jury is still out on this one. But I believe moringa can be part of the solution to the microplastic problem, although it certainly is not the only solution. A 2026 study published in ACS Omega by researchers from São Paulo State University in Brazil found that a saline extract from moringa (Moringa oleifera) seeds removed 98.5% of aged PVC microplastics under optimized laboratory conditions. The researchers compared it with alum, a conventional water-treatment coagulant. How does it work? The positively charged proteins in moringa seed extract help neutralize the negative charge on microplastic particles, causing them to clump together so they can be filtered out. But let us not get carried away. This does not mean we can pour moringa extract into the Pacific Ocean and expect the microplastics to disappear. The study dealt with controlled water-treatment systems. The researchers themselves ide...

THERE IS HOPE FOR OUR NATIONAL ENLIGHTENMENT, CONVERSION, AND RENEWAL I recently came across a prayer from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) entitled “A Nation’s Prayer for Enlightenment, Conversion, and Renewal.” I believe Filipinos should read it carefully—not simply as a prayer, but as a call to examine ourselves. The CBCP prayer begins: “Loving Father, God of truth and justice, You sent Your Only Son, Jesus Christ, who by His Paschal Mystery revealed Your mercy and reconciled us to You and the world.” Then it describes our difficult situation: “Our nation stands at a difficult crossroads.” The CBCP speaks of truth being cast aside, justice being delayed, and division weakening our society. But should we lose hope? I don't think so. We should always have faith in God. But I also believe that we cannot expect our country to be renewed if we ourselves are unwilling to be renewed. The CBCP prayer asks the Holy Spirit to “renew our hearts and enlighten our...

HOW TO BREAK DOWN MICROPLASTICS USING FUNGI FROM COCONUT HUSKS Sometimes innovation starts by looking differently at something that we have always taken for granted. Consider the coconut husk. Vera Wang, a senior at Kaiser High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, recently attracted attention with a science project involving fungi found in coconut fibers. Her research, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Anthony Amend at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, investigated fungi associated with tannin-rich coconut fiber and their ability to degrade plastic and sunscreen compounds. Her project won first place in Microbiology and third place Best in Fair at the 2026 Hawaiʻi State Science & Engineering Fair. This makes me ask a very simple question: Can we not develop that kind of technology in the Philippines? We are, after all, one of the world's major coconut-producing countries. The coconut industry covers about 3.67 million hectares and provides livelihoods to more than 2.74 million coconu...

HOW THE GOVERNMENT, THE PRIVATE SECTOR, THE ACADEME AND THE CIVIL SOCIETY COULD WORK TOWARDS FOOD SECURITY It is often said that Filipino farmers cannot succeed because they lack four basic resources: irrigation, access to credit, post-harvest facilities and farm-to-market roads. That may be true, but I believe our farmers need much more than these four resources. Amid all the problems and bad news coming from our agricultural sector, there is a bright spot that deserves attention. It is a simple example from Tanay, Rizal, showing how the government, private sector, academe and civil society can work together. In cooperation with the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Local Government Unit of Tanay provided mechanized shredders to Moolk Farm, a private agricultural enterprise. The machines were manufactured by RU Foundry and Machinery, Inc. of Bacolod City. But the story does not end with the delivery of machinery. Ramon Uy, Sr., who operates the company, also teaches farmers compost...

WHAT DOES MEXICO’S DUAL DECISION TO REPLACE GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN AND BAN GLYPHOSATE MEAN? What should we make of Mexico’s decision to protect its native corn and prohibit the planting of genetically modified corn? And what can the Philippines learn from it? First, let us clarify something. Mexico has indeed amended its Constitution to protect native corn and prohibit the planting of genetically modified corn. The reform describes corn as an element of national identity and calls for protection of biodiversity, food sovereignty and agroecological production.  But Mexico has not yet completely banned glyphosate . It has been trying to phase it out while searching for practical alternatives. In September 2025, Mexico prohibited 35 hazardous pesticides, but glyphosate was not among them.  This distinction is important because there are both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is obvious: Mexico is protecting biodiversity, traditional seeds and its ability to determine...