Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay

Along with jeepneys, motorised tricycles are a quintessential part of Filipino life. They ply both rural and urban roads in the archipelago, and are reminiscent of the auto-rickshaws or tuk-tuks in other Southeast Asian countries. Hence, when chief executive of Gerweiss Motors Sean Gabriel Villoria wanted to champion electric tricycles – or e-trikes – in the island provinces of the Philippines, he knew he’d meet with some opposition.

Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency, announced the World Health Organisation (WHO) early this month. The statement comes more than three years after it first declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in January 2020, before subsequently raising it to a global pandemic in March 2020. “For more than a year, the pandemic has been on a downward trend,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyseus, Director-General of the WHO, in a statement.

More recently, it is known for being instrumental in advocating for the welfare of the a collection of keystone species endemic to the West Visayan faunal region which includes the islands of Negros, Panay, Masbate, Guimeiras, Ticao, and Cebu. These include the Rufous-headed Hornbill, the Negros Bleeding Heart Dove, the Visayan Warty Pig, the Visayan Spotted Deer, and the Visayan Tarictic Hornbill — all critically endangered species.