Developed through SM’s Mall for All drive on inclusivity, the immersive exhibit invited students, educators, and members of the academic community to experience life without sight in a controlled and safe environment. Participants were guided through everyday activities designed to encourage them to look beyond limitations and recognize the abilities, independence, and resilience of people with visual impairments.

Benlai

Find your next everyday essential at Benlai, now at Level 1, North Main Mall of SM Mall of Asia! Making its Philippine debut, the brand brings functional lifestyle wear that combines clean, contemporary style with lightweight comfort for wherever the day takes you.

POLO Ralph Lauren

Experience the first-ever POLO Ralph Lauren store in SM at Level 2, South Main Mall of SM Mall of Asia. Discover timeless American style through the brand's signature collection of elevated essentials, from iconic polos and tailored classics to refined pieces made for everyday sophistication.

 

MiniMelts

Cool down with a fun frozen treat at the first MiniMelts store in SM, now open at the Ground Level, North Towers of SM North EDSA. Famous for its colorful beaded ice cream, MiniMelts offers a playful dessert experience with a variety of flavors for all ages.

 

Yabu

Enjoy authentic Japanese katsu at Yabu, now at the Ground Level of SM City Marilao. As the brand's first branch in North Luzon, it brings its signature premium pork and chicken katsu, unlimited cabbage, and Japanese set meals closer to diners in the region.

 

Evernaked

Indulge in handcrafted cakes at the first Evernaked in the Philippines, now open at Level 2, City Center of SM North EDSA. Bringing its signature cakes from Shanghai, Evernaked serves beautifully crafted desserts made with quality ingredients, perfect for celebrations or simply treating yourself.

 

Owala

Hydration gets a stylish upgrade with Owala, now open at Level 2, Mega Fashion Hall of SM Megamall. As the brand's first store in SM, shoppers can explore its collection of innovative drinkware designed to make staying hydrated easier and more enjoyable.

 

Makanai

Whether you're stopping by for a quick lunch, winding down after work, or meeting friends over good food, Makanai serves Japanese comfort food in a relaxed and welcoming setting. Soon to open at the Ground Level of SM Podium, it's a great addition to the mall's growing lineup of dining destinations for anyone looking to discover their next favorite meal.

 

TWG Tea

One of the world's most celebrated luxury tea brands is soon to open at SM Mall of Asia. Discover over 1,000 exquisite tea blends sourced from renowned tea-growing regions across the globe, paired with refined pastries, gourmet dishes, and an elegant tea salon experience. Whether you're celebrating a special occasion or simply slowing down over a cup of tea, TWG Tea offers a timeless destination for every tea lover!

Good food, sweet treats, and exciting new brands all in one mall run - that’s why this is My SM! Make time to explore these latest openings across Metro Manila.

Check out these latest openings and see what's new at SM Supermalls.

Follow @smsupermalls on social media or visit www.smsupermalls.com for updates.

2. Our drainage system can become the bottleneck

Imagine pouring a bucket of water into a funnel.

If the funnel is wide enough, the water disappears quickly.

If the opening is too small, the water backs up.

Urban drainage works on the same basic principle.

When rainfall produces runoff faster than pipes, canals, culverts, creeks and pumping stations can carry it away, flooding occurs.

This is why simply saying “the drainage is small” needs some qualification. Drainage systems are designed according to expected rainfall, catchment area, topography, land use and other engineering parameters. A drain is not inherently inadequate just because it looks small.

But **a drainage system can become inadequate when the volume and speed of runoff increase beyond what the system was designed to handle, or when its effective capacity is reduced by sediment, garbage, structural problems or other obstructions.**

The government itself recognizes the need for major drainage upgrades.

The Metro Manila Flood Management Project includes the modernization of 26 existing pumping stations, construction of four new pumping stations, drainage improvements, increased water storage capacity, and improved dredging and cleaning equipment.

In 2026, DPWH-NCR also reported removing thousands of cubic meters of waste from drainage systems under its flood-mitigation operations, while continuing drainage clearing and waterway desilting.

That tells us something important:

**Flood control is not simply about building more drains. The drains have to remain capable of carrying the water they were built to carry.**

3. Garbage can turn a drainage system into a wall

This is one of the most visible and preventable problems.

Plastic bags, bottles, food packaging, leaves, construction debris and other waste can accumulate in drainage inlets, culverts, creeks, esteros and rivers.

Once a blockage forms, water has nowhere to go.

The problem is documented, not merely anecdotal.

In February 2026, EMB-NCR reported that a three-day cleanup operation along the San Juan River collected approximately **20 tons of mixed waste**. Another cleanup along the Tullahan River in Malabon collected approximately **17 tons** of solid waste. Both operations were connected to efforts to protect waterways and reduce flooding.

Metro Manila's flood-management program also has a dedicated component focused on minimizing solid waste in waterways, covering hundreds of barangays within drainage catchment areas.

There is also a legal basis for treating waste management as a shared responsibility.

Republic Act No. 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, places primary responsibility for solid-waste management on local government units while requiring proper segregation, collection, transport, processing and disposal.

The lesson is simple:

A drainage system cannot perform properly if we use it as a garbage disposal system.

And the consequences can spread far beyond the person who threw the trash.

Rain carries loose waste from streets and communities into drainage channels. That waste can accumulate downstream and create a blockage somewhere else.

One piece of plastic may seem insignificant.

Thousands of pieces are a hydraulic problem.

4. Siltation reduces the space available for water

The idea that “the river is too shallow because it is silted” is directionally correct in some locations, but it should not be used as a blanket explanation for every Philippine flood.

Rivers naturally carry sediment.

The problem occurs when excessive sediment accumulation, debris and other obstructions reduce the effective cross-sectional area or conveyance capacity of a waterway.

Think of a river as a highway for water.

If the channel becomes shallower or narrower, there is less room for the same volume of water.

During a major rainfall event, the river can therefore reach its banks more quickly.

Government environmental documents specifically identify siltation and sediment accumulation as factors that can reduce water-storage and conveyance capacity.

This is also why dredging and desilting continue to be part of flood-mitigation programs.

But there is an important caveat:

Dredging is not a magic solution.

If the watershed continues producing large amounts of runoff, if waterways remain obstructed by garbage, or if development continues to reduce natural storage areas, a deeper river alone will not permanently solve the flooding problem.

The entire drainage system has to work together.

5. We are losing the vegetation that helps slow the water

Grass, shrubs, trees and other vegetation are sometimes treated as obstacles to development.

From a flood-management perspective, however, vegetation can be part of the infrastructure.

A tree does not replace a pumping station. Grass does not replace a drainage pipe.

But natural and vegetated areas perform functions that concrete cannot.

Leaves and branches intercept rainfall. Roots and soil help infiltration. Vegetated ground slows surface runoff. Trees also contribute to evapotranspiration.

A large review of 92 studies found that urban forests can reduce stormwater runoff, with trees providing important rainfall interception, transpiration and infiltration functions.

DENR-NCR has also been developing climate-resilient urban greening plans that specifically use GIS to identify locations where urban greening can contribute to flood mitigation and heat reduction.

That is a significant shift in thinking.

Trees and green spaces should not be viewed only as decoration. In the right locations, they are part of a city's water-management system.

6. Development can remove the places where floodwater used to go

Another uncomfortable reality is that cities have been built on landscapes that naturally handled water.

Low-lying areas, floodplains, wetlands, waterways and natural drainage paths can all be affected by urban development.

The World Bank has previously described Metro Manila as a low-lying basin surrounded by Manila Bay, Laguna de Bay and mountain ranges that drain toward the Pasig-Marikina system. It also identified rapid urbanization, encroachment and land-use changes as factors increasing flood risk.

A University of the Philippines study on urbanization and flood control in Metro Manila likewise identifies loss of permeable open space, encroachment on natural waterways and increasing impervious surfaces among the factors affecting flooding.

There is an important principle here:

Water always looks for a way downhill.

If we remove its natural pathway, narrow it, block it or cover it with buildings and pavement, the water does not disappear.

It finds another route.

Sometimes that route is a residential street.

Sometimes it is a highway.

Sometimes it is someone's living room.

7. Why does floodwater sometimes take so long to disappear?

This is where the question becomes more interesting.

Raising water is only half of the flooding problem.

Getting the water out is the other half.

Once rain falls, the water has to move through streets, drains, creeks and rivers before eventually reaching a larger receiving body such as Manila Bay or Laguna de Bay.

Every stage can become a bottleneck.

A drainage pipe can be overwhelmed.

A creek can be full.

A river can be near its bank.

A pumping station can have limited capacity.

A floodgate may have to remain closed.

A downstream water level may be too high.

A high tide can restrict discharge into coastal waters.

And if the ground is already saturated, very little additional rainfall can infiltrate.

The MMDA has provided a real-world example of this problem.

During a 2022 flooding incident in Manila, the agency explained that floodwater receded slowly because drainage water had to be diverted through the Pasig River rather than being discharged directly into Manila Bay while pumping-station works were underway.

During another major flood event, officials also explained that high tide and other water releases affected the ability to pump water out in some areas.

In low-lying coastal communities such as parts of Navotas and Malabon, flood-control infrastructure has to deal with the additional challenge of high tides and seawater intrusion. The North Navotas pumping station, for example, uses a gate to control seawater entering inland communities while pumps discharge floodwater toward Manila Bay.

So when people ask:

“Bakit hindi bumababa ang tubig kahit tumigil na ang ulan?”

One answer is:

Because stopping the rain does not immediately create an exit for the water already on the ground.

8. Land subsidence is another problem we cannot ignore

There is another factor that deserves much more public attention: land subsidence.

Subsidence means the ground surface is gradually sinking.

Research by University of the Philippines scientists has documented land subsidence in major Philippine metropolitan areas. Possible causes include excessive groundwater extraction, natural compaction of sediments, tectonic processes and rapid urbanization.

Why does this matter for flooding?

Imagine a shallow bowl.

Now imagine slowly lowering the bottom of the bowl.

It will take more water to fill it, and water will have a harder time escaping.

In low-lying areas, even a relatively small change in ground elevation can increase exposure to flooding and make drainage more difficult.

The issue is especially important in coastal and reclaimed areas, where land subsidence and sea-level rise can compound flood hazards. UP researchers have warned about the vulnerability of reclaimed areas to the combined effects of land subsidence and rising sea levels.

9. The problem is not unique to Metro Manila

Metro Manila gets much of the attention because of its population, traffic and economic importance.

But the same basic problem appears in cities and communities throughout the Philippines.

The combination changes from place to place.

In one city, the major problem may be inadequate drainage.

In another, it may be river overflow.

In a coastal community, high tide and storm surge may be significant.

In a rapidly developing area, the conversion of open land into impervious surfaces may accelerate runoff.

In a mountainous watershed, heavy rainfall can generate rapid downstream flows.

In another location, sedimentation, debris and deforestation may affect river capacity and runoff.

That is why there is no single national “flood solution.”

The solution must be based on the **entire watershed and drainage system**, not just the street that happens to be underwater.

 

So, are floods really getting worse?

The most scientifically accurate answer is:

Flood risk is increasing in many places, but the reasons are not identical everywhere, and it would be incorrect to attribute every increase solely to climate change.

PAGASA's projections point toward more frequent heavy daily rainfall and increased extreme rainfall in Luzon and the Visayas.

At the same time, urbanization has dramatically changed how rainfall moves across the landscape.

More concrete means more runoff.

Less vegetation means less natural interception and infiltration.

Poorly maintained or undersized drainage creates bottlenecks.

Garbage blocks waterways.

Sediment reduces channel capacity.

Development can occupy natural flood-storage areas.

Subsidence can lower the land.

High tides can restrict discharge in coastal areas.

Put all of these together and a rainfall event that might once have been manageable can produce a much bigger urban flooding problem.

The bigger question: Are we designing cities for water or against it?

For decades, the instinct has often been to solve flooding by building something bigger:

A bigger road.

A bigger pipe.

A bigger pumping station.

A higher wall.

A deeper canal.

These engineering solutions are important. Metro Manila's ongoing flood-management programs demonstrate that infrastructure upgrades can make a measurable difference. Recent drainage improvements, for example, have been credited with reducing flooding in historically flood-prone areas.

But infrastructure alone cannot solve a problem that is partly caused by how the entire landscape has been developed.

We need both gray infrastructure and green infrastructure.

That means:

* drainage systems designed for realistic rainfall and changing land-use conditions;
* regular clearing and maintenance of drains, culverts and waterways;
* properly maintained pumping stations and floodgates;
* strategic dredging and removal of sediment where technically justified;
* strict protection of waterways and natural drainage paths;
* more trees, vegetation, parks and permeable open spaces;
* rain gardens, detention ponds and other forms of water retention where appropriate;
* better solid-waste collection and enforcement;
* responsible development in flood-prone areas;
* protection and restoration of wetlands and other natural water-storage areas;
* monitoring of land subsidence and groundwater extraction;
* and flood planning based on entire watersheds rather than political boundaries alone.

And yes, ordinary citizens are part of the solution

It is tempting to blame the government whenever our streets flood.

There are legitimate questions to ask about drainage design, infrastructure maintenance, land-use planning, river management and the effectiveness of flood-control projects.

But citizens also have responsibilities.

A plastic wrapper thrown onto the street can end up in a drain.

A household that continually pours waste into a creek contributes to a larger blockage.

A property owner who unnecessarily covers every square meter of soil contributes, however locally, to increased runoff.

A community that removes every available tree and replaces every open space with concrete loses natural water-management capacity.

The reverse is also true.

Keeping waterways clear matters.

Maintaining vegetation matters.

Preserving open spaces matters.

Allowing rainwater to infiltrate where appropriate matters.

Proper waste segregation and disposal matter.

Supporting sensible land-use policies matters.

The flood is not just a rain problem. It is a systems problem.

Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that flooding is not caused by one villain.

It is a chain.

Climate determines how much rain may arrive.

The watershed determines how quickly that water moves.

Land use determines how much can infiltrate.

Vegetation affects how runoff is slowed and absorbed.

Concrete determines how much water becomes immediate surface runoff.

Drainage systems determine how quickly that runoff can be transported.

Garbage and sediment can reduce that capacity.

Rivers and waterways provide pathways for larger volumes of water.

Pumping stations help move water where gravity alone is insufficient.

Floodgates regulate the interaction between rivers, drainage systems and coastal waters.

Tides can either help or obstruct discharge.

Land subsidence can make low-lying areas even more vulnerable.

When several links in that chain fail at the same time, flooding becomes intense and persistent.

That is why simply saying Umulan kasi nang malakas is true, but incomplete.

The better question is:

“Where did all that water come from, where was it supposed to go, and what prevented it from getting there?”

If we start asking that question every time a city floods, we move beyond blaming the weather.

We begin looking at the real problem:

How we build our cities, how we manage our waterways, how we dispose of our waste, how we protect our remaining green spaces, and how seriously we prepare for the rainfall that we know is coming.

Because rain itself is not the enemy.

The real danger is a city that has forgotten how to live with water.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 References and Further Reading

1. **PAGASA — Climate Change in the Philippines**
Provides official information on observed climate conditions and projections, including projected changes in heavy and extreme rainfall.
[PAGASA: Climate Change in the Philippines](https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/information/climate-change-in-the-philippines?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

2. **PAGASA — Climate Extremes / Dynamic Downscaling**
Contains provincial-scale climate projections and information relevant to extreme rainfall and adaptation planning.
[PAGASA: Climate Projections and Climate Extremes](https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/climate/climate-change/dynamic-downscaling?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

3. **University of the Philippines — Pressures of Urbanization, Flood Control and Drainage in Metro Manila**
Examines natural, urbanization and infrastructure-related factors affecting flooding in Metro Manila, including loss of permeable spaces and increasing impervious surfaces.
[UP CIDS: Pressures of Urbanization, Flood Control and Drainage in Metro Manila](https://cids.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Pressures-of-urbanization-flood-control-and-drainage-in-Metro-Manila.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

4. **World Bank — Metro Manila Flood Management Project**
Describes the Metro Manila Flood Management Master Plan and measures involving drainage, pumping stations, flood forecasting and river systems.
[World Bank: Metro Manila Flood Management Project](https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/philippines/brief/project-highlights-metro-manila-flood-management?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

5. **Metro Manila Flood Management Project / MMDA**
Details the modernization of pumping stations and the program's solid-waste-management component targeting waterways and drainage catchments.
[Metro Manila Flood Management Project](https://mmfmp.mmda.gov.ph/who-we-are?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

6. **DPWH — Metro Manila Flood Management Project**
Provides project documentation describing Metro Manila's low-lying geography, drainage constraints and the role of pumping stations.
[DPWH: Metro Manila Flood Management Project documentation](https://www.dpwh.gov.ph/DPWH/sites/default/files/references/final_-_row_acquisition_plan.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

7. **Environmental Management Bureau-NCR — Recent Waterway Cleanup Operations**
Documents the quantities of solid waste removed from the San Juan and Tullahan rivers and links waterway cleanup with flood mitigation.
[EMB-NCR: San Juan River Cleanup](https://ncr.emb.gov.ph/emb-ncr-leads-a-3-day-clean-up-activity-at-san-juan-city/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
[EMB-NCR: Tullahan River Cleanup](https://ncr.emb.gov.ph/emb-ncr-spearheads-3-day-clean-up-activity-at-malabon-city/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

8. **Republic Act No. 9003 — Ecological Solid Waste Management Act**
Establishes the country's framework for ecological solid waste management and assigns major responsibilities to LGUs and waste generators.
[Lawphil: Republic Act No. 9003](https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2001/ra_9003_2001.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

9. **University of the Philippines — Land Subsidence in Philippine Metropolitan Areas**
Discusses ground subsidence and its implications for flooding, including the roles of groundwater extraction, sediment compaction, tectonic processes and urbanization.
[UP Diliman: Land Subsidence in Select Philippine Metropolitan Cities](https://science.upd.edu.ph/up-geologists-report-subsidence-rates-in-select-ph-metropolitan-cities/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

10. **Scientific Reports — Urban Forests and Stormwater Management**
Reviews 92 studies examining how trees and urban forests influence rainfall interception, infiltration and runoff.
[Scientific Reports: A Comparative Analysis of Urban Forests for Stormwater Management](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-28629-6?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

11. **Philippine Information Agency — DPWH Drainage Clearing Operations, 2026**
Reports the volume of waste removed from Metro Manila drainage systems and ongoing desilting and declogging efforts.
[PIA: DPWH Exceeds Drainage-Clearing Target](https://pia.gov.ph/news/dpwh-exceeds-drainage-clearing-target-boosts-flood-mitigation-efforts/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

12. **UP Resilience Institute — Ground Subsidence**
Explains how land subsidence can amplify flood risks in Philippine metropolitan areas.
[UP Resilience Institute: Understanding Ground Subsidence](https://resilience.up.edu.ph/understanding-ground-subsidence-a-growing-threat-to-philippine-communities/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

The audience is not necessarily losing attention. It is becoming more selective.

Look at what is happening on social media.

Pew Research Center's 2025 research on U.S. teens found that 73% use YouTube daily, 57% use TikTok daily and 50% use Instagram daily. About one third use at least one of five major platforms almost constantly.

A later Pew study published in December 2025 found that about one in five U.S. teens described their use of TikTok and YouTube as almost constant. Thirty six percent said they used at least one of five major platforms almost constantly.

Those numbers tell us something important.

People have not stopped paying attention.

They are paying attention to a lot of things, very quickly.

The social media user is constantly making tiny decisions:

Do I watch this?
Do I skip it?
Do I read the caption?
Do I swipe?
Do I comment?
Do I save it?
Do I send it to someone?
Do I follow this person?
Do I search for more?
That is a different kind of attention.

It is an attention environment built around choice.

The Philippines is already deep inside this new media reality

The change is particularly important in the Philippines because social media penetration is enormous.

According to DataReportal's Digital 2026: The Philippines, there were 98 million internet users in the country at the end of 2025, representing internet penetration of 83.8%.

The report also estimated 95.8 million social media user identities in October 2025, equivalent to 81.9% of the country's population. DataReportal cautions that these are user identities and should not automatically be interpreted as 95.8 million unique people because individuals may have multiple accounts across platforms.

Still, the scale is difficult to ignore.

Social media in the Philippines is no longer simply where people post vacation pictures or birthday greetings.

It is where people discover restaurants.
Where they look for travel ideas.
Where they hear about concerts.
Where they encounter political arguments.
Where they find products.
Where they watch entertainment.
Where they follow celebrities.
Where they get breaking information.
And increasingly, where they discover news.
The platform has become part of the media itself.

From the social graph to the interest graph

This is perhaps the biggest change that creators and publishers need to understand.

The old social media model was largely based on the social graph.

You followed your friends.
You followed relatives.
You followed celebrities.
You followed brands.
You followed newspapers.

Your feed was largely shaped by the people and pages you chose to follow.

Today's recommendation driven platforms increasingly operate through what can be described as an interest graph.

Interest media is not an official name for a single platform or formal media category. It is a useful way of describing the growing system in which content is distributed according to what the platform believes a person is interested in, rather than simply who that person follows.

That is why you can watch a video about Korean food and suddenly receive restaurant recommendations from creators you have never followed.

You can search for running shoes and start seeing fitness content.

You can watch three videos about a particular movie and suddenly your feed is filled with interviews, reviews, theories and fan reactions.

You did not necessarily ask to follow those creators.

The algorithm followed your interest.

That is the power of interest media.

Your followers are no longer your only audience

For bloggers, publishers, brands and creators, this changes almost everything.

A page with 5,000 followers can sometimes outperform a page with 500,000 followers if its content connects more strongly with the people the platform thinks will care about it.

This is why follower count alone is becoming a weaker measure of influence.

A creator can have a relatively small community and still produce a video that reaches hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.

The opposite is also true.

A page can have a large following and receive weak reach if its audience does not respond to what it publishes.

The question is no longer simply:

"How many followers do you have?"

It is becoming:

"How strongly does your audience respond to what you publish?"

And perhaps even more importantly:

"Can the platform identify the people who will care about it?"

The algorithm is not one giant switch

Another common misunderstanding is the idea that there is one mysterious algorithm deciding whether a post will become viral.

There isn't.

Each platform has its own recommendation systems, ranking models, signals and rules. Even within one platform, different surfaces can use different systems.

Instagram provides a particularly good example.

Meta's engineering team said Instagram's recommendation infrastructure had grown to more than 1,000 machine learning models. Different systems can be involved in Feed, Stories, Reels, comments, notifications and other parts of the application.

That means there is no single formula that can accurately explain every Instagram recommendation.

The same principle applies elsewhere.

YouTube says its recommendation system looks at whether people choose to watch something, whether they continue watching and whether they appear satisfied with the experience. YouTube describes these broad areas as appeal, engagement and satisfaction.

That is much more sophisticated than simply counting likes.

A video can receive likes and still fail to travel widely if people abandon it quickly.

Another video may receive fewer visible reactions but generate strong viewing and satisfaction signals.

The platform sees more than the public numbers.

The first few seconds still matter, but for a different reason

This is where the attention span discussion becomes useful.

The first few seconds of a social media video matter because they are the audience's decision point.

The viewer is asking, often subconsciously:

"Why should I keep watching?"

That does not mean every video must be three seconds long.

It means the value of the content needs to become clear quickly.

A food review can begin with the actual dish.

A travel story can begin with the destination.

A news video can immediately explain what happened.

A product review can quickly identify the problem it solves.

A documentary can begin with the question that makes the audience curious.

This is not about tricking the viewer.

It is about respecting the viewer's time.

And there is a major difference.

Short does not automatically mean better

The obsession with short form content sometimes creates another misunderstanding.

Shorter is not automatically better.

Short content works when the idea itself can be communicated effectively in a short format.

But some stories need time.

A restaurant review may need enough time to explain the food, price, service and experience.

An investigative report needs context.

A travel story needs atmosphere.

A tutorial needs instructions.

A documentary needs narrative.

The platforms themselves are not simply saying that everything must be short.

YouTube's recommendation guidance focuses on viewer response, appeal, engagement and satisfaction rather than declaring one universal ideal video length.

The lesson is simple:

Do not make content shorter just because everyone says attention spans are short. Make it as long as necessary to deliver the value promised to the audience.

Video has become the language of social discovery

The rise of video is one of the clearest signs of the changing media landscape.

Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2025 found that consumption of social video news across its markets increased from 52% in 2020 to 65% in 2025. Consumption of any online news video rose from 67% to 75%.

The report also found that in the Philippines, Thailand, Kenya and India, more people now say they prefer to watch news rather than read it.

That is a major development.

It does not mean written journalism is disappearing.

It means audiences are increasingly comfortable receiving information through multiple formats.

A news article can become a Reel.

A Reel can lead to a full article.

A podcast can become a YouTube video.

A television interview can become a TikTok clip.

A blog can become a carousel.

The story now lives across formats.

Welcome to the age of creator media

The other major change is who gets to be a media personality.

The old media system was dominated by newspapers, television networks, radio stations and publishing houses.

Today, creators can build direct relationships with audiences without owning a television station, newspaper or radio network.

Reuters Institute reported in 2025 that news creators and influencers had become significant sources of news, with around 21% of U.S. adults and 37% of people under 30 regularly getting news from creators or influencers.

That does not mean creators are replacing journalists.

It means audiences increasingly encounter journalists and creators inside the same digital environment.

A reporter may appear beside a comedian.

A scientist may appear beside a lifestyle creator.

A restaurant owner may appear beside a professional food critic.

A government agency may appear beside an ordinary citizen documenting an event.

The audience decides what to watch.

And the algorithm decides what to put in front of them.

Originality is becoming more valuable

There is another important development that creators should pay attention to.

Platforms are increasingly trying to reduce low value copies and reward original work.

Meta said in March 2026 that Facebook was prioritizing original content in Feed and Reels while reducing the reach of unoriginal material. Meta reported that views and time spent watching original Reels on Facebook approximately doubled in the second half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.

Meta also reported in January 2026 that 75% of Instagram recommendations in the United States were coming from original posts after increasing the prevalence of original content by 10 percentage points during the fourth quarter of 2025.

That is significant for publishers.

Simply copying a viral video and putting a new caption on it is becoming less valuable.

Adding something meaningful matters.

A new perspective.

A firsthand experience.

A useful explanation.

A better edit.

Original reporting.

Expert commentary.

Personal storytelling.

That is where creators can differentiate themselves.

AI is changing the competition again

Just when creators were learning how recommendation systems worked, artificial intelligence entered the picture.

AI now affects both sides of social media.

Platforms use AI and machine learning to understand content, personalize recommendations, translate material and improve ranking systems.

Creators use AI to brainstorm, write captions, edit videos, create graphics, translate material and produce variations of content.

This creates an interesting problem.

If AI makes content easier and cheaper to produce, there will be even more content competing for attention.

The supply of content increases.

The amount of human attention does not.

That means the value of originality, credibility, personality and usefulness may become even greater.

A perfectly polished AI generated post is still competing against thousands of other perfectly polished posts.

The question becomes:

Why should anyone care about yours?

This is where trust becomes more important than reach

Social media rewards attention.

But journalism, public information and responsible publishing need something more.

They need trust.

A sensational post can get millions of views and still be wrong.

A carefully researched story may initially receive fewer views but become more valuable over time.

This is one of the biggest challenges of the current social media environment.

The algorithm can identify what people are likely to watch.

It cannot replace editorial judgment.

It can recommend a video because viewers are interested.

It does not automatically mean the information in that video is accurate.

That distinction becomes especially important when social media is used for news, health information, public safety, politics or emergencies.

The faster the information moves, the more important verification becomes.

So, what is really happening to our attention?

The evidence does not support the simple story that humans have become "goldfish."

What has changed is the environment around our attention.

We have more content.

More screens.

More notifications.

More creators.

More platforms.

More choices.

More personalized recommendations.

More video.

And now, more AI generated content.

The audience has learned to filter quickly.

The social media user has become very good at deciding what deserves another second.

That is why a creator can lose an audience in the opening moments of a video but still keep that same audience for 30 minutes when the subject is genuinely interesting.

People can focus.

They simply do not want to spend their limited attention on something that does not immediately appear relevant.

What this means for Kwento Ni Toto

For us at Kwento Ni Toto, this changing landscape offers an important lesson.

We should not create stories simply because an algorithm might like them.

We should create stories that people would want to recommend to another person.

That means starting with a clear reason to care.

It means writing headlines that tell the truth without giving everything away.
It means using photos and videos that add something to the story.
It means making short form content useful instead of simply noisy.
It means understanding that a follower is not automatically an audience.
And it means remembering that a viral post is not necessarily a successful story.

A successful story can be one that makes someone discover a place.

Try a product.
Attend an event.
Learn something.
Ask a question.
Change an opinion.
Or simply feel something.

The new rule of social media

 Perhaps the biggest lesson is this:

Attention is not disappearing. Attention is becoming more expensive.
Every creator is competing against another creator.
Every news organization is competing against influencers.
Every brand is competing against entertainment.
Every video is competing against the next video.
And every user has the power to scroll away.

That is the real social media attention economy.

The winners will not necessarily be the people who shout the loudest.

They will be the people who understand their audience well enough to say something worth hearing.

Because in today's social media world, getting someone to stop scrolling is only the beginning.

The real challenge is giving them a reason to stay.

Century Tuna Brand Ambassador and Superbod Anne Curtis joined the finalists during the event and reflected on how the competition has evolved through the years.

"Having been with Century Tuna for so many years, I've had a front-row seat to how this brand and this platform have grown," said Century Tuna Brand Ambassador Anne Curtis. "What makes Superbods so special is how it brings real human stories to the center stage. Seeing these finalists step up with heart and genuine passion for their health advocacies is truly inspiring for everyone.”

Beyond the physique

This year's campaign looks beyond what people see on stage.

The finalists come from different professions, stages in life, abilities and personal backgrounds. Each carries a different story of overcoming challenges and finding ways to pursue a healthier life.

Top 20 Female Superbod Finalists

Their advocacies range from accessible nutrition and mental wellness to physical training, showing that being a Superbod is not simply about having a well-conditioned body.

Since their callback, the finalists have gone through activities, workshops and wellness challenges designed to prepare them for more than the competition itself. They are being positioned as examples of how health and wellness can become part of everyday life.

During the launch, the finalists shared their health and wellness advocacies, turning the spotlight toward the causes that matter to them.

For some, it is about making nutritious choices more accessible. For others, it is about mental wellness, discipline and encouraging people to become more active.

Their stories carry one message: fitness may bring someone to the stage, but purpose gives that journey meaning.

From left to right: Century Pacific Food Inc. Senior Manager Issabel Marie Baquiran, Product Manager Danica Hernandez, Product Manager Judy Anne Culangan, Marketing Director Ray Guinoo, Vice President, General Manager, and Group Business Head Carlo Endaya, Century Tuna Brand Ambassador and Superbod Anne Curtis, Marketing Manager Cielo Chandumal, and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Greg Banzon

A Superbod for every body

Century Pacific Food Inc. Vice President, General Manager, and Group Business Head Carlo Endaya said the 20th anniversary is an opportunity to make Superbods more inclusive and purposeful.

"Now in its 20th year, Century Tuna Superbods has become a platform for every body where purpose takes center stage," said Mr. Carlo Endaya, Vice President, General Manager, and Group Business Head of Century Pacific Food Inc. "We created this space to show that anyone, at any stage of life, can step into their own Superbod Era. Physical fitness gets you on stage, but our finalists are proving that true transformation is about leading by example and empowering every Filipino to take charge of their wellness journey."

And perhaps that is what makes this year's competition different.

Behind every toned physique is a person with a story — someone who has faced challenges, worked through setbacks and found a reason to keep going.

Century Tuna Superbods uses its platform to bring those stories closer to Filipino audiences, hoping that the experiences of the finalists will encourage others to begin their own wellness journeys, no matter where they are starting from.

Century Tuna Brand Ambassador and Superbod Anne Curtis with the Top 40 Superbod Finalists

The road to the finals

With the grand finals approaching, the competition is expected to become even more intense.

The Male and Female Grand Winners will each receive ₱1 million, while the Runners-Up will receive ₱250,000 each.

But before the winners are announced, the finalists still have one important task: to show that being a Superbod is not simply about looking good.

It is about having the discipline to pursue a healthier life, the courage to share one's story and the purpose to inspire others.

From left to right: Host KC Montero, Century Pacific Food Inc. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Greg Banzon, Century Tuna Brand Ambassador and Superbod Anne Curtis, Century Pacific Food Inc. Vice President, General Manager, and Group Business Head Carlo Endaya, and Host Inka Magnaye with the Top 40 Superbod Finalists

The #SuperbodEra has officially begun.

And this time, the story is not just about the bodies on stage. It is about the people behind them.

For more information on Century Tuna Superbods, visit Century Tuna's official website or follow Century Tuna on Facebook.

Was Alex Eala Correct? Here's What the Law Says.

The short answer is yes.

The governing law is Republic Act No. 8491, also known as the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.

Among its provisions, the law prohibits:

• adding any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, advertisement, or imprint of any nature on the Philippine flag; 
• mutilating, defacing, defiling, trampling on, or performing acts that cast dishonor upon the flag; and 
• using the flag in ways inconsistent with the respect due to the country's national symbol.

For many Filipino families, mothers remain the heart of every meal. They decide what goes on the dining table, stretch the household budget, and make sure everyone goes home with a full stomach. Recognizing this, Ajinomoto's I Love Veggie-Licious® campaign continues to focus on empowering homemakers with practical knowledge they can immediately apply in their own kitchens.

One of the highlights of the event was a lively discussion that helped participants separate facts from myths about nutrition. including the often misunderstood topic of monosodium glutamate (MSG). Around 327 homemakers from the City of Manila actively joined the learning sessions, proving that the desire to provide healthier meals remains strong among Filipino families.

The learning continued with a live cooking demonstration led by family lifestyle creator Prax Yap and APC in-house chef Khyle Furigay, who prepared a creative "Kiddified Lumpianada", a vegetable-filled recipe designed to make children enjoy eating vegetables without sacrificing flavor.

Instead of forcing vegetables onto children's plates, the demonstration showed that creativity and the right balance of flavors can encourage healthier eating habits naturally.

The campaign addresses a growing concern. According to the 2021 Expanded National Nutrition Survey (ENNS) conducted by the Department of Science and Technology's Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), Filipino adults consume only about 58 grams of vegetables and 17 grams of fruits daily, far below the 400-gram combined daily recommendation of the World Health Organization.

Numbers like these reveal why programs such as I Love Veggie-Licious® continue to matter.

During his welcome remarks, APC President Daizaburo Koga emphasized that improving nutrition is not something one organization can accomplish alone.

"Over the years, we have had the privilege of working with local government units and communities in Quezon City, Lucena, Alaminos, San Jose Del Monte, Santa Rosa, and Pasig. Hand in hand, we have reached thousands of homemakers by sharing simple ways to prepare nutritious meals that every family can enjoy. These solid partnerships remind us that change begins when communities come together with a common goal," Mr. Koga shared.

His message reflected what the caravan has become over the years, not merely a cooking event, but a partnership among local governments, communities, and families working toward the same objective: making healthier food choices easier and more accessible.

The I Love Veggie-Licious® campaign also supports the broader goals of the Ajinomoto Group's 2030 roadmap, which aims to help extend the healthy life expectancy of one billion people while reducing environmental impact by 50 percent.

Yet beyond those ambitious goals, the event's greatest impact was visible in the smiles, conversations, and shared recipes among participants. It was evident that many attendees were leaving not only with new cooking ideas but also with renewed confidence that preparing healthier meals doesn't always require expensive ingredients or complicated recipes.

As the City of Manila becomes the first stop of this year's caravan before it visits four more communities nationwide, the campaign continues to demonstrate that changing eating habits starts with small but meaningful actions inside every Filipino home.

Healthy eating, after all, is not simply about serving more vegetables. It's about making nutritious food enjoyable enough that families will gladly come back for another serving.

And perhaps that's the real takeaway from Ajinomoto's I Love Veggie-Licious® Community Caravan: lasting change doesn't begin with grand promises, it begins with one family, one meal, and one vegetable dish shared around the table.

For Kwento Ni Toto, the event served as a reminder that every meaningful story often starts where every Filipino day begins, inside the kitchen, where love, care, and good food come together.