More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
The happiness level of Filipinos has returned to pre-pandemic levels according to one the newest World Happiness Report.
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| https://www.rappler.com/philippines/philippines-ranking-world-happiness-report-2024/ |
Filipinos are now as happy as they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that left the country in a public health crisis, the newest World Happiness Report (WHR) found.
According to the 2024 WHR, Filipinos evaluated their lives at a score of 6.05, with the best possible life at 10, and the worst possible at 0. The report uses the average scored in the three previous years, or from 2021 to 2023.
It surpassed the 2020 report’s 6.006 score, which used the 2017-2019 average.
When the pandemic struck, Filipinos’ happiness dropped, with a score of 5.88, the average from the years 2018 to 2020. The 2021 WHR also isolated the 2020 score, which was 5.08.
In the 2024 report, the Philippines ranked 53rd among 143 countries.
Among different age groups in the Philippines, the youth, or those under 30 years old, were relatively the “happiest” among Filipinos. The Philippines’ youth evaluated their lives with a score of 6.31.
Meanwhile, the lower middle-aged group of Filipinos, or those aged 30 to 44, was “least happy,” with a score of 5.85. However, upper middle-aged folks, aged 45 to 59, came close at 5.86.
Happiness picked up again among the elderly, at 5.98.
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines was second to Singapore, whose happiness score is 6.52. Vietnam comes close to the Philippines at 6.04.
The study also measured longer-term changes in happiness for the period 2006 to 2010, compared with the most recent period of 2021-2023. Here, the Philippines came first in Southeast Asia, with an increase of 1.223 from the two periods.
The Philippines ranked quite high overall in positive change, at 9th place.
The Philippines is a very happy-go-lucky place thought. Filipinos smile even while the government stomps on them. So resilient.
During the pandemic one pizza restaurant owner and beer brewer had to shut down. Now after the pandemic they have joined forces.
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| https://fnbreport.ph/22386/nolita-joes-poblacion/ |
What is it about pizza and beer that appeal to so many people?
The taste? The experience? The creativity? The nostalgia? For Nolita Joe’s entrepreneurs Patrick Santos and Joey Viray, it’s all that and more.
“I just wanted to be cool and make my own beer,” laughs Viray, sharing that his beer appreciation started early when his grandmother used to give him small sips of cerveza negra. From then on, the reserved brewer studied the craft at University of California, Riverside and University of California, Davis on separate occasions before eventually returning to launching his own brand in 2014 and opening a now-defunct taproom in Poblacion three years later.
“I’ve always liked pizza ever since I was a kid. It’s so easy to eat and it just tastes so good,” he says. His lingering memories of visiting New York City as a child and seeing pizza joints and eating “cheap pizza for $1 or $2” helped inform his decision to launch Nolita in 2012. “I thought it would be cool if we had that back in Manila.”
After captivating Manila with their pizzas and beers, and adapting to the business climate (like Nolita moving to various locations), everything shifted dramatically when the pandemic hit. That is, both were forced to close despite noble attempts to weather the storm.
But like anything in life, everything can turn around. And they’ve proven it with their collaboration concept Nolita Joe’s. After serving roughly 20,000 pizza slices and more than 100 kegs of craft beer since opening in May 2023, Santos and Viray reset their careers with a winning partnership that’s literally and metaphorically forged by fire and fermentation.
The turnaround couldn’t have been better.
How did this collaboration come about?
Patrick Santos (PS): When the pandemic hit, we had to close and ended up doing deliveries. For a time, we were operating out of Borough in High Street and luckily we were talking with Joey’s brother Marco and he was saying ‘We have a space in Poblacion baka you guys want to partner up’ so that’s how we got together.
If you had not found this space, would you still have opened a physical store?
PS: Yes. I always feel like with our products, it’s really best when you have it straight out of the oven. So even though we were doing deliveries and it’s doing pretty well—of course, during the pandemic delivery picked up—iba pa rin if you have a physical space where people can go and see the pizza go in the oven, they get it and it’s super hot and fresh. But we’re lucky with this space because it’s a super nice location and it’s a perfect partnership with Joe’s Brew.
Joey Viray (JV): It’s also like a taproom, a showroom where I can showcase the new experimental beers.
Another Filipino business rebounding.
Last year Tigerair resumed flights between Puerto Princessa and Taiwan. Now Royal Air has also resumed flights between Taiwan and Puerto Princessa.
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| https://palawan-news.com/puerto-princesa-welcomes-back-intl-flights-with-royal-airs-arrival-from-taiwan/ |
International flights to Puerto Princesa City and Palawan province resumed on March 4 as Royal Air’s arrival from Taipei, Taiwan, reestablished connection to the global network.
The flight, carrying 89 passengers, made its landing at the Puerto Princesa International Airport in Barangay San Miguel at 2:24 p.m.
Demetrio Alvior, the head of the City Tourism Department (CTD), said that the arrival of Royal Air and its passengers was celebrated with a ceremonial water cannon salute.
He said Royal Air has established a flight schedule to the city with departures every four days, planned for March 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, and 28.
“Seasonal lang kasi sila, at depende sa response ng Taiwan market. With this resumption, masaya tayo dahil may mga Taiwanese tourists in the coming days,” Alvior said.
As a special gesture for the inaugural arrival of Royal Air, all passengers were welcomed with simple tokens of appreciation and had the opportunity to taste traditional Filipino delicacies.
Royal Air is not the only Philippine airline rebounding. Cebu Pacific is now back in the black, erasing the losses incurred during the pandemic.
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| https://business.inquirer.net/452100/cebu-pacific-back-in-the-black-cues-fleet-additions |
Cebu Pacific flew back to profitability in 2023 with air travel continuing its momentum, erasing the losses it incurred at the height of the pandemic when aircraft were grounded due to strict lockdowns.
On Tuesday, the budget carrier reported that its net earnings and operating income respectively amounted to P7.9 billion and P8.6 billion last year, a turnaround from losses in 2022.
The top line figure, meanwhile, soared by 60 percent to P90.6 billion last year.
Passenger revenues surged by 78 percent to P62.5 billion after flying 20 million passengers, itself a 41-percent jump in volume.
The number of flights the airline accommodated last year were up 30 percent to over 140,000.
Soon enough the losses of the pandemic will be completely erased.
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