Games on Saturday (PhilSports Arena) 4 p.m. – Galeries vs Akari 6:30 p.m. – Petro Gazz vs Choco Mucho
THE DEBUTS of Alas Pilipinas standouts Thea Gagate and Julia Coronel and the return battle-scarred Rachel Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga are expected to add to the buzz that the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference has been generating as it unfurls on Saturday at the PhilSports Arena.
Ms. Gagate will finally get to play as a pro after being picked first by ZUS Coffee in the league’s historic rookie drafting early this year while Ms. Coronel, the No. 3 pick, will also suit up for the first time with Galeries Tower.
Mses. Gagate and Coronel missed the league’s first two conferences this season due to national team commitments.
Ms. Daquis, who last played for Cignal before going on a one-year hiatus, will make a comeback with Farm Fresh, while Ms. Gonzaga, who also suited up for a conference with Cignal early this year, gets some piece of the action again as she was acquired by Zus.
Both Mses. Daquis and Gonzaga should provide the veteran presence that their youth-laden teams desperately need.
Interestingly, Ms. Gonzaga will team up with Ms. Gagate and a Zus team that also boasts of
2024 NCAA MVP Cloanne Mondoñedo, Jade Gentapa, Michele Gamit and Gayle Pascual of three-time unbeaten NCAA champion College of St. Benilde.
For Ms. Daquis, she will be mentoring a promising squad consisting of Trisha Tubu, Ciatlin Viray and Louie Romero.
The conference will be unfurled with Galeries Tower and Akari colliding at 4 p.m. and Petro Gazz and Choco Mucho clashing at 6:30 p.m. — Joey Villar
DONOVAN MITCHELL buried a jumper with 0.3 second remaining as the Cleveland Cavaliers extended their unbeaten run with a 114-113 win over the host Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
Mitchell had 30 points for the Cavaliers, who recorded their seventh successive victory, their best start to a season since Bill Fitch coached them to a franchise-record 8-0 start in 1976-77.
Sam Merrill contributed 17 points off the bench, including five 3-pointers, Jarrett Allen had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Evan Mobley had 14 points and seven boards and Darius Garland finished with 11 points and 10 assists.
Damian Lillard notched 41 points – including 10 3-pointers — and nine assists, Giannis Antetokounmpo piled on 34 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists and Taurean Prince scored 16.
Inside the frenetic final minute of the fourth, with the Cavs up by one, Mitchell missed a pair of runners, Antetokounmpo overcooked a layup and Brook Lopez blocked Allen’s dunk attempt.
Lillard nailed a step-back jumper with 9.8 seconds left to put Milwaukee in front before Mitchell replied with the game-winner.
Lillard, who was held to a career-low-tying four points on 1-of-12 shooting vs. Memphis on Thursday, bounced back with two treys in the first 90 seconds and finished the opening term with 18 points, including 5 of 8 from downtown.
The Bucks had jumped ahead 9-0, led by as many as 16 points and buried 8 of 15 3-pointers to lead 38-30 after one.
Mitchell piloted a 13-0 second-quarter burst to help the Cavaliers get their first lead before Milwaukee moved back in front at the half when Antetokounmpo’s no-look, behind-the-back bounce pass found Lillard for his seventh triple.
The lead changed hands 11 times in the third period, at the end of which Cleveland led 87-84, before further momentum swings continued to shape the contest in the pulsating fourth. — Reuters
PATRICK MAHOMES said he wants to see a WNBA expansion team come to Kansas City (KC).
Unlike the average professional athlete, Mahomes may have the pull, and the money, to make it happen.
“We want to get basketball to Kansas City in general and then WNBA,” Mahomes said Thursday. “The success that they’ve had this last season and these last few seasons, it’s kind of a no-brainer.”
Mahomes and his wife Brittany are investors in the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League. Mahomes also has purchased ownership stakes in Major League Baseball’s Royals and Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City.
The three-time Super Bowl champion, who signed a $500 million contract extension with the Chiefs in 2020, said he wants to continue to be a professional sports team owner long after his playing days are done, saying with women’s sports in particular he wants to “showcase to my daughter that she can follow her dream and go out there and execute on whatever that dream is.”
Kansas City has an appetite for basketball, thanks to the tradition of the nearby University of Kansas. The city also built an NBA- and NHL-ready arena, the T-Mobile Center, which did not attract a permanent tenant in one of the major leagues.
As the WNBA expands from 12 to 15 teams over the next two seasons, adding clubs in San Francisco, Portland and Toronto, it hopes to reach the round number of 16. Nearby St. Louis and Philadelphia are also expected to compete with Kansas City for a franchise.
“To try to get a WNBA team in Kansas City to this fan base — you see it if you talk about University of Kansas basketball, the Chiefs or whatever it is — the city of Kansas City is going to come out and they’re going to fill the stadium,” Mahomes said. — Reuters
LIVERPOOL enjoyed a perfect day as they came from behind to beat Brighton and Hove Albion, 2-1, and Premier League title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal both suffered defeats on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah secured the points for Liverpool at Anfield to put Arne Slot’s side two points clear of injury-hit champions City who lost in the league for the first time in 11 months, going down to a shock 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth.
Arsenal lost 1-0 at Newcastle United, meaning Mikel Arteta’s side have managed only one point from their last three games.
Nottingham Forest’s dream start to the season continued as they crushed West Ham United, 3-0, to move into third place.
Liverpool have 25 points from 10 games with City on 23 while Forest have 19. Arsenal are fourth with 18 points although could slip out of the top four if fifth-placed Aston Villa avoid defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Slot has enjoyed the best start by any new Liverpool manager since replacing Juergen Klopp and Saturday’s victory was his side’s 13th in 15 matches in all competitions.
While the defeats for City and Arsenal were a bonus, the Dutchman said he was only concerned with his own side.
“Not because of those results but it feels special because we faced Arsenal last week who are a very tough team,” he said.
“Today we faced the same quality and idea about football and both times we had to come from behind to get a result. That is what makes my day, not so much the results from other games.”
Liverpool fell behind after 14 minutes against Brighton with Turkey international Ferdi Kadioglu rifling in a stunning effort as the visitors seized control.
Slot’s side were struggling to get back on level terms but got a break when Cody Gakpo’s 69th minute cross went straight into the net to lift the mood.
Three minutes later Salah curled home a stunning effort from the right side of the penalty area and that proved enough.
“The second goal was a Mo Salah special,” Slot said.
City boss Pep Guardiola had lamented his side’s injury list in the build-up to their game at Bournemouth and his side were without John Stones and Ruben Dias as well as several others as their club record 32-game unbeaten Premier League run ended.
“We couldn’t match up to the intensity,” Guardiola said.
MISERABLE RUN Bournemouth had lost all 14 of their previous Premier League meetings with City with an aggregate score of 45-7 but ended that miserable run as City lost for the second time this week after a League Cup exit at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
Bournemouth went in front after nine minutes with Antoine Semenyo touching in a low cross by Milos Kerkez.
Evanilson doubled the home side’s lead in the 64th minute after more good work by Kerkez before Josko Gvardiol halved the deficit to set up a tense finale in which Erling Haaland somehow hit the post from point-blank range.
Arsenal managed only one shot on target in the early kickoff at St James’ Park where Newcastle striker Alexander Isak’s early headed goal proved the difference between the sides.
Forest won a third Premier League game in a row for the first time since 1999 as they took West Ham apart.
In-form striker Chris Wood gave his side the lead against West Ham who were reduced to 10 men on the cusp of halftime as Edson Alvarez chopped down Anthony Elanga. Callum Hudson-Odoi doubled Forest’s lead after the break before Ola Aina blasted in a third goal to send the City Ground fans into raptures.
“I think we can get better,” Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said of taking Forest as high as third in the Premier League for the first time since 1998, said.
Promoted Southampton celebrated a first Premier League victory of the season as Adam Armstrong struck a late winner to clinch a 1-0 triumph over Everton at St Mary’s.
Ipswich Town thought they hade also registered a first Premier League win of the season as they led Leicester City 1-0 at Portman Road thanks to a Leif Davis volley.
But Jordan Ayew scored deep into stoppage time to salvage a point for Leicester. Ipswich had tried to hang on with 10 men after Kalvin Phillips was sent off with 12 minutes left.
Ipswich and Southampton both remain in the relegation zone with Wolverhampton Wanderers still bottom after a 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace in the late kickoff. — Reuters
UNRIVALED, the upcoming three-on-three women’s basketball league, added its 30th player for its inaugural season Thursday, but she won’t be the last.
The league will have not 30 but 36 players— six teams of six— for its first campaign, co-founder Napheesa Collier announced, with Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston later revealed as the league’s 30th signing.
Collier and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart founded the league to provide players an alternative to earning money overseas during the WNBA’s offseason. The season will be eight weeks long during the WNBA’s offseason, and players who join Unrivaled will receive equity in the league.
Boston, 22, was the first overall pick of the 2023 WNBA Draft and the 2023 Rookie of the Year. In two seasons in the league, she has started all 80 possible games for Indiana and averaged 14.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. — Reuters
When the Bucks hired Doc Rivers to be their head coach at the start of the year, they were reeling from a crisis of identity. They were still among the league elite, to be sure; erstwhile bench tactician Adrian Griffin had, at the time of the change, steered them to a heady 30-13 slate, good for second overall in the National Basketball Association. Yet, they seemed on the verge of an implosion. The new mentor wasn’t quite sticking the landing; respected assistant Terry Stotts called it quits in the preseason following a spat, and players were privately seething from unusual behind-the-scenes handling.
Amid the upheaval, the Bucks figured to swing the pendulum in the other direction. Rivers was, on paper, a logical hire; unlike Griffin, he had a ton of experience pacing the sidelines — and especially for and with marquee names. More importantly, he was a playoff fixture in close to two-and-a-half decades of plying the trade. That said, he did not come without risk. For one thing, he was himself fresh off a firing; the Sixers had just parted ways with him after consecutive exits in the second round of the postseason.
To argue that the Bucks should have given Griffin more runway to counter the turbulence would be tantamount to engaging in revisionist history. Foundational piece Giannis Antetokounmpo appeared to have checked out by then, withdrawing his endorsement of the left-field hire as fast as he made it. And, by extension, the choice of Rivers looked smart; the acquisition of an experienced coach had as its objective the injection of stability to the green and cream. The roster turnover was in and of itself significant, and the arrival of an old hand in the industry came across as timely at worst.
Unfortunately, Rivers did not — could not — hit the ground running for some reason. Perhaps he needed time; setting aside Griffin’s evident success on the win-loss front, he needed to ensure that the partnership between Antetokounmpo and eight-time All-Star Damian Lillard would be built for the longer term. In other words, he knew he would have to take a step back in order to move two steps ahead. And, creditably, the Bucks have preached patience in the last 10 months. Under the circumstances, it’s fair to contend that they have stayed focused on the ultimate goal.
At the same time, the Bucks have every right to wonder how long they have to — or, to be precise, can — wait before making the determination that what they see is what they get. Rivers finished the 2023-24 regular season with a 17-19 record, and then crashed out of the first round of the playoffs. And his current campaign has featured more of the same old, same old; including yesterday’s loss to the red-hot Cavaliers, he is an atrocious 1-5 and dead last in the Eastern Conference.
Where do the Bucks go from here? Their murky future regardless of the options on tap may well be the only reason they have continued to preach patience. Anxiety is bubbling to the surface, barely being contained by Rivers’ increasingly unsettling assurances that they’re on the right track even though they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. And unless and until they get to right the ship, they will, at some point, be compelled to ask why they’re bent on engaging in insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
DEMOCRATIC presidential nominee and US Vice-President Kamala Harris reacts next to Maya Rudolph as she makes an appearance on Saturday Night Live in New York City, US, Nov. 2, 2024. — REUTERS
NEW YORK— Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris appeared on the Saturday Night Live (SNL) TV comedy show on Saturday, adding a surprise jolt to the US presidential election just three days before her showdown with Republican Donald Trump.
Ms. Harris portrayed herself, appearing in a mirror opposite the actor who plays her on the show, Maya Rudolph, who was nervously preparing for a campaign speech. Dressed identically in a black suit and pearls, the two traded variations on Harris’ first name, saying Americans want to “end the drama-la” in politics “with a cool new stepmom-ala.”
“Keep Calm-ala and carry on-ala,” they said in unison.
“I don’t really laugh like that, do I?” Ms. Harris asked, after Ms. Rudolph imitated her distinctive chortle.
“A little bit,” Ms. Rudolph responded.
Ms. Harris was making her first appearance on the show, which has had other presidential candidates over its decades-long run.
“It was fun,” she told reporters on the tarmac before flying to Detroit in the battleground state of Michigan.
Mr. Trump appeared on SNL during his first presidential bid in 2015, where he poked fun at his tendency to exaggerate and steer clear of policy specifics. He also appeared in 2004. A Trump aide said on Saturday he did not know whether he had been invited to appear this year.
Earlier on Saturday, Ms. Harris’ and Mr. Trump’s planes shared the tarmac in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the two candidates held dueling events in the southern state, one of a handful that will determine the outcome of Tuesday’s election. It was the fourth day in a row that the candidates campaigned in the same state.
Only seven states are seen as truly competitive, but a poll released on Saturday showed Ms. Harris holding a surprise lead in Iowa, a state Trump won easily in the last two elections.
‘BEAUTIFUL WHITE SKIN’ Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris stuck to familiar themes at their appearances.
Mr. Trump said he would deport millions of immigrants if elected and warned that if Ms. Harris wins, “Every town in America would be turned into a squalid, dangerous refugee camp.”
Campaigning in Atlanta, Ms. Harris said Mr. Trump would abuse his power if he returns to the White House.
“This is someone who is increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and the man is out for unchecked power,” she said.
More than 75 million Americans have already cast their ballots, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, in a sign of voter enthusiasm.
In North Carolina, the western counties that were devastated by Hurricane Helene appeared to be voting at roughly the same rate as the rest of the state, according to Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer.
At a rally in Salem, Virginia, Mr. Trump said he ran for office to rescue the economy from “obliteration” even though it would have been easier to relax at one of his oceanfront resorts.
“I didn’t need to be here today,” he said. “I could have been standing on that beach, my beautiful white skin getting nice and being smacked, being smacked in the face by a wave loaded up with salt water.”
Mr. Trump was joined on stage by women from a local college swim team who have objected to competing against transgender athletes. Some of Mr. Trump’s TV ads have sought to capitalize on transgender controversies. — Reuters
An Australia Dollar note is seen in this illustration photo June 1, 2017. — REUTERS/THOMAS WHITE/ILLUSTRATION
SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that his government planned to cut student loans for around three million Australians by 20%, wiping off around A$16 billion ($10 billion) in debts.
The move builds on May’s budget, which attacked cost of living pressures in Australia and gave debt relief for students, as well as more investment to make medicines cheaper, and a boost to a rent assistance program.
“This will help everyone with a student debt right now, whilst we work hard to deliver a better deal for every student in the years ahead,” Mr. Albanese said in a statement announcing the cut to student loans for tertiary education.
The changes would mean the average graduate with a loan of A$27,600 would have A$5,520 wiped, the government said, adding that they would take effect from June 1, 2025.
The government said it already planned to cut the amount that Australians with a student debt have to repay per year and raise the threshold to start repayments.
If reelected at the next general election, due in 2025, Labor would also legislate to guarantee 100,000 free places each year at the country’s Technical and Further Education institutes, Mr. Albanese said.
“This is a time for building, building better education for all,” he said in a speech to supporters in South Australia state capital Adelaide.
Cost of living pressures, stoked by stubbornly high inflation, have a special resonance with a federal election looming and the center-left Labor government now polling behind their conservative opponents. — Reuters
SEOUL — North Korean state media released a white paper on Sunday accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of exposing his country to the danger of nuclear war through his policies toward the North.
The document, compiled by North Korea’s Institute of Enemy State Studies and released by state news agency KCNA, criticized Mr. Yoon’s “reckless remarks” about war, abandoning elements of an inter-Korean agreement, engaging in nuclear war planning with the United States, and seeking closer ties with Japan and NATO.
“Its ever-worsening military moves resulted only in the paradoxical consequences of pushing (North Korea) to stockpile its nuclear weapons at an exponential rate and further develop its nuclear attack capability,” the paper said.
Mr. Yoon, a conservative, has taken a hard line on North Korea, which has forged ahead with developing its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
His administration blames North Korea for raising tensions with weapons tests and providing military aid and troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang has been taking steps to sever inter-Korean ties, redefining the South as a separate, hostile enemy state, since Kim Jong Un declared it a “primary foe” early this year and said unification was no longer possible.
North Korea blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas last month, and satellite imagery shows it has since built large trenches across the former crossings.
The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The two Koreas have also clashed over balloons of trash floated since May from North Korea. Pyongyang has said the launches are a response to balloons sent by anti-regime activists in the South.
Sunday’s white paper also listed Mr. Yoon’s domestic political woes, including scandals involving his wife, which have driven his approval ratings to record lows.
Meanwhile, the United States on Sunday deployed B-1B bombers for joint aerial drills with South Korea and Japan, in response to North Korea’s recent launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The military exercise showed the three countries’ strong commitment to responding to the North’s nuclear and missile threats through cooperation, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
This is the second time this year that the three countries conducted joint air drills and the fourth time in 2024 that the United States deployed its strategic bombers on the Korean peninsula, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. — Reuters
BEIJING — China, which has been releasing a slew of measures to bolster its sagging population levels, recorded a drop in marriage registrations for the first nine months of 2024, according to official data from Ministry of Civil Affairs.
For the first three quarters of the year, 4.747 million couples were registered nationwide, the data showed. That is a year-on-year decrease of 943,000, a Reuters calculation of the data showed.
The government released the latest data on Friday.
In 2023, 5.690 million marriage registrations were recorded for the first nine months, an increase from 2022.
Growing economic uncertainty and rising living costs across the country have forced many young couples to delay marriage, a troubling sign for lawmakers who have been pushing policies to boost a shrinking population.
China recently revised a draft law that makes it simpler for couples to register marriages, while filing for divorce will become tougher.
For the first three quarters of 2024, 1.967 million divorces were registered, a slight drop of 6,000 year over year, according to the data.
Earlier this year, China reported its second annual drop in nationwide births, pushing the government to enact projects and initiatives in major cities to spur young Chinese to create a “new-era” marriage and childbearing culture to foster a friendly child bearing environment.
Getting married and having children has been a heated subject among young Chinese and spawned major discussions and trending threads on social media.
Many young Chinese are opting to stay single or delay getting married due to poor job prospects and worries about the future as growth in the world’s second-largest economy slows.
Chinese President Xi Jinping even weighed in, saying women have a critical role and must establish a “new trend of family.” — Reuters
Imagine a vehicle mortgage loan and vehicle financing company that approves applications within minutes!
That’s exactly how the near future looks like for Global Dominion.
“To be aided by artificial intelligence when it comes to scaling our credit evaluation operations is timely and much needed considering our growth in many areas in the country,” said Global Dominion Credit Head Rodrigo Matinong, Jr. The company has added 32 branches this year and it aims to open more by the first quarter of next year.
Global Dominion’s Information Technology Group (GDFI-ITG) has envisioned a shared service to enhance IT governance, operations, and support across companies within its group. GDFI-ITG works closely with the financing company’s business units to leverage existing and upcoming technology to bring costs down, consequently helping to drive interest rates down for financial consumers in the future.
“Centralizing back-office operations has led to cost reduction, improved service quality, better control, and more effective management of our assets,” said Global Dominion Chief Information Officer Eric Salazar. Their initiatives have eliminated redundancy in IT resources, budget allocation, hiring processes, and enforced the adoption of best practices. “This is not even the peak for us, it is just the beginning!” Salazar added.
The company has been aggressively exploring and studying technology services that maximize the use of artificial intelligence (AI), and it has so far screened no less than 10 vendors, including one in the field of explainable AI.
Alongside the transition to a cloud-based setup, and aside from AI, the growing demand for automation has spurred the inclusion of new projects such as machine learning and mobile-enabled self-service capabilities in its strategic road map going forward.
Global Dominion has been in the business of vehicle mortgage loans and vehicle financing since 2003. Its purpose is to ignite and accelerate the growth of people and organizations to transform lives for the better.
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Roderick Capalongan left his career in advertising in 2014 to venture into mushroom farming, and is now a leading supplier of mushrooms in his home town of Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, including Manila, Isabela, Cagayan Valley, Tarlac, and Pampanga.
Roderick Capalongan built a dynamic career in advertising, mastering project management, below-the-line communications, and complex campaign operations. But what started as a side hustle soon turned into his true passion—mushroom farming.
Inspired by a fellow farming enthusiast, Roderick initially ventured into mushroom production to generate extra income for his family. However, what began as a small project soon became his full-time calling.
In 2014, he left advertising behind to grow mushrooms on a 2-hectare farmland he inherited from his grandfather. Roderick named his own farm “Mushroom Man” and used recycled agricultural waste, such as rice straw, as substrate to grow oyster mushrooms.
As demand grew, so did Roderick’s desire to scale up the business. In 2016, he found a reliable partner in Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) which stepped in with an initial loan of P300,000.00, giving Roderick the boost he needed to expand his operations.
“Salamat sa LANDBANK dahil palagi silang handang sumuporta sa akin at sa projects ko. Sa tulong nila, nakapagpatayo ako ng facilities at nakapag-expand ng farm ko,” said Roderick.
Over the years, LANDBANK has extended a total of P6.25 million to support Roderick’s mushroom production, which covered the purchase of equipment and the construction of mushroom housing, and even the expansion to tilapia and catfish production.
The Mushroom Man currently delivers fresh produce daily to market outlets in Nueva Vizcaya and Manila, as well as in the provinces of Isabela, Tarlac, Pampanga, Cavite and Cagayan Valley.
Innovation meets sustainability
Roderick adopted an integrated farming business model that combines mushroom production with tilapia fish farming to minimize farm waste, reduce operational costs, and promote resource efficiency.
Roderick adopted an integrated farming business model that combines mushroom production with tilapia fish farming, wherein he uses discarded mushroom spent to produce duckweeds which serves as a natural alternative to fish feeds.
One of his sustainable farm methods involve recycling mushroom spent—a byproduct of his mushroom production—to cultivate duckweeds as an alternative to artificial commercial fish feeds.
This recycling practice reduced the cost of his tilapia production by half and significantly increased his profits.
“Sa panahon ngayon, tumataas na ang presyo ng farm inputs, tulad ng tilapia feeds. Kaya kailangan maging resourceful para gumanda ang kita,” said Roderick.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Roderick also expanded his product line to include processed mushroom products, which include siomai, crispy mushroom, mushroom spread, and chili paste, alongside organic fertilizers.
A trailblazer in mushroom and integrated farming
In recognition of his innovative practices and contributions to the local mushroom industry, LANDBANK conferred to Roderick the “Ulirang Magsasaka – Special Award for Integrated Farming” at the Bank’s Models of Excellence Recognition Initiative for Top Bank Clients (MERIT) Awards.
Roderick and his wife, Sheila Capalongan, receive the special citation for integrated farming during the LANDBANK MERIT Awards in Malate, Manila.
The MERIT Awards celebrated the Bank’s top development partners in the delivery of essential financial and support services in local communities nationwide.
Roderick’s farm has become the model mushroom farm in Nueva Vizcaya, attracting local and foreign visitors, including students, cooperatives and associations, to learn from his expertise about mushroom and integrated farming.
National agencies like Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), and state universities also work closely with the farm to promote sustainable farming practices and enhance agricultural education.
Looking ahead, Roderick plans to build a farm school to train aspiring agri-entrepreneurs in mushroom production and elevate Nueva Vizcaya as a hub for oyster mushroom production.
He likewise plans to train abroad to refine his skills and learn best global practices to help boost the local industry.
“We are planning to train sa ibang bansa para mag-uwi ng advanced technology at matuto ng modern practices for mushroom production. Naniniwala ako na kaya natin magkaroon ng globally competitive mushroom industry,” said Roderick.
A Journey from Campaigns to Cultivation
Roderick Capalongan’s journey from the advertising world to agriculture is a testament to his adaptability to embrace change and passion to pursue his calling. With LANDBANK as his trusted partner, he continues to thrive—proving that success grows where passion and innovation meet.
Through partnerships like these, LANDBANK is empowering farmers and Filipinos nationwide for a better future.
About LANDBANK
LANDBANK is the largest development financial institution in the Philippines with the largest portfolio in support of agriculture, fisheries, and rural development. Promoting financial inclusion, digital transformation, and sustainable national development, the Bank is present in all 82 provinces in the county and is committed to provide accessible and responsive financial solutions to empower Filipinos from countryside to countrywide.
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