DIFFERENT PROCESSES IN PURIFYING LAGUNA DE BAY

SELECTED PARAMETERS

Oxygen saturation and oxygen demand

The oxygen saturation level indicates the degree of pollution by organic matter, the level
of primary production and the level of self purification of the water. The BOD5 expresses
the oxygen demand for the biodegradation of organic matter and indicates the risk for low
DO saturation levels. Almost 70% of BOD5 loads in the Laguna de Bay are from households
and 20% is from industrial origin: the remaining part is from land run-off. COD expresses
the total oxygen demand, including the oxidation of all organic matter and reduced
inorganic compounds as ammonium. In shallow lakes, excessive BOD5 and COD can cause
oxygen depletion and suffocate living resources.

Bacterial pollution

Ideally, a water system should not contain any micro-organisms known to be pathogenic or
any bacteria indicative of faecal pollution as it would render the water unsuitable for all
sorts of functions. The existence of these micro-organisms can be linked to untreated
sewage and sludges, night soil and animal wastes. Exposure to human pathogens via
contact with contaminated water or consumption of contaminated shellfish can result in
infection and disease. Selected indicator parameters are Total Coliforms and Fecal
Coliforms, as these two have been used in the DENR water quality criteria / water usage &
classification for freshwater systems.

Eutrophic level

Perhaps the most pressing problem in Laguna de Bay is eutrophication or nutrient

enrichment from domestic (some 70 – 80%), agricultural and to a lesser extent from
industrial loads. Excessive levels of nutrients such as dissolved nitrogen and phosphate (o-
PO4P) increase primary production. At adverse levels, impacts include nuisance algal
blooms and oxygen depletion, which suffocate living resources. In addition, total
phytoplankton cell counts and chlorophyll-a are presented. The net primary production is
also given in relation to the potential fish production in the lake. Phytoplankton refers to
microscopic aquatic plants that have a very significant role in aquatic productivity because
it provides food and oxygen necessary for the survival of aquatic animals. Chlorophyll-a is
the photosynthetic pigment that relates to the total phytoplankton biomass. Phosphate is
the only selected parameter that is used in the DENR water quality criteria / water usage &
classification for freshwater systems.

Hazardous substances

Hazardous substances, dissolved or suspended in the water column or accumulated in

sediments can result in an array of adverse ecological effects. Many of these compounds
are suspected carcinogens and/or reproductive toxicants, which can accumulate on the
tissue of fish and shellfish, which may then be consumed by humans. The bio-
accumulative effects of these compounds on the ecosystem depend on the characteristics
of the compound. The three most toxic heavy metals of the LLDA monitoring program
were selected: Hexavalent Chromium – Cr(6+), lead - Pb and Cadmium - Cd., all expressed
as total concentration in the water phase

Hexavalent chromium is used extensively in metal pickling and plating operations, leather
industry as tanning agent and in manufacturing paint and dyes.

Mixed lead and zinc ores account for about 70% of total primary lead production. Lead is
also produced from scrap (secondary lead), which accounts for about 35% of the total
world lead supply. The largest consumer of lead is the use as an additive in fuels,
production of batteries, paints, anti-radiation armour, pesticide formulation, pigments,
cable sheeting, alloys and various semi manufacturers.
 Cadmium is a trace element in the earth’s crust, which is generally associated with zinc
minerals. Cadmium and cadmium compounds are used mainly in nickel / cadmium
batteries, as bright yellow pigments in paints and synthetic materials and as stabilizers of
synthetic materials. Furthermore, it can be produced as by-product of fertilizer, application
and waste-incineration industries.

Oil & grease was selected as it may harm aquatic life by direct contact, by poisoning with
various water soluble substances, that may be leached from it or by emulsions which may
coat the fish gills or may be swallowed with water and food.

PRESENTATION

The colours in the Water Mondriaan (blue, white, yellow, red, black and grey) represent the
specific condition of the water system for a certain period with respect to the selected
parameters.

The selected colouring and other details are indicated in the legends, which are specific to
each figure. The legends follow the DENR classification for freshwater systems. When
classes are described by the same water quality value, they are merged and presented as
one colour.

Classification User Function

A Public Water Supply II
B Recreation I
C Fisheries, recreation II and industrial water supply I
D Agriculture and industrial water supply II
>D
No Data

For the other parameters (COD, pathogens, chlorophyll-a, phytoplankton abundance) that
cannot be presented through the DENR classification, the legend reflects the LLDA expert
opinion and will be expressed in terms of ‘very low’, ‘low’, ‘medium’, ‘high’ and ‘very high’.

MATERIAL RECOVERY FACILITIES

Clean MRF

A clean MRF accepts recyclable commingled materials that have already been separated at the
source from municipal solid waste generated by either residential or commercial sources.
There are a variety of clean MRFs. The most common are single stream where all recyclable
material is mixed, or dual stream MRFs, where source-separated recyclables are delivered in a
mixed container stream (typically glass, ferrous metal, aluminum and other non-ferrous
metals, PET [No.1] and HDPE [No.2] plastics) and a mixed paper stream, (including OCC, ONP,
OMG, Office packs, junk mail, etc). Material is sorted to specifications, then baled, shredded,
crushed, or otherwise prepared for shipment to market.

Dirty MRF

Manual material triage for recycling

A dirty MRF accepts a mixed solid waste stream and then proceeds to separate out designated
recyclable materials through a combination of manual and mechanical sorting. The sorted
recyclable materials may undergo further processing required to meet technical specifications
established by end-markets while the balance of the mixed waste stream is sent to a disposal
facility such as a landfill.
The percentage of residuals (unrecoverable recyclable or non-program materials) from a
properly operated clean MRF supported by an effective public outreach and education program
should not exceed 10% by weight of the total delivered stream and in many cases it can be
significantly below 5%.[citation needed] A dirty MRF recovers between 5% and 45% of the incoming
material as recyclables,[citation needed] then the remainder is landfilled or otherwise disposed. A
dirty MRF can be capable of higher recovery rates than a clean MRF, since it ensures that
100% of the waste stream is subjected to the sorting process, and can target a greater number
of materials for recovery than can usually be accommodated by sorting at the source.
However, the dirty MRF process is necessarily labor-intensive, and a facility that accepts mixed
solid waste is usually more challenging and more expensive to site.

Wet MRF

A wet materials recovery facility

New mechanical biological treatment technologies are now beginning to utilise wet MRFs.[1]
This combines a dirty MRF with water which acts to density separate and clean the output
streams. It also hydrocrushes and dissolves biodegradable organics in solution to make them
suitable for anaerobic digestion.

PROCESS IN PURIFYING WATER

Pre-treatment

1. Pumping and containment - The majority of water must be pumped from its source or
directed into pipes or holding tanks. To avoid adding contaminants to the water, this
physical infrastructure must be made from appropriate materials and constructed so
that accidental contamination does not occur.
2. Screening (see also screen filter) - The first step in purifying surface water is to remove
large debris such as sticks, leaves, trash and other large particles which may interfere
with subsequent purification steps. Most deep groundwater does not need screening
before other purification steps.
3. Storage - Water from rivers may also be stored in bankside reservoirs for periods
between a few days and many months to allow natural biological purification to take
place. This is especially important if treatment is by slow sand filters. Storage
reservoirs also provide a buffer against short periods of drought or to allow water
supply to be maintained during transitory pollution incidents in the source river.
4. Pre-conditioning - Water rich in hardness salts is treated with soda-ash (sodium
carbonate) to precipitate calcium carbonate out utilising the common-ion effect.
5. Pre-chlorination - In many plants the incoming water was chlorinated to minimise the
growth of fouling organisms on the pipe-work and tanks. Because of the potential
adverse quality effects (see chlorine below), this has largely been discontinued
6. Boiling: Water is heated hot enough and long enough to inactivate or kill micro-
organisms that normally live in water at room temperature. Near sea level, a vigorous
rolling boil for at least one minute is sufficient. At high altitudes (greater than two
kilometres or 5000 feet) three minutes is recommended.[18] In areas where the water is
"hard" (that is, containing significant dissolved calcium salts), boiling decomposes the
bicarbonate ions, resulting in partial precipitation as calcium carbonate. This is the
"fur" that builds up on kettle elements, etc., in hard water areas. With the exception of
calcium, boiling does not remove solutes of higher boiling point than water and in fact
increases their concentration (due to some water being lost as vapour). Boiling does
not leave a residual disinfectant in the water. Therefore, water that has been boiled
and then stored for any length of time may have acquired new pathogens.
7. Granular Activated Carbon filtering: a form of activated carbon with a high surface
area, adsorbs many compounds including many toxic compounds. Water passing
 through activated carbon is commonly used in municipal regions with organic
contamination, taste or odors. Many household water filters and fish tanks use
activated carbon filters to further purify the water. Household filters for drinking water
sometimes contain silver as metallic silver nanoparticle. if water is held in the carbon
block for longer period, microorganisms can grow inside which results in fouling and
contamination. Silver nanoparticles are excellent anti-bacterial material and they can
decompose toxic halo-organic compounds such as pesticides into non-toxic organic
products[citation needed].
8. Distillation involves boiling the water to produce water vapour. The vapour contacts a
cool surface where it condenses as a liquid. Because the solutes are not normally
vaporised, they remain in the boiling solution. Even distillation does not completely
purify water, because of contaminants with similar boiling points and droplets of
unvapourised liquid carried with the steam. However, 99.9% pure water can be
obtained by distillation.
9. Reverse osmosis: Mechanical pressure is applied to an impure solution to force pure
water through a semi-permeable membrane. Reverse osmosis is theoretically the most
thorough method of large scale water purification available, although perfect semi-
permeable membranes are difficult to create. Unless membranes are well-maintained,
algae and other life forms can colonize the membranes.
10. The use of iron in removing arsenic from water. See Arsenic contamination of
groundwater.
11. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). Applicable to desalination. Heated
seawater is passed along the surface of a hydrophobic polymer membrane.
Evaporated water passes from the hot side through pores in the membrane into a
stream of cold pure water on the other side. The difference in vapour pressure
between the hot and cold side helps to push water molecules through.
12. Gas hydrate crystals centrifuge method. If carbon dioxide gas is mixed with
contaminated water at high pressure and low temperature, gas hydrate crystals will
contain only clean water. This is because the water molecules bind to the gas
molecules at molecular level. The contaminated water is in liquid form. A centrifuge
may be used to separate the crystals and the concentrated contaminated water.

WASTE WATER TREATMENT

Wastewater treatment facility in the Muntinlupa Public Market, Philippines

Public markets pose a challenge for waste management in cities and towns. Local government
of Muntinlupa (Metro Manila), with the assistance of USAID, installed a low-cost waste-water
treatment plant in the public market. The investment is recovered through a small surcharge
in the rental fee that vendors pay for their stall. The practice helped lessen water pollution,
saves money by recycling water and maintaining clean standards in the market.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Problems addressed

For years the government of the Philippines has been struggling with ways to manage
effectively waste water issues and the ever increasing rate of water-borne diseases in urban
communities. In 2004 the Philippine Clean Water Act was enacted, mandating all local
government units to “share the responsibility in the management and improvement of water
quality within their territorial jurisdictions.” This was instrumental in pressuring local
governments to address waste water issues that were the cause of much environmental
damage: over 90 per cent of all sewage generated in the Philippines is not treated. Water-
borne diseases accounted for nearly 31% of all reported illness from 1996-2000 and economic
losses from water-borne diseases alone exceed P2.3 billion a year.
Muntinlupa is one of the fastest growing cities in Metro Manila. It has a population of 379,310
(2000) and an annual growth rate of 3.14 per cent. Muntinlupa covers and land area of 4,670
hectares adjacent to the Laguna Lake and is divided into 9 barangays.

Like most cities in the Philippines, Muntinlupa has been faced with health and water related
issues for years due to the scarcity of clean water and the ever-increasing amounts of
untreated waste water that is released into the rivers that feed into Laguna Lake, the main
source for drinking water in Metro Manila. The majority of the population in the city depends
upon deep wells for potable water, which is known to be contaminated due to the untreated
waste water released.

With the approval of the Clean Water Act, Muntinlupa has been compelled to take necessary
actions to comply with the law and provide better services to its people. The law requires that
within five years, all subdivisions, condominiums, commercial centres, hotels, hospitals,
market places, and public buildings be connected to a sewerage system.

2. Activities

The wastewater treatment facility was constructed by Public Market Cooperative, part of the
local government, in coordination with the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and a specialised firm that provided technical assistance. The facility was part of a
broader programme to improve sanitation conditions in Muntinlupa financed by USAID which
included an important public awareness campaign on sanitation issues.

A hybrid technology was selected as the most suitable for the circumstances. The collected
wastewater from the market enters first the anaerobic baffled reactor where it undergoes
several steps where the waste is screened and partially clarified until the BOD level is reduced.
Afterwards, the water proceeds through a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) that aerates and
settles the wastewater under sluggish conditions, then passes to a settling tank with inclined
plates to reduce suspended solids. The water is then filtered through a cocopeat filtration
system for the final phase of the process. The treated water is used in the market for cleaning
and flushing.

Other technology options were considered as well: sewage lagoons and constructed wetlands
were rejected because of lack of space; activated sludge, a technology commonly used for
high strength wastewater treatment, was rejected because of its high operating cost. Because
of lack of space in the area, the facility had to be built under the parking lot of the market. This
fact increased construction costs substantially, as the treatment plant had to be reinforced to
sustain the weight of trucks over it. Total construction costs were P6.7 million.

The facility, like the market, now operates 24 hours, 7 days a week and treats 210 cubic
meters of sewage per day with a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of approximately 600
milligrams per litre. Suspended solids and fats, oil and grease are also quite high.

Muntinlupa City has implemented a “user-fee system” collecting P5.00 per stall owner each
day. This payment was approved by the stall owners prior to the construction of the facility.
Monthly income from this source will be P216,750, against an operation and maintenance
expenditures of P27,000. The facility is managed by two operators and consumes about
P15,000 of electricity per month.

3. Key outcomes

Following nearly two years of operation, the Muntinlupa Wastewater Treatment Facility has
been able to show the following results:

1. The treatment facility has helped to lower water pollution due to an impressive
decrease in BOD level of waster discharged into the creeks and rivers systems from
 more than 600 mg per litre to less than 30. (Note: 50 mg/litre is the acceptable BOD
value for the Laguna Lake)
2. The facility is instrumental in protecting families in Muntinlupa City from water-borne
diseases and helped to ensure higher quality potable water from the deepwells within
the community.
3. The system helped to maintain clean standards in the market which prevented its
closure.
4. Due to the availability of recycled water, the market was able to save nearly P25, 000
a month in pumping costs.
5. The project has raised public awareness on proper waste disposal, wastewater
management, water and sanitation

The facility is able to treat 210 cubic meters of water everyday at an approximate cost of
P4.28 per cubic meter. The figures show its efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

As a result of this innovative project, Muntinlupa City has received praise from local
organizations, local government units in the Philippines and other countries in Asia that have
included study visits to the treatment plant and technical trainings

4. Sustainability and replication

The wastewater treatment facility is an excellent financial investment. With current user fees
of P5 per day/per stall it is estimated that the investment will be recovered in 3-4 years only.
The facility is expected to remain in operation for at least last 25 years; however the electro-
mechanical equipment life span will vary from 1 to 5 years which includes blowers, motors, &
pumps. The City of Muntinlupa should ensure there are sufficient funds in hand for emergency
situations or breakdowns.

Intergovernmental partnerships with neighbouring cities could help to encourage other

communities to set up their own treatment facilities, then share costs for construction and
operations.

The Muntinlupa Wastewater Treatment Facility has set standards for other communities to
replicate the project as long as they are constructed for small scale usage, since it is relatively
small and can only effectively accommodate up to 3,285 cubic meters of water per day. If the
facility were be scaled up for larger communities, the equipment might not be able to handle
the workload or reach its maximum lifespan of 25 years. Further, setting it up for larger areas
will entail bigger construction cost and maintenance expenses.

At present, Muntinlupa City is working with Calbayog City in replicating the wastewater
treatment facility, with plans to replicate the treatment facility in Barangay Bayanan which has
the second largest public market in the city.

SAMPLE OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

The real success of the project is found in the additional work carried out in the most active of
the barangays; Pinagkaisahan. The project developed a small scale Eco Center that now works
as the heart of a concrete, hands-on Solid Waste Management System with an adapted
Material Recovery Facility (MRF); all in order to serve as the desired Best Practice Example.

Owing to very strong and dedicated barangay management, enthusiastic staff, and - with time
- relatively cooperative inhabitants the project has managed to reduce the number of
truck loads collecting residual waste from eight (8) per week in the beginning of the
project down to two (2) today - and even in the process of reducing to one (1) truck
per week. This remarkable reduction of 75% or even more shows that it is possible to
achieve significant positive results with limited budgets.
WATERLESS TOILET

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• The econometrical model which is used to analyze costs is a model in which

explanatory variable represents total costs and endogenous variables represent
factors that influence their level. Production quantity is the most important factor
which determines the level of total costs.

An explicit cost is an easily accounted cost, such as wage, rent and materials. It can be transacted in the form of money
payment and is lost directly, as opposed to monetary implicit costs.

In economics, an implicit cost, also called an imputed cost, implied cost, or notional cost, is the opportunity cost that
results from using an asset instead of renting, selling, or lending it. The term also applies to forgone income from
choosing not to work. A cost borne directly is an explicit cost.

Opportunity cost is the cost related to the next-best choice available to someone who has picked between several
mutually exclusive choices.[1] It is a key concept in economics. It has been described as expressing "the basic
relationship between scarcity and choice."[2] The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce
resources are used efficiently.[3] Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of
output forgone, lost time, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs.

In economics, and cost accounting, total cost (TC) describes the total economic cost of production and is made up of
variable costs, which vary according to the quantity of a good produced and include inputs such as labor and raw
materials, plus fixed costs, which are independent of the quantity of a good produced and include inputs (capital) that
cannot be varied in the short term, such as buildings and machinery. Total cost in economics includes the total
opportunity cost of each factor of production as part of its fixed or variable costs.

In economics, fixed costs are business expenses that are not dependent on the level of goods or services produced by
the business [1] They tend to be time-related, such as salaries or rents being paid per month. This is in contrast to
variable costs, which are volume-related (and are paid per quantity produced).

n economics, average cost is equal to total cost divided by the number of goods produced (the output quantity, Q). It is
also equal to the sum of average variable costs (total variable costs divided by Q) plus average fixed costs (total fixed
costs divided by Q). Average costs may be dependent on the time period considered (increasing production may be
expensive or impossible in the short term, for example). Average costs affect the supply curve and are a fundamental
component of supply and demand.

Total revenue is the total money received from the sale of any given quantity of output.

The total revenue is calculated as the selling price of the firm's product times the quantity sold, i.e.

total revenue = price × quantity;

or letting TR be the total revenue function,

TR(Q) = P(Q) × Q

where Q is the quantity of output sold, and P(Q) is the inverse demand function (the demand function solved out for
price in terms of quantity demanded).

n accounting, net profit is equal to the gross profit minus overheads minus interest payable plus/minus one off items
for a given time period (usually: accounting perio

In economics & business, specifically cost accounting, the break-even point (BEP) is the point at which cost or
expenses and revenue are equal: there is no net loss or gain, and one has "broken even". A profit or a loss has not been
made, although opportunity costs have been paid, and capital has received the risk-adjusted, expected return

Income statement (also referred as profit and loss statement (P&L), earnings statement, operating statement or
statement of operations)[1] is a company's financial statement that indicates how the revenue (money received from the
sale of products and services before expenses are taken out, also known as the "top line") is transformed into the net
income (the result after all revenues and expenses have been accounted for, also known as the "bottom line").

Average variable cost (AVC) is an economics term that refers to a firm's variable costs (labor, electricity, etc.) divided
by the quantity (Q) of output produced. Variable costs are those costs which vary with output.

Average fixed cost (AFC) is an economics term that refers to fixed costs of production (FC) divided by the quantity
(Q) of output produced.

n microeconomics, marginal revenue (MR) is the extra revenue that an additional unit of product will bring. It is the
additional income from selling one more unit of a good; sometimes equal to price.[1] It can also be described as the
change in total revenue ÷ the change in the number of units sold.

Average total cost is the sum of all the production costs divided by the number of units produced.

economic profit, or profit, is the difference between a firm's total revenue and its opportunity costs. In classical
economics profit is the return to the employer of capital stock (machinery, factory, a plow) in any productive pursuit
involving labor.

normal profit

Hide links within definitionsShow links within definitions

Definition

Minimum profit necessary to attract and retain suppliers in a perfectly competitive market (see perfect competition).

Only normal profit could be earned in such markets because, if profit was abnormally high, more competitors would

appear and drive prices and profit down. If profit was abnormally low, firms would leave the market and the remaining
ones would drive the prices and profit up. Markets where suppliers are making normal profits will neither expand nor

shrink and will, therefore, be in a state of long-term equilibrium. Normal profit typically equals opportunity cost.

Media Overview

Highs of the media's history in the islands include the Philippines' Constitution
guaranteeing freedom of the press and the freedom of the press access to official
documents. In contrast to these lofty ideals, the Philippines press from the time of its
inception has faced American influence, confiscation of assets for those papers not
among the ownership of a former leader, and mistrust of reporters due to shoddy
reporting.

Newspapers were being published on board American ships as they first entered Manila
Bay in 1898. The Bounding Billow was published on board Dewey's flag-ship, and other
on-ship U.S. papers included the American Soldier, Freedom and the American,
according to the Philippine Journalism Review. These early papers followed U.S.
attempts to "civilize" the Filipinos. American journalists in the Philippines went so far as
to characterize the natives as "little brown soldiers who enjoyed parading before the
patient Americans," and as "a group of warlike tribes who will devour each other when
American troops leave."

The Americans wasted no time in establishing a press system in the Philippines modeled
on that of the one in place in the United States. The Manila Times published its first issue
in October 1898, making it the first English-language newspaper in the islands.
Newspapers published in the Philippines were under strong American influence and went
so far as to champion the annexation of the islands by the United States. Among the
newspapers taking this stance were La Democracia and Consolidacion Nacional. Among
the papers holding out for independence were El Renacimiento, Muling Pagsilang, El
Debate, La Opinion and Los Obreros.

Another influential newspaper was the Bulletin, which originally was established by H.G.
Harris and Carson Taylor in 1900 as a shipping journal and to encourage shipping and
commerce in the islands. The Bulletin used as its primary sources the news agencies
Associated Press, United Press International and the Chicago Tribune Service. For its
first three years the Bulletin was published free of charge; it became a full-fledged paper
in 1912.

In 1917, Manuel Quezon purchased the Manila Times and held it for four years.
Ownership changed hands a few times after that until the Times joined the press holdings
of Alejandro Roces Sr. Among Roces' other newspapers at the time were Taliba, the
Tribune and La Vanguardia.

Cable News, founded by Israel Putnam, was another renowned daily during the early part
of the twentieth century. Later the paper joined with the American, and in 1920 the
combined newspaper was purchased by Quezon.

Although founded on the principle of freedom of expression, newspapers in the

Philippines were subjected to strict censorship by American military authorities, and later
by American civilian administrators, according to the Philippine Journalism Review.
Under Gen. Arthur McArthur, the military worked to keep propaganda against American
forces out of the news as well as prevent communication between those opposing
America's presence in the islands. Stories detailing resistance by Filipinos to American
rule were suppressed, as well as stories that would help Filipinos learn what was
happening beyond the Philippines' borders. Journalists were deported or imprisoned for
exercising freedom of the press, and papers such as La Justicia, and the Cebuano
newspaper El Nueva Dia, were suspended many times for championing nationalistic
views.

Historians say El Renacimiento was the only true independent newspaper during these
dark days, and its light was later extinguished by a libel case brought against the paper by
an American official.

English-language newspapers dominated the press in the early part of the century until
then Senate President Manuel Quezon established the Philippines Herald to represent the
Filipino viewpoint in the fight for independence. In August 1920, disgruntled former
Manila Times journalists left their jobs and formed the backbone of the Herald. Early
staff members included Narciso Ramos, Antonio Escoda, Bernardo Garcia and Jose P.
Bautista— names that would become among the most revered in the history of the
Philippines' press.

The 1920s also saw the birth of English-language women's magazines, which were
primarily the products of women's clubs. Women's Outlook was published 10 times a year
and was the official publication of the Women's Club of Manila, according to the
Philippine Journalism Review. Another prominent publication was Woman's World, the
publication of the Philippine Association of University Women. In 1935 Woman's World
joined Woman's Home Journal to become Woman's Home Journal World, and the
combined magazine featured sections on food, fashion, beauty and gossip.
In April 1925, Alejandro Roces, who would also own the Manila Times and other papers,
established the Tribune. Under the editorial leadership of Mauro Mendez, the Tribune
tackled topics such as the alleged misuse of government funds; a plan to potentially cut
the jobs of about 2,000 low-income government employees in order to save money; the
merits of English being the language of instruction in schools; and a proposal to hand
members of the House of Parliament a large lump sum for travel allowances, postage,
stationery and clerical help with no accounting for how the money was spent. Mendez
later transferred to the Herald and his journalistic attacks continued, this time venturing
into topics such as peasant unrest in the 1930s, women's suffrage and the threat of
Communism.

After the Philippines were granted independence, newspapers threw off their shackles
and proceeded to write about wrongdoing in high places. Their motives may have been
pure, but they tended to use unsubstantiated or one-source stories. As time went on, elite
families took over newspaper ownership in Manila.

In 1972 then-President Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law. He confiscated the assets
of those newspapers not in his own coalition. Between 1972 and 1986, newspapers were
under the rule of Marcos' friends, family members or others close to him. The press
remained under these unfriendly conditions for 14 years.

The assassination of presidential hopeful Benigno ("Ninoy") Aquino Jr. in August 1983
united Filipinos, and eventually helped spur a return to a freer, more independent press.
His growing unpopularity led Marcos to flee the country in 1986. After his departure the
Commission on Good Government confiscated newspapers and their assets from Marcos'
allies. The press rejoiced as it regained control; some newspapers were even returned to
the families that had owned and operated them prior to Marcos' takeover.

By the early 1990s, there were about 30 daily papers of all sizes, types and political
perspectives. News was offered by about a dozen English-language broadsheets, while
around 14 tabloids—primarily in Tagalog and Cebuano—featured sensationalism as a
staple. Papers were diverse, and four were published in Chinese.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, national newspapers numbered eight from a high
of 22 in 1986, according to the World Press Review. Slightly more than 400 community
newspapers, most weeklies or monthlies in English are found amid the nation's 7,100
islands. National dailies have circulations of between 10,000 and 400,000 while their
provincial cousins have circulations between 500 and 45,000.

Grouped by circulation, there are about a dozen newspapers with a circulation between
100,000 and 300,000; about a dozen with a circulation between 50,000 and 100,000;
three with circulation of between 25,000 and 50,000; one with circulation of between
10,000 and 25,000, and two with circulations below 10,000.

Publications are printed in a variety of languages. In English the three top are the Manila
Bulletin (circulation of around 320,000), Philippines Star (222,900) and Philippines
Inquirer (148,800). In Filipino they are People's Tonight (320,900), Pilipino Ngayaon
(272,000) and Taliba (226,800). In Taglish, the top three are People's Journal (372,500),
Headline Manila (105,100) and News Today (75,000). The top three Chinese papers are
the World News (36,000), United Daily News (32,000) and China Times (30,000).