ELYSPLANET

The Pasig River Esplanade Is a ₱32 Billion Bet That Free Space Still Matters

by Ely Valendez

The Pasig River was declared biologically dead in the 1990s. Manila is now spending up to ₱32 billion to bring it back — here's what that actually buys.

September 17, 2026

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Elsewhere

September 18, 2026

FEU Bamboo Band Turns a Local Instrument Into a World Tour of Liberation Anthems in &...

FEU Bamboo Band's Sept. 26 concert plays a martial-law protest song, a Cold War rock ballad, and a Cordillera...

by Ely Valendez

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September 17, 2026

Will Ashley’s Debut Album Drops Sunday. It’s Coming Out on the Other...

Will Ashley turns 24 the same week his debut album, "Liham," drops — and it's coming out on ABS-CBN's...

by Ely Valendez

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September 17, 2026

Moira Dela Torre Heads Back to “Where It All Started” for Her First SM...

Moira Dela Torre headlines SM MOA Arena for the first time on Oct. 4. What "Where It All Started"...

by Ely Valendez

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September 17, 2026

Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang Returns to PETA Theater Center, September 21–30

More than a century after Severino Reyes first wrote her into the pages of Liwayway magazine, Lola Basyang is...

by Ely Valendez

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The Pasig River Esplanade Is a ₱32 Billion Bet That Free Space Still Matters

Published by Ely Valendez

The Pasig River was declared biologically dead in the 1990s. Manila is now spending up to ₱32 billion to bring it back — here's what that actually buys.

September 17, 2026

Comments 0

Elsewhere

Escolta Is Rotting on Purpose. Almost Nobody’s Fighting It.

Published by Ely Valendez

The heat hits you first. Diesel smoke, damp concrete, and the low, heavy hum of a city moving too fast. Step off the LRT-1 — the Light Rail Transit...

September 15, 2026

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Elsewhere

Three Days, Every Kind of Bad Weather: The Ford Everest’s Baguio Verdict

Published by Ely Valendez

Ford Philippines loaned us an Everest for three days in Baguio — traffic, steep Cordillera grades, and a sudden June downpour. Here's the honest verdict.

September 15, 2026

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Cars

Alex Eala Landed on the Front Page of the New York Times. Then She Sat Front Row at NYFW for Tory Burch.

Published by Ely Valendez

A New York Times front page, a CBS Mornings sit-down, and three NYFW front rows — Alex Eala's New York had nothing to do with tennis.

September 11, 2026

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Fashion

Drew Arellano Built a Wall Around His Kids’ Endorsement Money — and a Rental Villa on the Side

Published by Ely Valendez

Drew Arellano invests his kids' endorsements, insures his family, and runs a rental villa in Rizal. Inside the Arellano family's real money moves.

September 9, 2026

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Finance

Beyond the Love Team: How Donny Pangilinan Is Structuring His Fame

Published by Ely Valendez

Donny Pangilinan cut prices at his family's gas station and quietly gave ₱300,000 to strangers on live TV. An inside look at how financial structure lets one actor make...

September 8, 2026

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Finance

From Spain to Stories That Inspire, Jesus Guinto Built His Way to Mister Glam International

by Ely Valendez

Jesus “Jessie” Guinto is heading into Mister Glam International this December with something he didn’t have the last time he stepped onto an international pageant stage: time. In 2023, he processed his Schengen visa to go to Spain as a host, not a competitor. He’d already won his own title, Mister Tourism Globe Philippines, at the Mister Grand Philippines 2023 national pageant, and the Filipino organizer behind that year’s international edition — where the national winner would normally compete — asked Guinto to hold the microphone instead, at the show in Huelva and Seville. He said yes, started prepping his hosting lines, and packed for a trip where the hardest thing on his plate would be pronouncing 21 countries’ names correctly.

Entertainment, Exclusive Interview

VR Relosa: Before the Vivamax King, There Was the Boy Who Slept at McDonald’s

VR Relosa slept under an MRT station at 17. A decade later, the "Vivamax King" is doing Cinemalaya, theater, and an indie shot years before any of it.

Pageants, Special Feature

John Eriq Bonifacio Wins Mister Cosmopolitan 2026 — the Philippines’ First Title in the Pageant’s History

John Bonifacio becomes the first Filipino to win Mister Cosmopolitan — a crown he dedicated to his father, who passed away three months before the competition.

Culture, Special Feature

Austin Dizon Cabatana and Vienne Luna Are Century Tuna’s New Superbods. Twenty Years In, the Night Still Found New Records to Set.

The wait that our men’s and women’s preview pieces flagged ended Friday, September 11, at Solaire Resort North. Century Tuna crowned Austin Dizon Cabatana and Vienne Luna as its...

Exclusive Interview