{"id":38058,"date":"2018-12-29T08:53:55","date_gmt":"2018-12-29T00:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/?p=38058"},"modified":"2022-06-28T10:44:43","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T02:44:43","slug":"2018-lookback-the-top-10-newsmakers-in-the-philippines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/2018\/12\/29\/2018-lookback-the-top-10-newsmakers-in-the-philippines\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 Lookback: The Top 10 Newsmakers in the Philippines"},"content":{"rendered":"

2018 has been such an amazing albeit controversial year, and we can all agree that it wasn’t as easy\u00a0compared to the past years. With left and right challenges that we all had to face, personally or as a nation, the Philippines remained strong.<\/p>\n

It might not have been all sunshine this year, but Filipinos stood tall with smiles on our faces.\u00a0So join us as we reminisce all the highlights of the year—the Philippine Primer prepared a round-up of all the 2018 newsbreakers:<\/p>\n

TRAIN Law<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law was first introduced in public in December 2017, but it\u00a0took effect on January 1, 2018.<\/p>\n

The tax reform may have affected the paychecks positively,\u00a0however, there was an increase in taxes from petroleum, sweetened beverage, automobile, donor, estate, cosmetic procedures, tobacco, among others.<\/p>\n

Also read:<\/em>\u00a0TRAIN Package One: A Need-To-Know Guide to Republic Act 10963<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Grab\/Uber merge<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Just this March, Grab and Uber announced the merging of their operations in the Philippines and some Southeast Asian countries. It took effect on April, and everyone had their own sentiments about the merge, mostly negative, because of the high price surges during rush hours.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0Grab, Uber set to merge this April 8<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

2018 Asian Games<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"IMAGE<\/em>\u00a0Philippine Sports Commission Facebook page<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Considered as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympics, the 2018 Asian Games allowed Filipino athletes to take home a total medal tally of 4 golds, 2 silvers, and 15 bronzes. It was held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia last August 18 to September 2.<\/p>\n

This year’s Asian Games boosted the country’s rank from 22nd place to 19th, which is said to be the best performance in 12 years.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a02018 Asian Games: PH Best Performance in 12 Years<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

National ID<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"IMAGE Philippine Statistics Authority<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Last August, it was confirmed that there will be a National ID to be ushered by the Philippine Statistics Authority by the end of this year.<\/p>\n

The National ID will include a citizen or a resident alien’s demographic and biometric data. Plus, it’s entirely free of charge upon first registration, so it’s relatively easier to acquire one.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0National ID for PH Locals and Resident aliens to be launched in December 2018<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

UNIQLO flagship store opens in Makati<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

UNIQLO\u00a0opened its largest flagship store in October, not only in the Philippines but in the whole Southeast Asia. So far, the well-loved Japanese brand has about 3,500 stores worldwide, and it surely redefines “casual wear” with its high-quality, innovative clothes.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0Uniqlo Manila, the Largest Flagship Store in Southeast Asia, Opens in Glorietta 5<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Lotto craze<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For weeks, there was a long line in various lotto stalls as the ultimate prize reached Php 1.18 billion–the biggest in Philippine lotto history.<\/p>\n

However, two lucky winners took home the money in October.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0Lotto Culture in PH: Explaining the Craze<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Boracay rehabilitation and re-opening<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Boracay Island was closed earlier this year as the once white-sand beauty was flooded with environmental problems.\u00a0Said issues were caused by tourist influx and several establishments who failed to follow regulations for the past years.<\/p>\n

After six months of closure, the ever famous summer destination had its soft opening in October.<\/p>\n

Also read: Gov\u2019t Sets Guidelines for Newly Rehabilitated Boracay Island<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

IKEA to open its world’s largest store in the PH<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last November, everyone wowed as the world’s largest home furnishing IKEA announced the opening of its first store in the country, to be located at the Mall of Asia Complex. The said branch is dubbed as the world’s largest IKEA store, with a 65,000 sqm space carrying a total of 9,000 home products.<\/p>\n

As with the other branches, IKEA Philippines will include a warehouse, showroom, restaurant, e-commerce hub, playground, and of course, a wide parking space. It’s set to open in 2020.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0IKEA Is Opening Its World\u2019s Largest Store in the Philippines<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Panglao International Airport<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"IMAGE Department of Transportation<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Panglao International Airport finally opened in November, after over three years in construction under the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build program.<\/p>\n

As the first eco-airport in the country, the Panglao International Airport is also\u00a0named as the\u00a0\u201cGreen Gateway to the World,\u201d with hopes to boost the tourist growth and trade in Bohol.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0Panglao International Airport in Bohol Finally Opens Today<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Catriona Gray wins Miss Universe 2018<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"IMAGE Miss Universe<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Last but not the least–of course, our dear Catriona Gray won the Miss Universe 2018, three years after Pia Wurtzbach won the coveted title.\u00a0Before she was crowned as the Miss Universe, Catriona Gray also joined Miss World Philippines and was able to represent the country up until top 5 in 2016.<\/p>\n

It was indeed the perfect ending to a\u00a0year full of lessons and challenges.<\/p>\n

Also read:\u00a0Catriona Gray Wins Miss Universe 2018<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

What other newsbreakers have you encountered this year? We’d love to hear in the comments below!<\/p>\n

\n

Written by Yana Bautista.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What other newsbreakers have you encountered this year? We’d love to hear in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[7682,7680,7681],"class_list":["post-38058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-listicle","tag-2018-highlights","tag-2018-newsbreakers","tag-newsbreakers-2018"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2018\/12\/Catriona-Gray-e1545987574137.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38058"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65639,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38058\/revisions\/65639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}