FEATURES

It’s Halloween season once again, and before all the fun you’re about to have at the parties you’ll be headed to comes the stressful part: actually putting together an awesome, unique, and totally different costume that will blow everyone away. After all, with all the wild and crazy looks out and about, Halloween is the time to celebrate uniqueness.

You’ve got a particular personal and unique vision in mind, and you don’t want to rely on something that’s pre-made. Not to worry: Gemini and Nano Banana are here to instantly turn your wildest, spookiest, or most hilarious and one-of-a-kind costume concepts into stunning visual inspiration—all with a simple text prompt.

Your perfect Halloween idea, now with visuals

Gemini is making complicated costume planning simple. It works like this: You have a wild idea, but you don’t know how to execute it. Maybe you want to combine two pop culture references, or maybe you just want a fresh take on a classic ghost.

With Gemini, you can literally type out your vision and watch it come to life in seconds. All you have to do is type in what you want to become—and to do that effectively, just remember the really important parts of a specific costume prompt:

Don’t forget to be specific, be fun: Let your imagination run wild! For example: “A cyberpunk wizard with glowing neon runes and a cat familiar” or “A 1950s housewife who is secretly a vampire slayer.” From there, Gemini instantly generates high-quality images of that character. This visualization is your perfect mood board, showing you exactly what materials, colors, and accessories you need to pull the look off.

Don’t love the first idea? Just adjust the prompt! Swap the cat for a robotic dog, or change the year to the 1980s. You have unlimited creative freedom to experiment until you find the perfect look. To get the most out of Gemini, think like a director. Be concise, but include key details.

This tool takes the guesswork out of the process, allowing everyone—from consumers looking for a quick fix to seasoned DIY enthusiasts—to save time and focus on the fun part: showing off their unique style. This Halloween, you truly can be anything you want.

And one last thing: while AI opens up incredible creative avenues, it’s important to be responsible with your prompts. Please do not use Gemini to generate images that depict real people, real personalities, or public figures. Focus on creating fictional characters, concepts, and original ideas to ensure your costume planning stays fun, safe, and ethical.

Try out Gemini now and see how AI can inspire your most creative Halloween yet. We encourage users to use AI tools thoughtfully and responsibly, reinforcing that Gemini enables creativity and self-expression.

New school building standing as a symbol of hope

Newly turned over SMFI building in Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School to aid grade one and grade two students with four new classrooms a week after an earthquake.

A two-storey building with four classrooms turned over by the SM Foundation and SM Prime to a school in Tagum City came at the right time after a magnitude 6.9 quake last Oct. 10 destroyed the integrity of three classrooms.

According to Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School principal Brigitte Asas, the building finished construction in perfect timing, exactly a week after the earthquake which further compromised their buildings already “for condemnation” with beam cracks, making them unsafe for grade two and grade one students.

The campus so far has three buildings built more than 25 years ago, which are now set for demolition.

“The SM classrooms itself, after the earthquake, are very timely, especially now that we’re lacking classrooms. We would’ve just tried to repair the cracks in the old rooms if it weren’t for the SM Foundation,” Asas said.

She adds that classrooms have become the campus’ number one problem, which they have tried to solve by creating at least five makeshift classrooms which the principal describes as “half concrete, half wooden” to accommodate students.

While there has been a lack of rooms in the campus, Asas sees to it that their classroom to student ratio for grades one to three is limited to 30 to 35 students per room for grades one to two and 40 to 45 for the higher levels.

Lack of rooms and facilities

Elene Saavedra, Teacher I at Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School, stressed the importance of providing grade two and grade one students a conducive space to bolster their holistic learning, considering these levels as a child’s crucial years for development.

“As a teacher, our old building is not really conducive for learning because it was dark and our students were uncomfortable due to lack of electric fans, unlike in this building where it’s brighter and more spacious,” Saavedra said.

The school conducts their classes in full days, starting from 7:30 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. for grades one to three. Only their primary level students take classes in two shifts, their schedules in accordance with the prescribed hours of the Department of Education.

With seven hours of sitting in class, the design of the chairs and desks in the old buildings tend to be cramped with two to four students sharing one desk, making it difficult to write according to the school’s student government president Lonardjames Eramis.

Princess Dumagat, a fellow sixth-grade pupil, particularly appreciates the wood-steel armchairs that came with the building, describing their previous chairs and tables as “gamay,” or small.

Aside from the woes of the learning facilities, Saavedra also recalls dealing with minor flooding in the old classrooms.

“Every time it rains, we get nervous because it is an added job to mop and dry the floor… Sometimes we just have to send the students home too which also affects the conduct of our classes,” Saavedra shared.

To address the flooding issue, Asas aims to add a drainage in the flood-prone areas in their campus surrounding the new building after the turnover.

Symbol of hope

Faryl Jane Ponce, a PTA officer who has four children studying in Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School, two of which are primary and grade two students, says that the new building would help her child learn more efficiently.

“I am grateful to the SM Foundation because this new building would provide my children with  space comfort. They no longer have to endure the congestion, noise, and humidity,” Ponce said.

With the building’s turnover, the principal believes that the new classrooms would ignite excitement for their students which could motivate them to perform better in school.

Parents of Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School, which has over a thousand students, are grateful for the timely turnover of the school building.

“This building symbolizes hope for our students and is now a legacy of the SM Foundation. No matter how many principals and teachers retire in this school, the gratitude of the Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School community would last a lifetime,” Asas added.

The classrooms are turned fully equipped, each feature a whiteboard, toilet room, four electric fans, teacher’s table and PWD-made armchairs, including ones for left-handed students.

The building also includes the Parent-Teacher’s Association office, a faculty room, a mini library, a 10-faucet handwashing station, and PWD facilities.

The new classrooms, with good lighting and proper ventilation, would help teachers improve their students’ learning.

The 10-faucet handwashing station of the SMFI school building is expected to promote hygiene practices among Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School pupils.

Sections that will utilize the new classrooms now have a bigger space for group activities and performances.

The new building at Suaybaguio-Riña Elementary School also aims to help provide a comfortable work environment for teachers.

Future-READY, Now! is one of several SM Foundation education programs supporting scholars’ comprehensive development, including mentoring, networking initiatives, and regular assemblies that strengthen their core skills and professional readiness.

Recent studies show a mismatch between the skills industries demand and what workers and students currently possess, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and data science.

Infrastructure challenges, uneven access to quality training, and other barriers continue to limit digital learning opportunities.

To help address these challenges, SM Foundation has ramped up its education initiatives to equip and future-proof its scholars for the digital economy.

In collaboration with IBM, Asia Pacific College (APC), SM Group business units, the Foundation recently launched Future-READY, Now!, an upskilling program that integrates digital training and workforce development for its scholars.

The program is designed to align education with market needs by providing scholars with globally recognized digital and professional credentials through IBM SkillsBuild, IBM’s free education program aimed at increasing access to technology education. It ensures access to relevant training and career pathways across the country while reinforcing SM Foundation’s commitment to inclusive education. The initiative also supports the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) 2025 micro-credentialing framework and the Private Sector Advisory Council’s inclusive development agenda.

Built around a three-phase framework, the initiative develops digital, professional, and industry-specific competencies—from foundational learning to specialized courses and ongoing assessment to ensure scholars gain practical, workforce-relevant experience.

SM Foundation Scholars will have access to more than 1,000 free courses and digital credentials in IBM SkillsBuild including foundational coursework in AI literacy, digital mindset, digital literacy, as well as specialized courses relevant to each learner’s field of study across business and accountancy, engineering, IT, and education.

IBM Philippines Country General Manager and Technology Leader Aileen Judan-Jiao said the collaboration reflects IBM’s global effort to close the digital skills gap.

“Through IBM SkillsBuild and our collaboration with SM Foundation and APC, we hope to address the widening skills gap and equip Filipino learners with professional skills through customized practical learning experiences that would enable them to thrive in the rapidly changing world and workplace,” Judan-Jiao said.

“Together, we are building a future-ready Filipino workforce through flexible, industry-relevant education that meets the evolving needs of the job market,” she added.

APC President Dr. Teresita Medado said that the initiatives pave the way for inclusive education pave the way for inclusive education by opening opportunities for underserved learners to gain vital digital skills and globally-recognized credentials.

APC President Tata Medado shares the program helps build future-ready Filipino workforce through flexible, industry-relevant education that meets the evolving needs of the job market.

“It is a strategic opportunity to drive equity, empathy, and empowerment,” Dr. Medado said. “It allows us to reach students who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to study at all. That is the heart of inclusive education.”

SM Foundation Executive Director for Education Programs Carmen Linda Atayde said that the Future-READY, Now! is a continuation of the foundation’s mission to develop a career-ready scholars equipped with globally recognized credentials and adaptable skills.

“By transforming education into opportunity, and opportunity into impact, we aim to prepare scholars for meaningful employment while empowering them to contribute to meaningfully to their families and the community,” Atayde said.

Future-READY, Now! is one of several SM Foundation education programs supporting scholars’ comprehensive development, including mentoring, networking initiatives, and regular assemblies that strengthen their core skills and professional readiness.

IBM Philippines Country General Manager and Technology Leader Aileen Judan-Jiao guides an SM Scholar through the IBM SkillsBuild platform, reinforcing IBM’s global commitment to skill 30 million people by 2030, including training 2 million individuals in AI by 2026.

Future-READY, Now! advances the foundation’s mission by developing career-ready scholars with globally recognized credentials and adaptable skills.

(From left) APC Executive Director of School of Computing & Information Technologies Rhea-Luz Valbuena, APC President Dr. Teresita Medado, IBM Philippines Country General Manager and Technology Leader Aileen Judan-Jiao, and SMFI Executive Director for Education Programs Carmen Linda Atayde lead the opening of the Future-READY, Now!, an upskilling program that integrates digital training and workforce development for its scholars.

The SM Foundation lauded 199 graduates under the SM College Scholarship Program
in an event at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay on Oct. 23, 2025.
This is the most decorated batch in the program’s history, with a record number of
awardees — 8 Summa Cum Laude, 33 Magna Cum Laude, 47 Cum Laude, and 14
Academic Distinction recipients.
The event opened with a job fair, connecting graduates with potential career
opportunities across SM Group business units.
The program strengthens SM Foundation’s mission to nurture scholars into well-
rounded professionals, equipping them with real-world experience, unlocking their
potential, and supporting them in uplifting their families and communities.