Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Full Disclosure by Abaya, DOTC Officals of House Probe on MRT-3 Extortion Case

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Officials of the Department and Transportation and Communications (DOTC), led by Secretary Jun Abaya, made full disclosures at the Congress investigation on the alleged Metro Rail Transit III (MRT-3) extortion attempt this morning, as promised by Abaya last week.

"We promised that we would be transparent, so we made full disclosure to Congress. We at the DOTC have nothing to hide, and are as interested as anyone else in uncovering irregularities, if indeed there were any," said Abaya.

It was revealed during the hearing of the House of Representatives (HOR) Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability that the MRT-3 maintenance contract which was awarded to CB&T was made to ensure the safety of its passengers.

"Safety is always our priority. That is our commitment to the public. We resorted to the simplied emergency bidding procedure so as not to compromise passenger safety," Abaya remarked.

This situation arose due to the refusal of the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) - the private company which owns the facilities of the MRT-3 - to renew its maintenance contract with Sumitomo of Japan in 2012. The Emergency Procurement mode is provided for under Republic Act No. 9184 or the Procurement Law.

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Hashtag #MYOH2014 is an exclusive Make Your Own Havaianas 2014 event for the loyal Havaianaticos! Calling all footie fans! Havaianas has been touring around the Philippines to proudly bring you closer to Havaianas - the best rubber flip-flops in the world from Brazil!

Right in the middle of the summer season comes the colorful event that was open to the anticipating public from May 8 to 11, 2014 at Glorietta Activity Center. But a media launch was held last May 6 at the same venue where we spotted celebrities like Elmo and Arkin Magalona (along with their mom), Kathryn Bernardo, Azkal brothers Phil and James Younghusband, Lauren Young, the family of Maricel Laxa and Anthony Pangilinan, Janeena Chan, were celebrating with the crowd in true Brazilian style along with some Samba beats at the background, the cultural dance numbers and beautiful Portuguese speaking models that made a glorious noise inside the Glorietta Activity Center.

At the public launch, we caught a glimpse of popular faces like Sam Pinto, Vanessa Matsunaga, the Ateneo Lady Eagles, Daphne Oseña-Paez, Denise Laurel, couples Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia, and a lot more, during the biggest four days of Brazilian flip-flops customization. Guess who else were also head over heels mixing and matching soles, straps, and pins of their Havaianas flip-flops?! There's too many of them to list down in just one blog post!

Swensen's Philippines Opens New Branch at The Block of SM North EDSA

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Our family has always been a fan of ice cream. Then again, who isn’t right? Living in a tropical country, it is almost a given that people here enjoy a bite of ice cream every now and then. However, there are only a few places here that sells quality ice cream. Thankfully, Swensen's came over and our problem of finding great ice cream has been solved.

My family and I enjoy going to Swensen's after dinner. It’s a great thing that they now have 3 branches. One is in Mall of Asia, the other is in Eastwood, and the newest one is located in SM North The Block which just opened recently and was formally launched last May 14, 2014. They have everything covered from the South to the North.

My son’s personal favorite is the Strawberry Sundae Parfait. He love the glass that they use. You see he’s very particular about presentation and the glass used for parfait. He feel that if its the wrong one, the experience is diminished if not broken. He also loves that they ensure that the banana is always fresh. It matters. No one wants a soggy banana on their sundae.

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"Dito ang sarap maging pamilya" at the Jollibee Family Bee Day grand picnic where the langhap-sarap goodness of Jollibee burgers, fries, and other treats exploded all over the place as many families enjoyed the true Pinoy taste that has even toppled the other fastfood chain giants of other countries.

Along with hundreds of families, my friends and I joined the festivities at the Quirino Grandstand of Manila one perfectly good afternoon that drizzled a bit like it the event was being blessed by the heavens. This is where I saw again more than one of their very familiar mascots like Twirlie, Mr. Yum and of course that big jolly bee that couldn't even sting but could only dance and give away burgers and fries especially to the kids.

Many other families converged in five different venues across the country and enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon during Jollibee’s Family Bee Day, dubbed as the grandest picnic ever!

Held simultaneously at the Quirino Grandstand in Metro Manila, Bayanihan Park in Pampanga, Nuvali football grounds in Laguna, Plaza Independencia in Cebu and Crocodile Park in Davao, the event was highlighted by performances from topnotch celebrity guests, live bands, side attractions and overflowing Jollibee treats.

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Nowhere does the cultural heritage of the Americas - the delineating design of popular culture—come more alive than in a classic pair of Lee Jeans. Inherited in the brands DNA is 125 years of craftsmanship, innovation and purposeful design. Lee Jeans has created history in ways that we see, wear and experience denim now. To celebrate this more-than-a-century of inventing functional fashion, the “Lee Archive Tour”, was created - a curated collection of iconic Lee pieces - to tour around the Asia-Pacific region starting with Beijing, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, India and Australia.

Building the exhibit from the ground up, the two-storey contemporary metal-and-wood structure will first be constructed in Glorietta and deconstructed to be put up again in Robinson’s Place Ermita and then to SM Mall of Asia. The Lee Archives serves not so much as a museum as a chronicle of fashion firsts, denim die-hards will see where much of the current jean innovations started from.

The exhibition space opens with a visual play on repetition: at attention are 125 limited edition “Buddy Lee” dolls wearing customized and shrunken to proportion 101+ denim replicas—complete with miniature hardware and stitch detail. “Buddy Lee”, 92 years old and cherubic faced as ever is the brands mascot and has been since 1922. In the earlier days, Buddy was used as an advertising product, a convenient traveling tool to showcase new styles but now he’s more of the brand’s symbol of heritage and an endearing icon for Lee.

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My visit to Bangkok several years ago introduced me to Thai foods the most hilarious way because even though I knew it would be spicy as told by friends and colleagues, I never knew it would go pass the boundaries of our also famous Bicol Express in terms of spiciness.

Whoah! I was surely surprised to sip a soup that would have me reaching for the nearest drink within my proximity. I had to quickly drink a friend's glass of water because it was not so tolerable for me. I felt the spice go burning down through my throat like it was on fire. OMG! I literally screamed for water! I was all sweating afterwards!

It was my fault! It was warned! I smelled that spicy aroma! But ignored everyone of them. I was asked if I wanted it milder before we ordered, but I said "Bring it out as it is!" I thought I've tasted the "hottest" dish in my years of existence in this world, but that 10-day trip in Thailand became so memorable because of that darn Tom Yum!

Now you could now imagine me giving that Pad Thai a long hard look before I took a bite of it. You'll never know if those noodles or bean sprouts may be hiding something despicably spicy that's equally unbearable for culinary noobs like me.

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In celebration of the International Museum Day, the Museo ning Angeles and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) prepared a guided tour of the inner depths of Filipino cuisine with lecturers who not only talk about food but actually live it, at the same time, experience Kapampangan cooking traditions and feast upon it.

True enough, notable personalities like internationally awarded author and culture advocate Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, renowned Filipino chef and artist Claude Tayag, famous food historian and cook Atching Lillian Borromeo and historian and consultant Francis Musni were the chosen speakers to grace the Pampanga Culinary Tour held at the Culinarium of Museo ning Angeles of Angeles, Pampanga last May 15, 2014, and on May 16, 2014 at several sites like Lillian Borromeo's ancestral home - hailed as Mexico, Pampanga's center of culinary attraction., and at the Historic Camalig Restaurant - the home of Armando's Pizza, which earned the monicker as the "Pambansang Pizza."

The Culinarium is dedicated to Kapampangan culinary art and is developed from the basic concept that food preparation is a heritage and a legacy worth preserving not only by exhibit or collection but most importantly by continuous practice of this living tradition.

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Epson’s 3LCD technology reigned supreme as the digital imaging leader achieved the No.1 position in the projector category in the Philippine market. Based on a report by Future Source Consulting covering the 4th quarter of 2013 and the 1st quarter of 2014, Epson is currently the No.1 projector brand with a 31.84% market share.

Future Source is a 3rd party organization and the leading global marketing research company that has tracked data for the worldwide consumer electronics market for the past 25 years.

The latest Future Source brand ranking covers all business projectors with brightness level from of 2500-14999 / all resolutions.

BRAND	CY2013 4^th Quarter (Oct-Dec)		CY2014 1^st Quarter (Jan-Mar)
BRAND	Share	Rank	Quantity	Rank
EPSON	29.89%	1	31.84%	1
Brand “A”	27.11%	2	25.14%	2
Brand “B”	15.53%	3	11.17%	4
Brand “C”	8.50%	4	18.41%	3

Source: Future Source Consulting CY2014 (Jan-Mar)

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Yes, foosball! that game you tried once or twice in your student days, family basement, office lounge or favorite watering hole. You can enjoy it and join a foosball tournament by Foosball Filipinas Association (FFA) with Snaps Sports Bar during the FIFA World Cup opening and championship matches at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

Open division. First time competitor, enthusiast or league player will play in a single-elimination system where the loser of each bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event while the winner of each match moves on. There will be five events: Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Several specialty events are also scheduled, including Juniors, Forward Shootout, and Goalie Wars. First prizes include a trophy, room nights and food & beverage certificates compliments of Sofitel Manila.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

The tournament begins with events at 8:00 pm, Thursday, 12 June 2014, continuing throughout the night. All matches will be played on Garlando and Solex soccer tables. The next tournament will held on Sunday night, 13 July 2014.

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UP Diliman remains as the reigning champion of the National Ultimate Collegiate Championship after beating De La Salle-Manila, 15-10, in the Pool A championship game of the said tournament at the Greenfield City Sports Field in Sta. Rosa City.

UPD raced to an early 4-1 lead in the race-to-15 match-up, but DLSU-M threatened to regain its early lead as the team came to within 3-4.

UP Diliman scored six of the next seven goals to open a 10-5 lead, but the team conceded five La Sallian goals, the last three unanswered, while only making one as the lead was cut to one again, 11-10.

The Diliman ultimate players secured the championship, their fourth straight since the tournament began in 2011, by scoring four goals in succession in the end.

Junie Dela Cruz and Jenny Demagaje were hailed as the co-MVP's of the title match for steering UP Diliman to the successful title defense.

In the battle for third, UP Los Baños smoothly cruised to a 9-2 win against Ateneo.

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The Asian 5 Nations battle for third place ended with the Philippines falling to South Korea 22-52 in a match played in Southern Plains field in Laguna on Saturday 24 May.

The favored Koreans were hot off the mark with two quick tries in the opening minutes of the game. The hosts held their own by responding with tries from Volcanoes captain, Oliver Saunders and full back Michael Letts. A successful conversion and penalty kick, also by the Philippines’ skipper saw the first half end with Korea leading the Philippines 28 – 15.

The visiting team started the second half much like the first, with two quick tries and successful conversions. The Volcanoes replied with an interception by Matt Saunders, successfully converted by Alexander Aronson which brought the score to 22 – 47 in favor of Korea. Errors by the host team allowed Korea one more try in the last five minutes of the game resulting in a full time score of 22 – 52.

"It was a tough game. Korea played very well and we made it hard for ourselves especially in the 2nd half with too many mistakes and not playing enough territory” said Captain Oliver Saunders after the match. “In saying that, we never gave up and played hard to the final whistle. Always proud of our team’s efforts.”

Epson Maintains Value Share Leadership in Inkjet Hardcopy Peripherals (Printer) Market Category

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Epson Philippines Corporation (EPC) ranked No.1 in the market as it retained its Value (US$) Share Leadership in the Inkjet hardcopy peripherals (printer) market category with 33.1% share in 2013*.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), Epson led the Philippines market for inkjet Hardcopy Peripherals in the year 2013 in terms of Value (US$) Share*.

Value (US$) Share corresponds to total customer purchases in USD currency. IDC is the standard source for market share and value share information in the Philippines and in most countries.

The growth was spurred by the exceptional performance of Epson’s flagship L-series printers, which posted an immense 104.2% growth from the preceding year in Value (US$) in 2013. The Epson L-series, the first and only genuine ink tank system printer in the world, became the gold standard for the Inkjet hardcopy peripherals (printer) category after Epson launched the innovative printing solution in 2011. Customers from the Philippines and other countries have warmly welcomed the new Epson printing solution that provides Epson’s trademark of high quality and reliability, combined with substantial cost savings.

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Epson Philippines Corporation (EPC) recently celebrated its achievements as the No. 1 brand in three different categories, including projectors, inkjet printers, and dot matrix printers during the company’s Fusion Media activity held recently in Sumilon, Cebu.

A highlight of the 3-day event was a preview of what the public can expect from Epson for the rest of the year, including new product offerings and the latest core technology applications.

This year, Epson unveiled 14 new products from four (4) different categories including: Visual Instruments (VI)/Projectors, Inkjet Printers, Commercial & Industrial (C&I) and, Business Systems.

An overview of the new innovative product line-up that Epson Philippines offers are as follows:

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Puerto Galera suffers from the cycle of the weather. When the rainy season comes, they are like isolated already from civilization since the coast guard will not allow any form of shipping to proceed when there's a typhoon signal. This is why among the priorities of the Mayor is to also put up an airport. The airport is the best solution so tourists will have both sea and air transportation towards Puerto Galera.

According to Municipal Mayor Hubbert Christopher Dolor , if 10 is the steps to success, then maybe they are already on their 4th step in building the airport. There are still a lot of things to do but there are already investors to provide financial support to the airport project which the mayor said will be constructed between the boundaries of Puerto Galera and San Teodoro - which is a hill-type mountainous area so there may be some concerns in the flattening of the area.

The plan to have an airport will be very beneficial to Puerto Galera and its residents who mostly depend on tourism-related work and businesses. It will indeed increase the number of both local and foreign tourists even more. I would very much would prefer to travel by plane which will surely be quicker and more convenient. Traveling by motorized boat from the Batangas port to any of the piers of Puerto Galera was a little exhausting and stressful since the boat ride was constantly bumpy most of the time.

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Last May 21, 2014, a showcase and examples of hotel strategic engineering works were being featured who has modeled Zero Carbon in their specific places was being endorsed by the Department of Tourism so that most of the SME’s which was being a part representing by most hotel and resorts owners and administrators that was gathered aims to help each other achieved or maintained their status of being Zero Carbon or at least make it lesser than the recent status.

The Tourism industry in the Philippines is growing fast. bringing employment opportunities to the region and strengthening the economy of the country. Tourism has, however, a high demand for energy for guest services, and is responsible for the large amount of Carbon emissions. Due to the poor electricity supply infrastructure and inefficient appliances wasting energy, because energy is one of the highest cost for small tourist businesses.

Carbon-neutral energy supply systems , and appropriate local and environmental technology solutions are required. By increasing energy efficiency, changing peoples behavior , implementing green technologies and using locally available resources, the carbon footprint of tourism can be significantly reduced. This also calls for a revision of environmental policy by the regional government to help formalize the changes and to stimulate their replication.