TOPS and LRA Push for the Complete Implementation of e-Titling Program in PH

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Land Registration Authority (LRA), and The Organization of Property Stakeholders, Inc. (TOPS), are strongly pushing for the complete conversion of all paper land titles to e-titles.

The digitization of land titles will foster much-improved ease of doing business in the property sector of the Philippines, one of the common and pressing concerns that the TOPS-LRA collaboration aims to absolve with the summit.

Property owners and top executives from various companies present in the recent TOPS-LRA Summit 2015 held at Fairmont Hotel on July 28 discussed the various threats and challenges the property sector may encounter in the next few years if titles have no digital copies.

According to TOPS President Michael Jansen Abella, investors should primarily do the basic but thorough checking before buying land. As for big land developers, one must diligently verify the history of the land titles from the beginning up to the present before purchasing the property. There are already thousands of cases of fake land titles and land grabbing that have been reported because of the ease with which unscrupulous persons can fake land titles and other documents related to property ownership. 

South African Workshop Links Chemical Safety To Human Rights

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Environment and human rights organizations gathered in South Africa to identify links between sound chemicals management and human rights in a workshop conducted last July 21-23, 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa.

A workshop spearheaded by Philippine-based environmental justice group BAN Toxics (BT), Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and South African group groundwork highlighted the need to integrate human rights laws when implementing chemicals management policies and practices.

“To attain global sustainable development, it is essential to acknowledge the impact of pollution from industrial and agricultural chemicals to human health and the environment. It is important to understand the connection of these two issues and make it work for communities which are most affected by toxic pollution,” says Baskut Tuncak, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Hazardous Substances and Wastes.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that unintentional poisonings from inappropriate and excessive exposure to toxic chemicals kill an estimated 355,000 people globally each year, where two thirds of these deaths occur in developing countries. 

Manhattan Property Versus The Rest Of The World

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The average price to buy a Manhattan apartment hit a record US$1.87 million in the second quarter of this year - an 11 percent increase on the same period in 2014, according to a report from Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

As the price to buy real estate in New York City skyrockets, global property portal Lamudi looks at what the average Manhattan apartment is worth elsewhere in the world.

An island lot in the Philippines

Cost: 80,000,000 Philippine pesos (~$1.84 million)

Of course you could buy an apartment in Manhattan with that spare $1.87 million. Or, for roughly the same price, you could get 215,000 square feet of beach frontage in one of the Philippines’ best island destinations. Located in El Nido on the scenic island province of Palawan, the lot has two hectares of land and hotel villas right on the beach.

Local Cloud Computing Firm Walks for Children’s Wishes

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Local cloud computing and data center services firm IPC (IP Converge Data Services, Inc.) has linked hands with non-profit Make-A-Wish Foundation Philippines to help uplift the lives of children with life-threatening illnesses.

IPC recently participated in Walk for Wishes, a one-day event which allowed individual and group sponsors to meet their beneficiaries. Held at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, IPC’s contingent of 20 volunteers joined Wish Kids in a 500-meter health walk. The event was capped with the granting of specific wishes.

“IPC’s participation allowed our employees to engage in an activity that benefits society. We are able to extend assistance to the children of Make-A-Wish, and at the same time we have set a culture of community involvement within our company,” said Jefrri-ann Santiago, IPC Human Resources Manager.

Walk for Wishes is one of the activities spearheaded by Make-A-Wish Foundation Philippines. The charitable organization benefits children three to 17 years old battling life-threatening diseases. Make-a-Wish’s primary focus is to grant wishes to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.

The photo above is Team IPC with Wish Kid Amie (fifth from left) at the finish line.

Casa Noble Tequilas and Contreau Orange Liqueurs Come Together to Create Your Perfect Margarita

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Many will be calling it the amalgamation of two great brands - Casa Noble organic tequila and Cointreau orange liqueur - to make ‪#‎YourPerfectMargarita‬.

Edwin Ong of Casa Noble and Joey Pineda of Cointreau represents the two brands as they come together to give us the perfect Margarita.

At a launch held at The Balcony of Todd English Hall on July 30, 2015, the formal announcement was made by Joey Pineda, Commercial Manager of the Cointreau brand. He is confident that the partnership brings forth the really perfect Margarita to satisfy everyone's preference. 

Hosted by the charming Issa Litton, she gives everyone the assurance that the night will be filled with the best tasting Margarita especially that mixologist ...err... barman Lee Watson was there to show us how to make the perfect Margarita with a special concoction he demonstrated to everyone which contains 10 ingredients. He calls it "The Perfect 10."

Truly perfect to be able to learn from an expert as he also guided three of the attendees to find out who can create the best tasting Margarita. Congratulations to my fellow blogger for winning as per choice of Lee Watson.

Lazada Launches Seller Center Android App – the First Mobile Selling Platform in Southeast Asia

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Southeast Asia’s leading online shopping and selling destination Lazada has launched its Seller Centre Android app to make selling on its marketplace platform even more effortless for brands and merchants across the region.

Since its launch in 2013, Lazada’s marketplace platform has reached almost 20,000 sellers which accounts for approximately 75% of Lazada’s overall sales in Southeast Asia.

The Seller Center is an online platform for marketplace sellers to manage inventory, pricing, promotions and orders. As an app, it packs all the important features designed for sellers to manage their business on-the-go.

“Lazada has become the one-stop retail gateway of choice for local and international sellers to enter and grow their business in Southeast Asia. With this Seller Centre Android app, our partners are equipped with an effortless selling tool that they can access anytime to maximize their sales,” said Maximilian Bittner, CEO, Lazada Group.

TOPS-LRA Summit 2015: Measuring Our Gains and Meeting the Challenges Ahead

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The 2nd TOPS-LRA Summit was held at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati City on July 28, 2015. The summit is a collaborative project of The Organization of Property Stakeholders Inc. (TOPS) and the Land Registration Authority (LRA).

With a theme of "Measuring Our Gains and Meeting the Challenges Ahead," the summit aspires to provide new solutions and strategies to future challenges that might slow down the development of the property sector in the country. Experts and leaders talked about climate change, geological hazards, E-titling, computerized land registration, BIR initiatives, the Uniform Loan And Mortgage Agreement (ULAMA) and the real estate industry’s contributions to the national economy.

Giving the welcome address was Michael Jansen Abella, President of TOPS while Atty Rodolfo "Rudy" Fernandez, Vice Presidnet of BPI Family Savings Bank, gave the summit overview. Atty. Carla Uykim, Senior Assistant Vice President of Megaworld Corporation introduced the Keynote Speaker in the morning who was Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), while Hon. Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., Deputy Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was the keynote speaker in the afternoon.

YouthHack Manila Startup Challenge 2015 Highlights

Wazzup Plipinas!

The YouthHack Manila Startup Challenge was held on July 25 & 26, 2015 at Xavier School in Greenhills, San Juan, with lots of big activities like workshops and keynote speeches from some of the big names in the startup industry, a youth-run startup fair, and a big competition for high school and university students.

YouthHack Founder David Ongchoco opens the Startup Challenge with his origin story. “It felt surreal for the 18 year-old who just graduated high school,” he says. Moved by hackathons, Ongchoco realized the potential of the youth to contribute to (and revolutionize) the intersecting worlds of technology and entrepreneurship. We made our own interview with the very young founder, as well as his core team mates, so go watch the video below and be inspired from their stories. Due to time limitations we will be posting first the interview with David, and we will soon post the second part where we also interviewed his core team.

We heard talks from Paul Rivera, CEO of Kalibrr; Donald Lim, Chief Digital Officer of ABS-CBN, Dennis Mendiola of Chikka; Pinky Natividad, venture capitalist and catalyst from Katalyst.ph; Mark Colentava, founder of Balanga Makerspace and Project Manager of CoinSaver, Roxi Lim of Kalibrr, design mastermind Brian Tenorio, and Uber’s Raymond Castillo.

GQ WEST Partners with Mazy's Marketing Corporation for Laundrybest Use of Ariel Detergent

Wazzup Pilipinas!

GQ WEST Inc. has entered into a partnership with Mazy's Marketing Corporation that allows the brand to utilize the Ariel detergent brand for its Laundrybest laundromat brand.

Under the agreement, the Laundrybest stores will use Ariel detergent while its franchisees will enjoy certain privileges like free delivery to their stores. The partnership with Mazy's Marketing Corporation, the exclusive distributor for institutionals is part of the company's efforts to give added value to their franchisees and to make every experience count to all its customers.

"Through this partnership we can assure our customers that their laundry will be processed with the utmost care, while our franchisees can reassure their customers thanks to our partnership with a credible brand like Ariel" says the company's President Carson Tan.

Laundrybest is the laundromat concept attached to the company's Aquabest water refilling franchise. At present there are 50 Laundrybest stores in Metro Manila with more set to open as the company seeks to capitalize on the booming property sector.

Vista Land Reaps Multiple Recognitions at Philippines Property Awards and Benefits from MCX Opening

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We would like to congratulate Vista Land, the country’s largest homebuilder, for winning numerous awards for its prestige brands – Brittany, Vista Malls, Vista Residences and Camella at the recently concluded Philippines Property Awards held last July 9, 2015 at the Fairmont Hotel, Makati.

Well deserving of the recognition, Vista Land takes pride in providing us with several choices to choose from when purchasing our new homes or investment opportunities.

As they build a place where life and beauty flourish side by side, Vista Land invites everyone to live with them at their future masterpiece of city development and the most expansive CBD in the south, the Vista City - a 1500 hectare located where Muntinlupa, Cavite, Las Pinas and Laguna meet. This is where business opportunities, culture, livabiloity, and innovation will merge in harmony.

We were recently invited last July 25 at the Evia Lifestyle Center, an impressive 5 hectare comercial and retail area along Daang Hari in Las Pinas, to witness a celebration for the recent awards. Brittany, the high-end luxury arm of Vista Land, garnered two major awards from the said event for its Amore at Portofino, an Italian-themed luxury residential property in Vista City. Amore was awarded Best Housing Development in Metro Manila and Best Housing Development in the Philippines for 2015 while Brittany’s Portofino was recognized with the same title last year.