Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Business Involvement Week 2015: Creating Greater Legacy and Building Business Beyond Boundaries

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The College Student Council of the College of Business in partnership with the college’s five academic organizations ( HRMS, JFINEX, JPIA, PJMA & TMS) will conduct the first “BUSINESS INVOLVEMENT WEEK 2015” on the 27th to 30th day of October.

This event will serve as the major event of the council for this semester. This is a period of time of the academic year in which we showcase the College of Business and Management. Our theme for this years’ celebration is “Creating greater legacy, Building business beyond boundaries and Molding the Lasallian experience”.

Our aim is that one day we’ll be working in the corporate world. We’d like to remind the whole college that as Lasallians, we want to leave a legacy which is to inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more.

The purpose of the Business Involvement Month is to unite and connect all of the organizations under the College. Our hope is that the business students will begin to feel the real sense of belongingness and encourage interaction after experiencing the “Business Involvement Week 2015”.

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The rise of millennial travelers, Filipinos’ increasing spending power, and aggressive expansion of commercial property developers in cities outside Metro Manila—these are just some of the key trends discussed during the Asia Pacific Real Estate Investment Summit Thursday. Lamudi Philippines (www.lamudi.com.ph) managing director Jacqueline van den Ende moderated the discussion on these key trends.

Retail

According to Lourdes Alano, vice-president for leasing at Robinsons Land Corp., key trends in retail include expansion outside Metro Manila due to rising land values within the capital, the rise of community malls, expansion of convenience store chains driven in part by the 24-hour BPO economy, and the increasing competition due to new retail channels such as podium retail-space in mixed-used condo developments and online channels.

Hospitality

Al Legaspi, chief operating officer of Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts, said that the 10 million foreign visitors target is a bit of a stretch, given that the country has so far only managed to attract half of that number. However, despite this domestic and foreign tourism is growing. Cebu, for example, experiences plenty of demand in hotel rooms, according to Legapsi, where occupancy rates in Ayala’s hotels in the city reaching 80 percent.

DOE Welcomes Zenaida Monsada As Its First Woman Secretary

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The Department of Energy welcomes its first woman Secretary as President Benigno S. Aquino III sworn in the newly appointed Zenaida Y. Monsada on 23 October 2015 at Malacanan Palace.

Prior to her appointment, Secretary Monsada served as the DOE’s Officer-in-Charge (OIC) since July 2015 and is tasked to make key decisions and set priorities as well as execute operational management of the Department. Alongside the OIC task, she was also the Undersecretary for four frontline Bureaus of the DOE, namely: the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, Energy Resources Development Bureau, Oil Industry Management Bureau, and the Renewable Energy Management Bureau.

Among her 13 predecessors, Sec. Monsada is also the first DOE head who rose from the ranks. As part of the DOE, she is a member of various inter-agency/international committees and working groups representing the DOE such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (Phil.), Tripartite Council for Biofuels, Technical Committee on Petroleum Products and Additives (Chair), Harmonization of Vehicle Standards and Regulations, and the Partnership for Clean Air/Clean Air Asia Initiative, to name a few.

Sec. Monsada led the creation of the DOE’s national petroleum testing laboratory and the acquisition/operation of the mobile testing facility. She also facilitated the institutionalization of the multi-sectoral advocacy campaign on the downstream oil industry, and was part of the “Benchmarking of Biodiesel Fuel Standardization in East Asia” of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia.

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Get to experience first hand the Apple Watch because the long wait is over. You get to finally hold and wear the different models as you choose among the many varieties which one you will be bringing home to enjoy along with your iPhone.

Apple Watch has finally arrived at Power Mac Center, the premier Apple partner in the Philippines. There were several months of anticipation following its worldwide launch in March and the Philippines only got to have it available to the public on October 23, 2015 at Power Mac Center’s flagship store in Greenbelt 3.

According to the Power Mac Center CEO, Lawrence Sison, the Trinoma branch is also offering them, except for the Apple Watch Edition, simultaneously with the launch at Greenbelt 3. Greenbelt offers all three: Apple Watch Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.

I happened to be the very first to try them out when it opened to the media and guest during its launch. Celebrity Marc Nelson was first to sign up to try the Apple Watch but I came in second. Fortunately, the watches I requested came first before Marc's so I am proud to say that I was the very first to actually experience wearing the Apple Watch, all three kinds. I took photos and videos so I can boast that I have proof of my statements. Lol!

The cover photo above is (L-R) Anthony George Constantino, Power Mac Center Campaigns Manager, Power Mac Center brand ambassador Champ Lui Pio, and Power Center CEO Lawrence Sison. Champ was the third person to buy an Apple Watch from the store, though technically he may be the second since the first one bought an Apple Watch Sport. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for Santa Claus to grant my wish this Christmas since I have been "nice" and not "naughty" all throughout the year.

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With less than a week into the 2015 Family Enterprise Excellence Conference (FEEC), organizer Premier Family Business Consulting (PFBC) is calling on all interested to book their tickets to the event which will be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel on October 26.

According to PFBC Executive Director and Chief Operations Officer Neil Montesclaros, it’s all systems go for the 2015 FEEC with all major preparations now ready. They are now just waiting for the remaining unreserved seats to be taken.

Montesclaros encouraged family enterprises, practitioners, and stakeholders to take part in the event and avail of one day of insightful discussions and workshops that help family businesses thrive amidst the changing business landscape.

Now in its third year, the 2015 FEEC will feature international family enterprise expert and consultant Dr. Dennis Jaffe of the US-based Family Firm Institute and prominent inspirational speaker Francis Kong as the main resource persons.

PFBC Founder Jon Ramos said some of the inevitable family business challenges that will be tackled in the 2015 FEEC include the issues of business longevity, succession, the management of family dynamics, and the preservation of family wealth.

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PHIL EVENTS SPECIALISTS In Cooperation with Vxi3 and HOUSE ARREST presents Crux CARNAGE No Mercy No Worries Halloween Costume Party at PRIME UPSCALE CLUB Tomas Morato St. Quezon City October 29, 2015, 7pm onwards

Like a stealthy vampire or a sneaky zombie, Halloween has snuck up on us again.

So join us : #CruxCarnage2k15

as the city celebrates Halloween!

MUSIC BY:

-V3IX-

• DJ Martin Valdez

• DJ Strobetastic

• DJ Russel Dass

-HOUSE ARREST-

• DJ Olly Ellis

• DJ Jaaron Banzon

*** Catch DJ MARC MARASIGAN and DJ ARYAN MAGAT!!!

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As part of its agency-wide reform program, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) is set to implement revised rules governing the issuance of driver’s licenses in the coming days, with the publication of five Administrative Orders (AOs) next week.

“The revised rules will serve two purposes: first, they will better ensure the fitness and capability of license card holders to drive on our streets; and second, they will streamline the application process and make it more convenient for the public,” said Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Jun Abaya.

The AOs will take effect 15 days after publication, or within the first half of November. They will cover all four (4) types of licenses issued by the LTO, namely: (1) professional driver’s licenses or PDLs; (2) non-professional driver’s licenses or NPDLs; (3) student’s permits or SPs; and (4) conductor’s licenses or CLs.

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The National Civil Engineering Summit (NCES) 2015 recently ended as a huge success. Once again, the UP Association of Civil Engineering Students (UP ACES) proved its unparalleled dedication in hosting the largest gathering of civil engineers in the country. Since its inception in 2006, the NCES has served as the biggest platform for exchanging ideas and discussions in the civil engineering field. On the organization’s 61st year, UP ACES took things to an even higher level by introducing brand-new events: Profiles and the CE Job Fair.

During the first day of the National Civil Engineering Summit, an event titled “Jumpstart” is launched at the UP College of Engineering. It started the NCES right by creating a perfect atmosphere of giving back to the college. Together with the ribbon cutting and the opening mass, UP ACES hosted its annual “Grand Pakain”, where everyone from the College of Engineering was invited to the Civil Engineering Lobby for a lunch buffet.

The ribbon cutting and opening of the CE Exhibit was held at the Engineering Lobby. The CE Exhibit promoted awareness and appreciation of the civil engineering profession by presenting its different fields and roles in the society.

September 5 heralded as the date of the first major event of this year’s Summit — InCEthink: Bridge Building Competition. More than 40 teams comprised of high school students competed in constructing the strongest and most economical bridge using barbeque sticks, applying not just their engineering knowledge, but also their creativity and teamwork. The competition ended with Miriam College High School emerging as the victor. Bethel Christian School of Fairview Inc. and Malayan High School of Science garnered second and third place, respectively.

Color Dash Goes to Davao City this November

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Color dash ﬁrst two years were successfully held in Metro Manila. It gathered thousands of fun, exciting, active individuals of any age to participate in this one day event. Kids, adults, pets were in great spirit as the fun run happens. This themed run is 5 kilometres long and for every kilometre a dash of color is splashed to your Color Dash shirt. At the end of the run, everything turns colourful.

Great news for the Davaoenos! On it’s third year, Color Dash decides to hold its fun run in Davao City this November 22, 2015 and is inviting everyone to join this fun ﬁlled event. Registration site is in Abreeza Ayala mall and will run from Nov 3-19.

If you do not feel like going to the mall, you can also register online through www.sportshub.com.ph and claim your running kit during the event or for delivery to your house, ofﬁce, or school. Sportshub, an online store for sporting goods and Mulatto, a proud-Davao-born outdoor apparel collaborated to make this event happen.

The clock is ticking and Color Dash can’t wait to surprise everyone with their fun tactics. Invite your family and friends to join this wonderful event.

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Viber, the country’s leading mobile messaging app known for its stickers that ooze with personality, is launching an exciting second run of its global sticker design initiative Sticky Fingers. This time around, Sticky Fingers focuses on having creatives from all over bring their favourite cities to life with the My City, My Vibe theme.

Stickers are a core part of Viber’s service and millions of people use them every day to convey an emotion, a reaction, or simply to share good vibes with their friends and families. In fact, Viber’s 600 million users sent more than 22 billion stickers last year. With this, Sticky Fingers 2 becomes a great opportunity for Filipino artists to showcase their design talent, represent their cities, each unique vibe they carry, and share it with the rest of the world.

20 finalists will be selected by Viber and its panel of judges, each to receive $1,000. From those top entries, 5 artists will be chosen to get the opportunity to work with the Viber design studio to develop their character into sticker packs, and a revenue share for every sticker sold of their design. Aside from these, the final five will of course receive exposure across Viber’s social media channels.

The competition is now open with Filipino creatives being able to send their entries up until November 18. As the 20 finalists will be picked based on the quality of their submissions, and not by their country of origin, the more entries the Philippines produces means higher chances for Pinoys to make it as finalists.

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AMD today announced new AMD Embedded R-Series SOC processors that establish performance leadership across a targeted range of embedded application market requirements for digital signage, retail signage, medical imaging, electronic gaming, media storage and communications and networking. Designed for demanding embedded needs, the processors incorporate the newest AMD 64-bit x86 CPU core (“Excavator”), plus third-generation Graphics Core Next GPU architecture, and state-of-the-art power management for reduced energy consumption. Combined, these AMD innovations and technologies provide industry-leading graphics performance and key embedded features for next-generation designs.

The single-chip system-on-chip (SOC) architecture enables simplified, small form factor board and system designs from AMD customers and a number of third party development platform providers, while providing astounding graphics and multimedia performance, including capability for hardware-accelerated decode of 4K video playback. With a robust suite of peripheral support and interface options, high-end AMD Radeon™ graphics, designed for the industry’s first Heterogeneous Systems Architecture (HSA) 1.0 certification, and support for the latest DDR4 memory, the new AMD R-Series SOC addresses the needs of a wide range of markets and customers.

“AMD continues its push into x86 embedded platforms and that’s paying off with an increasing number of customers and applications,” said Jim McGregor, principal analyst, TIRIAS Research. “There is a need for immersive graphics, high-quality visualization, and parallel computing in an increasing number of embedded applications. Across these fronts, the AMD Embedded R-Series SOC is a very compelling solution.”

“With so much momentum around immersive experiences, especially for visual and parallel computing, the embedded industry needs a high-performance, low-power and efficient architecture with superior graphics and compute capabilities,” said Scott Aylor, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Embedded Solutions. “Our new AMD Embedded R-Series SOC is a strong match for these needs in a variety of industries including digital signage, retail signage, medical imaging, electronic gaming machines, media storage, and communications and networking. The platform offers a strong value proposition for this next generation of high-performance, low-power embedded designs.”

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Western Digital Corporation and SanDisk Corporation today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Western Digital will acquire all of the outstanding shares of SanDisk for a combination of cash and stock. The offer values SanDisk common stock at US$86.50 per share or a total equity value of approximately US$19 billion, using a five-day volume weighted average price ending on October 20, 2015 of US$79.60 per share of Western Digital common stock. If the previously announced investment in Western Digital by Unisplendour Corporation Limited closes prior to this acquisition, Western Digital will pay US$85.10 per share in cash and 0.0176 shares of Western Digital common stock per share of SanDisk common stock; and if the Unisplendour transaction has not closed or has been terminated, US$67.50 in cash and 0.2387 shares of Western Digital common stock per share of SanDisk common stock. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

The combination is the next step in the transformation of Western Digital into a storage solutions company with global scale, extensive product and technology assets, and deep expertise in non-volatile memory (NVM). With this transaction, Western Digital will double its addressable market and expand its participation in higher-growth segments. SanDisk brings a 27-year history of innovation and expertise in NVM, systems solutions and manufacturing. The combination also enables Western Digital to vertically integrate into NAND, securing long-term access to solid state technology at lower cost.

The proposed combination creates significant value for both SanDisk and Western Digital shareholders. Western Digital brings a successful track record of M&A with a number of acquisitions over the last several years helping to fuel innovation, create value and strongly position the company to capture higher-growth opportunities. In addition, Western Digital's operational excellence, coupled with the recently announced decision by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) allowing Western Digital to integrate substantial portions of its WD and HGST businesses, is expected to generate additional cost synergies.

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We hear, but do we actually listen?

For its 3rd production in this year’s season line-up, The Artist Playground proudly presents “AUDIRE” starring veteran stage actress Angelina Kanapi under the direction of Jeffrey Camañag.

AUDIRE (Audire /aʊˈdiːre/: a Latin word which means 'listen carefully') is a one woman act based on sound exploration where sound is used as the kernel that creates the performance experience.

AUDIRE is an experimental performance that showcases the process of artistic creations, inventions and discoveries. A process wherein the images of the sounds of the surroundings interact with the images of the artist’s inner sounds and thoughts that produce series of mental, emotional and physical images used to build a blueprint that breathes life to movements, situations, events and characters. It is basically an improvisation.

The actor’s life experiences and memories serve as the source of images that interacts with the sound to create vivid experiences that the actor shares with the audience. It is like a concert but instead of sharing images through music and lyrics, the actor gives you scenes, moments, happenings and even monologues depending on what the sound inspires the actor to share.

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The Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) and the Manila International Airport Authority’s (MIAA) efforts to erase the infrastructure backlog at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have started to pay off, as the country’s premiere gateway is no longer listed among the world’s worst airports, according to online travel site Guide to Sleeping in Airports (www.sleepinginairports.net).

“While we are pleased to hear that international travelers no longer rate NAIA among the world’s worst, there is obviously still a lot for us to do. Having fully opened Terminal 3 and substantially refurbishing Terminal 1 after decades of neglect, our next focus is decongesting the runway,” said DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya.

Erasing NAIA’s Infrastructure Backlog

It took around 2 years from 2011 to 2013 to unravel the legal complications which prevented Terminal 3 from fully operating, but its resolution paved the way for the transfer of 3.5 million annual passengers from the run-down, overcapacity Terminal 1 to the more modern Terminal 3 building in 2014.

With Terminal 1 restored to its design capacity of 4.5 million yearly passengers, major rehabilitation was undertaken beginning in 2014, most notably through structural retrofitting which ensured the continued safety and integrity of the facility, and the improvement of the mechanical, electrical, and fire protection systems.

Architectural works were also performed, considerably reimaging the airport with a sleeker look and better services. The improvements include:

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With Allphones Shopping Money, customers get to customize and bundle their devices with their choice of gadgets that lets them enjoy their digital lifestyle

This year’s Masskara Festival is set to become another wonderful experience once again as the country’s number 1 mobile brand Globe Telecom and multi-brand mobile retail chain Allphones partner to give customers the best smartphone and postpaid plan deals to share their Masskara experiences.

For the best range of gadget and devices, Allphones has become the go-to store for value-for-money seekers. Alongside its partnership withGlobe, Allphones maximizes the combination of retail and telco services by offering flexiblepostpaid plan deals.

With its commitment to offer the best value postpaid plan, Allphones recently introduced the Allphones Shopping Money and is bringing the exclusive offer to the Masskara Festival. Allphones Shopping Money offers new postpaid customers P8,500 worth of shopping money for Plan 999 and P4,000 shopping money for Plan 599.

Usingthe shopping money, customers can easily mix and match mobile devices with an assortment of digital connectors like speakers, headphones, or powerbanks, giving them the flexibility to customize gadget and accessory bundles versus pre-set offers. One can even spend the whole shopping money to get more than one smartphone. Plan 599 with 1.5 GB of data lets one stay connected with 2,000 Facebook posts and 300 tweets. Plan 999 with 3 GB on the other hand allows more time online with 25 hours of music streaming and up to 1,000 instagram posts. Both come with unlimited calls and texts to Globe and TM, free access to Facebook and Viber and rich content such as Spotify, HOOQ or NBA.