Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Monday, October 26, 2015

Annualcon 2015: Trailblazing a Filipino Identity in the Global Society

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The Children’s Museum and Library, Incorporated is a youth leadership organization that promotes the welfare, development, and empowerment of the Filipino youth through its conventions, competitions, seminars, and tournaments. As it celebrates its 58th year, CMLI aims to help realize the opportunities that the ASEAN integration will bring to the country and the vital role of the country’s youth as it happens.

With the theme, “CMLI and the Filipino Youth: Trailblazing a Filipino Identity in the Global Society”, the 57TH Annual National Convention of Junior Members and Teacher-Advisers will be held at Teachers’ Camp, Baguio City from November 4, 2015 – November 8, 2015. Considered the organization’s flagship project, the convention will gather over 1000 high school delegates and teachers nationwide (from both public and private schools) to empower them through leadership training, talent development, social awareness, and national friendship.

The commission discussions, handled by trained youth facilitators from CMLI’s Junior Council-National Executive Board and Junior Council Alumni Association, will be the avenue for the delegates to tackle the convention’s theme in a more interactive manner. Delegates are randomly assigned to commissions to maximize their interaction with their co-delegates from all over the country.

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Noong Biyernes, Oktubre 23, lumabas ang message na ito sa social media site na Twitter:

‏@LTFRB_Chairman- Breaking News: LTFRB denies U-HOP's application as Transportation Network Company (TNC).

Kakabit ng tweet ang dokumentong nakikita dito.

Makalipas ang ilang minuto, naglabas naman ng clarification o paglilinaw si Atty. Ariel Inton, LTFRB Board Member at isa sa pumirma sa naturang memorandum. Narito ang pahayag ni Atty. Inton:

STATEMENT FROM ATTY. ARIEL INTON BOARD MEMBER, LTFRB

"I dont know of any decision denyhng uhops application to be accredted as tnc. What the board en banc did was to write a memo to sec abaya saying that under the existing dept order and memo circular uhop cannot qualify asa tnc. And there is a need to come out w a new denomination as a shuttle app base transpo service. A memo to the dotc sec is not a board decisiön. hence there is no decision yet on uhop aplcation"

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We kept our blog name as WazzupPilipinas.com since its birth on March 2013 and has never changed it because we believe that "a name, whether it has similarities with existing individuals, groups or any other entities, will not be a real burden. Because if you are truly and greatly significant, people will surely notice the difference."

However, for our group name, we decided to change it to avoid the confusion with the blog site. They should be two different entities that are co-existing with each other but of different composition.

Using "Bloggers ng Pilipinas" is a lot better because it directly states that we are bloggers of the Philippines.

Again, our group name may have a similarity with another group, but just like what we did to our blog site when we realized after a while that is has an almost identical name, the group will again rise above the traditional groups of bloggers.

There is another anonymous individual hiding behind the name of "Bloggers Pulis" who is reacting to the group name of "Bloggers ng Pilipinas" and "Wazzup Pilipinas" saying we could not think of a better name and would always come up with names that are somewhat similar to existing ones.

Apparently, the person behind the name of Bloggers Pulis revealed that a member of our group was the one who told her about the name similarities, and he or she warned us that there is evil within our very own group.

It was not surprising since most of us are also members of other groups so there really is no loyalty among members. What should be prominently known is that the Bloggers ng Pilipinas group is not like the other groups in many ways.

Battle of the Blogs: Breaking the Booboo Barriers or Becoming Boastful Blunders

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"This is why we left them... though they keep saying they kicked us out...hehehe...Well, everyone should know that they are just after the views and are not really concerned about the welfare of their readers. They are wasting their influence by dumbing the masses and feeding us with ludicrous content. It's all about the views, hits, impressions, etc. for them." - Ross Del Rosario (reacting to status post on Facebook)

Yes, some of the editorial team of Wazzup Pilipinas were once connected with When In Manila as correspondents/writers/contributors/etc. Through the leadership of our founder, Ross Del Rosario, we decided to eventually leave the so called "metro guide" because it is not functioning in the role that it blatantly advertises.

As online influencers, we have the responsibility to make sure we are sharing substantial content regardless if it's a trending or viral topic. We don't publish articles that aim to "chase pageviews" and only push stories we deem are within the boundaries of self-respect and appropriateness.

Though there's a lot that we have to thank When In Manila for. They took us in when we were still newbies in the blogging community, and were only sharing personal thoughts with our personal blogs. It is through them that we got known by other PRs, event organizers, brands and companies. We are grateful that through them we consequently met people who eventually became our partners and supporters who encouraged us to setup our own community blog.

It was three years ago that we were called When In Manila's finest story tellers. The photo below was for a special photo shoot where only a few selected writers of When In Manila were invited.

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The best bonus of the night after a sumptuous buffet dinner at Seasons restaurant of the Waterfront Pavilion Hotel was the overnight staycation where we were given two rooms: one for my wife and me, and another one for the kids.

The Waterfront Pavilion Hotel is quite familiar to me since I used to work at the Philamlife building just opposite it along the United Nations avenue. Formerly a Training Officer for Philamlife, I often pass by the hotel every time I report for work but I've never been inside it.

Now, I get to see the insides of the hotel for the very first time. They say a lot of changes has probably happened already after all those years since it was way back several years ago.

After an invitation to try out the new Italian buffet dinner they dubbed as "Friday Night, a Taste of Tuscany Dinner Buffet" held on October 23, 2015, we get to spend the night at the hotel itself. This was an amazing treat as this was the first time there was an overnight stay after a buffet review.

After checking in, the hotel staff escorted us on our way up to the 21st floor. It was called the Ambassadors Club floor where they had a lounge where they took us for the processing of our room registration. Now that is a lot more convenient instead of having us do it down at the reception area.

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We might as well begin a "pampering" series on our site since many have been generously inviting us to participate in what we may call opportunities to indulge on the best things that life has to offer.

An invitation came a few days after we've arranged a makeover day for me and my wife at one of the most popular salons in the country. It was so amazing that the make-over day was followed by an exciting Italian dinner buffet coupled with an overnight stay at one of Manila's finest hotels located in Manila somewhere at the United Nation street just fronting the Philamlife building where I used to report for work.

Waterfront Pavilion Hotel’s lifestyle restaurant, Seasons, welcomes the start of the holiday season with its first themed dinner buffet every Friday night they dubbed as Friday Night, A Taste of Tuscany Dinner Buffet starting October 23 from 6 to 10 pm. A festive selection of Italian dishes exclusively prepared by a naturally born Italian himself, executive chef Giovanni Sias and his award-winning culinary team.

Since the event was scheduled on a Friday night, we were all coming in from either work or school, thus leaving our Pasig residence at around 6 pm meant we were about to endure a long travel time going to Manila. It took us two hours to reach Manila because of the terrible traffic situation. But since the buffet was until 10 pm, we still made it before it closed down for the night.

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We need to reward ourselves every now and then for a job well done. We are happy to announce that your Pambansang Blog ng Pilipinas, WazzupPilipinas.com, has been well accepted as the preferred media partner and brand ambassador of many events and brands. They trust us to get real attention from potential customers who are readers of the Wazzup Pilipinas site. They know that the followers of our site are the right people to reach for their products and services promotional campaigns. There may be other sites that boast of a bigger audience, but most of their readers are mainly there for something else rather than eventually becoming customers of their brand.

Thus, we were fortunate enough to get the chance to collaborate with David's Salon, the biggest chain of salons in the Philippines, for a chance to try out their services so we can write about our pampering experience at their salon. We met David himself at one event where we were also invited as media partner so it was a meeting that led to the opportunity for a makeover session for me and my wife. We considered it as a reward for our efforts in managing the WazzupPilipinas.com site and social media accounts. It has been up for only less than three years yet it has achieved phenomenal success with so many partnerships and awards that we now introduce ourselves as the fast-rising and multi-awarded blog site of the Philippines.

My wife was so eager to visit the salon when we finally arranged our confirmed schedule with David's Salon Marketing Manager Lotte Villarosa. Since my wife and I were both busy with other obligations, finding a schedule during weekdays was quite hard. The salon could only accommodate us during weekdays since weekends are usually busy as well for them. Thus, we end up choosing a Thursday for the much-awaited make-over at David's Salon, one of the most popular salons in the Philippines frequented by many equally popular personalities of the Philippines.

Our preferred branch was the one at SM Megamall located in Ortigas Center, Pasig. They actually have two branches there located at the 2nd and 5th floors of the mall. We were assigned at the 2nd floor where we were welcomed as VIPs.

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Boracay island of Aklan is a well known tourist destination in the Philippines. Everyone has heard of its amazing beaches stretching from Station 1 to 3 populated by several bars and restaurants situated at its shores and highlighted by the iconic Willy's Rock at Station 2. It is so popular that a car brand also named the colors of one of its latest car models as Boracay Blue referring to the astounding blue waters of Boracay island.

We got invited to cover a four-day event at Boracay namely the "Geeks on a Beach" confab where startups and investors gathered together for the annual event which is now on its third run, The event is returning in Boracay where they first held the event. It seems the island is really a very attractive destination that many are using it as a prime motivator to attract participants and sponsors.

Of course, we need to keep connected while we are away on assignment, and need to have a trusted gadget with us to help us cover the event. Something reliable and efficient enough to use for our online browsing and checking of emails and social media accounts. Thus we brought with us the Ekotek Ekotab 3G tablet, and to match it with a power source just in case our batteries are drained due to a whole day events, was the Ekotek Ekopack Slim 6000mAh power bank.

Both gadgets were entirely useful so we can just leave our laptop back at the hotel and just use the Ekotab 3G tablet while we attended the many talks and presentations of the Geeks on a Beach speakers. The Ekopack Slim came in handy later in the afternoon after the tablet lost its juice. Instead of looking for a power outlet and using the recharging cables, we simply plugged in the Ekotab 3G on the Ekopack Slim when we got the low batt notice, and we continued to work without worries. They are the perfect matching gadgets for our everyday needs.

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#AldubEBTamangPanahon breaks Twitter record with 39 M tweets. They claim that it's purely organic tweets and not manipulated, fabricated or bought tweets, even surpassing the World Cup (35M) and Superbowl (28M), while #AldubEBForLove followed at fourth with 25 Million tweets.

The Philippine Arena was filled to the rim as the Eat Bulaga Kalyeserye accidental loveteam of Alden and Yaya Dub, otherwise known as Maine Mendoza, originating from from the Juan for All, All for Juan segment of the noontime show breaks the record for the 24 hour tweet due to its phenomenal "kilig" factor that Filipinos find quite entertaining and an effective past time especially for the lonely hearts who find "love that conquers time and distance" as the most viral and trending topic.

Tickets were reported sold out a few says before the event scheduled on October 24, 2015. We were all laughing at the radio booth of Radyo Inquirer while we hold our Vigattin Radio show thinking that the reason why some of our invited guests couldn't make it was because they were either at the Philippine Arena or at home watching the Tamang Panahon concert of Eat Bulaga.

Shocking it may seem but the couple really had that magnetic and charming personalities that drawn in the masses. The Philippine public can't get over the excitement of yesterday's event as the timeline of our social media accounts continues to be a prominent news feed.

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An erroneous tweet from LTFRB Chairman's Twitter account (LTFRB_Chairman) is causing confusion about the status of Filipino transport service provider U-Hop's accreditation.

The tweet was posted on October 23, at a time when we were enjoying our family staycation at one of the finest hotels in Manila. It directly says " Breaking News: LTFRB denies U-HOP's application as Transportation Network Company (TNC)." Though it meant to say the denial was only for the category of Transportation Network Company, people will misinterpret it as a denial for the company's accreditation. Clearly it is causing a lot of confusion for those who could not clearly discern the real meaning.

There was a tweet posted by the LTFRB Chairman Twitter account indicating that new Filipino-owned transport service provider U-Hop's accreditation was denied. However, if you read carefully the attached document on the tweet, it was not a decision but only aims to propose creating a new transport service category where U-Hop can fit. There is really no decision yet saying U-Hop was denied accreditation.

The suspicious fact about this tweet is why would the LTFRB Chairman, Atty. Winston Ginez, announce this on Twitter. To think that he highlighted it as a "BREAKING NEWS" with an obvious intent to get as many attention as possible. It is an urgent notification that he clearly wanted people to know the negative news about U-Hop. He should have the decency to inform U-Hop first to give them an opportunity to appeal for a reconsideration.

Is there something fishy about all of this? Could there be more meaning about the delay in approving U-Hop's application?