Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Warner Music Philippines' Year-End Blogcon 2015

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I recently attended the year end blogcon of Warner Music Philippines held at Lola Café + Bar, Sct. Lozano, Quezon City on December 11, 2015.

This is the first time I will be attending an event organized by Warner Music Philippines so I feel honored that they reached out to me for an opportunity to collaborate with them in sharing the news about their artists, both foreign and domestic.

Warner Music Philippines is an affiliate of Warner Music Group, a leading music company in local and international repertoire that operates through numerous international affiliates and licensees in more than 50 countries. The label is also home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry. WarnerMusic Group also includes Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world's leading music publishers.

The night started off with a fabulous dinner featuring Lola Café + Bar's specialties including their pasta. Donna Aquino, Warner Music Philippines’ Digital Media Promo Executive, welcomed the attendees and led the program announcing many news about several artists including Coldplay’s latest album, “A Head Full of Dreams”, Charlie Puth's debut album Nine Track Mind, the return of Janet Jackson and Missy Elliott, and many more international releases.

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The 700 Club Asia host Kata Inocencio joins the Walang Tulugan with the Master Showman gang this Saturday, December 12, at 12 midnight, to share the good news about the inspirational show’s move back to its original home. The 700 Club Asia will start airing in GMA 7 on Monday, December 14, weeknights from 12:00-12:30 a.m.

NBA All-Star Voting 2016 Presented By Verizon

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Verizon recently tipped off NBA All-Star Voting 2016. The all-digital program gives fans everywhere the opportunity to vote for their favorite players as starters for NBA All-Star 2016 in Toronto, the first All-Star Game to be held outside of the U.S. in the event’s 65-year history.

New to the voting program this year, NBA fans are now able to cast their daily votes directly through Google Search on their desktop, tablet and mobile devices. They can also vote on NBA.com, through the NBA App (available on Android and iOS), SMS text, and social media networks including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as via Sina Weibo and Tencent Microblogs in China.

All current NBA players are available for selection. Fans can select up to two guards and three front court players from each conference when choosing starters via NBA.com or the NBA App.

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The GSM Association (GSMA) stressed the need for Asia-Pacific countries to allocate the 700 MHz band to mobile broadband use immediately, in order to take advantage of its socio-economic benefits. It found that further delays in the use of the spectrum could result in billions of dollars worth of losses in incremental GDP growth.

Utilizing the 700 MHZ spectrum, which is well suited to providing mobile broadband coverage indoors and over large areas, can potentially increase countries’ GDP impact by tenfold according to the GSMA. Its Mobile Economy Asia study also found that the spectrum use can create 2.1 million additional jobs for the region by 2020.

The ITU reinforced GSMA’s findings by globally harmonizing the 700-MHz band and allocating it for LTE use in ITU Region 1, which covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. The decision was taken during this year's World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15), and follows similar action taken at WRC-07, which saw 700-MHz spectrum adopted by ITU regions two and three, which cover the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

“The global harmonization of the 700 MHz frequency band that has been decided by WRC-15 paves the way for manufacturers and mobile operators to offer mobile broadband at an affordable price in currently underserved areas,” said François Rancy, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau.

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The hype is building up for AirAsia in the Philippines with the consolidation of its operation two years after its local unit, AirAsia Inc. signed a partnership agreement with home grown airline ZestAir in 2013.

Philippines AirAsia CEO, Joy Cañeba said, “Efficient service to our guests and safety are at the heart of everything we do in Philippines AirAsia. We are here to provide only the best value and world-class service that every Filipino deserves.”

Philippines AirAsia has replaced the AirAsia Zest brand following the approval from Philippine regulatory authorities in September by the Securities and Exchange Commission and in December by CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) and CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board) this year.

The airline has a total of 927 regular employees after the transition to a single operating certificate in September. Captain Dexter Commendador was also recently appointed Chief Operating Officer.

To celebrate the announcement, international and domestic flights to/from Manila, Davao, Cebu, Tagbilaran (Bohol), Puerto Princesa (Palawan), Kalibo(Boracay), Tacloban, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and South Korea are on promotional sale from as low as P1,299, all-in and one-way only and available for booking at www.airasia.com from today (December 7) to 13 December 2015. The travel period for this promo will be for immediate travels now until30 June 2016.

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Clinic aims to train and at the same time inspire promising Tennis players with proper training and access to academic education

Topspin Ace PH together with Globe Telecom brings to the Philippines for the first time, the Rafa Nadal Academy, a high-performance academy where together with Nadal’s team, they will develop young tennis players using the same values that have been fundamental to his achievements and success.

Organized by Topspin Ace PH, the Academy’s representative in the country and exclusively presented by Globe, It will be a by-invitation only clinic that will be personally conducted by his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, who also heads the academy. The clinic will be held at Colegio de San Agustin in Makati on December 6, 2015.

“At Globe, every effort we undertake lets us bring our customers’ passions closer to them. From music to movies, and now sports, we’d like to give our customers who are also major tennis fans the best access so they can meet and see live their favorite players. Through the Rafa Nadal Tennis Clinic, not only will our customers see Nadal live, they also get to be a part of a worthy cause by supporting our young tennis talents,” said Globe Vice President for Postpaid Business Erli Valdez.

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The Philippines is one of 17 mega diverse countries, harboring more diversity of life per hectare than any other country in the world. Yet encroachment in forested areas, pollution, over fishing, poor land management practices, are leading to biodiversity loss at an alarming rate.

To address these threats, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), other national government agencies, academe, civil society and development partners, has developed the Philippines Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP). The PBSAP is the country’s road map in conserving biodiversity and critical ecosystem services for the next 13 years.

Similarly, through the UNDP’s Biodiversity Financing Initiative (BioFin), the DENR-BMB has determined the financing gap of implementing the PBSAP, estimated to be at least Php 334 billion (US$7.4 billion) over the next 13 years [PhP24 billion annually]. This covers actions on: forest, coastal and marine, inland wetlands, caves and cave systems, protected areas, invasive alien species, agrobiodiversity, access and benefit-sharing and urban biodiversity.

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The search is on for the most captivating woman who can represent the Philippine Aviation Industry!

The Miss Aviation Philippines 2016 preliminary screening of candidates was held on December 12, 2015 at the Mirror Theater Studio located on the 5th floor of the SJG Building in Kalayaan, Makati city.

A total of 11 candidates gave their best to impress the screening committee with both their physical and intellectual attributes which included cocktail dress and swimsuit presentation, and the highly stressful question and answer portion.

The crowned winners of the Miss Aviation Philippines 2016 beauty pageant, which will hold its pageant night on February 9, 2016 at the Manila Peninsula hotel, will grace the 20th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta (PIHABF), one of Asia’s longest-running sports aviation events that gathers aviators from the local and international scene. The 4-day PIHABF will be held on February 11 to 14, 2016 at Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga with the theme of "A Weekend of Everything That Flies."

The screening committee was led by Captain Joy Roa, Event Director of the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta (PIHABF) and Morena Carla Cabrera-Quimpo, Miss Aviation Philippines pageant director. Cleo Margaret Brown, Miss Aviation Philippines 2015 grand winner, and Lizl Louise Resoles, 1st Runner Up, also joined the committee as part of the judges.

RAWR Awards Recognize Popular Showbiz Personalities

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LionhearTV, the showbiz and entertainment blog with the heart of a lion, recently concluded its awards nights dubbed as the RAWR Awards where they recognized more than just the popular celebrities but also equally popular radio and TV networks, plus the most outstanding fans club that emerged as the top supporter of the celebrities they patronize and adore.

Overall, the Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla (Kathniel) love team rated most popular when the results revealed several awards related to their tandem. Some members of the fans club Kathniel KaDreamers, who were also recognized as one of the awardees, were present at the event. Representatives even went up the stage to receive their award trophy.

ABS-CBN talents and shows were declared mostly as the winners of the awards night. It is just a pity that all awardees were not around to personally receive their awards.

We were told that KathNiel, and even Alden Richards (half of the AlDub accidental love team) will also be attending the event. But unfortunately, there were no signs of them, and even the other awardees. That's a negative then for backstage requests for some of our companions who were there to watch the awarding and take selfies with the winners.

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The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), announced today that the mixed martial artists competing at ONE: SPIRIT OF CHAMPIONS have made weight and are ready for all the action which takes place tomorrow evening, 11 December, at the state-of-the-art Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines. In the main event, Brandon “The Truth” Vera will take on Paul “Typhoon” Cheng for the inaugural ONE Heavyweight World Championship.

Visit the official ONE: SPIRIT OF CHAMPIONS weigh-in photo gallery by clicking: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6k384krsvdao0f3/AABoZfKfuYDUszYYrjf_77sta?dl=0

Brandon “The Truth” Vera of the Philippines stated, “Big ups to Paul Cheng for taking this fight on short notice. It takes a warrior-mentality and a lot of guts to step inside the cage, especially against a guy like me, but we put it all on the line for the fans. This fight means a lot to me, my family and my country, and I will do everything in my power to bring home the belt. I’m ready as I’ll ever be.”

Paul “Typhoon” Cheng of Taiwan stated, “This is definitely the toughest fight of my life. Brandon Vera is one of the most well-known fighters in the sport. I don’t expect anything easy by all means, but I’m always down for a good scrap, even if the fight goes one round or five. I’m never giving up. I have a lot to fight for – I’m fighting for the people of Taiwan, represent! I’m ready to get in there and put on a show.”

Tickets for ONE: SPIRIT OF CHAMPIONS, are still available at www.smtickets.com.

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While some fighters crumble at the mere hint of resistance, ONE Championship flyweight Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio of Team Lakay revels in it, maintaining a cool, calm demeanor in the face of imminent danger. Because of his icy composure, Eustaquio has been able to hang tough with some of the best fighters in his division.

On Friday night, December 11, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines, Eustaquio (6-4) will take on China’s Yang Jianbing (5-1) in a three round flyweight contest in front of Eustaquio’s hometown Filipino crowd.

Eustaquio figured in two straight losses in his most recent outings, but it came against two solid opponents.

In September of 2014, Eustaquio challenged Brazilian Adriano Moraes for the ONE Flyweight World Championship in Cambodia. He lost by submission in the second round. In April of the following year, Eustaquio dropped a split decision to Thailand’s Anatpong Bunrad.

Though things have not exactly gone to plan, Eustaquio is still considered one of the most talented strikers at flyweight. Many of his peers are bigger, longer and more powerful, but few exhibit the kind of composure Eustaquio displays in the cage.

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As industry experts continue to note the Philippine real estate’s upward trend, developers are ramping up the launch and completion of projects to match the predicted demand. Here are a few of the condo developments that some of the country’s biggest property brands are working on or will launch in the coming year.

San Antonio Residences (Megaworld Corporation)

This year, Megaworld added a 20th tower to their portfolio of properties in Makati when they launched San Antonio Residences, which will rise along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue. As a condo that offers a family-oriented lifestyle, the 40-story tower will have amenities such as open areas, swimming pools, dance studio, and street fitness park. To be composed of 848 units, San Antonio Residences is slated for completion in 2020 and is predicted to generate sales of Php2.1 billion.

Studio 7 (Filinvest Land)

Filinvest Land’s desire to tap the millennial market led to the launch of Studio 7, a condo development in Quezon City that is designed to cater to the needs of young professionals. Aside from offering a total of 459 residential units, the 17-story condo will also host workplace and commercial components in the form of an office tower and Studio 7 Mall, a commercial center with elements such as a supermarket, bistros, and cafes, among others.

The Alcoves (Ayala Land Premier)

Ayala Land Premier took into account the fact that Japanese tourists are flocking Cebu when they conceptualized their latest development, The Alcoves, which will rise above Ayala Center Cebu. Consisting of 480 residential units at a minimum of 50 square meters each, the 39-story development offers seven residential concepts including a Zen theme for one-bedroom units. The mixed-use tower is expected to be completed in 2020.

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The biggest movie event of the year has arrived! Golden Ticket Events will be holding a special advance screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on December 16, 2015 10 PM at SM Megamall Cinema 3.

Join Princess Leia, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C3-PO, plust an all-new cast of heroes, bots, and villains in the newest Star Wars chapter to hit the silver screen!

Catch this once in a lifetime treat with your friends, family, and loved ones! Every purchase comes with free popcorn, bottled water, and loot bag including 1,000 PHP worth of goodies and Gift Certificates!

Hurry, catch this once in a lifetime treat! Grab tickets online at http://j.mp/starwarsph or contact Ken at 0917-518-5377 / Den at 0917-555-3366.

Brought to you in part by Forever Beautiful, Treetop Adventure, Business Mirror, View Magazine, Cook Magazine, Zoomanity Group, ASTIG.PH, and Tag Media and Public Relations.

Event Hashtags: #StarWars #TheForceAwakens #GoldenTicketPH

Arena Island of Palawan Offers An Exclusive Holiday Getaway

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Holidays are best spent away from the crowded streets of the city, especially at Christmastime. For anyone who’s craving to get away, Palawan is always a good idea. After all, it is the 2015 best island in the world, according to a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine. Palawan's best-kept secret, Arena Island, offers a tranquil and serene setting, perfect for a group, couple, or solo holiday getaway.

The 4-hectare private island, is set off the coast of the municipality of Narra, 3 hours away from the capital, Puerto Princesa City. Arena Island has a unique blend of privacy and comfort because guests can have the island all to themselves during their stay. The visitors are given value through exclusive and personalized services of a highly-trained crew, comprised of professional chefs and butlers.

The Casa and the native-themed Casita, best for a couple’s honeymoon, are the premier accommodations at Arena Island. Group travelers, meanwhile, can relish their break with the gentle breeze in the Pavilion, which accommodates up to 15 single mattresses.

The appeal of Arena Island goes into its culinary treats as well. Guests have the privilege to choose what will be served on their table. They can select from a wide range of home-cooked meals of fresh seafood caught around the island. Moreover, guests can choose among the Casita’s verandas, the beachfront, the treehouse, the sandbar, or the canopy of trees as the backdrop of their meals.

Wazzup Pilipinas is Most Outstanding Influential Blog Site of 2015

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We did it again! We are recognized again as the Most Outstanding Influential Blog Site of 2015 at the National Customers' Choice Annual Awards (NCCAA) 2015 held recently on December 9, 2015 at the Eastwood Richmonde Hotel at Eastwood Libis, Quezon City.

Together with many other awardees from various industries from the Metro Manila, Provincial, and National Categories, we proudly receive this award and dedicate this to our readers, supporters, correspondents, sponsors and all the brands and organizations that trusted us throughout the almost 3 years we've existed.

Spotted at the awards night were celebrities and entrepreneurs Ara Mina aka Hazel Reyes, 8-months preggy Shamcey Supsup Lee and her husband Lloyd Lee, and guest of honor Dingdong Avanzado aka Fernando Avanzado, former OPM artist and now Vice Governor of Siquijor. All of them are also awardees for being among the top-ranked professionals with deserving companies.

This is our 4th award this year, aside from the many other awards we've received from the previous years since we started on March 2013. We will soon be celebrating our 3rd year on March 2016 but we believe there are so many things that we need to do to innovate and improve our services.

The night was a celebration to acknowledge the accomplishments of each awardee so we would all be reminded of our valuable efforts to excel in our chosen fields of interests.