Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Monday, January 25, 2016

PCARI to Conduct Series of Road Shows in Selected Philippine Schools

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The Philippine-California Advanced Research Institute (PCARI) will carry out a nationwide series of road shows in selected Philippine schools this coming month of February. The main objective of this publicity campaign is to attract scholarship applicants from all over the Philippines for the 200 PCARI scholarship slots.

The scholarship project offers support for full time study towards a master’s or doctoral degree in selected universities in the Philippines or in the University of California Berkeley, University of California San Francisco or the University of California Davis. The PCARI Scholarship also supports postdoctoral study award involving training below six (6) months in the priority fields of information and infrastructure development and health innovation and translational medicine.

The road shows will take place in selected regional schools that are included in the top performing educational institution in the fields of Science and Engineering. Schools which offer the following graduate courses: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Molecular Biology, BioTech, Health Informatics, and Physics will also be visited.

The activity will be composed of a forum wherein the resource person(s) will explain the details of the whole PCARI Scholarship Project with a 10-minute open forum at the end of the program. Leaflets containing all the necessary information about PCARI will also be made available at the venue.

The first leg of the campus tour is set to be staged at selected schools in the National Capital Region, Region I and CAR.

8th Philippine Boatshow & Nautical Lifestyle Expo and Conference: Sea-Ex 2016

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Celebrate the ocean with the 8th Philippine Boatshow & Nautical Lifestyle Expo and Conference: Sea-Ex. The three-day event is set to kick off the start of summer on Feb 19-21, 2016 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, Manila. Co-organized by Fairs & More, a subsidiary of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, the show continues to be the best place to find great deals on all your beach going essentials and then some!

Sea-Ex 2016 will be bringing in a huge display of boats (dinghies to yachts), boating equipment, watersports gear, diving accessories, fishing paraphernalia, beach apparel, resort getaways and support services in a true celebration of Philippine waters. The country’s first electric powered jet surfboard will be making its debut at the show as well as an assortment of new marine products.

The event is highlighted by a conference on coastal development, marine security and sea conservation. International and local speakers will be brought in to share their knowledge and discuss opportunities to further expand the Philippine maritime leisure industry.

For inquiries and booth reservations email: sales@seaex.ph; call: (02) 4038368 or visit: seaex.ph

Below are some photos to give you an idea on what to expect at the expo.

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The Department of Health, UNICEF and the National Nutrition Council led the Philippine launch of the 2015 Global Nutrition Report (GNR), a comprehensive scorecard of both global and country-level progress on nutrition; as well as vital global determinants like food security, water and sanitation, resource allocations, and institutional and policy reforms.

The 2015 Global Nutrition Report: Actions and Accountability to Advance Nutrition and Sustainable Development was prepared by the Independent Expert Group of international experts, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, DC. Dr. Lawrence Haddad, international expert in nutrition and the Report’s lead author, presented highlights on the status of 193 countries.

The report shows the Philippine score was considered “on course” in meeting the targets to reduce child stunting and overweight; while it is “off course” for child wasting and anemia.

While the country has seen slow reductions in malnutrition, Dr. Haddad said that if the Philippines and other countries want to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and the World Health Assembly 2025 Global Targets, there must scaling up of proven nutrition interventions and investment; and hold nutrition stakeholders accountable, including the government and the private sector.

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The Department of Health (DOH), through the National Nutrition Council (NNC), in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) convenes for the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Philippine Gathering (#SUNMOVEMENTPH) to bring key players from the government agencies, developmental partners, civil society groups, business sector and the academe to identify actions in addressing malnutrition.

The SUN movement calls on member countries, including the Philippines which is the 51st country to be accepted, to scale up nutrition actions including promotion of breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding, management of acute malnutrition, and nutrition-sensitive interventions in agriculture, education and social welfare among others.

Globally, close to half of deaths in children under 5 years old can be directly or indirectly linked to malnutrition. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 17 million children under age five in the world are severely malnourished and have at least 9x increased risk for death.

Malnutrition remains a significant public health concern in the Philippines with a staggering 3.4 million children who are stunted (short for their age) and more than 300,000 children under 5 years who are wasted (underweight for their age). This continues to be a serious child health problem, with the Philippines being highly disaster-prone. The risk of malnutrition increases in the aftermath of emergencies.

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It was both good and bad news for the Philippines as the status of addressing malnutrition in the world was reported in a forum held on 25-26 January 2016 convened by the National Nutrition Council (NNC), Department of Health and UNICEF Philippines.

The forum launched the “2015 Global Nutrition Report: Actions and Accountability to Advance Nutrition and Sustainable Development” which was prepared by the Independent Expert Group of international experts and published by the International Food Policy Research Institute based in Washington, D. C..

Dr. Lawrence Haddad, noted international expert in nutrition and lead author of the 2015 Global Nutrition Report, presented the highlights of the report that reviewed the status of 193 countries. In the report, the Philippines score was considered “on course” in meeting targets to reduce child stunting and overweight. On the other hand, the Philippines is “off course” for child wasting and anemia.

Like many countries, the Philippines has seen slow reductions in malnutrition. Dr. Haddad went on to say that if the Philippines and other countries want to achieve their commitment to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 as well as the World Health Assembly 2025 Global Targets, countries have to end all forms of malnutrition by scaling up proven nutrition interventions and by committing and investing in nutrition as well as holding nutrition stakeholders accountable. Haddad further stressed that “Ending malnutrition will drive sustainable development forward.”

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The Jr. NBA/ Jr. WNBA Philippines 2016 presented by Alaska hosted 281 coaches from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao during the coaches clinic while the open clinics trained 1,068 youth from ages 5-16, setting a new attendance record for the Jr. NBA tip-off event at Don Bosco Technical Institute, Makati.

NBA Philippines Managing Director Carlo Singson welcomed participants to the ninth consecutive staging of the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines program, which launched its inaugural event in the same venue nine years ago. Harry the Atlanta Hawks mascot and assistant Leighton together with Alaska Aces mascot E-Cow entertained children, parents and coaches with a dance showdown featuring kids from the audience.

Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines 2016 presented by Alaska, running from January 23 to April 24, will teach basketball fundamentals and impart its core values of Sportsmanship, Teamwork, a positive Attitude and Respect at the grassroots level to improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents. The Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA program is free and open to boys and girls between the ages of 10-14.

Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines is comprised of four stages: skills clinics in schools and communities, Regional Selection Camps, a National Training Camp and an NBA experience trip. The skills clinics will be held nationwide from January through April with stops in Bukidnon, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Metro Manila and Puerto Princesa, and first-time locations in Batangas, Catanduanes and Cavite. Select players from these clinics will have the opportunity to showcase their skills in tryouts during the Regional Selection Camps, which will be held in Baguio (Feb. 20-21), Davao (Feb. 27-28), Cebu (March 5-6) and Metro Manila (April 9-10). The top 50 boys and 24 girls from the Regional Selection Camps will advance to the National Training Camp in Manila April 22-24.

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Here’s your last chance to see the Queen of Pop in MNL for free when you subscribe to GoSURF, Tattoo Home Broadband Plan or Madonna ringback tones with the Globe RebelHeart Tour Raffle Promo

Less than a month from now, Madonna’s RebelHeart Tour in Manila will take the Philippine music scene by storm as the SM Mall of Asia Arena is expected to house a 2-day concert experience that will go down in music history.

Madonna fans all over the country are beyond excited and feeling ecstatic as the Queen of Pop is expected to bring her mighty all in terms of singing prowess and overall stage performance. Got your tickets to the show already? Don’t fret if you are still on the lookout for those precious tickets. Globe Telecom, the exclusive presenter of the tour’s Manila leg, is bringing back the second installment of its RebelHeart Tour Raffle Promo which will give you the chance to win free passes to the concert.

After the success of the first RebelHeart Tour Raffle Promo, which brought 2 lucky Globe customers to Los Angeles, California for an all-expense paid trip to catch Madonna on stage, Globe recently announced the second round of the raffle which gives any Globe Prepaid, TM, Postpaid, Platinum, and Tattoo customers a chance to win tickets to Madonna’s concert in Manila.

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Most teenagers suffer from the most common skin disease called Acne. Filipinos are more familiar with the problem as pimples. Nearly everyone experiences acne at some point in life especially during the teen years when everyone is at its peak. The skin problem may last for a few months or a few years.

My daughter has been complaining about her pimples as a huge distraction and causes low personal esteem and confidence. It is not a pleasant sight to mingle with people when your face is filled with the irritating pimples.

I've been telling my daughter that she is just a late bloomer. She will soon radiate with beauty like an ugly duckling who turns into a beautiful swan afterwards. Just as beautiful as Alex Gonzaga and the many other celebrities out there. Even men are following skin care procedures to keep their skin glowing, nourished and with less imperfections.

Why wouldn't my daughter turn out fine? After all, her mother is quite a stunner herself. Of course, our offspring will be equally, if not more beautiful than their parents. Her father is good looking as well, True enough, beauty runs in the family.

How to Prevent Acne? It would be great to know as much information on how to deal with the dreaded acne. We are sharing some tips below for your convenience. Be sure to follow them to get a better chance of preventing acne.

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Cebu's Room For Dessert by Casa Verde is the newest restaurant offspring of the Casa Verde group of restaurants. It was one of the many restaurants I visited during my Sinulog weekend adventure. A weekend of resto hopping, church visits, fireworks display watching and public commuting.

I've explored Cebu going from one destination to another and figuring out how to do it via their public transportation of multi-cabs, "habal-habals," buses, and taxis.

It was truly very busy days of January 15 to 17 for me in Cebu. Those three days were apparently not enough to accommodate everything I wanted to do. You'll need several more days to fully appreciate the beauty of Cebu.

I was grateful that Casa Verde management let me experienced a dining adventure at two of their restaurants. It would have been more, but the days were simply not enough to visit every restaurant they have in Cebu.

The Sinulog festivities sort of also made some roads closed temporary so they could make way for the grand parade happening on Sunday the 17th. Thus, I could only work my way in and out of Cebu during the 15th and 16th.

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"Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great things that shall be told among men hereafter" - Homer, The Iliad

SAF members were ambush by armed men of almost a thousand in numbers. They didn't panic they crouched, made a defensive position and fought back. They stood their ground and fought till their last breath and bullet.

If you are interested to see these soldiers' faces, and a really great tribute to them, you may want to check out the artwork at the PNPA Academics building at Camp Castaneda of Silang, Cavite.

There was a project immortalizing our SAF 44 heroes through a canvass painting by one of our national artists from University of the Philippines (UP) Erehwon Arts under the supervision of Mr. Villavicencio and Mr. Raffy Benitez in cooperation with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the PROTECT/COPS under the leadership of PSSUPT Gilbert DC Cruz.

The project was unveiled on March 14, 2015 during the 35th PNPA Alumni Homecoming @ PNPA Academics Building, Camp Castaneda, Silang Cavite.

This is a most fitting way to pay tribute to the gallantry of the "SAF 44". Let us all join hands in support of those who are seeking and fighting for "Truth & Justice" re: The Mamasapano Massacre.

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Welcome home Miss Universe! You brought such glory to our beautiful country, the Philippines! We're so proud of you! Mabuhay tayong lahat! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Viva Las Filipinas!
Pasensiya na at medyo busy ako kaya hindi kita nasalubong sa airport. Your Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas is such a workaholic that I find very little time to rest. It seems every second for me is highly important. I could not sleep sound at night when I have not fully accomplished something significant enough to matter.

But I'm sure I will soon get the chance to drop by at any of your scheduled destinations. After all, you're now one of the most significant individuals that has further put the Philippines in the global map.

I was surprised when they initially announced Miss Colombia as the new Miss Universe. It felt so wrong since you were the top favorite in all aspects, both online and offline, So when the moment came when Steve finally admitted his mistake and announce the real winner, we were all jumping up and down with delight.

Just as how we praised Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao in his several homecomings after a grand win, or loss, all of us, "Pianatics" or not, will equally cherish your presence back at our country.

We will be among those wishing you the best of luck and thanking you for the recognition.

Though I am worried with the would-be effects of your grand parade on traffic and the likes, I take that the little sacrifices are justified because you would serve as a reminder for us that we should not lose hope when we really want to achieve something. Losing so many times before winning in the Miss Philippines shows how determined you are and that you never let failures keep you down. Giving up is not an answer. Fight!

Now that you have won as Miss Universe, you made all Filipinos very proud of you.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

When Almost Similar Brand Names Collide For Reasons Beyond Ownership

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"With social media leading the way, there is a strong pressure among millennials like myself to have a highly curated personal brand or online persona. It’s a reflection of who someone is, or who they want to be."

Inaangkin ng isang blogger ang Wazzup na branding? Di ko raw pwede gamitin ang domain na closely similar to his. Another blogger said I was mimicking daw the blog eh magkaiba naman ang content? If we purchase or ask all our friends to buy domains nearly similar to Wazzup, then paano na ngayon yun? So here goes a lengthy rant because I just need to put this all out of my system. Please bear with me.

This blogger gave up Wazzup Philippines before, but only when Wazzup Pilipinas was under a bad light. He wanted to avoid being associated with us. However, he was continuously using it for a long time when WazzupPilipinas was working well with very little issues. When the wheel turned, he then decided to re-brand into a name that is also closely similar. Lol!

For everyone's enlightenment, that's the real reason why he changed his Wazzup Philippines domain to Wazzup.ph. Until now he still owns the old domain even though he knows it somehow affects our own domain too. Now he talks like he did me a favor, when he was the one who changed his WazUp Philippines into a WazzUp Philippines even before he made it into a WazzUp.PH.

Unless one can have full claim on the word Wazzup, then by all means, I will drop it. But until then, I have my reasons why there is a Wazzup.com.ph out there.

If it helps, I can always change the title of the blog to Wazzup.com.ph to satisfy their reasoning. Kaya nga hindi ginamit yun ay dahil to avoid further confusion with the existing brands. If only one of the bashers exerted the effort to ask what's the reason behind this issue, then tapos na sana.

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The Sinulog festival is celebrated every 3rd weekend of January. The city of Cebu becomes host to colorful parades, captivating music, and impressive street parties of which the grandest celebration via a parade is held at the very last Sinulog Sunday!

Vice President Jejomar Binay was booed when he spoke on stage during the Sinulog Grand Parade last January 17 But he claimed it was the handiwork of his political opponents. Never campaign in the Sinulog festivities.

Cebuanos are very particular of the cultural practice. Binay was the only candidate who dared along side other recognizable individuals like Gringo Honasan who was also running for Senator. Binay got the price he deserved for not respecting the said religious feast in honor of the Patron Saint Snr. Sto. Nino.

But who cares about these political exploits of government officials who are obviously only after the authority, power and financial gains. No one would even dare running for an office if the true sense of public servant will be implemented religiously.

Yet how would you expect that from politicians who couldn't even respect religious rites.

For more positive news, below are the winners of the Sinulog competitions.

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I visited Cebu during the last weekend of the Sinulog Festivities from January 15 to 17. But before that highly anticipated day came, I was already planning where to stay and of course where to dine.

I already was scheduled to stay at the Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino with a special breakfast and lunch for a day packaged with my stay. However, I would be staying in Cebu for three days. Normally, the hotel will only provide a complimentary breakfast, so lunch and dinner requirements will be my task for the three days I will be staying in Cebu.

What was my strategy for Sinulog weekend? I inquired from Cebu-based restaurants if they will be interested in sponsoring a meal at their restaurant in exchange for a feature article in my blog. I told them it would be great if I can visit their restaurant while I'm there so I can share the dining experience.

I don't think a lot of bloggers would want to go all the way to another province just for a special treat in a restaurant. But my adventure was far more than ordinary. I wanted to make my Cebu trip a very memorable one.

Thanks to the very friendly Alyzza, and Australian Chef Steve Shrimski and his Filipina wife Eya, of Canvas Bistro Bar Gallery, I had the great opportunity to taste some of their culinary specialties.

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Working in a startup is not for the faint of heart. It is only for the ambitious and bold. The pressure is high, the expectations are immensely great, deadlines are short and drastic changes come more often than bathroom breaks. Despite this, most millennials would prefer a role in a cool tech startup rather than becoming another employee number in a stodgy corporate company. Why is that so? Startups provide exciting work environments - a fridge full of beer, a fancy espresso machine, fast computers with large monitors, free lunch, movie nights out and more. Salarium, one of the Philippines’ up and coming SaaS & Fintech Startups, takes the perks game to the next level by sending employees on an adventure to see the world.

When Salarium employees celebrate their anniversary, and every year thereafter, they are given a 5-day mandatory vacation to any place in Southeast Asia that they wish to visit. The company pays for everything hotel, flight, including the employee’s plus one. Few companies offer such a reward to staff but Salarium did not hesitate to give this amazing perk to their employees.

“We thought very hard about an incentive that would be impactful to employees. We wanted to provide something that employees would look forward to while leaving a positive impact in their lives. Also, we wanted to give an experience as an incentive so it cannot be simply given to someone else. There is a tendency in Filipino culture to share what you have with the family so a cash incentive would simply be split up amongst family members instead of being fully enjoyed by the person who earned it,” says Judah Hirsch, CEO & Founder of Salarium.