Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Monday, July 18, 2016

Hontiveros Bats for Longer Maternity Leave, Add'l Allocation for Alternate Caregivers and Adopters

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Good news for women workers.

A bill was filed at the Senate pushing longer maternity leave and the expansion of the maternity benefit's coverage.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 215 otherwise known as the "Expanded Maternity Leave Law of 2016" to bring the country's maternity leave law at par with international standards and make it more responsive to the everyday realities of working women.

Hontiveros said her bill seeks to provide women workers in the public and private sectors, married or not, 120 days of maternity leave, and an additional 30 days for solo mothers.

The Senator explained that the additional 30 days can be allocated by entitled women workers to alternate caregivers such as their spouses, common law partners, or relatives up to the 4th degree of consanguinity. It can also be extended to adopters or any person who has adopted a minor.

"The government must carry a new and progressive perspective on how it responds to women workers' pre and post-natal health care needs. It must radically reform the traditional maternity law and update it according to international standards," Hontiveros said.

"The country's maternity law must have a strong emphasis on reproductive work, which has historically been the onus of women, and has largely been left with minImum respect and recognition in Philippine society," Hontiveros added.

The Philippines' maternity leave law falls short of the standard set by the International Labor Organization (ILO) that mandates a minimum 98 days of maternity leave. Currently, women workers may take a maternity leave of 60 days pay. For women who undergo caesarian deliveries, they are entitled to take a leave of 78 days with pay.

The country is also lagging behind its ASEAN neighbors; Vietnam provides its women workers 120 to 180 days of maternity leave credits, Singapore, 112 days, and 84 days for Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Globe Telecom Not Blocking PCC to Do Job

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Globe Telecom took exception to the statement of the Internet Society-Philippines ISOC that the telcos particularly Globe Telecom are blocking the Philippine Competition Commission to perform its mandate of promoting fair market competition when it filed the Petition for Certiorari with the Court of Appeals, asking the latter to restrain the PCC from further reviewing the sale and purchase of assets of Vega Telecom from San Miguel.

The multi-billion joint buy-out deal gave Globe access to half of San Miguel’s telecommunication assets.

Globe General Counsel Atty. Froilan Castelo stressed the company supports the PCC’s mandate of ensuring fair and healthy market competition and promoting economic efficiency. “We are not in any way blocking the PCC from performing its mandate. In fact, we repeatedly invited the PCC to exercise its plenary powers under Section 12 of the Competition Act to investigate the conduct and behavior of the companies on this transaction for possible violations of the Act. Globe has consistently relayed to the PCC its willingness to submit to this investigation, and Globe is confident that all its actions pertaining to this transaction are all legal and above-board as certified by its legal counsels,” he said.

“With respect to the transaction itself however, Memorandum Circular 2016-02 of the PCC is very clear - the transaction is no longer reviewable as the same was ‘deemed approved’ under its provisions,” he said. The same memorandum circular states that it shall enjoy the benefit of Section 23 of the Philippine Competition Act, and therefore cannot be challenged under that law. The parties should abide by this provision, including the PCC, which is expected to uphold its own rules and the Philippine Competition Act. Globe has followed to the letter the rules of the PCC, and the same should be appreciated by the PCC, he added.

Castelo advises the ISOC to read and understand the law first before making such statement.

He said Globe will continue to roll out using the spectrum assets it gained access to following to deal with SMC as this is necessary to improve the internet situation in the country. Earlier, the Duterte administration called for a faster, reliable and cheaper internet service to be done in one year. With this, the company is currently in the process of activating the 700 MHz frequency spectrum in about 500 based stations in various parts of the country, expected for completion within by the end of the year. Globe is also making use of its additional allocation in the 2600 MHz band to provide additional layer for its LTE network for faster data connectivity.

Globe further emphasized that this sale will not restrict competition in the market, as both PLDT and Globe have surrendered a substantial block of frequency of San Miguel to the NTC. With these surrendered frequency plus those in reserve with the NTC, a substantial block will still be available for a potential third player. Moreover, the current stiff competition between major players Globe and PLDT is enough evidence that this will not result to an anti-competitive scenario. “In fact, this will benefit more the consumers, as this new frequencies will unlock a lot of service potentials which would lead to an efficient and better service”, Castelo ends.

AlDub’s Phenomenal Romance Celebrates First Anniversary With Special Twitter Heart Emoji

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Starting 12:00PM on July 16, AlDub fans can join the conversation on Twitter to mark the first year anniversary of supercouple Alden Richards @aldenrichards02 and Maine Mendoza @mainedcm by Tweeting with #AlDub1stAnniversary hashtag to unlock a special heart emoji. The Twitter emoji pays tribute to the global AlDub phenomenon and celebrates the romance that has taken the Philippines and the world like a perfect storm.

By including #AlDub1stAnniversary hashtag when composing a Tweet, a special Twitter heart emoji will appear after the hashtag in the sent Tweet. This is the first time that Twitter has created a customized emoji for a TV show in Southeast Asia.

“As a partner of Eat Bulaga, Twitter has witnessed the rise of AlDub from a local sensation on Philippine television to a global social TV phenomenon. It is powered by the love of fans all over the world, and the creativity of the show producers. The recent launch of the emoji for AlDub’s first year anniversary celebrates the show, the AlDub love story, and most importantly the fans who have flocked to Twitter to express their love and support over the past year,” said Pratiksha Rao, Twitter’s Head of Media Partnerships in Southeast Asia.

Looking back, the AlDub love team debuted on July 2015 in the ‘Kalyeserye’ segment of the popular noon-time TV show Eat Bulaga before they became one of the most well-known personalities on Twitter. Eat Bulaga’s Twitter account (@EatBulaga), which constantly keeps fans updated on the show by live-Tweeting each telecast and sharing behind-the-scenes images and videos, has added over 1.8 million followers in the past 12 months (over 200% growth) from 880,000 to 2.72 million followers today.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

ASEAN’s path towards integration embraces social and economic inequalities within and between its member countries. As part of the ASEAN, the Philippines has to compete with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

On its upcoming 50th anniversary in 2017, has ASEAN really contributed to improving the lives of its member citizens? Is an alternative integration or Integration from below possible?

The Philippine Peoples’ Summit on ASEAN aims to provide a space where representatives from different sectors of society can discuss various issues and raise local, national, and regional concerns related to the ASEAN.

Princess Nemenzo (WomanHealth Philippines) will deliver the keynote speech. A series of panel discussions will follow. Speakers include Nemenzo, Dr. Eduardo Tadem (Freedom from Debt Coalition), and Antonio Tujan, Jr. (IBON Foundation), to name a few.

Join us on Monday and Tuesday as representatives from different sectors of the society discuss various local, national, and regional concerns related to the ASEAN.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A great find for delectable dishes was recently introduced to us and it's located just within the compounds of HMR and along Reliance Street, in front of TV 5 Mandaluyong city, just one ride from our Pasig city residence.

The newly introduced Pioneer Street Market is composed of several food stalls with outstanding choices of food that will surely appeal to all foodies out there for its wide variety of feasts fit for the most eccentric and critical in their food craving.

You'll find this place a treasure chest of delightful delicacies that goes beyond the traditional way of preparing and serving food.

Thanks to Zomato for co-organizing this event where foodies like me enjoyed a night of pigging out until we drop. We got to meet even the owners themselves who shared a few info about their brand and opportunity for photo ops with them especially with celebrity owner Matet De Leon who was formerly a super child star during her younger days. The moment I saw her, I immediately remembered how her mother, superstar Nora Aunor, praised her for being the most thoughtful among her children.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Cable Car BGC located at the Fort Strip recently celebrated its 2nd anniversary last June 30, 2016 with entertainment provided by the acoustic sets of Davey Langit, Migz Haleco, Jana Garcia, RJ JIMENEZ and Lush MNL.

My favorites was of course the one with the pretty lady Jana who sang beautifully giving the night a lot more vibrance.

The beats of the night came from DJ Enzo, while a Breezer Pong Tournament made the night a lot more thrilling as team of twos tried their luck winning the highly anticipated Breezer Pong Tournament!

We participated in the Breezer Pong Tournament but sadly we lost since we do not play the game professionally unlike our opponents who were actually deeply involved in the fun game.

Great set of delectable dishes were also served on our table aside from the Bacardi Breezer of different flavors. I must have drank more than a handful of the amazing Breezer and I still can't get enough of them.

Congratulations to the owners of Cable Car which has other branches located in other areas of the Metro including the one at Tomas Morato in Quezon City, The Sapphire Bloc in Ortigas and San Lorenzo Village in Makati

The event was in partnership with Partyphile | Bacardi Breezer | Hennessy

Wazzup Pilipinas!

After 11 years of wishing for this big day to finally come true, Mark Carpio now celebrates his 29th birthday via another celebration through the launch of his very first album entitled 'Hiling' making it it a bigger celebration.

Families, relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, celebrity or not, all took the opportunity to congratulate the birthday celebrator for the launch of his Hilig album, composed of 8 tracks all written and composed by him.

During a video interview, Mark shares that this creation is totally intimate and personal for him. It is a product of two months labor of love, but some of his songs were actually initiated even before he finally at down to focus and finish the album project.

His brother said it was a dream come true for Mark, and upon finding out that all three brothers all sing, I knew then that music does run within his family I am just not sure where the three brothers, Jeffret, Marka nd Jerome inherited their singing prowess - from mother or father? I should have interviewed the parents but I wouldn't want to take them away from watching their son perform during the album launch night.

With his father involved in the real estate business with Grand Monaco, and also taking part of the management of the family business, I am surprised he still finds time to work on his music career. I can sense the passion within him as the last time we met a few months ago, he was just the front act of a music group who highlighted a certain event that I attended. Now he has his own album, and I can't stop feeling proud for the guy as his songs were truly amazing indeed.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With the recent demise of Jennifer Gonzales Roxas, fellow blogger and part of the Cook magazine team, who succumbed to stage 4 breast cancer, the blogging community is grieving, especially those who have one way or another met with Jenny personally during one or more blogger events.

I remember her as the more endearing among her lady friends. She seems to be the most mature or older in her group of other lady bloggers often seen as four lovely ladies of lifestyle. All four of them were the epitome of class and sophistication, but she seemed to be the most reserved or conservative of the four.

I was fortunate to see her just a few days ago during one of the events I attended. I can't help but notice how she seems to be looking different from the former days when I used to see her as gloriously beaming with health and confidence. I never knew she was suffering from cancer lately so I guess the big C does really put you down physically. May it be cancer of the breast, ovary, lungs or any other part of our body, the absence of a cure until now makes cancer so much a dreaded killer.

But I am totally overwhelmed realizing she was still passionately pursuing her blogging activities even though even though she has cancer. This means cancer has failed to totally keep her from her true passion of engaging and socializing at events so she can afterwards tell the stories through her blog.

However, it finally ended her life, but she will remain living in our hearts because of the wonderful memories we will continue to remember of her.

We know she is now at a better place and among the angels looking down on us from the heavens. Thank you Jenny for being a part of our lives.
Life is really unpredictable, and we would always be caught surprised and unprepared for many instances no matter how we think we are ready and able to face challenges.

I believe everyone should take extra effort in determining the possible occurrence of cancer at an early stage so as to have better opportunities to treat the dreaded disease even before it becomes worst. Women should not wait for the time when they feel a lump or pain in their breasts. Please do regularly have a mammogram - an X-ray image of your breast used to screen for breast cancer. Mammograms play a key role in early breast cancer detection and help decrease breast cancer deaths.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We will soon see another mighty rendition of the epic Greek hero Hercules tale approximately two months from the recent press conference and launch held on July 15, 2016 at Garage88 located at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC).

This time it will be a musical play top-billed by actor Polo Ravales, and partnering with his real life girlfriend, CJ Flores Marin, a beauty queen who won as Miss Earth Philippines Water 2015, who plays the role of his wife in the play. Both of them will be singing but since Polo is more of an actor rather than a singer, he gets his encouragement from CJ who can easily belt out a tune.

The two will definitely be a match made in heaven, or at least Mt. Olympus, where Zeus, father of Hercules, will be among the many other characters who will also get some spotlight on the musical. The story will not only focus entirely on Hercules but also on his supporting casts made of Natasha Cabrera, Ronah Rostata, CJ Flores Marin, Paw Castillo, Fatima Cadiz, Hutch Perales, Jhay-R Baccol, Francelle Fetalvero, Jovito Bonita, Jasper Jimenez, Jasmin Salvo, Ren Medina, and Tina Dela Cruz.

The musical is directed by acclaimed actor Riki Benedicto, who has been guiding his actors throughout a series of rehearsals. They still have a couple of months to go before their first playdate on September 15 at the Star Theater located at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP Complex) in Pasay.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Robert Yupangco, the visionary head honcho and mastermind of the Zoomanity Group of companies, personally met with us during our visit at Paradizoo and Residence Inn Tagaytay properties. We were actually invited there to witness the 4th Farm Tourism Conference being held at Paradizoo from July 14 to 16, 2016 and attended by several delegates from all over the country.

Among the many known farm spots in Tagaytay, Paradizoo was chosen as one of the featured successful farm tour destination during the 4th Farm Tourism Conference.

The Zoomanity group also took the opportunity to show us the Residence Inn property so we could also see how they are fully engaged in farm tourism. So aside from petting and feeding animals, tasting their meals cooked with fresh poultry, livestock and fruits and veggies directly sourced from the Paradizoo farm itself, we also got to experience almost the same within the few minutes at Residence Inn munching on their pancit and pineapple jam spread on toasted bread, a short tour of the many animals showcased there, and the zipline highlight to end the tour with lots of shrieks and laughter as we coursed through the amazing zipline overlooking the Tagaytay lake.

The Zoomanity theme parks, which can be found at different parts of the country and even two abroad, are focused on farm and agri tourism where people can get up close and personal with both animals and plant life. However, the farms were built more as an advocacy geared in promoting best practices in living a better and healthier life.