BREAKING

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Youth to Senators: Defend SK, Don't Delay Polls a Third Time


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Youth leaders called on senators not to postpone the upcoming SK Elections a third time. The senate committee of local government recommended in their committee report to postpone the SK Elections to October 30, 2017 and is expected to be voted upon by the senate later today.

"A third postponement of the SK polls sends a dangerous message that youth participation is optional. We hope our legislators do not mean to disenfranchise the youth once again and instead heed our call not to delay the SK elections," said Ellah Delerio from the SK Reform Coalition.

The youth groups emphasized that the postponement is de facto abolition of the youth institution.

"The SK is effectively abolished, with the SK remaining vacant for at least another year. The youth are once again robbed of their right of suffrage and right to participate in village governance," said Delerio.

The groups further warned that the proposed postponement have led to renewed calls to abolish the youth institution.

"With the planned postponement of the SK polls, calls to abolish the SK have surfaced once more, coming from House Speaker Alvarez no less. Those debates have already been settled in the last congress with the passage of the SK Reform Act." said Rafaela David, Chairperson of Akbayan Youth.

The groups further lambasted comments that belittle the youth's contribution as "useless" to governance at the village level.

"We have many youth leaders who have served their communities well through the SK and such misinformed and irresponsible statements fail to recognize the substantial contribution of the youth in the past," said David.

The youth groups instead sought the support of the senators in ensuring the full implementation of the SK Reform Act.

"Instead of pushing through with the planned postponement, we hope our legislators would put their weight behind the full implementation of the reformed SK and show their commitment to the youth. It is time to give the new SK a chance," concluded David.

Hinterview: Tips in Acing Interview through Psychology


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Watch out for the hints as HR’s will give future applicants the tips on how to ace interviews through Psychology.

On September 3, as the fourth year students of Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Bachelor in Advertising and Public Relations will bring you HINTERVIEW: TIPS IN ACING INTERVIEW THROUGH PSYCHOLOGY as part of the two-day seminar, FOR HIRE: ROAD TO JOB AVENUE happening at PUP Claro M. Recto Hall, Sta. Mesa Manila starting from 9am to 12pm.

Be ready to know how simple gestures affect the overall state of an interview and hear useful yet mind-blown tips that students may use when they face their first interview. Hinters from HR departments with their Psychology backgrounds will discuss hints they usually observe in an interview and share them to students. Workshops and activities are included in which every guests and students will surely be entertained by.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Geeks Invade Bohol at Geeks on a Beach 4 Tech Convention


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For the 4th time, Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) returns better and "awesomer" as the organizers once again gathered geeks to talk about investments, startups, tech and design. The event was held on August 25 to 26, 2016 at the Bellevue Resort located in Panglao, Bohol where the beach is just a few steps away from the pavilion where the convention took place.

I am delighted to be back for the second time and hoping to attend all the future events of GOAB not just to cover for this online publication but also to learn from these peeps who live and breathe innovation and technology. 

Since I am also in the field of technology being an Electronics and Communications Engineer whose career dabbled more into Information and Communication Technology, I take pleasure in hearing about the updates and developments in the ICT scene that is now penetrated as well by technopreneurs and startups with the vision to make a difference.

GOAB is organized by TechTalks.ph, co-organized by Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and co-presented by PLDT SME Nation, Ideaspace, SmartDevNet, PLDT Innolab, and Smart.

We arrived in Bohol via Tagbilaran a day early, August 24, so we could settle down, do an early registration at the venue, and attend Techstars sponsored dinner at Muro Ami Inn and Restaurant. There was a Techstars APAC Regional Summit private meeting held on Aug 22 to 24, and the dinner was their concluding activity.

Davao's Blue Posts Boiling Crabs and Shrimps Brings Finger-licking Feasts to Manila


Wazzup Pilipinas!

Davao's Blue Posts Boiling Crabs and Shrimps is finally here in Manila, and will soon be ready to serve customers sometime within the month of September. This phenomenal seafood restaurant has opened a branch at SM North EDSA and is truly well deserving to be among the fine restaurants that will eventually be a crowd favorite as well here in Manila just as it is in Davao. Their finger-licking feasts does not fall short of expectations. Get ready to be among the very first customers in Metro Manila to taste their gastronomically satisfying dishes.

This newest branch at the Block of North EDSA is their third but the owners and franchisees revealed during the grand media launch that there will soon be two more branches opening - a fourth one in Davao and a fifth one at SM Mall of Asia - and a few more branches within Metro Manila during the next coming years.

Wow! There seems to be nothing stopping this famous seafood restaurant from Davao in also conquering Metro Manila. We are looking forward in getting messy but savoring their delightful shrimps and crabs dishes, as well as their other offerings.

We've already shared videos including interviews with the owner and franchisees during the media launch at our official YouTube channel http://www.YouTube.com/user/wazzuppilipinas and lots of photos at our official Facebook fan page http://www.Facebook.com/wazzuppilipinas including GoPro video shots before we ultimately dig in to the messy but finger-linking fabulous feast. We were not able to take videos of our messy dining due to the account that both our hands were busy with the sumptuous crabs and shrimps. Lol!

Globe Goes Full Steam Ahead on LTE 700 MHz Deployment


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In line with commitment to improve internet services, Globe Telecom is in full steam ahead in its aggressive deployment of the 700 megahertz (MHz) band by rolling out recently more than 150 sites mostly in Metro Manila as part of its commitment to improve the mobile internet in the country.

Joel Agustin, Globe Senior Vice President for Program Governance, Network Technical Group revealed that Globe is fast-tracking the rollout of LTE service nationwide using the 700 MHz frequency under the co-use agreement approved by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). "We are confident that more and more of our customers will experience improved services as adoption of LTE-capable devices increases and as we continue to deploy LTE 700 in more sites. This is consistent with our strategy of continuously improving internet services using the previously idle 700 MHz spectrum that the NTC now allowed us to co-use,” Agustin said.

According to Agustin, the LTE 700 sites cover major business districts and highly-urbanized and populated areas in the country, noting that customers using LTE 700 devices are steadily increasing in these areas. Citing Quezon City, where Globe activated the first LTE 700 site in the country, Agustin said the technology now covers a majority portion of the city after the LTE 700 sites activated by Globe increased four times from the initial rollout of just 11 sites.

The company plans to activate more than 500 LTE 700 sites across the country by the end 2016, Agustin said. He added that majority of these sites are located in Metro Manila, enabling Globe to deliver close to 100% coverage of LTE 700 for the entire metropolitan area. This is turn, is expected to substantially improve mobile internet experience of customers in the region.

Globe Telecom is maximizing the use of the 700 MHz band in fulfillment of its commitment in the co-use agreement with BellTel following the sellout of San Miguel’s telco assets. The company committed to deploy about 4,500 multiband, multimode software defined radio base station equipment to 95% of total municipalities and cities in the country. This will improve overall customer experience in terms of speed and reliability of mobile internet services.

Aside from the 700 MHz, the NTC-approved co-use agreement also provided Globe with access to additional allocation in the 1800 MHz, 2300 MHz, and 2600 MHz bands. This supports the capacity enhancement initiative launched by the company early this year amid growing customer requirement for bandwidth-intensive multi-media content. Globe also launched early this year an initiative of creating an internet superhighway by deploying fiber optic cables in 20,000 barangays all over the country to provide faster and more reliable Internet access in about 2 million homes nationwide.

DOE, Private Sector to Make Safer Power Available for Poor Communities


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Indigent families and informal settlers had to meet all the legal and financial requirements to get access to electricity. But now, they will be given a chance to enjoy the benefits of electricity services through the Department of Energy’s Electrification Program in collaboration with Manila Electric Company (MERALCO).

From 08 July 2016 to the present, the DOE-MERALCO partnership has electrified a total of 5,263 households in such areas as Gaya-Gaya in San Jose del Monte and other municipalities in Bulacan, Laguna and some parts of Rizal and Happy Land Aroma, BASECO Compound, Isla Puting Bato and Parola in Tondo, Manila.

By helping indigent families secure legal electrical connections, the DOE together with the help of distribution utilities can further reduce the risk of fire hazards, which may be caused by the illegal use of electricity.

The unlawful use of electricity is prohibited under Republic Act No. 7832, otherwise known as the Anti-Pilferage of Electricity and Theft of Electric Transmission lines/Materials Act of 1994. Among the prohibited acts include: wire-tapping, tampering, installing, or using tampered electrical meter, jumper, current reversing transformer, shorting or shunting wire, loop connection or any attempt to destroy any accessory of the metering device box which encases an electric meter or its metering accessories.

The Magna Carta for Residential Consumers also disallows consumers from performing acts related to the pilferage of electricity. The Code reinforces the Anti-Pilferage Act by reiterating the circumstances that constitute prima facie evidence of the illegal use of electricity.

These policies serve as DOE’s guidelines to safeguard the welfare of the consumers against any untoward incidents such as fire that may have been triggered by faulty electrical wiring destroying properties and even resulting in loss of lives.

The DOE enjoins local officials and leaders to get more actively involved in ensuring safe legal electrical connections to protect communities thereby allowing the cities and municipalities to also earn more revenues from delivering better services to the people.

The DOE remains committed to fulfill its household electrification program, especially benefiting those living in economically depressed communities by providing them legal, secure, safe and stable supply of electricity.

XTrade Europe and Online Trading Challenges


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Trading industry has experienced a huge boost thanks to development of the Internet and computer technology. Just look around and you will see that more and more people buy online. It just does not matter whether we buy food, electronic, health insurance or book apartment for our perfect holiday. This transition from traditional forms of trading to online purchasing will be even more noticeable in the future. In fact, some experts claim traditional trading will be eaten by online retailers. 


The Rising Popularity Of Online Trading

However, it seems that online trading somehow lags behind online expansion. This is especially true for binary options and spread betting. Of course, we have a huge increasing trend of stocks or even Forex trading through brokers like XTrade Europe for example, but binary options and spread betting are sidelined. There are many reasons for this situation and listing them all would be far beyond the purpose of this informative article. We have decided to mention just few of them instead, hoping this will help you to understand the general situation in the online trading world.


Why Investors Choose To Ignore Some Investing Opportunities

One of the biggest reasons why binary options and spread betting are not popular more among online traders is that people have a poor and inadequate knowledge about these investing types. People are just not aware of their potentials.

Of course, there are online brokers such as XTrade Europe, who are doing their best to educate people and present online trading in a full capacity to them. However, it is just a beginning. There are many other things that have to be done before people realize all potentials of these online trading types. One more thing. People hardly change their habits. People who have been in traditional businesses for more than a decade will naturally be skeptical about these “new” business opportunities.

The second problem why people do not trade online more is poor security of private information and capital. We all know at least one person who was a victim of online scam. When we are on the Internet, we can forget about our privacy. Even the best-kept information can be hacked these days. We are convinced that people will be more interested in online trading when security in online world reaches desired level. In the meantime, we should only dal with proven and reputable trading platforms and brokers. XTrade Europe is one of them.

Another big problem is that people do not know many investors who actually managed to make money here. They think it is a place reserved only for a big financial experts and speculators. And we should understand them. Investing on the global market was a privilege of big investors, where ordinary people did not have access at all. It is all different today. Even the smallest investors can participate in the global financial arena and earn really big money thanks to XTrade Europe. Yes, people who manage to do this really exist. They are everywhere. If you are ready for hard work, you can become one of them.

Hearing on Anti-Hospital Deposit Law, Vows to Punish Violators


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Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros conducted a senate inquiry on the reported violations of several hospitals under Republic Act 8344, otherwise known as the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law, where she vowed to punish erring medical institutions.

“No one should be refused adequate and quality medical care or unnecessarily die just because they are poor. Profit should not reign supreme over the health needs of the people. It not only negates the country’s achievements in achieving universal healthcare, it is also inhumane.Ang deposito ay mababayaran, ang buhay na nawala ay hindi mapapalitan,” Hontiveros, Chair of the Senate Committee on the Health and Demography, said in her opening statement.

During the hearing, several witnesses testified that University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Hospital and the Southeast Asian Medical Center allegedly refused to follow RA 8344, which prohibits any medical institutions to demand any deposit or any other form of advance payment, as a prerequisite for admission or medical treatment of a patient to prevent death or serious harm.

According to the witnesses Siarra and Anjo Pelayo, UST Hospital’s refusal to give emergency care to the former led to her miscarriage. Another witness Emiliano Del Rosario said his wife Sisa was refused care in Southeast Asian Medical Center due to non-payment of deposit that led to the worsening of her condition and death.

"Ito ay mga taong na hindi walang-wala. Mayroon silang dalang pera. However, the alleged erring hospitals denied them medical care by insisting on their prescribed deposits before hospital treatment. This is unacceptable," Hontiveros said.

To address this growing concern, Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 216, which seeks to amend the existing Anti-Hospital Deposit Law and impose heavier fines for hospital violators. Her bill recommends that penalties for violations of the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law should be increased from the current P20,000-P100,000 to P500,000-P1 million, exclusive of damages that may be rewarded to the patient-complainant.

“Nararapat lamang na wakasan na ang ganitong mga gawain sapagkat buhay ang nakasalalay dito. Ito ay pwedeng nauulit at mauulit pa sa iba pang pasyente,” she added.

The said senate bill also seeks to create a Health Facilities Oversight Board, also known as the "Sumbungan Board", which will be composed by the Department of Health (DoH), hospital associations and patient rights' advocates. “The primary duty of hospitals and other medical institutions is to save lives. This should be promoted at all times,” Hontiveros said.

Lamudi to Host the Philippines’ First VR Real Estate Expo


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Property portal Lamudi Philippines is proud to stage the country’s first ever Virtual Reality Real Estate Expo (VR Expo), and showcase the most impressive properties from top local developers in a brand new way. The VR Expo is slated on September 3 to 4, 2016, at the Bonifacio High Street Activity Center and will be open free for the public from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on both days.


How does virtual reality technology influence real estate?

Virtual reality (VR) is set to transform the face of the Philippine real estate market, just as it has in so many other sectors since VR goggles were first released. As frontrunner in using this innovation, Lamudi believes that in the future, investing in property worldwide will be as easy as investing in the stock market, thanks to the application of VR technology. VR does not just make a huge difference to investors, it also heavily influences the buying process. Home-buyers nowadays want to be able to view the property they are interested in even while they are on the move or from their own homes. Today’s buyers want more than photos, so through virtualization they can now experience their prospective home in a 360° environment wherever they are.

“This revolutionary upgrade in real estate buying is likely to open up the market to international buyers and can make home-buying a faster and more efficient process,” shared Jacqueline van den Ende, founder and CEO of Lamudi Philippines and MyProperty.ph.


Showcasing the best property on the market

The major sponsors for this event are Robinsons Communities, Right Homes, and SMDC. The exhibitors include New San Jose Builders, Hamilo Coast, and Union Bank, while the event’s official provider of VR goggles is VRLABPH. Lamudi Philippines’ listings contain a wide range of properties and the VR Expo is a stellar opportunity to discover the best real estate options available in the country through a unique and high-tech environment.


A brand new way of viewing property

Actual site visits to fully immerse oneself in the property is no longer required as technology transforms how we buy and sell property. A high-quality and fully interactive image in today’s world is a time and money saver especially in real estate. With VR, buyers are able to experience what it is like to be in the property for sale. Armed only with a pair of VR goggles, investors can view properties and make investment decisions from the comfort of their own homes.


Discover the futuristic side of real estate this September

The VR Expo is open to all buyers, sellers, renters, landlords, brokers, investors, and everyone who wants to experience cutting-edge technology applied to one of the most bustling sectors in the Philippines. Venture into a new way of property viewing, and visit this first-of-its-kind Expo happening at the Bonifacio High Street Activity Center on 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, on the 3rd and 4th of September (10 a.m. until 10 p.m.). Register for free today at www.lamudi.com.ph/visit.

NTT Data Philippines is the New and Improved Wizardsgoup, Inc.


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NTT DATA Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (President and CEO: Tetsu Sato; Head office: Singapore; hereinafter referred to as “NDAP”) announces today that Wizardsgroup, Inc. will now be known as NTT DATA Philippines, Inc. In January 2016, NTT DATA Corporation, through its subsidiary NDAP, acquired 100% of outstanding shares in Wizardsgroup, Inc.

Wizardsgroup has established a strong presence in high value IT consulting and learning solutions for Oracle and Microsoft technologies mainly in the Philippine market. With over 20 years of experience in the local market, its core services have spanned the entire spectrum from application development outsourcing to implementation of enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) solutions.

“With this development, NTT DATA Philippines will continue to pursue the same corporate direction that has distinguished Wizardsgroup, Inc. across various sectors in the Philippine economy. We will build on NTT DATA’s group vision to be a “Global IT Innovator” and build upon its world-class IT services to the fullest to drive businesses faster in the country and in the region,” says Pocholo Reyes, President & CEO, NTT DATA Philippines.

NTT DATA Philippines’ total solutions package combines Wizardsgroup’s leading competency in deploying Microsoft technologies, and with the highly-developed capabilities on Oracle Engineered Systems. It provides added value in consulting services across industries as well as to software companies, system integrators, and IT service providers. 


NTT DATA Philippines’ main expertise lies in its thorough understanding of the problems their clients are facing and designing and rolling out solutions that respond to these challenges. For the past two decades, this comprehensive approach has contributed immensely to enhanced customer experience.

Presently, NTT DATA Philippines has clients based in the Telco, FSI/Banking, Oil & Gas, Healthcare, and Manufacturing industries in the Philippines. Building on NTT DATA’s track record in as a Global IT Innovator, NTT DATA Philippines will offer a wider range of solutions and services through globally proven best practices, cutting-edge Research and Development capabilities and a strong financial base. Clients will have access to the expanded capabilities and industry offerings as well as get benefits of NTT DATA’s global geographical presence.
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