BREAKING

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Get Ready for a Better Wazzup Pilipinas!



Before being a blogger, I used to be a systems administrator handling ICT - servers, networks, sat phones, radios, CCTVs, etc., doing regular system monitoring and updates, backups, security, repairs, maintenance, etc., including the planning, budgeting, and purchase of equipment, plus getting the necessary permits from government agencies, licenses from software companies, and conducting training as well.

But then my bosses keep asking me to do their digital presentations for them. I got so interested since aside from the need to be knowledgeable in software, you need to be artistically inclined too. You need it to mix and match colors, fonts, images, animations, etc.

I was also opinionated. I always want to defend the the underdogs. I keep butting in at online discussions or forums and giving my onsolicited thoughts and opinions. Some even called me a troll because of my frequent participation at similar threads.

But it was also during these times that somebody suggested I create a blog instead. But I created so many blogs before I finally settled with one....and that was not yet Wazzup Pilipinas. My very first blog was too personal but was an outlet for me.

It was only in 2013 when I created Wazzup Pilipinas after a very unpleasant experience writing for an online publication that was more concerned about kissing the ass of their sponsors rather than siding with their correspondents.

I got so motivated to focus on Wazzup Pilipinas because I believe blogging should share the truth whether the story will be favorable to the sponsors or not. We are also entitled to our own style. Nobody should dictate what we want to share to our readers. The sponsors should not dictate or screen our content. There should be ultimate freedom in blogging. Our blogs, our rules. Like it or not.

Wazzup Pilipinas will soon strongly implement these principles. There will be many changes soon. Get ready for a better Wazzup Pilipinas!

Monday, September 11, 2017

The UP Repertory Welcomes Its 45th Theatrical Season with Drag, Drugs, Drinks (?), and Sex!


The UP Repertory Company opens its 45th Theatrical Season with Mygahd, IHate Drags!—a twin-bill production of Rogelio Braga’s Ang Mga Maharlika and U Z. Eliserio’s Karitas at Damaso.

The production is to be staged on the College of Architecture Amphitheater at the University of the Philippines Diliman with the following show dates: 14, 21, 28 (Saturday), 16, 23, and 30 (Monday) October 2017.

All shows will start at 7:00 PM. Ticket prices are to be announced.



Before the main event, Ang Mga Maharlika will be staged at various bars within Quezon City to build up the hype.

Shows will be along the following dates with their respective venues: 21 (Tomato Kick Morato), 28 (Tomato Kick Malingap), and 30 (Catch 272) September 2017; 5 (Exile on Main St.), 6 and 7 (TAuMBAYAN) October 2017.

Audiences will pay what they can.

We put the BLAST in BLASTPHEMY as we’ll literally take you to church in U Z. Eliserio’s Karitas at Damaso!

Serving you feudalism realness a.k.a. the Catholic Church dynamics a.k.a. blinding party lights and blind followers, familiar?!

Well, Jesus is a biscuit so, sop it up and catch us, DDS!

Meanwhile, ain't no party like a kiki party as it goes oh in Rogelio Braga’s Ang Mga Maharlika! Categoryis bureaucratic-capitalist where the Marcoses slay—literally and metaphorically—but still remain aspowerful as eva? We're spilling tea, and dishing just deserts when they deserve. *wink* *wink* And though the sun is rising, few may choose to leave so... Let's have a kiki! UP REP WANNA HAVEA KIKI! WE'RE GONNA LET YOU HAVE IT!

About UP Rep: The UP Repertory Company is a non-stock, non-profit student theatre organization based in the University of the Philippines Diliman. Founded in 1972, UP Rep remains steadfast in staging theatre productions and live performances that aim to raise the social consciousness of the Filipino audience, and has been named University Performing Group for Philippine Theatre.

Oyayi Launches DVD Set at The 38th Manila International Book Fair



Good news! The Oyayi DVD Set and Storybook are now available at the 38th Manila International Book Fair on September 13-17 at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia. Exciting activities, storytelling and games await your whole family!

Meet these beauty queens, Miriam Quiambao and Precious Lara Quigaman in the Oyayi storytelling activity live on stage on Thursday and Friday (5PM)! See us at the Philippine Bible Society booth!

Catch Gizmo at The 38th Manila International Book Fair



Get a chance to meet Gizmo at the 38th Manila International Book Fair on September 13-17 at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia. Expect fun and exciting Superbook activities for your family and friends! Have fun with Gizmo on September 13 (1 PM) and September 17 (3-5 PM). You can take home your favorite Supergifts, too! See you at the Philippine Society booth!

An Interior Design Exhibit at Mapua


The graduating class of BS Interior Design of Mapua University, will be staging, as part of their culminating activity, a special design exhibit.

In recent years, it has been their program’s vocation to take their endeavors a step further by extending their design services to charitable institutions that needs improvement and/or restoration of their facilities at no cost. In support of this program, their class chose Asilo de San Vicente de Paul located along U.N Avenue as our partner institution. It is a foster care institution that has been a home for orphans, the abandoned, special needs, and the elderly. Their objective is to complete an interior design project which shall permanently built and used by people who deserves a safe and healthy environment.

The exhibit shall be opened for public viewing on the 22nd of September. This will be attended by Mapua (School of Architecture, Industrial Design, and Built Environment) Department faculty, Mapua Interior design students, family, friends, and guests of exhibitors, and other special guests. This design exhibit promises to be an exciting and meaningful event as it will not only showcase the talents and capabilities of the students as future designers and collaborators, but more importantly, it is a collaborative design solution (students, partners and sponsors) imbued with a sense of social responsibility.

#WazzupPilipinas #PambansangBlogger

Short + Sweet Theatre Manila is Back with Season 4, and It's Sweeter Than Ever



In the age of instant messaging and fast food, 10 minutes onstage is enough to let you know whether or not you’ve got some magic in your material and talent in your veins.

Short + Sweet Theatre Manila gears up for another season, and everything is definitely going to be sweeter the fourth time around. Known across the globe as the "Biggest Little Play festival in the world" Short + Sweet is a springboard for scriptwriters, directors, and actors alike.

Short+Sweet Theatre Manila mirrors the goal of the mother company in Australia—to showcase hundreds of bite-sized dramatic treats, handpicked from submissions all over the world.

Presented by OilLamp Inc., Short+Sweet Theatre Manila aims to be an avenue for local and international artists to present their bodies of work, as well as an opportunity to showcase the actors and crew that Manila is already well known for.



By working hand in hand, the festival becomes place for these people to come together and build a more creative world 10 minutes at a time.





Short+Sweet Theatre Manila will take place at the Power Mac Spotlight Auditorium, Circuit Makati. The festival will be spread across three weekends in September/October 2017.

“Short + Sweet Theatre Manila is a communion. It is has broken the ice between various theatre individuals by bringing them all under one umbrella. It's a celebration and the synergy is simply beautiful,” says festival director Divya Rajan.

“It is all about the spice and slice of life - so the plays range from comedy to tragedy to romance to hardcore drama. It's a potpourri of stories.”

Beginning as a small festival of 10 minute plays in Sydney, Australia, Short + Sweet is now a global phenomenon. Short + Sweet has made considerable impact on the global theatre scene through developing new, original work with emerging and established artists and providing a platform to showcase their talents.

Short + Sweet Theatre has paved its way into Hollywood last year in 2016 at the
Stella Adler Academy and aims to bring the best plays from across the world to be staged there.

Some of the well written plays of Manila have been qualified for S+S theatre festivals around the world!

Short + Sweet believes that short form theatre can move audiences as effectively as long form.

All Short + Sweet seasons consist of high-quality 10 minute pieces and this is achieved through a vigorous, merit-based process, employing an open call for material and auditions.

Short+Sweet Theatre Manila is presented by OilLamp Inc. The official venue partner is Power Mac Center Spotlight. Sponsors include Australian Embassy, Raintree Restaurants and Saffron Plates. Official media partner is Wazzup Pilipinas. Special thanks to De La Salle College of St. Benilde.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Looking Back to Retell My Story


".....tell me a bit about yourself, what your interests and passions are, and what your schedule is like (...do you already have a full-time job you're happy with? How many hours per day can you work?) and add me on Skype....."

My very first experience in writing for others was when I contributed a few articles to a tech magazine starting 2004, but had written for our school newspaper while in college, and church newspaper while still looking for a job after graduating in 2003. 

My last job as an employee was working for the United Nations as their ICT officer in 2005. After only 3 years, believing I've earned enough, I setup my own tech-related business (gaming shop and tech services like repairs, networking, maintenance, etc) in 2008, but it ended abruptly only after a year when typhoon Ondoy flooded our business. Everything went under the murky flood waters in a matter of hours.

I started blogging since 2008 while I reopened my business, but only on a personal level, then went into blogging professionally (full time) by 2013 when I got so many invites to attend events like product launchings, press conferences, bloggers events, product reviews and media partnerships. I closed my ga me business that time and concentrated on providing online services. Monetizing my blog was a lot more promising since many businesses were strengthening their online presence.

This was only after I became a voluntary correspondent for a popular online publication for around 6 months back 2012. The short stint with them as senior writer opened up a lot of opportunities for me as the invites kept coming in. I left them to setup my own online publication in 2013.

Eventually got so many awards and recognitions from different award-giving bodies, got invited to guests on TV and radio shows, co-hosted a few radio shows, got some speaking engagements, and lately had my own radio show with livestreaming on Facebook and YouTube for one season (13 episodes) that ended just last month. It was not as profitable compared to running an online publication.

I was offered to host my own TV show too, but is thinking twice since I prefer writing instead of setting up my own lifestyle show...and the real reason is - the co-production cost and search for sponsorships may be too much to handle. :)

Thus, right now, the only thing that keeps me busy, as of the moment, is my blog, my family (with a daughter that is also the Editor-in-Chief of her college newspaper), and worrying about the recent rampant killings in the Philippines, especially now that there are youths being killed as well. 

I usually blog (including social media postings) and rants, from morning until midnight...but is of course looking to contribute again for publications that pay. It will be an additional source of income aside from accepting sponsored articles with backlinks on my site, and the numerous media partnerships.

I can write about almost anything since I am fairly curious about everything. I get challenged by deadlines, but prefer to take my time since artists need more time to connect with our moody creativity :)

The last time I used Skype was way back 2003 when I got interviewed for a job. In the Philippines, we now chat more on Facebook instead. But I would be willing to open a new account again (since I don't remember my existing account's password anymore) if needed.

Crowdsourcing for Lei of PNA


I think there's going to be an opening soon at the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

Well, a certain Lei might be needing some help with the editing process as he or she even accidentally published the editor's comments and instructions as part of the title for their articles.

Somebody was indeed in a hurry,  rushing for the deadline, or simply that the task of final release was assigned to a newbie.

However,  immediately after a few netizens took notice of the mistake,  the article quickly went down and the site suddenly went under maintenance.

Do they need a new Editor-in-Chief?  Or do they have a new publishing platform?

Who knows because I haven't reached out to them to get their side of the issue.

The hell with us!  It was a simple mistake.  They must be busy working on deadlines down, or up, there especially that the administration is in deep shit with all the youth killings by cops, Pulong and Mans involvement in smuggling (shabu?) and that dragon tattoo supposedly linking the Davao Vice Mayor to the Chinese triad, and also how they made September 11 a non-working holiday to commemmorate the birthday of a late dictator.

By the way, anybody knows who Lei is?

I'm sure he or she can shed light to all these questions. This is not a serious issue though. Just a technical glitch, perhaps. But poking fun and aggravating issues to greater proportions is what majes articles sell,  especially on a slow day when we've written all that needs to be written about EJK.

Friday, September 8, 2017

Immune Ba Ang VIP Sa Tokhang?


VIP lang ang exempted sa Tokhang.

Kahit pa drug lord, kung maraming pera naman, sa Malacanang pa iimbitahan iyan. Pero kung ikaw ay dukha, malamang patay ka na at sasabihing nanlaban, nakipag-putukan o nang-agaw ng baril.

"Walang kahihitnan ang War on Drugs na iyan. Ang problema ng bansa ay mga gahaman na pulitiko na hinahayaang sa iilan lamang napupunta ang oportunidad at biyaya. Mga inutil na ahensiya ng gobyerno na mas pinapaboran ang mga korporasyon at oligarch.

Mabibilang mo kung sino-sino ang mga natatanging "Anak ng Diyos" dito sa Pilipinas - mga mayayamang pamilya na pag-aari na halos buong bansa.

At ang kakulangan sa edukasyon para matuto ang lahat. Kaya hinahayaang nilang maging mangmang ang mga tao ay para di sila maging mapanuri. Maabutan lang ng kaunting halaga o groceries, akala mo superhero na yung nagbigay.

Kailangang matuto ng tao para malaman kung sino ang tamang taong mamumuno sa atin. Hindi yung kung sino lang ang may kayang gumastos ng milyon-milyon, pero Hindi naman qualified. Walang alam kundi magpa-cute sa camera. Sadyang photo ops lang ang habol para masulat sa dyaryo na namimigay kunwari ng tulong.

Saan pa ba nila babawiin ang kanilang ginastos kundi sa kaban ng bayan. Sino ba naman ang maglalabas ng malaking pera para lang maglingkod eh magagawa naman natin yun kahit wala tayo sa pwesto.

Once na magkaroon ng posisyon sa gobyerno, akala mo VIP na sa lahat ng pagtitipon. Eh di ba public servant sila, so taong bayan dapat ang umupo sa magarbong silya.

Kahit ano pa sabihin nila, may motibong iba ang mga iyan. Lalo na ngayon maraming drama dahil malapit na naman ang eleksyon. Siguradong maraming pasabog na naman tayong mababalitaan."

Ang VIP treatment at hindi dapat napupunta sa mga public servants. Sila dapat ang nagbibigay sa atin ng special tender loving care and attention.

Kapag dumarating tayo, hindi dapat tayo pinaghihintay. Hoy, yung forced tax contribution ko ang nagpapasweldo sa inyo. Ako dapat ang nauunang pinagsisilbihan!

Tanga lang kasi ang peg ng karamihan. Nakakalimutan na tayo dapat ang boss at hindi yung ating binoto.

The PCOO Is Not Stupid!

On the contrary, the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) is not weak or stupid.  It just doesn't have enough good news to share to rise above the rising fact that DUTERTE IS A MASS MURDERER.

The only way they could disseminate something positive is by fabricating news. Sadly, they are not fiction writers.

If it comes out directly from the President's dirty mouth, how is PCOO going to twist and turn that to something positive or beneficial to them?

Hey, I can't possibly blog that Duterte is humane, when I hear him encouraging everyone to kill, lambast foreign allies, joke about raping women, lawyering for the Marcos family,  defending erring cops, and cursing the opposition. Do we even talk about his failure to do what he promised during campaign period....and what seems to be trivial like declaring Marcos' birthday as a non-working holiday in Ilocos, we know that the issue here is thicker than any layered cake you can bake.

When you try to make me come up with something good out of nothing, I might as well resign and write about showbiz chismis instead. At least in showbiz,  everyone knows it's all make believe and everyone is acting.

Bloggers should counter all these effort to depict him as our saviour. There are now movements trying to justify his deplorable statements and actions. We need to be critical enough to distinguish between fact and fiction.

Duterte has been digging graves ever since he entered politics, do not let him put us underground even with the promise of a luxurious coffin and a band playing our favorite songs.

Oh, but I blog about the accomplishments of his agencies, but the proliferation of fake news by his followers mostly hiding behind the anonimity of social media is upsetting.
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