Miss Scuba Philippines 2017 Evening Gown Competition

Congratulations to the winners of MISS SCUBA PHILIPPINES 2017 Evening Gown Competition held on October 4, 4017 at
City State Tower Hotel.

The top 3 winners are :
Candidate # 11 Dani Acuña
Candidate # 14 Fel Banaybanay
Candidate # 15 Sherlyn Legaspi Doloriel





Miss Scuba Philippines 2017 is the very first run of the beauty pageant seeking ocean ambassadors ready to advocate towards the protection and preservation of marine or aquatic resources.

DOTr Moves for Termination of MRT-3's BURI Contract, Claims Contract is Void Ab Initio

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) today expressed its firm stance to terminate the maintenance contract for MRT-3 with Busan Universal Rails Inc. (BURI), stating that the contract was void from the beginning.

During an inquiry by the House of Representatives' Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chaired by Rep. Johnny Pimentel, DOTr officials stated that the maintenance contract with BURI is questionable and void ab initio.

DOTr Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Procurement Reiner Paul Yebra said that his office has already recommended the termination of the BURI contract and is now awaiting for report verification by MRT-3. 

Usec. Yebra said that his office will also consider blacklisting BURI from participating or entering into any contract with the government, as suggested by Rep. Pimentel.

He said his office is likewise reviewing the filing of appropriate charges against those involved in the MRT-3 maintenance deal before the Office of the Ombudsman.

During the inquiry, DOTr MRT-3 officials also belied claims of BURI that it did not bill the government for two Vehicle Logic Units (VLUs), amounting to PHP 4 million.

A VLU, which costs PHP 2 million each, is part of the Automatic Train Protection system, which according to Atty. Hernando Cabrera of the DOTr Railways Sector, is the "heart and soul" of the safety operations of any train system. The VLU controls the speed and brakes of a train to avoid over speeding, keeps safe distance between trains, and applies brakes to avoid collisions.

DOTr MRT-3 showed to the Committee documents from BURI showing that the firm has billed the government for the 2 VLUs. 

DOTr MRT-3 also provided documents showing that BURI already installed the VLUs in car nos. 6 and 63. 

Further, it was revealed during the hearing that BURI was only issued its Certificate of Incorporation from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) after it was awarded the MRT-3 maintenance contract. 

"DOTC awarded the (maintenance) contract to BURI on Dec 23, 2015 but such consortium was only registered to SEC January 4, 2016. Hindi lang fake ang spare parts. Fake din ang contract," Pampanga Congressman Dong Gonzales said.

The House Committee asked DOTr MRT-3 to submit all documents, including the maintenance contract signed during the previous administration and a list of names involved in the approval of the contract, who will then be summoned to the Committee's next hearing.

The Committee also asked DOTr MRT-3 to submit its own investigation report before the next hearing.

The DOTr recently withheld the payment of the VLUs due to the failure of BURI to provide the necessary supporting documents such as the Factory Inspection Report and Certificate of Origin.

Ready, Get Set, Let's Go to Komiket!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Filipino Komiks Art Market (KOMIKET) will launch its biggest event of the year from October 14 to 15 at Centris Elements, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City.

Over 450 komiks creators, illustrators and writers, ready to share their newest works, will be present during the event. Meet and greet Komiks Superstars Arnold Arre, Gerry Alanguilan, Pol Medina Jr., and Manix Abrera, social media heavyweights Hunghang Flashbacks, Sskait and Libreng Komiks, art market favorites Gwapings ng Komiks, Ilustrador ng Kabataan, Patay Kung Patay, first-time creators from the 3rd Comic Book Creator’s Workshop, among others.

The first 1,000 attendees will get a free copy of KOMMUNITY, a komiks collection from some of the creators of the local komiks community. Artists and readers will unite at the KOMIKET TALKS: Readers Meet Creators. At least ten book club communities will meet and discuss with the creators for the first time. Get first dibs on the latest releases and bring home stickers, postcards, prints, zines and books in this affordable art market. 

Tickets are priced at 100 pesos each. Check out the Komiket Facebook page for more details.

Viber Celebrates Two-Year Anniversary of its Deleted Messages Feature, with Over 5 Billion Times Users Were Saved from Embarrassment

Viber, one of the world’s leading messaging apps is celebrating the two-year anniversary of Deleted Messages, which officially launched in November 2015. As of today, Viber announces that users have deleted a total of five billion messages thus far.

Viber understands that everyone has those moments when you hit send but realize you’ve sent the message or photo to the wrong person, or that you should have used a different word! For the past two years, Viber has prided itself on being the app that forgives and forgets, so you never need to worry if you accidentally send your boss a “NSFW” photo.

Viber’s Deleted Messages feature allows users in both one-on-one conversations and group messages to delete a message sent by accident immediately. Viber’s unique functionality allows users to delete messages for up to two weeks, even if a message had previously been read. Viber keeps an in-chat trace to let users know on each side if a message was deleted. The company is planning to roll out advanced features in the near future pertaining to this function.

Since its inception, Viber’s innovative technology has created market standards for others. Viber most recently launched its Chat Extension feature at the end of 2016, which allows users to access a range of top tier content through services like YouTube, Spotify, Vice, Booking.com and GIPHY from within the chat window to search, share and consume, eliminating the need for users to toggle between apps.

“Here at Viber, we are proud that users are enjoying the innovative features of our app, like our Delete Messages functionality,” says Djamel Agaoua, Viber CEO. “We love hearing personal anecdotes from users how this feature saved their reputation. We are very flattered to see other apps are following Viber’s path, and are introducing their takeoffs of Viber’s innovations that’s available for our users for a while. I’m certain the exciting features we have launched this year like our super popular chat extensions will continue to create an industry benchmark in the future.”

Culinaire 2017: Our Passport to a Flight of Flavors

Congratulations to Juan Carlo catering for winning three awards (Best Appetizer, Best Main Dish and Best Setup) at the Culinaire 2017 event held last night at SMX Convention Center Manila.

I believe Juan Carlo emerged as the crowd favorite as well last year. They have obviously been consistent with the quality and taste of their dishes even in small servings.

Juan Carlo was followed by Conrad Manila for winning two awards (Best Dessert and Best Service). There were 14 that night but the awards were all received by the said two caterers as voted by the attendees themselves.

Though the caterers had been designated to offer specialties coming from different countries (Germany, China, Japan, Korea, Italy, Turkey, France, USA, India, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand and the Philippines) to conform with the theme of the night "Flight of Flavors," where we had a boarding pass and passport accompanying us as we roam around our different culinary destinations.

But before all the tummy traveling treats, the management of SMX welcomed the attendees and presented the good news that happened, happening nd about to happen with their many venues from Megatrade Halls to SMX Conventions Centers here in Manila and other areas like Davao and Cebu.

Conrad Manila got Best Dessert and Best Service Awards

Juan Carlo Catering got three awards (Best Appetizer, Best Main Dish and Best Setup)

The caterers who participated were the same batch as last year but with the addition of three more (Kitchen City, M Catering and Fine Foods, and Manila Catering). The original batch are LJC Group Catering Service, Tamayo's Catering, TJIOE, Via Mare, Albergus, Bizu, Conrad Manila, Hizon's Catering, Josiah's Catering, Event Shaker Mobile Bar (the only bar) and Juan Carlo.

All caterers have given their best but still everyone was required to vote for their chosen ones to win five awards. It is also times like these that many would wish they have a bigger stomach. With 14 caterers (1 bar) offering delightful dishes, you could not really fit everything in one seating so I had to go through every dish offering half-way . Meaning, I had to eat only half or just a portion of everything so I would have room for everything. I felt I had this obligation to judge them well so skipping a caterer was not an option. My mission that night was to taste everything even if it means not being able to consume the entire portions of the dishes.

To be objective in my judgement, I had to sacrifice eating only half of that Churros, just a portion of that Slow Braised Beef Ribs and Roasted Leg of Ham, just a piece of that Azuki Pearls with Rose Jelly ..... you get the idea.

Juan Carlo's Beef Brasatto truly was tender and tasty deserving of the Best Main Dish win. Their Setup is equally superb since it attracts attention in just one look, while their Wrap a la Portofino appetizer is worth every praise.

Conrad Manila's dessert CO2 Soju Lime was quite unique for me and makes you want to return for more as your happy ending.

The organizers of the event know very well to offer finger foods and cocktails before the event started, and the final drink of coffee that was available for everyone at one side of the venue.

Culinaire is really an event I always look forward to. Being my third time at a Culinaire event has given me the opportunity to compare, and I could very well say that the event has been constantly improving every year. Congratulations to SMX for a very successful event.

Fashion Revolution: Sarah Geronimo and Jak Roberto Grace 12th Anniversary of Michaela

Aside from Sarah Geronimo, Michaela now has a male endorser, in the person of Jak Roberto, for their male products like belts, wallets, sling bags, etc., but it seems the ladies are more excited seeing him at the 12th Anniversary Fashion Revolution. They obviously want to attract more male customers but I've seen lots of young ladies swooning over the hunk during his time on stage performing at the 12th Anniversary celebration of Michaela dubbed as Fashion Revolution.

Michaela held their special event at Robinson's Mall Manila on September 30, 2017. The event had two parts of which the first was dedicated more in engaging with their avid customers by allowing them to join games and win Michaela merchandize as prizes.

While the second part was the main event and hosted by Mr. Steven Silva and Ms. Stephany Stefanowitz. This is when both brand ambassadors, Sarah Geronimo and Jak Roberto finally performed on stage and spent a few more minutes of interview with the hosts, and limited photo ops with fans who purchased Michaela products that was available at special prizes that day only.

But even before the two ambassadors set foot on stage to please the crowd, there were already several fashion segments, presentation of M Cares, and song and dance numbers to entertain and inform the crowd.

A Delightful Dinner of Sustainable Seafood & Wine Pairing at 22 Prime

For the whole month of October, get to experience a sumptuous Sustainable Seafood and Wine Pairing dinner treat for less than Php3,000.

You'll definitely dine with heart at 22 Prime  of Discovery Suite as it now offers an elaborate Sustainable Seafood Menu featuring artisanal fishing seafood products, in partnership with Meliomar Sustainable Seafood Solutions.

At a media launch held just a few days before the month of October, selected members of the media, together with the peeps from Discovery Suites and their partner brands, were invited to try their proud dinner offering.

I have to say that the night was not only filling but tasty as well for both meals and wine servings. Add the ambiance of the 42nd floor which is the highest point of Discovery Suite, you'll feel the elegance rarely experienced by the average person. At an amount justifiable as a reward for a good day's work, you'll never think twice of coming to dine on this fabulous treat.

The four-course dinner was worth the traffic congestion afterwards as the taste of both wine and seafood still lingered making it a very memorable night of gastronomic delight. We have to thank the chef for such a magnificent dinner, and the three kinds of wine as your choices to be paired with every dish except the dessert.

I  must admit I was already anticipation of the next dish after tasting the fresh Mackerel Fish Carpaccio and Spanner Crab Fritters with Compressed Fennel Salad, Micro Greens, and Seaweed Pepper. All parts of the dish offer distinctively unique tastes which prompts you to also try them out individually or in combination.

Second dish served was the Seafood Volute with Saffron Foam served Parmesan Herbs. Now this soupy dish has mutually complementing solid and liquid ingredients that you'll want to come back to have more.

The main course is a succulent Surf and Turf, Sous Vide Fillet Mignon and Grilled Selva Prawns, with Cauliflower Puree, Baby Carrots, and Mushroom Dust, served with Truffle and Garlic Compound. You'll be amazed with the size of the two pieces of prawn. One would already fill you up but they have two to further satisfy you. But wait there's more so make room for the meat that's perfectly cooked as tender and juicy just the way we like it.

Head on to dessert with a delightful Fresh Strawberry Soup with Grilled Peaches and White Chocolate Mousse. Of course, all great meals must end with a great dessert. It is not very often that I get to experience sweet endings that has soup combined with Chocolate Mousse and my favorite fruits like peaches and strawberry.

The special line-up is paired with a choice of Renmano Chairman’s Selection Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay, or Anakena Sauvignon Blanc distributed exclusively to hotels of Futuretrade.

Thank you Discovery Suite for inviting us at your special intimate event. I feel honored being part of it.

Sustainable Seafood The Discovery Leisure Company envisions that all menus across their hotels and resorts will serve only seafood sourced from sustainable fishing by 2020. An effort to address seafood depletion and artificial seafood cultivation, artisanal fishing involves small scale fisheries that perform natural breeding and traditional fishing techniques, having low impact on aquatic habitats and high catch selectivity. Hence, not only is the aquatic environment preserved, but also are the seafood products organic and fresh.

This Sustainable Seafood Specials and Wine Pairing promotion runs October 1 until October 30, 2017. Delight in these sumptuous seafood specials while supporting a good cause for the country’s aquatic environments and noble fishermen. 

22 Prime at the 22nd floor of Discovery Suites, 25 ADB Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines, and is open daily from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM. For inquiries and reservations call +63 2 719 8888, e-mail reservations@ds.discovery.com.ph, or visit http://www.discoverysuites.com/bars-restaurants/22-prime/



Stay up to date & follow Discovery Suites:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverySuitesOrtigas/
• Instagram: @discoverysuites
• Twitter: @discoverysuites

Five Davao Aguilas FC Players Get Called Up for Philippines Squad AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Match VS Yemen

Five Davao Aguilas FC (DAFC) players, have been called up to be part of the Philippine men’s national team squad for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Match between the Philippines and Yemen.  The match will take place on October 10, 2017, at the Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

This will be the second time that Azkals and Yemen will face each other for the qualifiers.  Their last encounter ended in a 2-2 draw last September 5, 2017, at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, which saw top Davao Aguilas FC players Phil and James Younghusband contributing 1 goal each, for the Philippine side.

The five (5) Davao Aguilas players are as follows:


    1.    DE BRUYCKER, Dylan
    2.    O’DONNELL, Nicholas
    3.    ROTA, Simone
    4.      YOUNGHUSBAND, James
    5.    YOUNGHUSBAND, Phil


This is also the second call up for 19-year old Fil-Belgian Dylan De Bruycker, who is also a key player in the U22 Philippine men’s football team.

Head Coach Marlon Maro of Davao Aguilas FC says, “The call up is a confirmation that DAFC players have quality.  As a football club, we are committed to helping Philippine football.  My best wishes to Azkals and to all DAFC players.  Make our country proud!”



For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/DAFCofficial.


Photo Caption: Davao Aguilas FC Team Captain Phil Younghusband going for the goal,
at one of their recent matches in Tagum City, which ended in a draw.

Online Property Hunting in the Philippines Continues to Grow

Global property marketplace Lamudi revealed that Pinoy’s online behavior grows more aggressive each year

As Internet and mobile usage in the Philippines continue to grow, their impact and influence to Filipino consumers have likewise expanded not only in our social media habits but also in other life applications, including house hunting. People continue to embrace technology, specifically e-commerce, that everyday solutions are a mere tap away.

Transportation services, accommodation, and even grocery shopping can now be done via mobile applications. Instinctively, going online is also the initial reaction of most shoppers today. If something piques one’s interest, people search online first before buying a product or availing a service.

In preparation for the upcoming Lamudi Housing Fair on October 13–15, global property website Lamudi studied its data to find out the online behavior and demographic of its users. Lamudi has been in the Philippine market for four years, and from its inception the number of Filipino homebuyers who go online even for their investment initiatives is evidently growing.



Online Behavior of Lamudi Users

Real estate is considered the biggest purchase a person could ever make in their lifetime. As such, it is hardly surprising that people start their research online, even when the actual buying will take place months after.

A study by Lamudi in 2015 revealed that close 80 percent of potential house-hunters use real estate portals, search engine, or social media to look for property. And being the most visited real estate portal in the Philippines, Lamudi’s onsite data can show how these online property hunters behave.

In 2014, Lamudi recorded 2.4 million visits to their website, which more than tripled in 2015 to 8.08 million visits. The year 2017 is yet to enter the fourth quarter and Lamudi already have recorded close to 11 million visits to its website, indicating that this year could easily surpass 2016’s 12.37 million visits.

In terms of age, a large chunk of Lamudi users are in fact millennials (or people between the age 25 and 34 years). People from this age bracket comprised 39.15 percent of all Lamudi users in the first 9 months of 2017, followed by the 35–44 age group (20.16 percent) and the 18–24 age group (16.84 percent).

Meantime, close to a quarter (24.2 percent) of Lamudi searches in the first 9 months of 2016 come from overseas, specifically from the USA (6.78 percent), the UAE (1.79 percent), Singapore (1.58 percent), Canada (1.48 percent), and Saudi Arabia (1.33 percent). In addition, as revealed even in the first years of Lamudi’s operation, women dominate online property-hunting in the Philippines. In the first 9 months of 2017, 59.6 percent of Lamudi users are female compared to 40.4 males.



Lamudi Housing Fair 2017

However, for the traditional homebuyer, Lamudi has something for you. As property purchase is a such a tedious process that face-to-face interaction with a seller is a must, the global property website is organizing the 2017 edition of its very popular Lamudi Housing Fair. Slated to be held on October 13–15 at the Megatrade Hall 1 of SM Megamall, this year’s edition is putting together property auctions, homebuying seminars, and talks from government officials. This unique event of everything real estate will not only make property hunting safe and easy, exclusive discounts to homebuyers will also be made available by Lamudi’s partner developers during the event. To know more about the 2017 Lamudi Housing Fair, visit www.lamudi.com.ph/housing_fair.

Fly to Hong Kong and Singapore for Free with TravelBook.ph!

Make your dream Asian getaway come true as TravelBook.ph, the leading online travel agency (OTA) in the Philippines, raffles off free trips to Hong Kong and Singapore by participating at their Log in Members Campaign!

In this exciting campaign, three (3) lucky TravelBook.ph members who will log in from September 26 to October 25, 2017 will receive free trip packages to Hong Kong and Singapore. Prizes are inclusive of roundtrip airfares, hotel accommodations, and pocket money for two.

How to avail?

1, New customer
Sign up for free at www.travelbook.ph/users/register from September 26 to October 25, and get change to be a winner! It takes only 30 seconds to register and log-in!

2, Current member of travelbook.ph
Existing travelbook.ph members may also join the said raffle by logging in once during the indicated campaign period.

Two (2) winners of a free trip to Hong Kong will be chosen from the successful TravelBook.ph registrations made from the first two weeks of the campaign. Meanwhile, registrations during the last week of the campaign will be counted as automatic raffle entries for one (1) Singapore trip winner.

Official weekly announcement of winners will be posted on TravelBook.ph’s official Facebook page on October 9, 18, and 27, respectively, after an electronic draw with a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) representative. Winners will also be notified through the contact details they provided upon their membership registration.

How to sign-up for TravelBook.ph membership

Signing up at TravelBook.ph is free! Just follow these easy steps:

1.     Access www.travelbook.ph/users/register and register a valid email address.

2.     Validate your account by entering the validation code sent to your registered mail.

3.     After the account has been verified, log-in and update your profile.

And that’s it! You’re now a TravelBook.ph member!

Registered TravelBook.ph members have been enjoying rewarding opportunities to travel more.

Cheaper deals and big discounts also await TravelBook.ph members as they get exclusive insider deals for the tour plans and hotel deals offered by the leading travel agency.

Apart from that, members may exclusively avail of the hassle-free Pay-At-Hotel No Credit Card Needed payment option that is available in more than 1,200 TravelBook.ph affiliated hotels nationwide. With this payment option, the customers may conveniently settle their booking payment on the day of their check-in without giving their credit card details or paying over-the-counter.

TravelBook.ph also lets their members earn big reward points for every hotel accommodation booked through via their website or mobile app. These reward points may be used for their next hotel booking at any of the wide selection of 3,300 affiliated hotels of TravelBook.ph nationwide.

Start planning your dream Hong Kong or Singapore getaway right now! Find out more about this raffle by visiting https://www.travelbook.ph/blog/fly-hong-kong-singapore-free/.