On Pages And Changes

Wazzup Pilipinas!

This weekend, I celebrated my birthday. Another fruitful year of my life has passed… a year of necessary endings and meaningful beginnings, meeting new friends and partners, traveling to new places, and motivating and empowering more of my fellow Filipinos. As I turn the page of a new chapter in my life, I am looking forward to new adventures to encounter and conquer.

This is also a crucial period for our country, because the National Elections that has been talk of the town for several months is finally happening. In a matter of weeks, our country will have a new set of leaders… leaders that have promised to bring about the “change” Filipinos have been yearning for.

CHANGE is such a funny thing. We want it so badly from other people but not for ourselves. We know it’s “the only constant thing in this world,” yet we resist it when it’s upon us. In a world where people got used to living out a routine, it’s quite understandable how change can be frightening and uncomfortable for most people.

Today, I’d like to challenge your perception on change. Instead of fighting change, why don’t you INITIATE change?

When I was 16 years old, I left my home in Mariveles, Bataan to study in the University of the Philippines, Diliman. It was also then when I began my voice acting career after winning a radio drama contest in DZMM. Since then, my life has taken twists and turns that I have never imagined for myself, and I mean that in a good way. Traveling the world as a youth advocate, building my own business, becoming a motivational speaker, creating the largest youth media organization in the country… none of those were part of the plan. But when life presented me with those opportunities, I knew it was my choice whether or not to take it. So I did.

Cycling App Wins Mobile App Design for Social Good

Wazzup Pilipinas!

In a country where traffic congestion is a perennial problem, a cycling app that aims to connect biking enthusiasts and provide bicycle-friendly neighborhoods caught the designing community’s fancy. Developed by Trisha Tobias, We are Here was chosen the winner of the Mobile App Design for Social Good category and recipient of the Lucille Tenazas Design Excellence Award at the recent adobo Design Awards.

Connecting friends and other bikers in the neighborhood who share the same route to places like office and school, the app establishes a common spot to meet up and creates a route to an area near their destinations, providing opportunity for people to establish bike groups or for people to simply undertake a lifestyle change together. Globe supported Mobile App Design for Social Good category to recognize entries in the mobile application format that presents creative solutions to social issues.

“Design is not just about making an artifact but it’s also about creating a strategy. It’s also about creating an impact. I think the idea of using bicycles as a mode of transportation is something that is being underused in our country. I think from the standpoint of design, this design solution enhances civic behavior. The designer in this case was able to present a solution that will impact society. It goes back to what I’ve always thought; design is not just about making things. It’s about making things happen.” said Lucille Tenazas, founder and principal of Tenazas Design, as she explained her choice for the award.

For her part, Globe Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Yoly Crisanto stressed “the app fits the bill for a technological innovation that drives positive societal change. We hope this will further inspire development of technological concepts that will benefit our society as we all strive in creating a wonderful Philippines,” Crisanto said.

In her entry, Tobias emphasized that cycling is a good solution to reduce carbon footprint and cut back on costs. However, there is lack of awareness of bike rules and etiquette, which often leads to accidents and even death. Instead of seeing a road to progress, people see risks, so they choose not to bike. She said studies have shown that vehicular drivers are more cautious when there are more bikers and pedestrians in the vicinity. There is safety in numbers and encouraging people to bike together is the first step to changing mindsets.

Aside from connecting bikers living or working in the same community, the app also features weather forecast in a given location to provide bikers an insight on whether the day is optimal for riding as well as upcoming events where bikers will be able to respond to invitations from friends, or browse for a community bike rides in their area. Facebook page for the movement also aims to inform people of bike rules.

Photo caption: Globe Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Yoly Crisanto (2nd from left) presents the Mobile App Design for Social Good category at the recent adobo Design Awards to Trisha Tobias (3rd from right), developer of We are here, a cycling app that gives cycling and biking communities the means to connect while driving positive societal change. Crisanto is joined by Angel Guerrero (2nd from right), President and Editor-in-Chief of adobo; Janelle Squires (3rd from left) adobo Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; and event hosts Rovilson Fernandez and Marc Nelson. 

Suicide at SM North EDSA

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We are here to bring you the news of another alleged suicide at one of the popular malls, if not the most, in the country.

It was not very long ago, sometime February of this year, that a person apparently jumped from a floor of SM Megamall where most have speculated to be suicide, but until now there was no confirmation about the incident. Sometime March, a foreigner, reportedly a German national, was also killed when he jumped from one of the floors, allegedly the 3rd floor, of SM Bacolod. We regret to inform you that it is another SM mall that's involved in another supposedly suicide, and this time, it's the SM North EDSA branch.

Yesterday at around 1:45 in the afternoon, there was a report of a suicide which immediately caught our attention and we can say that Wazzup Pilipinas was the first online media outfit to report the incident through our official Facebook fan page at http://www.Facebook.com/wazzuppilipinas. The post garnered thousands of shares from our followers which made it one of our most shared posts.

We are yet to get a statement from the SM Manageent regarding the details of the incident, and to get to know more about the identity of the victim. Until now, there has been nobody coming forth to personally claim knowledge of the victim.

We are deeply saddened by these news as we are equally shocked and horrified to even think of what could have driven these people to end their lives, if they truly committed suicide. Of course, we understand SM why they never try to expound on these stories as they are indeed not really good for business.