Flores de Pusher is the New Walk of Shame

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Tanauan, Batangas innovates their shame campaign against drug pushers with their newly repackaged and quite humorous walk of shame dubbed as Flores de Pusher reported to have been held on May 23, 2016.

Mayor Antonio Halili came up with his own version of the Flores de Mayo designed for the drug pushers of his city. The suspects, bearing the signs that say “Ako'y drug pusher, 'wag tularan,” were made to walk under a bamboo arch with the sign “Flores de Pusher." The Mayor explained that the “walk of shame” is an approach he found effective and conceptualized the thematic event. Eleven suspected drug pushers in Tanauan, Batangas, were forced to join the walk of shame campaign.

As a staunch advocate against illegal drugs, they say presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte supports the shaming of drug pushers.

Tanauan City is known to have a lot of drug addicts and pushers, and the Mayor's Anti-Crime Group lead by MACG Chief Mr Allan Fajardo is the one assigned to implement strategies to strengthen the fight against illegal drugs.

Sigh! It seems the iron-fist and unconventional style of governance of incoming President Rodrigo Duterte is slowly rubbing off on other people. But this is considered more humane than the Davao DEath Squad. Though the Commission on Human Rights is looking at this issue with a glaring eye, I doubt they have enough political will to implement any strong resistance against the Local Government Units.
What about you? Would you commend or abhor the Flores de Pusher?

Illuminate: Ignite the Light Featuring the Albert Andrada Collection

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Albert Andrada's beautiful and stunning creation were worn by some of the renowned Pinay beauty queens of the country. Illuminate: Ignite The Light, The Albert Andrada Collection was held on May 26, 2016 at the One Esplanade in Mall of Asia Complex Pasay City.

World-class Fililipina beauty queens including Miss World 2015 Top 10 Hillarie Danielle Parungao
Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Gabrena Ong, Miss Globe 2015 Ann Lorraine Colis, Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International 2015 Leren Mae Bautista, and Miss Intercontinental 2015 1st runner-up Christi McGarry.

All of them wearing beautiful gowns designed by world-class Filipino designer Sir Albert Andrada.

Viral newsmaker and former Binibining Pilipinas-Universe Maria Isabel Lopez also graced the runway during this Lumina Events show. After many years, Maria Isabel Lopes is still so graceful and exudes the real beauty queen aura unlike other past winners who allowed themselves to look like real grannies. 

We also saw Miss Universe Philippines 2011 Shamcey Supsup that is slim and sexy even after a recent pregnancy.

The event also featured other designers such as Rocky Gathercole, Bessie Besaña among others showcasing their collections modeled by Main Models.

Reigning Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong came out with designer Albert Andrada in the conclusion of Illuminate: Ignite the Light fashion event.

Congratulations to Albert Andrada for the fabulous collection.

Mynt Reaches Out to the Unbanked Via FinTech

Wazzup Pilipinas!

There is an urgent call for financial inclusion among a significant portion of the population as the country builds a healthy cash flow in the communities, prompting Mynt, a wholly-owned financial services company of Globe Telecom, to step in and provide the unbanked and underserved sectors a chance to take part of the shared growth for consumers and businesses.

“Mynt sees an opportunity to create a financially inclusive environment that will cater to every person who does not have access to formal financial facilities and services. We already started with the Philippines and will eventually move into the ASEAN region. Right now, there are about 1.5 billion people in the region who are unbanked and underserved and who can benefit from financial technology,” said John Rubio, Mynt President and CEO.

At present, three out of four Filipinos aged 15 years old and above do not have accounts with banks or financial entities, 95% of Filipinos do not have credit cards and 40 % of Philippine municipalities do not have access to physical banks.

“With no credit cards and no banks, many people succumb to informal lenders. Many of them also find it costly to send money. But with FinTech, anyone can have access to consumer loans, micro finance, various payment platforms, domestic and international remittance, and digital bills payments, among others,” Rubio said even as he pointed out that the rapid adoption of FinTech is necessary to create a digital nation which could further help the country move forward.