Philippines: Eric & Rona Singing to Stay in the Race!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Leg six of The Amazing Race Asia Season 5 kicks off with a piece of good news for Eric & Rona and Parul & Maggie – the teams are going to their home city: Manila, Philippines! In Manila, the teams need to head to Quiapo Market with a shopping list of essential items that will help the Red Cross Pasay Chapter.

“We are still here, second last is better than last. We can be first today….from the back!” JK muses.

The teams navigate through the busy streets of Quiapo Market, buying items including rice, sugar, first aid kit and an umbrella. The Philippines teams are right at home at Quiapo Market, they speak Tagalog and easily get help and directions from the locals. Not surprising, Eric & Rona and Parul & Maggie are the first two teams to complete this task.

“She’s the shopping queen, she does all our shopping…basically I’m just her butler,” says Eric describing his retail experience with Rona.

“I just see this list of things. I don’t cook and I never do grocery shopping,” Chloe tells Yvonne. “Dried fish? I don’t even know what a whole dried fish is supposed to look like!”

After getting the essential items, they must head to the Red Cross Pasay Chapter where disaster-affected families cheer at their arrival. The racers reflect on helping the less fortunate and how good it feels to give back.

“The family that we donated to, one of them had no higher limbs. We wished we could have spent more time with them,” Maggie reflects. “We did however have extra money, so it was nice to give back to people who are less fortunate.” 

The Stage is Set for BGC Passionfest, Arts Center Festival

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Once again we celebrate Filipino music, art and culture with special homage to the life of the hero Andres Bonifacio from where the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig got its name.

The BGC Passionfest is an annual event happening at BGC where people, especially its residents, are treated with grand, colorful parades, street dances, variety shows, games and workshops, and sumptuous food. It is spearheaded by the Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation.

Though it's only my third time to be part of this event, the BGC Passionfest has been ongoing for five years already. Be sure to remember the dates of November 25 to 27, 2016 as this would be another weekend of festivities along Bonifacio High Street and the city center.

BGC has never been so brighter and livelier everytime the BGC Passionfest is held. The experience from one point to the end leaves you reminiscent of the past when we used to be more extrovert by participating in outdoor activities. - Did I hear about a giant Slidefest? Wow! Now, that would be something to look forward to.

Nowadays, due to the advancement in technology, most of the activities could now be simulated by a mobile app, or a virtual walkthrough in 360 degrees presentation. But it is undeniable that the real-life personal hands-on experience will never beat any simulated experience. Technology still has its limitations especially when we need to socialize or witness the most sincerest feelings visually and emotionally. Nothing beats seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of people which becomes magical when in unison with a lot more people. Together we become a memorable showcase of delighted individuals with fascinating experiences.

Smart backs DevCon Summit 2016

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Leader in innovation Smart Communications supported the recent Developer Connect Philippines Summit 2016 at the SMX Convention Center, to help provide relevant information and resources to the growing developer community in the Philippines.

Dubbed as the country’s biggest developer conference, “Dev Future Forward” was participated in by more than 1,500 developers, students, and IT industry leaders.

“We appreciate Smart for supporting initiatives like this. We all know that Smart is at the forefront of innovation. By supporting DevCon, it is basically telling everyone that the industry welcomes up and coming developers to help spur innovation here in the Philippines,” said Mon Ibrahim, Program Director, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). “To all the developers, please continue acquiring knowledge and making meaningful innovations for the country.”

The two-day conference featured talks and panel discussions on The State of the Philippine Programming Talent, Developing Augmented Reality Apps, Best Practice in Software Development, Rediscovering Developer Opportunities in the Philippines, Government Initiatives for the IT Industry, Bridging the Gap Between the Academe and IT Industry, Service Leadership, Developing Apps and Platforms for Emerging Markets, Trends in Mobile and Web, and Philippine Developer/Tech Communities.

“A lot of the tools we have been using are actually created by these developers. This is a venue to open up new opportunities to innovate,” said Paul Pajo, Developer Evangelist of Smart DevNet, during the panel discussion on Rediscovering Developer Opportunities in the Philippines.

Aside from providing venues for innovation, Smart also provides training and equipment to partner educational institutions so that the culture of innovation starts at school. “Through this, we hope to bridge the gap between the industry and academe so that graduates can easily transition to become the country’s future innovators and technopreneurs,” said Steph Orlino, Smart Public Affairs Senior Manager.



During the conference, Voyager Innovations and PayMaya Philippines likewise showcased its growing suite of APIs for developers, including APIs for payments such as PayMaya Checkout and PayMaya vault, the freenet SDK for enterprises for easy whitelisting of apps and mobile website, as well as the Chikka API which allow developers to create and integrate SMS-based platforms and integrating multi-carrier SMS capabilities to their apps.



“I believe our developers as young as they are, can actually be the future in building this nation. Their technical know-how is very much vital in creating the products that can actually change or make a dent in the society, that’s why we at Voyager supports the DevCon,” said Justin Dayrit, Business Unit Head of Communications Technology, Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations arm of PLDT and Smart.



"It was a blast to be here in DevCon Summit for the first time. As students, a lot of what you learn from here motivate you to continue pursuing your course and never stop encoding your dreams. Strive hard even if it's difficult, because nothing is easy," said Alyssa Mae Marcial and Alex Alfred Villanueva, IT students from Cavite State University.



DevCon is a non-profit, non-government organization comprised of volunteer developers and non-developers that organize events and talks to improve the talent of Pinoy IT and create a community where they can interact with other developers.



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