Experience an Epic Christmas at Bonifacio Global City

Wazzup Pilipinas!

This Holiday Season, Bonifacio Global City’s streets come alive as countless retail and office buildings, bedecked with red glistening ribbons, transform into larger-than-life Christmas presents waiting to be unwrapped, while main avenue lamp posts and even BGC buses are adorned with beaming bows that bring the holiday festivity all over the city. In true, quirky BGC-fashion, even the traffic lights are a-glowing with green Christmas trees to tell you when to go and red stars for when it’s time to stop.

The main centerpiece is a 50-foot Christmas tree filled with sparkling ornaments, standing tall at Bonifacio High Street, complemented by a massive gift-box train, an instant blockbuster and favored selfie-spot amongst BGCitizens, families, and guests.

But perhaps the most exciting new attraction this year is BGC’s Epic Sights & Sounds Spectacle at the Bonifacio High Street Park. It is not your typical lights show, not like the ones you see in other estates. More than a showcase of illuminations and decorations, it is a full production: concert-quality, multi-colored strobe lights and moving heads dance in perfect sync with over-the-top, world-class musical scoring from international composer Brock Snow, a third year major of Film Scoring at the Virginia-based Liberty University who also plays as cellist for the Liberty University Symphony Orchestra.

BGC’s Epic Sights & Sounds Spectacle is sure to be a sensorial treat, perfect for BGC’s young, vibrant, and millennial-driven community. An Epic Experience, this is the Christmas of the future.

Catch this one-of-a-kind show at the Bonifacio High Street Park, fronting Italiannis, from December 1-26, every 30 minutes, between 6pm to 10pm daily.

A Christmas Carol, The Musical: On stage
Another holiday treat that kids and adults alike will surely love is the staging of “A Christmas Carol.”

It’s a world famous Christmas-themed play that’s based on the book by English author Charles Dickens. It revolves around the life of Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghostly encounters, brought the life by the music of acclaimed musical composer Alan Menken.

Over 30 well-known and emerging talents in the Philippine theater industry will bring “A Christmas Carol” to life beginning December 1, 6pm at the Bonifacio High Street Amphitheater. 

More Christmas treats at BGC

Of course, the Filipino Christmas wouldn’t be complete without celebrating the traditional nine-day Simbang Gabi.

The BGC Association, in partnership with the BGC community city gives everyone the chance to hear the Holy Mass every night, from Dec. 5-24, at 6pm at the Bonifacio High Street Amphitheater.

A nearby stall from Lorenzo’s Way will greet you after the mass for a treat of hot choco and ensaymada!

Exciting perks also await Mastercard cardholders on this most wonderful time of the year!

Use your card to earn prizes! Secure a raffle coupon for every minimum spend of Php3,000 (single or accumulated receipt) at any Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Stopover, Crossroads, One Parkade, Two Parkade, The Fort, or Park Triangle establishment, and get a chance to be one of five winners of an epic P100,000 shopping spree at Bonifacio High Street; an overnight stay at Seda Hotel BGC; two free admission tickets to The Mind Museum & two complimentary passes to Bonifacio High Street Cinemas.

From the smallest of details to the grandest of gestures, BGC fulfills its promise to spread the Yuletide cheer and provide an epic Christmas adventure like no other! 

For more information on BGC’s full holiday schedule of activities & promos, visit www.facebook.com/bonifacioglobalcityph.

Microsoft Cloud Summit Helps ISV Partners Bring Innovative and Disruptive Solutions to the Philippine Market

Wazzup Pilipinas!

As businesses in the Philippines are embracing the cloud to make them highly competitive, Microsoft and its independent software vendor (ISV) partners have staged cloud application solutions for various industries during the Cloud Solutions Summit at the Blue Leaf Filipinas, Parañaque City.

The Cloud Solutions Summit has helped executives and business owners discover how embracing the hybrid cloud model can help IT manage increasing security and complexity in line with changing business needs. This event followed Microsoft’s recent general availability of Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 in the Philippines, which are directed at helping enterprises accelerate moves to the highly secure hybrid cloud.

At the event, Microsoft and its ISV partners showcased cloud application solutions for manufacturing, retail, banking, healthcare and small & medium enterprise (SME) sectors for businesses to jumpstart their digital transformation journey. Participating ISVs presented their cloud app pitches similar to the “Shark Tank” reality TV show, with My-Checkpoints emerging as winner. My-Checkpoints (https://www.my-checkpoints.com/help/aboutus.html) is a performance and rewards platform developed for BPO companies designed to provide fun incentives and rewards to their employees.

Photo caption: Herns Hermida, Microsoft Philippines Cloud & Enterprise Business Lead moderates the panel discussion at the Cloud Solutions Summit with (left to right): Brian Perry Ortañez, Systems Engineer, Fortinet; Dr. Ryan Bañez, Chief Medical Informatics Officer of Health Informatics; Dindo Fernando, Senior Channel Manager, Microsoft Philippines; Lars Jeppesen, CEO and co-founder Tech One Global and David Mould, Chief Digital Advisor, Microsoft Consulting Services

Explanation of Vote of Sen. Hontiveros on AIIB

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros’ explanation of vote on the Philippines’ ratification of membership to the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
"Mr. President, I have refused to sign the resolution ratifying the Philippines’ accession to the Articles of Agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

This is because, before becoming a member of another international financial institution, we should put our house in order by verifying whether the loan agreements our country has entered into with these institutions are in accordance with the principles on responsible sovereign lending and borrowing published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Among others, these principles make lenders responsible for making realistic assessments of the sovereign borrower’s capacity to service a loan based on the best available information and following objective and agreed technical rules on due diligence and national accounts.

Lenders are also made responsible for performing their own ex ante investigation into and, when applicable, post-disbursement monitoring of, the likely effects of the project, including its financial, operational, civil, social, cultural, and environmental implications.