Cusi Outlines PH’s Energy Thrust in Abu Dhabi Meet

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Advancing continental energy cooperation, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi led a delegation from his department in taking an active role during the 15th Ministerial Meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Abu Dhabi.

The dialogue hosted by the United Arab Emirates last Jan. 17 had for its theme “Abu Dhabi, the Capital of Sustainable Energy.”

In his speech, Secretary Cusi said “ACD is evolving to a higher level and serious intent of cooperation. The Philippines is one with the ACD in pursuing its vision of sustainable energy and secured energy access for Asia.”

Recognizing the importance of energy planning with rising power demand due to rapid urbanization, Sec. Cusi emphasized that “the energy sector will play a critical role in ensuring the reliable supply of energy to all our consumers nationwide. We take the role of sustainable energy very seriously.”

“We continue to work with other countries to ensure a strong enabling environment which will encourage greater investment, especially in renewable forms of energy, as well as other conventional forms of energy,” he added.

Global Filipino Schools Enhance eLearning with 220 Tablet Donation from Cloudfone

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Select public schools under the Global Filipino School (GFS) program of Globe Telecom can now further enhance digital learning and promote love of reading among K-12 students through the help of 220 tablets donated by Cloudfone, one of the leading providers of smartphones and tablets in the country.

Globe and Cloudfone launched the partnership by holding a different kind of reading session at the Andres Bonifacio Integrated School in Mandaluyong City where 40 grades 5 and 6 students enjoyed stories told by Globe employee volunteers using the tablets.

The first 11 schools which implemented the GFS program received Cloudpad 900TV tablets pre-loaded with an ebook reader app. The tablets are on top of the regular Globe Digital Laboratory package that are provided to all GFS containing netbooks/tablets, wifi devices, and a mobile cart with a built-in projector screen.

"Part of Cloudfone's advocacy is to equip the youth of today with technological devices such as these Cloudpads, to make their learning experience awesome and worthwhile,” said Eric S. Yu, President and CEO of Cloudfone.

“Through this partnership with Cloudfone, more students and teachers can have access to a vast library of information previously out of their reach. Students can go beyond what they learned in the classroom with just a few clicks while teachers benefit too because the information they get from the internet can make for more interesting and enriching lessons,” said Yoly Crisanto, Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications of Globe.

With the help of the tablets, students and teachers can fully explore the GFS Library (http://www.gfslibrary.com), a free, web-based platform that provides free and quick access to digital story books for children and young adults as well as textbooks on core subjects such as Math, Science, English, Filipino, Music, Arts, among others. They may also use the Globe-provided internet service to connect to the GFS Library and to download as many titles as needed for their learning needs.

Under GFS, schools are provided with unparalleled online connectivity to give homeroom teachers access to limitless teaching and learning engagements available on the internet that will help further improve their craft and make learning fun and interesting for the students.

GFS Library is a component of the GFS program, a long-term Globe educational initiative that seeks to transform public schools into centers of Information and Communications Technology excellence and innovative teaching methods in order to set the stage for 21st Century Learning.

All schools under GFS are, likewise, intended to become teacher training hubs and training partners of the DepEd Division Offices in conducting teaching workshops for neighboring schools of each division.

There are currently 80 schools under the GFS program, with Globe expecting to put up a GFS school in each of the 221 school divisions of the Department of Education (DepEd) nationwide within the next four years.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Students of Andres Bonifacio Integrated School listen intently to a Globe employee volunteer who reads them a story using the Cloudpad 900TV tablet.

DOTr Statement on 260% increase of Common Station from Original Php778 M to Php2.8 B

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Here is the statement of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in response to the post of Renato (Nato) Reyes Jr. re: 260% increase in the project cost for the Common Station from the original Php778 million in 2009 to Php2.8 Billion:

"CLARIFICATION: The Php777 million is not the cost for the SM City Annex Station. It is the ADDITIONAL COST TO THE ORIGINAL COST of the North Avenue Station of the North Extension Project (NEP) which was transferred to the SM Annex location because of MRT7. Please take note that the 2009 transfer of the NEP's North Avenue Station to the SM City Annex location was due to the fact that the MRT7 project was not yet in place back in 2006.

The original cost of the North Avenue Station of the NEP in 2006 was approximately Php780 million. When it was moved to SM City Annex in 2009, an additional Php777 million was needed with a total cost of around Php1.5 Billion. This is because the original North Avenue Station of the NEP was originally intended to service ONLY Lines 1 and 3. BUT, with the subsequent approval of Line 7, the government needed a bigger station to serve three (3) rail systems. Bigger station equals bigger budget.

The "additional" 777 million approved in 2009 was on top of LRT-1 NEP's original 2007 NEDA Board approved Project Cost of Php6.3 billion. The reason for the additional cost was because the SM Annex station (a.k.a. MM Integrated Rail Terminal) is larger than the original LRT-1 NEP terminal station across Trinoma (because instead of just being a transfer station between LRT-1 and MRT-3, the SM Annex station connected LRT-1, MRT-3, and MRT-7). Again, Php777 million is NOT the cost of the SM Annex station; Php777 million is the "ADDITIONAL" cost entailed by shifting from the original LRT-1 NEP terminal station across Trinoma to the SM Annex Station.