MoneyGram Honors Overseas Filipino Workers' Families with a Special Gathering

Wazzup Pilipinas!

MoneyGram launches a campaign to recognize millions of Filipinos working overseas and their families back home as modern day heroes.

“We understand the challenges and emotional stress experienced by families that are set apart. We want to bring them together not only thanks to our reliable and convenient money transfers but also give them a chance to reunite,” says Alex Chan Lim, country manager for the Philippines at MoneyGram.

“MoneyGram Idol Awards” are designed to honor our modern day heroes with one-of-a-kind gathering to take place in May 2017. To participate in this contest, receivers should visit http://global.moneygram.com/ph/en between December 5, 2016 and March 5, 2017 and fill in a simple form. By providing their personal as well as transaction details, participants get the chance to win cash prizes (20 x 5,00 pesos and 10 x 20,000 pesos) as well as an invitation to a special dinner hosted by MoneyGram in May, 2017. Lucky winners will be announced in the 4th week of March 2017.

“Philippines is one of the world’s largest remittance markets, according to the World Bank. In 2015 over $28 billion flowed into the country constituting for 9.6% of its’s GDP. At MoneyGram, we firmly believe that the money OFWs send back home provide not only for everyday needs of their families but also support them in achieving their dreams linked to education and investments,” added Lim.

"Best Pig Ever" Zubuchon of Cebu to Open in Manila by Early 2017

Wazzup Pilipinas!

When it comes to any special gathering, the lechon or "litson" is always the ultimate star of the dining table, don't you agree?

This is why Filipinos highly anticipate a roasted pig at the most special occasion like fiestas, weddings, anniversaries, reunions and just about every huge gathering that wants to please their guest with the very best dishes.

The lechon is placed in the middle as a centerpiece. Its rightful place should always be at the center. But in some events, they are placed at a certain corner because they still need to chop this pig into pieces to be served to the guests. Like bone-in-hams, rib-eyed steaks, roasted turkeys, etc., the lechon defines the best event from an ordinary event.

This is probably why when news about Zubuchon coming over to Manila was heard, many wanted to know when they can have a piece of this "best pig ever."

Zubuchon, coined from the words ZUBU (Cebu's name in old Spanish maps) and LECHON, aims to produce very high quality and superb tasting lechons and related food products and dishes using the finest ingredients and artisanal methods. To provide good value and superior service for customers while achieving profits for the benefit of all the stakeholders, with an emphasis on employees and the communities we operate in, makes this business establishment "real."

As stated from their Facebook page, Zubuchon source their pigs from backyard raisers all over the province of Cebu, are fed 100% organic feeds a week before they are cooked to totally cleanse the pigs’ systems. A "Zubuchon" lechon is stuffed with more than a dozen herbs and spices, and the pig’s skin is “acupunctured” or pricked all over, then sprayed with fresh coconut water. These processes result to a crispy and brown skin once roasted. No MSG nor soy sauce are used. The lechon is roasted over charcoal, using bamboo poles.

Getting confirmation from their official Facebook page, Zubuchon of Cebu hopes to open in Manila early 2017. This means anytime soon they'll be announcing a grand opening of their Manila branch.

Just as how popular restaurants from the provinces are beginning to make their presence felt in Manila, Zubuchon - which was made famous by the visit of Anthony Bourdain years ago - is now setting up a branch for their fans in Manila. Bourdain mentioned the lechon as the "best pig ever" in his defunct travela nd food sho "No Reservations."

The first branch of Zubuchon in Metro Manila will be located at Yakal corner Talisay Street at San Antonio, Makati, according to food mobile app Booky.

However, the Cebuanos are very much serious with their lechon. There are some netizens who are claiming that Zubuchon is not really the authentic Cebu lechon experience. They are saying that "Zubuchon isn’t legit Cebu lechon. It’s just… lechon made in Cebu." - Anna Oposa.

Michael Alino says "It's not a rumor when it's said to open in Manila...however, being Cebu's best lechon is indeed, not just a rumor, but a farse. I mean, as a true blue Cebuanon who grew up eating and loving lechon, it's like near to an insult when in fact your lechon fell a notch beneath the standards of the tradional Cebu lechon. And a real Cebuano like me knows my lechon. And no matter how you dress it up with good branding, along with some spruced up dining establisments, it simply couldn't compensate with how mediocre you did with the way you roast your whole pig and call it Cebu lechon."

Jeff Mendoza says "For me, an authentic lechon cebu, the skin should be smooth and crispy, well seasoned especally in the rib area with lots of (tangad, sibuyas dahonan ug uban pa) and the meat should be soft. Traditionally Cebuanos season their lechon at the center part of the pig where the flavors are equally distributed. Comparing it to Zubuchon's version, the skin was too salty while the meat was a bit bland. The skin is not smooth instead it looks like that of a chicharon where you can actually taste a mild bitterness of burnt skin. This is not the traditional lechon that makes me crave for lechon. though others might not agree and have a different preference, Lami gihapon ni."

But from what we see all over the online world, not everything you read is true or 100% reliable. These may be just designed to ruin Zubuchon's reputation. Like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, taste is also on the tongue of the taster. What's good enough for me may not be acceptable for someone else. 

Zubuchon already released an official statement regarding the issues:

"For the record, WE NEVER CLAIMED WE ARE THE BEST, NOR THE FAVORITE. NEVER.What you have been reading on social media were authored by the sites' writers and using our photos taken from this FB page.  

We NEVER PAID, NEVER SOLICITED, NEVER ASKED anyone to write about our Manila opening. What they wrote was their own opinion.

Let us all respect each other's preference and stop putting each other down. Our opening in Manila will create more jobs, help Cebu's local economy (as most of our products, even the pigs! will be coming from Cebu). We are currently employing close to 300 Cebuanos/Visayans in Cebu which in turn are supporting more than a thousand family members. We want to increase this number because our PRIMARY objective in creating this business was to provide REGULAR employment. 

Let us create more jobs, feed more people, send more children to school. 

Because in the end, making your life better and helping one another is what your life's goals should be about...

Below is our Company President's statement in his blog, Market Manila. We will put this issue to rest right here.

Thank you and we hope to see you in Manila"

http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/why-doesnt-everyone-just-strive-to-be-better-not-bitter#comments

Before making a judgement, it should be best if we try Zubuchon out first. Becoming gullible to rumors is not healthy. I'm sure the owner Joel Binamira would attest to the quality of their lechon as it would not remain in operation if it was not as they say it is. I've been to Cebu many times but just never had the opportunity to visit a Zubuchon branch. I'm hoping to try it as soon as it opens its branch in Manila.

You may check out http://www.zubuchon.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/pg/zubuchonphilippines for more details.

Amnesty International Reports on the Philippine Police’s Murderous War on the Poor

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"So how did Amnesty International confirm that the "assassins" they interviewed are indeed "assassins"?" - Sass Rogando Sasot

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar says that international human rights watchdog Amnesty International’s (AI) report on PHL’s war on drugs 'unfair.' After AI has reported that policemen are getting paid certain amounts for every drug personality they could kill, the Duterte administration is surely in the hot seat again. The report that police men are behind the vigilante killings is not too far-fetched. It may very well be the reality.

“Acting on instructions from the very top of government, the Philippines police have killed and paid others to kill thousands of alleged drug offenders in a wave of extrajudicial executions that may amount to crimes against humanity.”

AI has reported that two persons have claimed being paid by a police officer P10,000 for each killing of a suspected drug offender. The report also says that some police are rewarded by undertakers for sending dead bodies their way, police steal from victims' homes, and paid killers are on the police payroll. "The police are behaving like the criminal underworld that they are supposed to be enforcing the law against, by carrying out extrajudicial executions disguised as unknown killers and 'contracting out' killings." 

The police “systematically targeted mostly poor and defenseless people across the country while planting ‘evidence’, recruiting paid killers, stealing from the people they kill and fabricating official incident reports” says AI.

In its report presented to the media, AI said that the two individuals it interviewed referred to the police officer as their "boss" and that they were hired to kill even before President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office.

"They said that before President Duterte took office, they had around two 'jobs' a month. Now, they have three to four a week," AI said in its report.

The report quoted a "male killer" as saying that all of their kill orders come through the police officer, who was not identified.

"When we're given an order, there's an envelope," the male killer said, adding that the envelope would contain their target's name, address and a picture.

"It's almost a complete profile... Someone else has already been assigned to do surveillance," AI quoted the male killer as telling them.

The male killer claimed to AI that they carry out the killings as a "riding-in-tandem hit-and-run" style.

The female paid killer added that the envelops given to them "now give a drug link" of their supposed target.

"The rate depends. For a user, it's 5,000 pesos. For a pusher, 10,000 to 15,000 pesos. It depends on the person," the female killer was quoted as saying in the report.

She added that there are times when they kill more than one suspected drug offender, they are paid "per head."

"If they work in pairs, they split the payment," AI said.

The AI report revealed that "many drug-related killings are extrajudicial executions that directly implicate the police."

AI said its researchers interviewed 110 people nationwide, and documented 33 cases of drug-related killings, of which 20 occurred in formal police operations and 13 involved unknown armed men.

However, the PNP are denying the key finding in the report. “There is no such pay-offs,” says Chief Supt. Camilo Cascolan, chief of the PNP’s Directorate for Operations. “(We) never [knew] about such thing. We just do our job for the people,” he added.

More than 1,000 people are being killed a month in drug crackdown...and we have a President who boasts of the killings and even more if these suspected or alleged drug personalities do not shape up. But the easy way out is only for the affluent. Those who live in the slum areas are gunned down easily with a defense that they fought back against the drug bust raiders. No matter how the relatives testify that the victims did not and do not even have guns, their cries remained ignored by the government who is more protective of their police rather than the citizens.  The police have routinely claimed that they had been fired upon first, which directly contradicts the witnesses' claims.

Indeed, the police corruption and abuse is strikingly real. There is no war on drugs but a war on the poor. The same streets that Dutete vows to get rid of crime are now filled with bodies of people illegally killed by his own police. Often on the flimsiest of evidence or hearsay, people are accused of selling or using drugs, and being killed for cash in an economy of murder.

The report on the war vs drugs is also a big slap in the face of the Senator Richard Gordon-led Senate Justice Committee. Not surprisingly, Gordon calls the AI report as mere hearsay. Menawhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson wants AI to show proof or evidence to back their report.

Sr. Maria Vida Cordero, member of AI Philippines Board of Trustees, urged Duterte to put an end to his war on drugs.

"The war on drugs has become war on the poor," Cordero said. "Mr. President, listen to the cry of the poor. You cannot solve a crime with another crime."

On January 29, Duterte ordered the disbandment of all anti-drug units of the Philippine National Police in relation to the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo, where several policemen are allegedly involved.

PNP chief Director General Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said they will focus on "internal cleansing" for the meantime with the suspension of anti-illegal drug operations.

The war on drugs of the Duterte administration, however, would continue and will now be led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).