DOE: Energy Situation Normal on Election Day

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi today disclosed that the power supply situation during the synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on Monday was generally normal except for isolated tripping incidents in some areas which were immediately responded to by technical personnel on standby.

Cusi said the Department of Energy (DOE) would remain on a heightened alert status until all the votes in the local elections have been canvassed.

The Energy Task Force Election (ETFE) led by the DOE carried out 24-hour monitoring of critical power facilities for the continued delivery of electricity services during the polling period.

The National Power Corporation (NPC) said there were no outages reported by NPC-owned power plants and independent power producers. Casecnan and San Roque were placed on economic shutdown by NPC System Operations due to low water elevation, but this did not affect the power supply chain during the election period.

As to transmission lines, only the D2: La Trinidad-Sagada 69kV Line auto-tripped and auto-reclosed at 3:55 p.m. on 14 May.

System peak demand during the polls stood at 8,636 megawatts (MW) for Luzon, 1,720 MW for Visayas and 1,458 MW for Mindanao at 7:00 p.m. with total available capacities at 16, 462 MW including stable reserve capacities.

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) also reported normal situation in most electric cooperatives with minor power interruption in some areas.

In the Manila Electric Co. franchise area, there were no major troubles experienced between 10:00 p.m. of 13 May up until 7:00 p.m. of 14 May, with only minor outages involving distribution feeder segments that temporarily affected power supply to only 15 polling precincts in Hagonoy, Norzagaray and Sta. Maria in Bulacan; Antipolo and Binangonan in Rizal; and Pasay City.

Meanwhile, despite the Magnitude 5.5 earthquake in Surigao del Norte and Magnitude 5.4 earthquake in Malita, Davao Occidental, there was no reported damage in both the transmission and distribution facilities in the affected areas.

Members of the Energy Task Force Election are the DOE, National Electrification Administration, National Power Corporation, National Transmission Corporation, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, Philippine National Oil Company, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation, Philippine Electricity Market Corp. and Manila Electric Company.

Supporting organizations include the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc., Philippine Electric Plant Owners Association, Philippine Independent Power Producers Association, Retail Electricity Suppliers Association, Philippine Institute of Petroleum, Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association as well as the Security Group: National Security Council, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection and Philippine Coast Guard.

Zine Orgy 666 on May 17 - Zines, Music, Secret Rituals

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Asshulz, Magpies, and UPLB Communicators' Association are bringing you Zine Orgy 666 on Thursday, May 17, 2018, 7PM-12AM at 77 Grove Events Place, Los Baños, Laguna.

Zine Orgy is a biannual expo where independent publishers, small presses and artists in Laguna can exhibit, sell, and talk about their works with the art community. For the 6th Zine Orgy, we aim to reintroduce zines as a free space to discuss the marginal--topics deemed taboo or irrelevant, and the institutions that establish the standards by which these topics are judged unworthy of consideration. Zine Orgy 666 recalls the historical typecasting of the occult, the superstitious, and everything that does not fit into society’s norms into the evil, and provides room to critically engage these constructions.

The Artists' Market is composed of over 30 art collectives, organizations, and artists including Electromilk, Makô, The Cabinet, and others. Expect musical performances by Bobby's Wonderland, Cold Summer, Happy Hormones, Saint Tapsi, Thea & Job, and Yohi as well as film screenings of works by Epoy Deyto, Aaron Goodman & Luis Liwanag and Gayle Fernandez-Lai. 

Entrance is only 10 pesos, which comes with a free accordion zine explaining the theme "666." Check out the guide to get to Los Baños here. For more info, visit the event page at http://bit.ly/ZineOrgy666 or contact Mac Andre Arboleda at 09158608023.

BDO Wins Best Retail Social-Media Banking Experience for 3rd Straight Year

Wazzup Pilipinas!

BDO Unibank was conferred with the Best Retail Social-Media Banking Experience award by Hong Kong-based financial publication The Asset during the Asset Triple A Digital Awards 2017, a recognition the bank has received for the third straight year.

The prestigious award was anchored on the Bank’s “Kabayan Initiative,” a plan aimed at establishing an interactive communication channel with its Kabayan clients—composed of Overseas Filipinos (including seafarers) and their respective beneficiaries—through social media.

The Sy-owned universal bank currently has multiple digital touchpoints by which clients can utilize to communicate or transact with the bank. Among these include online banking, mobile banking, and electronic banking channels, as well as a dedicated website and an official Facebook account.

For Facebook in particular, BDO has actively used this platform as a digital marketing channel wherein clients can access information about the bank's products, services, current promos, and other finance-related topics.

BDO launched its official Facebook page in 2014 to provide an avenue for current and potential clients to give their feedback about the bank, and for BDO to gather such information to further improve its products and services.

In less than a year after its launch, the BDO Facebook page caught up with the Facebook pages of other banks and soon became number 1 in terms of total number of followers and engagements, registering more than one million followers by end-2015.

To date, the BDO Facebook has around 3.3 million followers.

Soon thereafter, BDO launched the BDO Kabayan Facebook page to address a large market segment which was underserved at that time in terms of digital servicing—the Overseas Filipinos. Through the BDO Kabayan Facebok page, the bank was able to get in touch with its Kabayan account holders in different parts of the globe in a more targeted and customized manner.