Container Haulage Startup Takes Top Prize at RISE, Asia’s Largest Technology Event in Hong Kong

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Container haulage startup Haulio has been named the winner of PITCH 2019 at RISE.

PITCH, in partnership with Manulife, brings together the world’s leading early-stage startups for a live onstage battle. This year around half of the 777 startups Asia largest technology event RISE applied to be part of the competition, with 60 being selected and given the opportunity to present at the PITCH stage in front of Asia’s top investors.

From Singapore, the operating system for container haulage enables containers to move like clockwork beyond the port, saving time and resources for hauliers. It’s the simplest and most reliable way for businesses to get their containers moved. Haulio comes from PSA unboXed incubator and is now working with tens of thousands of containers in Singapore.

“Winning PITCH is validation for our business.” - said co-founder Alvin Ea. “Containers are so big but people don’t actually notice them. We’re trying to bring to the world stage something that is hidden to many people. PITCH can help bring our company to the world stage and let people know this a problem worth solving. ”

“Our speciality is in container trucks. There’s a big pain in this industry and workers are suffering silently from the inefficiencies. They just do the same thing over and over again for years and they don’t change their habits. They are so good at what they do, but it’s a profession built by early generation that don’t really understand tech. Industry leaders want to transform their business but they don’t know how. There’s not many startups in the logistics industry for cargos.”

“PITCH has helped me hone up my pitching skills. It’s a challenge to explain my business in 3 minutes! I have to bring toy trucks, as they don’t really understand the business to show them how it actually works!”

Easier to Find Rebels than Pangolins

Wazzup Pilipinas!

“It’s easier to find rebels in these mountains than pangolins,” grunted a sergeant from the Philippine Marine Corps.

Battle-hardened Marines from the 3rd Brigade joined researchers to find pangolins in the dense, rattan-tangled jungles of southern Palawan last month. Pangolins are scaly mammals which slurp ants and termites with their sticky tongues. Caught for traditional Chinese medicine and dubbed as most illegally-trafficked mammals on Earth, they’ve become global icons of how animals face extinction via the illegal wildlife trade.

TRAFFIC estimates that around a million pangolins have been traded through 67 countries in the past decade, prompting a global ban often skirted by smuggling rings.

The belief that pangolin scales – in reality made of keratin (the same material as hair and nails) – has mystical powers, dates back centuries. “No one pays for powdered fingernails, but traditional Chinese medicine believers spend a fortune for powdered pangolin scales, which are no different,” says Dr. Sabine Schoppe, an expert on the Philippine pangolin. “Legal prescribed medicines are cheaper and more efficient alternatives. It’s time to leave old traditions behind and opt for more sustainable solutions.” 

Due largely to poaching, the population of the Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensis) has plummeted as much as 95% since the 1980s, locally making it critically-endangered – one step above extinction.

“The illegal wildlife trade is run by organized syndicates with their own systems for capturing and smuggling pangolins, so we must tighten security,” explains Atty. Edward Lorenzo, USAID’s Protect Wildlife crime prevention advisor. TRAFFIC records 667 Philippine pangolins apprehended by authorities from 2001 to 2017, with 10 live animals recovered at a checkpoint in Tagaytay City just last June.

Some of the recovered animals came from other countries. In April 2013, a Chinese poaching vessel rammed into the Philippines’ famed Tubbataha Reefs. Found aboard were 2870 dead pangolins.

“DNA tests conducted on the pangolins confiscated off Tubbataha in 2013 revealed they came not just from Palawan, but Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. This proves that illegal traders source their contraband from all over Southeast Asia,” explains Dr. Mundita Lim, executive director of the Asean Center for Biodiversity. “Efforts to combat the trade cannot be undertaken separately, at a country by country level, but through coordinated action at the regional level.”

Tens of thousands of pangolins are also caught in Africa, where four of the eight pangolin species live. Last April, 25 tons of scales from an estimated 38,000 African pangolins were confiscated in Singapore, the largest haul in history.

USAID’s Protect Wildlife Project is working closely with the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and Katala Foundation to assess pangolin numbers in mainland Palawan. It is funding a dozen ground surveys, each covering 200 hectares. Thirty five camera traps to catalogue wildlife have also been deployed.

So far, the ground survey team has found only two pangolins for 2019 – attesting to their rarity and secretive nature. Pangolins spend most days quietly hiding in earthen burrows, rotting stumps or high in trees, emerging only at night to feed.

The Marines, some of who are Marawi veterans, embraced the idea of helping save wildlife. “The researchers spent six months just to find two pangolins,” notes Sgt. Darwin Balutan, who served in Jolo and Basilan. “It seems there aren’t many left.”

Environmentalist Gregg Yan from Best Alternatives joined the expedition to interview the troops, who vowed to protect Palawan’s pangolins. “We’re often in the jungle, but it’s our first time to notice how much wildlife there is in the Philippines,” says Sgt. Norman Pintor. “The conservation community can count on us. We’re proud to serve our country whatever way possible.” 

Rising Folk Band ‘Sasaya’ Unveils Back-to-Back Singles Under MCA Universal Music

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The local music scene is set to welcome fresh tracks as Manila-based experimental folk band Sasaya releases two new singles under MCA Universal Music this 26th July on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. Managed by MCA’s distribution label, Sasaya’s “Musmos” and “AlleluYHWH” capture the essence of filial love as the songs pay tribute to all who stand as parents and guardians.

The latest tracks follow the band’s debut single titled “Bathala” which was released in September 2018 with over 30,000 plays on Spotify. Prior to the new song releases, the band has been taking center stage in various gigs and music festivals such as Baktubak by MCA with Juan Karlos, Racoon Turns 3, Feté’s Discovery Stage, and Upperhouse for 22Tango.

“Musmos” hums the nostalgic tune of childhood, relating to the familiar, lighthearted memories of ‘the good old days.’ “AlleluYHWH,” on the other hand, is a piece that delves into the concept of death and the passing of a loved one. It recounts the unseen journey to heaven through a unique arrangement of beats, instruments, and voices that aims to deliver the sense of being ‘at peace’ when parting ways.

In celebration of the new releases, the band will also be treating its fans to a night of jamming and live music at Warehouse Eight, La Fuerza Compound, Chino Roces Makati on 26th July where they will perform their latest music live including their Spotify hit “Bathala.” Stay tuned and keep those playlists updated with Sasaya’s “Musmos” and “AlleluYHWH” dropping this 26th July, Friday, on all streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Music!