Bicol International Airport is now nearing completion and will offer state-of-the-art contactless features

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

After experiencing 11 years of delay, the Bicol International Airport is now nearing completion and will offer state-of-the-art contactless features for effortless passenger experience once it starts commercial operations on Friday, 08 October 2021, Transportation Secretary Art Tugade said.
Tugade explained that the airport went through three groundbreaking ceremonies but the non-stop construction works only began under the Duterte Administration’s Build, Build, Build Infrastructure Program.

“This is a promise fulfilled to Bicolanos. Despite the challenges and setbacks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, natupad natin na by October tapos na ang Bicol International Airport,” Tugade said during his inspection of the BIA along with Albay Representative Joey Salceda on Sunday, 3 October 2021.

With the iconic Mayon Volcano as its backdrop and touted as the country’s “Most Scenic Gateway”, the BIA has contactless properties that are innovative solutions during the pandemic, making airport travel effortless, safe, and convenient, according to Tugade.

“Pinagdudahan ako rito kaya I took it as a personal challenge,” said Sec. Tugade, adding that the criticisms thrown at him served as his drive to expedite its completion.

Meanwhile, according to CAAP Chief of Staff and Airport Airport Projects Team Head Danjun Lucas, passengers can check-in without any face-to-face interaction as Contactless Common Use Self Service Kiosks are available at the Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) Ground Floor Check-in Lobby.

“We tapped the service provider of the Clark International Airport (CRK) in Pampanga to maximize the same high-technology features as the CRK, which is equipped for contactless baggage handling and food ordering system,” Atty. Lucas said.

At present, the passenger terminal building of the Bicol International Airport is 97.28 percent complete.

Once operational, the BIA can accommodate a total of two (2) million passengers annually and is expected to boost Bicol Region’s air traffic.

Tugade stressed that the BIA will serve as a backbone of economic growth in the Bicol Region as it will generate employment and stimulate business, and local and international tourism activities.

Busan International Film Festival Features HBO Asia Originals ‘Gensan Punch,’ ‘On the Job: The Missing 8’

 

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Two films, one project, and seven companies comprise the country’s representatives online in Asia’s largest film festival, the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea from October 6 to 15.

Established in 1996, the annual Busan International Film Festival aims to introduce new films and first-time directors, especially from Asian countries. It also attracts a youthful audience through its efforts to develop and promote young talents.

Selected in the “A Window on Asian Cinema,” a section that puts a spotlight on new or the most-talked-about films of the year by talented Asian filmmakers are new HBO Asia Original film “Gensan Punch” by Brillante Mendoza, and fresh from its world premiere at Venice Film Festival, Erik Matti’s “On The Job: The Missing 8.”

One of seven Asian films nominated for the Kim Jiseok Award in Busan, “Gensan Punch” is about a Japanese man with a prosthetic leg who goes to the Philippines to train and become a professional boxer. The film is also a CreatePHFilm Fund for Post-Production grantee by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and will have its world premiere in Busan before premiering exclusively on HBO.

“Gensan Punch” Screening Schedule:

 

●      October 9 (Sat), 17:30, Busan Cinema Center Cinema 2

●      October 10 (Sun), 16:30, CGV Centum City 7

●      October 13 (Wed), 16:00, CGV Centum City 7

Now made into an HBO Original six-part series, crime-thriller film “On The Job: The Missing 8” revolves around a corrupt media man who seeks justice for the disappearance of his colleagues, crosses paths with an inmate-hitman. John Arcilla who plays Sisoy Salas in the film is the first Filipino to bag the Volpi Cup for Best Actor in the recently concluded Venice Film Festival.

 

“On The Job: The Missing 8” Screening Schedule:

 

●      October 9 (Sat), 13:00, Lotte Cinema-7

●      October 11 (Mon), 15:30, Lotte Cinema-8

●      October 14 (Thurs), 14:30, Lotte Cinema-2

 

 

Participating in the Asian Project Market (APM), a co-production platform in Asia that offers emerging filmmakers the opportunity to meet international leading film professionals, are producer Armi Cacanindin and director Sigrid Andrea Bernardo with their project “Happy Endings” from October 12 to 14.

 

FDCP will host the online panel discussion “Co-Producing with the Philippines” and a virtual Philippine pavilion with seven local companies: Sine Caboloan Ltd. Co., ABS-CBN (International Production & Co-Production), ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc., Eichef Media \ HFilms Co., Cignal Entertainment, The Producers Asia, and KT House Productions Inc. in the 15th edition of Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) from October 11 to 14.

 

“I am very excited that more Filipino films, projects, and talents have been selected to participate in such a respected film festival to showcase their stories. The agency is ready to support upcoming projects and talents that will make a mark on the future of our Philippine Cinema,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño. 

 

The 26th Busan International Film Festival will be held in hybrid format from October 6 to 15.

 

Busan International Film Festival 2021

 

A Window on Asian Cinema - Kim Jiseok Award Nominees

 

●      “Gensan Punch” by Brillante Mendoza

 

A Window on Asian Cinema

 

●      “On The Job: The Missing 8” by Erik Matti

 

Asian Project Market

 

●      “Happy Endings” by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo

 

FDCP Participation in the Asian Contents & Films Market

 

●      Philippine Pavilion

●      Online Event of FilmPhilippines “Co-Producing with the Philippines”

●      Philippine Delegation:

1.     Christopher Novabos, Sine Caboloan Ltd. Co.

2.     Barbara Candano, ABS-CBN (International Production & Co-Production)

3.     John Paul Abellera, ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc.

4.     Howard Yambao, Eichef Media \ HFilms Co.

5.     Aileen Samson, Cignal Entertainment

6.     Jaz Bernardino, The Producers Asia

7.     Stelle Laguda, KT House Productions Inc.

Was there really "pressured response" on Pharmally's Krizle Grace Mago?

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Lawmakers sought to discredit the witness who accused Pharmally of repackaging substandard face shields and switching out their expiry dates after Pharmally officer Krizle Mago disavowed her own testimony confirming the warehouse worker's claim.

Sen. Ping Lacson showed a video of the Sept. 24 Blue Ribbon Committee hearing to belie the testimony of Pharmally officer Krizle Mago in the lower house that her admission regarding the issue of changing the production stickers of face shields was a pressured response. 

"Pressured response"? It was an online Senate hearing. The senators were not by her side to intimidate or pressure her with regards to her testimonies.

The ‘pressure’ is somewhat disputable because she testified virtually. She was not physically present. It would be different because ‘pressure’ would really be apparent if everybody is seeing eye to eye and in flesh.

Mago participated in the Senate BRC hearing online at her home & not at the Senate venue. The video of her during the Senate hearing shows no pressure on her.

We even saw former PS-DBM Undersecretary Christopher Lao smirking when he was being questioned. No pressure there since he was also only present via online conferencing.

Mago, who is now under the custody of the CGGPA, looked pressured when she recanted her previous statement.

Unfortunately for Mago, credibility of a witness diminishes upon recantation of testimony unless proven to have been done under force or coercion - not just mere pressure that all other witnesses went through. She should’ve stood her ground at the Senate earlier. 

What is evident: Mago has been influenced to change her declaration. We can no longer trust what she will say now that she is in the custody of Congress, known allies of the Duterte administration.

Her retraction casts more doubt on what is happening at the House of Representatives than it does what happened at the Senate.