Development projects in General Santos will bring comfort and convenience to airport and seaport passengers

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

General Santos City and the rest of Mindanao will benefit from the transportation initiatives in the aviation and maritime sectors as these will capitalize on the city’s resources, resulting in economic and employment opportunities for Filipinos, Transportation Secretary Art Tugade emphasized Monday, 22 November 2021. Secretary Tugade said the development projects in the General Santos Airport and in the Port of General Santos will also bring comfort and convenience to airport and seaport passengers. He made the statement during the inspection of airport and seaport development projects in General Santos City together with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

“In the quiet of our endeavors, we worked on the projects as quietly as we can. But in the quiet of our endeavors, nakaka-produce ‘ho tayo ng mga proyektong ganito,” Secretary Tugade said.

Joining President Duterte and Secretary Tugade during the inspection were Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General Jim Sydiongco and Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) Jay Santiago.

Once the development projects are complete, General Santos Airport will be the first airport in Mindanao to have cutting-edge and innovative contactless features similar to those found in the Clark International Airport in Pampanga. This will make airport services effortless, safe, and convenient for all users, said Secretary Tugade.

Secretary Tugade also announced that the airport, through Philippine Airlines (PAL), will start international operations to and from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia via the GenSan-Kuala Lumpur-GenSan route on 09 December 2021.

“Matagal na panahon na ‘yung estado ng GenSan as an international airport ay nabinbin at nasuspinde. Ngayon, dahilan sa pagbabago na inintroduce natin sa termino ng ating mahal na Pangulo —announcement: December 9 of this year, the Philippine Airlines has formally signified to us that they will again start here their international operation, GenSan - Kuala Lumpur – Gensan,” he said.

With the expanded passenger terminal building (PTB) of the General Santos Airport, Secretary Tugade said the gateway can now accommodate 2 (two) million passengers annually from its previous annual capacity of 800,000 passengers.

Meanwhile, the Soccsksargen Region’s main maritime gateway, the Port of General Santos or commonly known as Makar Wharf, can now accommodate at least 1,300 large ships for port calls every year after the wharf’s upgrade and expansion.

Included in the Makar Wharf’s development projects is its new Port Operations Building, which ensures not only efficient port operations, but also ship and cargo monitoring.

President Duterte commended Secretary Tugade and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for the timely completion of the transport development projects in the province amid challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Indeed, it is another significant milestone under our Build, Build, Build Program that envisions to improve travel and mobility throughout the country as well as stimulate our economic activities. The initiative comes at a crucial time when General Santos City takes on the role as the gateway to Soccsksargen and the rest of Mindanao,” President Duterte said.

“Its completion will greatly boost our interconnectivity and revive the agro-industrial and eco-tourism prospects of Southern Mindanao,” he added.

General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera, for his part, expressed his gratitude to President Duterte’s Build, Build, Build Infrastructure Development Program as it will open an array of opportunities for General Santos City and the rest of the region.

“This opens a wide array of opportunities, not only as an improvement of our infrastructure facilities, but also an investment opportunity that will generate more economic activities for the city of General Santos, and a multiple expanded growth to the whole nation,” Mayor Rivera said.

30th Conferment Anniversary of Celia Diaz Laurel’s “Woman for Peace” Award

Wazzup Pilipinas!?


November 29, 2021 marks the pearl anniversary of Mrs. Celia Diaz Laurel’s conferment of the highly prestigious international peace and humanitarian award “Woman for Peace” given by the Insieme Per La Pace (Together for Peace) Foundation.

Like its founder and president Madame Mariapia Fanfani who herself had devoted all her life to cater to the sick, poor, and victims of war, the honor is bestowed upon remarkable women who have helped promote, advance, and partake in global peacebuilding processes through meaningful social, educational, and cultural means.

Mrs. Laurel’s vast humanitarian work began in 1986 when she volunteered to head our country’s national bid for the United Nations’ Million Minutes of Peace —a worldwide campaign asking people (even with differing religions) to pledge and devote “minutes of meditation, positive thinking or prayer for peace.” Under her leadership, she launched a series of peaceful undertakings that triumphantly landed the Philippines at the fourth slot (out of the 88 participating nations) with an overwhelming 94,000,000 minutes collected and dedicated to peace!

Following this success, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar flew to the Philippines in 1987 to honor Mrs. Laurel with the “United Nations for Peace Award” and to personally invite her to speak at the Million Minutes for Peace international conference that same year. She then attended the Universal Peace Conference in Mt. Abu in India and the World Media Association in Seoul, South Korea. She also stood before the International Security Council to discuss, among others, the impact of insurgency in the Philippines on the general security of the nations in the Southeast Asian region.

Alongside these many international engagements, she likewise organized and established several key socio – civic organizations like Causa Philippines, Inc., (a humanitarian movement against international communism), DAYTOP Philippines (Drug Addicts Yield to Persuasion), Handog Lingap sa May Kapansanan (HALIKA), Philippine Tuberculosis Society, Kidney Transplant Association, Gifted Children and Youth Foundation, Memorial to the Peaceful Revolution, Save the Children (Community Development), People’s Welfare Foundation, Philippine International Friendship Organization, Philippine General Hospital Foundation, Philippine National Red Cross Overseas and Diplomatic Divisions, and Peace Development Foundation, Inc. She also worked in the countryside where she focused on health and education developments like providing sustainable potable water in depressed areas and building public school libraries. Months before the big awarding ceremony in Madrid, Spain for the Woman for Peace, Mrs. Laurel tirelessly had already been providing relief to fellow Filipinos devastated by natural calamities (i.e. earthquakes, the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, and the killer cyclone in Ormoc City) that hit our country in the early 90s.

The grand awarding ceremony was held at Pabellon De Cecilio Rodriguez in Madrid, Spain on November 29, 1991. Besides Mrs. Laurel, other honorees that year were Queen Noor of Jordan, Madame Chirac of France, and Madame Silva of Portugal. The occasion had 400 guests in attendance –– comprising mostly of prominent international personalities like Senator Gianni Agnelli of Italy and royalties like Prince Saddrudin Aga Khan, King Simeon of Bulgary, and Baron and Baroness con Thiessen Bormenisza. With her conferment, she joined the revered roster of past awardees like Queen Sophia of Spain, Raissa Gorbachev, Former US First Ladies Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush, Marcella Perez de Cuellar, Diana Vreeland, President Violeta Chamurro of Nicaragua, and Queen Sirikit of Thailand.

In her acceptance speech which she excellently delivered in full Italian, Mrs. Laurel emphasized her “fervent wish that the day will come– perhaps in the next 100 years – when the efforts of Together For Peace, with all our collective efforts, will bring about a social floor below which the poor in the world will never again sink and suffer.”

Almost thirty years later, that fervent wish, sadly, remains unachieved.

With Celia Diaz Laurel, our country’s very own Woman for Peace, now at peace with her Creator, it becomes therefore incumbent upon us who were left behind to continue the crusade she tirelessly but silently began decades ago. The nearing pearl anniversary of her conferment, therefore, is meant to evoke and challenge us to continually work towards achieving peace and creating a harmonious social balance in the next thirty years or so… especially here in this part of the world –our beloved Philippines – where we, STILL need them the most.

The Commissariat Manila: All Set for Christmas Treats

Wazzup Pilipinas!?


The Commissariat Manila is a purveyor of the finest goods and delicacies under the entrepreneurial skills of siblings Gino Asensio Lopez and Monique Lopez Ong who hail from the Visayas (Iloilo and Bacolod). They believe that "good food must never be kept secret and should be experienced by everyone."

The Commissariat Manila opened its doors in July 2020 during the early days of the pandemic. As the country went into lock down period, there was a rising need for good food to be delivered to people’s homes.

The Commissariat Manila was established to fulfill everyone’s need for first-class goods from Visayas, particularly Bacolod City, the place that Gino and Monique both know has unrivaled pastries, cakes, chorizos, and seafood.

Many of their sought-after delicacies come from Negros Occidental’s Felicia’s Pastry Shop. These pastries come from the kitchen of the three Lacson sisters namely Sony Lacson Cometa, Fely Lacson Montelibano, and Margie Lacson Macasa. Their pastry kitchen was established in the 1970s, and continues to be passed on from one generation to the next. They have been whipping masterpieces such as the famous Felicia’s Ensaimadas, Cheese Rolls, and many other favorites.

 
In Bacolod, good life means good food all the time. The Felicia’s experience promises that you will keep coming back for the good life! Most travelers, who fly out from Bacolod, hand-carry Felicia’s products to bring home to their families. These beloved Felicia’s pastries are baked fresh, and air-flown from Bacolod to Manila every week beginning November 13 to December 18.

The Commissariat Manila has prepared a lineup of limited edition Christmas sets featuring their Felicia’s Ensaimadas that come in a box of 6 (P1,215) or a box of 12 (P2,430), Felicia’s Cheese Rolls box of 16 (P1,420), cookies in can variants such as their Almond Crisps (P490), Lemon Thins (P425), Almondettes (P475), and their yummy Pili products such as their Pili Crumble (P675) and Turron de Pili (P585).

Felicia’s also released their outstanding cake line in Metro Manila and Cebu. These best-loved cakes in cans such as their notable heirloom Potato Cake (P975), Sans Rival (P995), Swiss Chocolate Cake (P980), Classic Chocolate Cake (P995), and Butter Cake (P850) are all available on-hand at The Commissariat Manila.

Other top-rated Bacolod brands are also found at The Commissariat Manila such as Casa Carmela’s “Bacolod in a bottle” line, which are known for their best-selling gourmet bottles such their Crazy Rich Crabs (P500), Sexy Squid (P375), Chorizo Pudpud (P375), and their signature Papa Daniel’s Bangus (P365).

Another crowd favorite that never fails to satisfy everyone’s “breakfast all-day” palate is the Ereñeta-Manaloto Chorizo Recado or Hamonado Bilog, and their newest addition to their Chorizo line, the Chorizo Mozzarella or “Muchorellas” which are a total hit with the kids! (All variants for P395/ pack of one dozen).

Moreover, The Commissariat Manila offers some of their own products such as The Commissariat Flat Quillos (P185), and seasonally, The Commissariat Bantayan Bay half-shell scallops (P675) which are harvested from the deepest parts of Bantayan Island and flown straight to The Commissariat freezers.

Due to the influx of orders, we advise that you plan and put in your pre-orders ahead of time to make sure that you get on The Commissariat Manila’s delivery list early. For advance placement of orders, please refer to the social media links below for the Felicia’s In Manila delivery schedule.

For Felicia’s fresh air-flown pastries and limited edition Christmas sets, the pre-order cut-off for each week is on Wednesdays by 7 PM. All late pre-orders will carry over to the next available shipment date. Deliveries for Metro Manila begin every Saturday of each week from November 13th to December 18th, their last shipment for 2021.

All on-hand products such as Felicia’s Cakes in cans, Casa Carmela bottled goods, Ereñeta-Manaloto Chorizos and The Commissariat Flat Quillos will be available for delivery until December 23 (Thursday) before Christmas Eve, and will continue to be available from December 27 - 31 before the New Year’s countdown. Fresh air-flown Felicia’s Ensaimadas and Cheese Rolls will resume on Jan 8 (Saturday) when The Commissariat Manila opens their first shipment for 2022.

To know more about the variety of finest goods and delicacies that The Commissariat Manila offers within NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal), you can visit and order from their website at www.thecommissariatmanila.com.

Please follow, like, and tag us by using the hashtags #TheCommissariatManila and #FeliciasInManila this Christmas holiday season on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! You may also scan The Commissariat Manila QR code to pre-order!



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