Rebisco eyes international podium finishes through committed support of PH volleyball

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The beach volleyball men’s and women’s squads left for Brisbane Tuesday night while the men’s volleyball team will be off to Qatar on March 20 as part of their preparation for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in May. The women’s team is scheduled to train in Brazil in April.

 

All national teams will train for two weeks in world-class environments in top-notch volleyball countries.

 

The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) and national team patron Rebisco arranged a fitting send-off for the squads – 16 men in indoor volleyball plus six men and six women in beach volleyball -- via a well-attended virtual press conference Tuesday morning.

 

“This foreign training is of paramount importance, because it gives us a lot of exposure,” PNVF President Ramon "Tats" Suzara told the media. “Foreign training helps our national teams improve.”

 

Noric Ng, Business Unit Head of Rebisco, reiterated Rebisco’s commitment to supporting the PNVF’s national team program. He said he believes the teams will do well not only in the SEA Games in Vietnam in May, but also in the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.

 

“Rebisco has been and will always be firmly committed to the sport and to the improvement of all our teams,” he said. “We love the sport with a passion. That is why we support it at all levels—from training coaches and referees in the grassroots, to giving young people a chance to get better at the game in high school competitions, to supporting collegiate teams and participating in the professional league.”

 

Supporting the national teams since 2017, Ng said Rebisco’s desire to help the national volleyball program is so that Filipino athletes can be competitive in international competitions. “It is a sacred duty,” Ng said. “We do it for national pride.”

 

“Rebisco’s goal is to help the PNVF grow the sport and make volleyball an expression of the Filipino soul, locally and internationally. Our dream is that one day we can finish at the podium in a competition of nations,” Ng concluded.

Pinoy filmmaker wins special prize in New York

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Award-winning Filipino filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist Richard Soriano Legaspi won the Special Honor Mention at the sixth edition of the 21 Islands International Short Film Festival in New York City.

Legaspi added another feather to his cap when his experimental short film “Job Order” was announced winner of the special prize during the festival’s awarding ceremony last February 23.

The film reflects on the daily journey of migrant workers in Taiwan as it shows the geography and culture of the island through a fast-moving narrative and as a reflection of their limited time.

The 21 Islands ISFF features animation, experimental, and live action films “from island nations, island states, island cities and island territories around the world.”

This year, it also screened selected films from Australia, Canary Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Madagascar, Madeira Island, Malta, Manhattan, Montreal, Puerto Rico, Sardinia, Sicily, Singapore, Taiwan, Tenerife, United Kingdom, and Vancouver Island.

“We showcase short films that depict stories that express cultural, philosophical, and aesthetic perspectives shared by artists living and producing their work in islands and their respective audiences,” 21 Islands ISFF curator, filmmaker, and media producer Melisa Ramos explained.

“Job Order” was selected “from thousands of multilingual submissions originating in hundreds of qualifying locations worldwide.” The experimental film was previously shown at the 17th Athens Digital Arts Festival in Greece last October.

Completing the circle of winners are “Hedy” directed by Andy B. Clarke (Ireland), Best Film; “Martin’s Vantage Point” by Chedey Reyes (Canary Islands), Best Script; “Before the Beauty is Gone” by Mackai Sharp (Vancouver Island), Best Editing; “The Hole” by Fang Hsin Kai (Taiwan), Best Animation; “Hello” by Oldren Romero (Cuba), Best Cinematography; “Nostos Algos” by Juan Diego De Leon (Dominican Republic), Best Direction; “Pacing the Pool” by Radheya Jegatheva (Australia), Best Documentary; and “Cacos” by João Brás (Madeira Island), Audience Award.

The festival, which shines a spotlight on island life in its richness and diversity, was presented by Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, “a multigenerational performing ensemble, multidisciplinary arts presenter, and owner/steward of bilingual arts facilities” in The Bronx and in Manhattan, NYC.

“A diverse cross-section of the community served by Pregones/PRTT participates in the festival selection process. Artists, activists, scholars, audience members, and neighbors of diverse age and cultural heritage evaluate over 1,500 multilingual film submissions from more than 200 islands worldwide,” the organizers revealed. The finalists then competed for both Festival Jury and Audience Choice awards.

Legaspi is a three-time Gawad Alternatibo awardee of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, winner in the screenplay category of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, and a recipient of the UNESCO-Aschberg Laureate, eventually becoming a resident artist of the Università delle Idee, Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, and winner of the ILLY Can Prize Design – Art for Social Change in Italy.

His other films have competed and won in different film festivals in the Philippines and around the world.

CNN hosts first virtual Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates in the Philippines with Microso

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CNN Philippines hosted the first presidential and vice-presidential debates at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) with a virtual audience, in partnership with Microsoft. Citizens were able to participate in the Philippine electoral and democratic process, while maintaining restrictions in place during COVID-19.

Ahead of the national elections in May, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has planned three presidential and vice-presidential debates. In addition, news organizations are also given the opportunity to conduct COMELEC-accredited debates of their own to further give voters across the country insight into candidates’ policies, priorities, and positions on pressing and current issues.

CNN Philippines’ presentation, titled “The Filipino Votes” was set for February 26th and 27th, 2022 at UST’s Quadricentennial Pavilion, for vice-presidential and presidential candidates, respectively. However, with limitations on public gatherings still in place due to COVID-19, they faced the challenge of replicating the audience atmosphere and direct engagement that would feature in the event under normal circumstances. For this, CNN Philippines partnered with Microsoft to power a virtual audience experience using Microsoft Teams.

With Microsoft Teams, a combined virtual audience of nearly 800 individuals from various segments of society including Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), senior citizens, students, professionals, and various other social groups were able to attend the debates, interacting and responding in real-time to both the candidates and CNN Philippines’ news anchors who served as moderators for the event.

“Technology has been at the forefront of the world’s response to COVID-19—enabling nations and communities to adapt, thrive and to sustain our way of life in spite of the challenges we continue to experience,” said Microsoft Philippines Public Sector Director, Joanna Rodriguez. “As an organization, we’re committed to ensuring our technology benefits the world around us, driving lasting innovation and purposeful impact today and for the future. We’re excited by the opportunity to do just that for the Philippines. This partnership with CNN reflects the transformative nature of digitalization and its cross-cutting purpose – democratization of technology to empower the government, the institutions and the citizens of the country.

“The Filipino Votes” convened nine of the country’s ten presidentiables and seven of nine vice-presidentiables, making it the most well-attended media-led candidate debates so far in the lead up to the May 2022 elections. Both debates were broadcast live on television and CNN Philippines’ online channels and have reached more than 4.7 million Filipinos nationwide. The debates are available on demand via CNN Philippines’ social media channels.

"The May elections will be a critical crossroads for the Filipino people, a test of our resolve to strengthen the rule of law, human rights fundamentals, accountability and transparency of government. And our debates will serve as our modest contribution towards this end. Microsoft's team of engineers, project managers and technicians provided us the technology and platform to set up the debate’s virtual audience and showcase an immersive and communal viewing experience to our viewers," said CNN Philippines President, Benjamin Ramos. "We at CNN Philippines are so proud to partner with Microsoft as we successfully staged a very important event which educated and informed our electorate as we draw closer to decision day."

In line with its national commitment, Microsoft Para sa Bayan, Microsoft Philippines has been working closely with national and local governments, businesses across industries, and communities to accelerate purposeful innovation and digital transformation through a broad range of initiatives, technology interventions, and skilling efforts to empower stakeholders and create sustainable societal impact.

"For 27 years now, Microsoft has been a partner to the Philippines. We have always been and will continue to be allies in nation-building," said Rodriguez.

Microsoft Teams is a secure teamwork and collaboration platform that brings together apps, communication tools, and shared spaces that people and organizations need. Its powerful meeting and videoconferencing capabilities allow for thousands of users to join calls, making it a trusted virtual event platform since the pandemic, seeing similar use in the Parliament of the Maldives, and Malaysia’s youth-led Digital Parliament. Its Teams Live Events capability allows users to broadcast to up to 10,000 participants and its Together Mode uses AI segmentation technology to digitally place participants in a shared background, creating the feel of an in-person gathering.