Shop ‘Till You POP at the World Bazaar Festival 2023!

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The 23rd edition of the World Bazaar Festival is set to be the most exciting and diverse shopping experience this holiday season! Shoppers, fashionistas, and retail enthusiasts alike, get ready to step into a vibrant universe of shopping possibilities with over 500 retail booths, ranging from fashion and beauty to home decor and gourmet cuisine. The highly anticipated World Bazaar Festival 2024 offers an expansive array of products that cater to every taste and style of all generations. Join Woobie and shop til you pop with the latest trends and designs from top local and international brands.

Meet and greet your favorite Kapamilya celebrities and enjoy live entertainment, performances and interactive activities throughout the event. The World Bazaar Festival continues to be the longest Christmas charity bazaar in partnership with the Foundation Inc. Get your tickets now and don't miss out on our new and exciting activities and highlights this Holiday Season! Immerse yourself in the world of cosplay and strut your stuff on the runway at CosWalk: The Parade of Characters! Join us as we transform the World Trade Center to a much more colorful creative space with the help of local and international artists during Woobie’s ARTFEST Competitions. Get ready to meet the next boy group Icons only at The World Stage and experience the best of Korean pop culture with K-pop music and dance performances at the HALLYU Dance Competitions! Be astonished by the captivating performances of local Drag Queens at the POPDiva: Colors of pride and get ready to meet the first ever Woobie’s Drag Sensation. All these and more only at the biggest and grandest bazaar experience in the country!

Get ready to shop `til you pop this coming December 13-22, 2023 from 10AM to 9PM at the World Trade Center Metro Manila. World Bazaar Festival 2024 is set to be a shopper's paradise like no other, offering an unmatched shopping experience that caters to every whim and desire. We invite shoppers from all walks of life to join us in this remarkable holiday journey through the shopping universe. This event is organized by Worldbex Services International and for the benefit of ABS CBN Foundation Inc.

Get your tickets now via www.worldbazaarfestival.com

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UP geologists sweep 2023 PRC Licensure Exam

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We are pleased to announce that all topnotchers in the recently-held Geologists Licensure Exam are from our very own National Institute of Geological Sciences!

All ten topnotchers of the Philippine Regulation Commission’s (PRC’s) recently-conducted annual Geologists Licensure Exam are from the UP Diliman College of Science National Institute of Geological Sciences (UPD-CS NIGS).

Jerome Garcia Formaran aced the exam with a score of 84.70%, followed by Paulo Lim Realengo and Twinkle Caubalejo Kang at 83.80% and 82.00%, respectively. The rest of the top performers in the fourth to tenth spots were Gerard Vann Vincent Tacuyan Gomez (82.80%); Venus Aquino Tagle (82.70%); Aris Paolo Afable Castro (82.50%); Paul Joshua Paclibar Villora (82.40%); Sophia Therese Leonida Pamati-an (82.20%); Rio Angela Funakoshi Castro (81.80%); and Rose Valerie Aranda Pimentel (81.60%).






UPD-CS NIGS was also the overall top-performing school, with 48 of 52 examinees having passed the licensure exam—a passing rate of 92.31% for the Institute. In comparison, the total passing rate for all 351 examinees from across the country was 47.01%.

The PRC Geologists Licensure Exam was computer-based, and held online from November 13 to 15, 2023.

Pursuant to Republic Act 10166, also known as the Geology Profession Act of 2012, the PRC Geology Licensure is a requirement for any individual who wants to practice geology as a profession in the Philippines.

Advocate mothers urge government to prohibit banned toxic chemicals used in plastic toys, amid new evidence

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“We unknowingly expose our children to plastic toys contaminated with toxic chemicals, which have been prohibited worldwide since 2017. Soft plastic toys like inflatable hopping horses, squeaky toy animals, shrilling chickens, rubber duckies, and dolls containing harmful chemicals called short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) remain unregulated in our local markets, posing a significant risk to our children’s health,” said Thony Dizon, Campaigner for Safe Toys for Kids of BAN Toxics.

BAN Toxics expresses serious concerns as recent evidence suggests the continued proliferation of plastic toys and consumer products tainted with chlorinated paraffin. A study by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) reveals alarming levels of these toxins in toys from ten countries, including the Philippines. The toys were analyzed at an accredited laboratory in Prague, Czechia, highlighting the global nature of this issue.

The study found both SCCPs and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs) in toys from the country, known for their toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulative nature. Despite the ban on SCCPs and the ongoing evaluation of MCCPs under the Stockholm Convention, these hazardous chemicals persist in various consumer products, endangering children and adults who come in daily contact with them.

Despite the global ban on SCCPs and the ongoing evaluation on MCCPs under the Stockholm Convention, these highly toxic chemicals persist in consumer products, including children’s toys, PVC curtains, kitchen hand blenders and electronic devices, clothing, and paintings. This is both shocking and alarming because when children play with such contaminated plastics, they are exposed daily to elevated concentrations of chlorinated paraffins. These toxic chemicals leach into dust and are inhaled, come into contact with the skin, and can be orally transferred when children mouth or chew on them.

SCCPs were prohibited in 2017 without exemptions for toys under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), a legally binding global treaty to which the Philippines has been a party since 2004. Governments that ratified the Convention are required to act on the elimination, restriction, and reduction of the production, use, and trade of the listed POPs chemicals, which include SCCPs, while ensuring environmentally sound management of POPs stockpiles and wastes. Some toys even surpass proposed health-protective levels, still under negotiation within the Convention. Chlorinated paraffins, widely used in industrial processes, demand immediate attention from policymakers and regulators.

BAN Toxics urges swift action, as SCCPs and various forms of chlorinated paraffin are listed under the Philippine Inventory of Chemicals and Chemicals Substances (PICCS), indicating their current use, manufacture, and importation into the country.

“We urge the government to address these issues, eliminate or reduce SCCPs and MCCPs, and prioritize risk assessments on the entire class of chlorinated paraffins following the Stockholm Convention. Regulation, limitation, gradual phase-out, or banning of these toxic substances are necessary to safeguard human health and the environment,” Dizon added.

The lack of adequate and proper labeling compounds the problem, according to BAN Toxics, considering chlorinated paraffin’s widespread global production. It emphasizes the importance of transparency and traceability in plastic product materials to enable informed decision-making throughout the product value chain.

“Transparency and traceability for the chemical composition of materials in plastic products and sharing of disclosed information throughout the value chains is of paramount importance. Regulators, manufacturers, importers, retailers, consumers, and recyclers can make informed decisions if these challenges are properly addressed,” said BAN Toxics.

“As these issues are of global significance, it is timely that our recommendations are incorporated into the ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty in Nairobi, where the intergovernmental negotiating committee of the United Nations Environment Assembly (INC-3) meets until the 16th of November. Civil society, including BAN Toxics, actively advocate for these measures by participating in person during the treaty negotiation,” the group added.

The group said it will engage with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Food and Drugs Administration, sharing IPEN's study and urging them to prioritize plastic toys potentially containing toxic chlorinated paraffins for prompt consideration.