Renaissance Art Gallery’s 10 Year Anniversary Exhibit Set To Open June 5

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Wazzup Pilipinas! 

RenaiXance – A Decade of Renaissance Art Gallery ” is set to open on June 5, 2013 at the Art Center located at the 4/F SM Megamall Bldg. A, Ortigas Center.

Invited as special guests of honor are National Artists Napoleon Abueva, Arturo Luz, Ben Cabrera, Abdulsari Imao and other respected names in the field of arts.

The 6:30 p.m. invitational cocktail reception will feature more than 50 of the country’s foremost names in the field of visual arts (figurative and abstract), sculpture and photography.

Araneta Center Marks Fiesta Month With Grand Santacruzan

Wazzup Pilipinas!

I was invited to witness the much-awaited Araneta Center Grand Santacruzan that reeled off last Saturday, May 18 at Araneta Center,  Cubao Quezon City. 


The Santacruzan is an iconic Filipino tradition that commemorates the search of the Holy Cross by Reyna Elena and her son, Emperor Constantine. The festive mode of thanksgiving of finding the Holy Cross in Jerusalem is replicated many times over in several parts of the country during the fiesta month of May. However, none compares to the pageantry and the overload of beautiful Binibinis of the Araneta Center Grand Santacruzan. The event has become a staple in the celebration of Flores de Mayo in the metropolis.

The winners of Binibining Pilipinas 2013 led the line up and was joined by some of the other candidates of the recently concluded Binibining Pilipinas pageant.

Disaster Risk Mitigation in the Community : A Quest for Japan

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Last March 12 and 13, Japan Foundation Manila held a seminar for Disaster Risk Mitigation in the Community at Ateneo de Manila University. This seminar wasn’t an ordinary one; in fact this seminar was very special to aspiring Japanese language learners who are dreaming of visiting Japan. About a number of 20 students from different schools all over the Philippines joined the said event.

The seminar was held for two days, the students were allowed to stay in the PASS Dormitory for the night, all expenses (food, transportation, dormitory) were sponsored by Japan Foundation. The first day of the seminar was full of lectures and fun activities held by two guest speakers. One of the speakers was Dr. Hiroko Nagai, director of Japanese Studies Program in Ateneo de Manila University. The other speaker was Mr. Hirokazu Nagata, president of Plus Arts, a non-profit organization in Japan. The lectures and workshop held by the two speakers were surely informational.

Vin Diesel and Other Cast of Fast and Furious 6 Graced Philippine Premiere at MOA

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano, and Luke Evans along with Fast and Furious producer Neil Moritz plus some select foreign press where brought into the Philippines by a movie premiere. This was Manila’s first big Hollywood franchise that cared enough to bring in four of its film’s stars.

Diesel did say that it was the best premiere that he has been into as he repeatedly shouted to the crowd "Mahal ko Kayow!". 

Should we be expecting Manila scenes in the next installment of the Fast and the Furious?

SM Aura Premier : Grand Launch Draws Huge Crowd

Wazzup Pilipinas!

SM Aura Premier is the first SM Supermall in Taguig, 13th in Metro Manila and 47th SM Prime mall in the Philippines. It is SM Prime's latest high-end lifestyle destination project. SM Aura Premier is located along McKinley Parkway and C5 Road cor. 26th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. The shopping center is situated near its rival mall Market! Market!, owned by Ayala Malls, a real estate subsidiary of Ayala Land, and affiliate of Ayala Corporation.

SM Aura Premier is a new upscale mall and state-of-the-art civic center with office and retail space, built by SM Prime in partnership with the City of Taguig. It was designed by Arquitectonica of Miami and mall interiors by Edge Design of Australia. It has a total floor area of 249,861 square meters for the mall and office building. It has 3 basement levels of parking with 1,771 parking slots. It aims to be one of the first civic centers in the country to be certified Gold under the US Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The SM Aura name is derived from the two elements Gold (which has the chemical symbol Au) and Radium (Ra). According to SM Prime putting them together defines “luxury and elegance that emanates from within.”

SM Aura Premier held its grand opening on May 17, 2013 at the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. There were a lot of people who all made their first glimpse of the mall, photo ops at the first-time to see sights and attractions, as well as done some great shopping. A media launch was held also last May 16.

Microsoft, Department of Tourism and Tourism Promotions Board Launch Windows 8 Apps for Tourism

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With ease of technology, more Filipinos are relying on their mobile devices and apps for their important activities such as banking, tracking of courier packages and even for computing electricity consumption among others. The gadgets they have in hand have become their partners as well in planning their travels from looking for the best local destinations to visit to organizing their itineraries. Tourists need one-stop shop apps that can provide them the information and features they need when they travel around the Philippines.

In line with this, Microsoft Philippines (Microsoft), the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) formally sealed their partnership today to enable Windows 8 users with information and features they need on the country's best local destinations through a series of local apps. Microsoft, DOT and TPB are proud to announce that the set of More Fun Series apps is now available for download in the Windows Store.

The More Fun Series is a group of apps which aims to highlight the country’s 25 key tourist destinations including their interesting overview, exciting activities, famous sites and itinerary builder among other features. Furthermore, these free apps feature commercial information coming from the official website of DOT including but not limited to accredited restaurants, spas and souvenir shops to complete the travel experience of every tourist. 

7 Groups Qualify To Bid For The Mactan-Cebu International Airport Project – DOTC

Wazzup Pilipinas!

All seven (7) groups vying for the first airport project to be bid out under President Benigno S. Aquino III’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program have been successfully prequalified, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) disclosed on Thursday (May 16, 2013).

The announcement, which was made four (4) days ahead of schedule, signifies that the P 17.5-Billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Passenger Terminal Building Project will be contested by the following groups:

• AAA Airport Partners, led by the Ayala and Aboitiz groups and Houston airport operator ADC&HAS;
• Filinvest-CAI Consortium of the Gotianuns and Singapore’s Changi Airport;
• First Philippine Airports of the Lopez group and New Zealand’s Infratil Asia Limited airport operator;
• GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium, which includes India’s Delhi Airport’s operator;
• MPIC-JGS Airport Consortium, composed of the Pangilinan and Gokongwei companies, as well as France’s Aeroports de Lyon;
• SM-led Premier Airport Group, which includes Switzerland’s Zurich Airport operators; and
• San Miguel-Incheon Airport Consortium, led by the SMC conglomerate and the operator of South Korea’s Incheon Airport.

DOTC Calls For Technology-Based Proposals To Solve Illegal Bus Operations

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Seeking to solve wide-ranging issues caused by the illegal operations of buses and other public utility vehicles, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Land Transportation Franchising & Regulatory Board (LTFRB) are resorting to modern technology, in line with a strong Anti-Colorum campaign.

In a Request for Information (RFI) published earlier this week (May 14, 2013), the DOTC called for proposals from the public regarding “available technology-based solutions” such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Global Positioning System (GPS), and Smart Cards.

The RFI indicated that the primary purposes for this effort are to monitor the movements of both registered and unregistered or unauthorized public utility vehicles, to apprehend illegally-operating vehicles real-time, and to maintain a database containing relevant information on traffic violations, among others.

3rd International Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge Held in Davao

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The third international installment of the Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge was recently held in Davao to raise tourism activity and awareness for the environmental protection of the Philippines’ highest peak. The competition brought foreign and domestic challenge takers to cover 113.3 kilometers in four different activities: 47.8 km of biking, 50 km of trekking, 3.5 km of water tubing, and 12 km of road running –all in 24 hours. Regular hikers usually take two days to climb the peak of Mt. Apo and one day to descend.

The race served as the highlight of the annual Pista sa Kinaiyahan or Feast of Nature, a municipal festival in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. Sta. Cruz is one of the entry points to climb the highest peak in the Philippines which boasts of sound environmental practices.

Department of Tourism (DOT) Region XI Director Arturo Boncato explained that there is a growing awareness to protect and save Mt. Apo. “The Davao Region’s brand promise of from islands to highlands can only be true if there is protection of the environment. The “highlands” part of the brand promise refers mostly to Mt. Apo which is home to Davao’s most iconic symbols – the Philippine Eagle, waling-waling, and durian,” Director Boncato added.

DOT Joins ABS-CBN’s Green Initiative

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Tourism (DOT) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) last 6 May 2013 with media conglomerate ABS-CBN to launch Bantay Kalikasan’s Green Initiative.

A joint program involving ABS-CBN Foundation Incorporated’s (AFI) Bantay Kalikasan, the government, media, and academe, Green Initiative responds to protect and nourish the country’s natural biodiversity, while alleviating poverty and enriching the lives of people through various livelihood projects.

Other signatories of the MOA are the Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (DENR-PAWB) represented by Secretary Ramon Paje, Department of Agriculture (DA) represented by Secretary Proceso Alcala, and the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU).