Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Monday, November 3, 2014

World-Class Cebu Airport Services Soon: GMR-Megawide Takes Over Operations From MCIAA

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Airline passengers using the country’s second-busiest gateway airport can expect better, more customer-oriented services soon as the GMR-Megawide consortium formally took overthe operations and maintenance (O&M) requirements of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) last November 1st.

“This is a major step in our thrust to modernize our transportation facilities, and in delivering world-class services that the public deserves. As a major international destination for business travelers and tourists alike, we are excited to bring the Mactan-Cebu airport at par with the best in the world,” said Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Jun Abaya.

With O&M functions turned over to GMR-Megawide, passengers can expect immediate enhancements within the next three months. One of the first improvements will equip the immigration section with passport readers and computers and will relocate it to a larger area. This will shorten queuing time and maximize the use of airport space, as MCIA’s annual passenger count is expected to increase from 4.5million today to 12.5 million in 2018.

To provide a more pleasant, comfortable experience for the public, basic airport facilities will also be modernized through interior design improvements. These include simple enhancements such as importing new seats for the waiting areas and rehabilitating comfort rooms.In addition, an air-conditioned room will be constructed at the arrival area to accommodate greeters and well-wishers.

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Animax, Asia’s first channel specializing in anime programming, is set to premiere the action-packed anime series, VALVRAVE The Liberator in November! As the channel’s latest blockbuster title, the edgy sci-fi and mecha series will bring exhilarating action into our world with 2 explosive seasons airing back-to-back.

Created by Sunrise animation studio (Cowboy Bebop, Mobile Suit Gundam), VALVRAVE The Liberator is set in a world where 70% of the human population lives in space. The story follows a peace-loving high-school student named Haruto Tokishima. The once peaceful world he lived in has come crashing down when his home is invaded by the military forces of Dorssia Military Pact Federation.

In a strange twist of fate, he discovers a mysterious humanoid weapon called the VALVRAVE. To operate the mecha (machine) and save his loved ones, Haruto has to give up his own humanity. Will he be able to liberate the world with his newly acquired powers?

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The story starts with a student in her poetry class, namely Caitlin. Mr. Frederick, her teacher, asked them to write a poem about anything for their project.

Later at night, her friend Ellie called her, begging her to come to her house so Caitlin did. Caitlin found Ellie in the bathroom of her house, holding a blade, and crying so hard. Caitlin helped her so she’d stop cutting herself and asked her what happened. Ellie said that she has problems with her family, that everyday, her parents always fight leaving her scared. Sometimes her dad would hurt her just because of a simple mistake.

Caitlin decided to write a poem about Caitlin’s experiences which won the appreciation of her classes but she’s still sad because she realized how vicious our world has become.

In this story, you'll learn that we shouldn’t physically abuse other people because it will have a big effect on them.We shouldn’t cut ourselves or attempt suicide because we can always seek God for help and guidance. You'll also learn that we should be ready to help other people when they are feeling down.

Below is our short story for the day.

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Storytelling is an age-old tradition of the world. It has been practiced to pass on information, make sense of experiences, and understand one another. It has the power to immortalize individuals and events, incite ideas and action, and bring people together. It is in the spirit of this powerfully unifying practice that Hero Of D Day and CSR World bring to you Share a Story, Save the World: A Volunteers’ Meet-up.

On the 8th of November, Saturday, 6:00 PM, aspiring and seasoned volunteers from the youth sector will meet at Co.Lab, Brixton St., Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City to tell their own tales and listen to others. Php 250 will avail participants of a Hero Of D Day kit, certificate, food, drinks, and an invaluable storytelling experience.

There will be an opportunity to share volunteer stories with fellow volunteers. Juana Change, an advocate of freedom, justice, good governance, and social change is slated to speak at the event. Geoanna Corneby, a Corporate Social Responsibility officer and an active volunteer for various NGOs that further youth development, empowerment of the poor, and nation building, will be conducting a writing workshop for the participants as a culminating activity as well.

Share a Story, Save the World: A Volunteers’ Meet-up is led by two groups one in the cause – Hero Of D Day and CSR World. Hero Of D Day is a social media organization that believes there is a hero in every one. Focusing the lens on the everyday hero, it recognizes great and small acts of heroism by collecting stories and publishing them online. CSR World is the youth department of Benita and Catalino Yap Foundation that ensures the knowledge and experience of young people on CSR 3.0 – Citizenship, Sustainability and Responsibility – are comprehensive and will enable them to be better citizens.

Bridging Social and Health Inequities: The GIDA Experience

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Persistent health inequities in the country would mean health services are still beyond the reach of amny Filipinos, especially the poor. Eliminating a complex problem like these require a systematic approach that the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) believes must start with the health leader which should be the municipal mayor alongside his municipal health officers and community workers.

The far-off rural communities would have the least opportunities to take advantage of government health products, services and facilities. This is because of several reasons such as weak health systems, poor health-seeking behavior, absence of adequate road infrastructure and lack of transportation facilities.

Eight municipal mayors from geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA) shared their health challenges experienced by GIDA residents, as well as the reforms to address those health gaps with the help of their communities and the ZFF in a colloquium entitled "Bridging Social and Health Inequities: The GIDA Experience."

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It was time for another Open Rice Philippines foodie meet-up at another notable restaurant in the Metro. My taste buds was highly anticipating another tasty treat this time at a Japanese ramen house known as Ryu Ramen & Curry located at the SM Jazz Residences in Makati. You'll find the restaurant facing the Nicanor Garcia street side just opposite the Crown Center building where One Asia Center, our virtual and office-sharing home, is holding office.

Ryu Ramen & Curry currently have other branches located in Tomas Morato in Quezon City and Up Town Center in Katipunan Avenue, also in Quezon City. I'm sure they will eventually expand into more branches soon just like every other restaurant in the country. The proliferation of restaurant chains in the country is a testament that Filipinos really love eating, may it be local or international-inspired culinary dishes.

Ryu Ramen & Curry takes pride in offering authentic Japanese specialty dishes that satisfactory pleases the Filipino taste. Their spicy dishes can be served in mild version so that even children can appreciate the flavorful culinary treats that lingers even after hours of eating from the restaurant.

Our Open Rice Philippines foodie meet-up at Ryu Ramen & Curry takes us to experience their fabulously flavorful Tantanmen dishes. They have five variations of the Tantanmen but unfortunately only four were served due to the unavailability of the tender Angus beef that is the main ingredient in one of the Tantanmen varieties.

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Business Network International (BNI) Philippines recently launched its networking and referral marketing organizations at a grand inauguration night led by BNI Philippines co-National Directors Dexter Ortega and Edward Ling, last October 28, 2014 at the luxurious Manila Polo Club located in Makati city.

I also saw a very familiar face in the event, namely Vivian Velez, who apparently must be a business or career woman already since I haven't seen her around showbiz lately. The former actress widely known before as Ms. Body Beautiful of Philippine movies during her younger years led the raffle draw sometime before the event program ended and proceeded to a dance and networking.

The organizations are namely their BNI Genesis Chapter, Makati and BNI Pioneer Chapter, Ortigas - composed of small and medium enterprises and professionals seeking growth without necessarily increasing costs. The induction of officers and members of the two chapters was the evening's highlight.

The event was attended by several business owners mostly from SMEs joined by government officials, representatives of embassies and chambers of commerce, and foreign delegates from BNI all over the world. Since SMEs account for 99.6 percent of total registered enterprises, BNI is primarily targeting SMEs to become members since many of them have limited resources in growing their businesses thus a networking group would be totally helpful to expand their opportunities towards growth and development.

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Easy Taxi, the number one taxi hailing app in the world, formally announced it partnership with four great brands at a special launch held at Eastwood Open Park last October 30, 2014. The night unveiled the four product cars from the partner brands namely Belo Medical Group, WeChat Philippines, Smart Communications and Sun Cellular, each with a distinctive offering for its passengers from freebies to free Wi-Fi in every vehicle. A short presentation, interview and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, with a sky full of fireworks to cap off the evening. The promo aims to give Filipinos a unique, fast, and safe riding experience with the launch of the Easy Taxi Product Cars.

The taxi app company has been sharing teasers in their Facebook page showing images representing the four brands, and some bloggers and online media have been sharing teaser articles to further announce to the public the upcoming launch with a hashtag #Oct302014 claiming October 30, 2014 as Easy Taxi day.

At the launch, we found out that there will soon be customized Easy Taxi cabs bearing the images of the four brands coupled with some promotional gimmicks to further attract customers to use the Easy Taxi app in booking their taxi cab rides. The pimped taxi cabs will be a great treat to the passengers as they get the chance to bring home some freebies.

The two-month long promo to officially start on October 31, and will last until December 31, 2014. Get a chance to have your Easy Taxi ride for free, anywhere within Metro Manila and for one destination only, plus other amazing prizes and perks, when you book using the Easy Taxi app. Easy Taxi Product Cars will be roving around the streets of Manila, giving free rides to Easy Taxi users while offering a one-of-a-kind in-cab experience.

Red Baron Ribs and Steaks: Bring on the Meaty Battle at Quezon City

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If you don't look close enough, at first glance you might miss this little ribs and steaks specialty restaurant located at D. Tuazon corner Calamba streets at Barangay Lourdes of Quezon City. Yup! You are not being deceived, this small spot surrounded by lots of cars being serviced by mechanics serves really astounding dishes that probably deserve a better location so that more people would get to appreciate their meaty specialties.

But have no fear, because the owners did say they are looking into other locations to put up another branch. Now that's great news since the crowd from the other parts of the Metro would loved to feast on their meaty masterpieces.

Red Baron Ribs and Steaks is "where all things steaky are celebrated. This is where sumptuous steak is equated to piping hot stone-slated steak fit for your most discerning taste buds."

True enough, I was surprised seeing these huge juicy slab of steaks being served aside from their other superb Angus beef dishes. The appetizer, they call nibbles, was quite interesting enough as it was my first time to see a restaurant serve a jar of dried peanuts. Then out comes the nachos served generously with meaty toppings and appropriately named as "Nachoriffic." I'm betting you'll shout out its name after taking a bite.

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Your friendly neighborhood pambansang blogger, Ross Del Rosario, suddenly became a special guest at Radyo Agila's "Kain Tayo" radio show of Eagle Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), the broadcasting company responsible for the more popularly known Net25 TV channel and also its Pinas FM 95.5 FM radio station.

I was there because of an invite by a fellow blogger who was supposed to share the limelight with me, along with other bloggers she invited to join us. But due to unavoidable circumstances involving an accident within her family, she suddenly had to cancel the guesting and reschedule it for next weekend. Everyone was informed of the reschedule including me so I decided to just attend an event to be held somewhere in Makati city instead. However, I suddenly received a message from her asking me to continue with the guesting. It was only later that I fully realized I will be on my own.

With just one hour notice, I bravely traversed the traffic jam infested Metro Manila by commuting using the dreaded mass public transportation system known as the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and other vehicles. From Makati to Central Avenue of Quezon City, I was jumping from one mode of transportation to another. From the MRT to a jeepney, from a jeepney to a tricycle, I made it in time for the show barely out of breath so my first request the minute I arrived was a glass of water.

The "Kain Tayo" radio show, aired every Sunday from 12 noon to 1 pm at Radyo Agila DZEC 1602, is hosted by Belle Surara, also an executive producer of the radio station, along with Cynthia Vallesteros, her partner who was on sick leave that day. Lucky me because this allowed me to seat on the anchor spot along side Miss Belle.

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As an employer, we all know the tedious processes involved in preparing and implementing the payroll system. Employees also experience how difficult it is to sometimes line up to get their payslip or related information from the concerned departments of the company. With the proliferation of many applications designed to automate the usual manual processes, it is not surprising to eventually see an automated version of handling the payroll system.

Your friendly neighborhood pambansang blogger was invited to an intimate discussion of Salarium’s latest features which included geo-fencing, employee-self service, etc., as discussed by its founder and CEO Judah Hirsch who personally shared to us about the many benefits of his Software as a Service (SaaS), a software delivery method that provides access to software and its functions remotely as a Web-based service.

Salarium, an innovative enterprise payroll system, also won the Seedstars Manila competition, the Filipino round of Seedstars World in 2014 national competition, among local startups to represent the Philippines at the Seedstars World Competition Finals, the global startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland this coming February 2015.

This recognition already makes the system something to really look at as a very promising solution to reduce the wasted hours spent at the HR and Administrative departments of many companies. The first place prize of $500,000 at the competition is also a great motivating factor why the creators of Salarium should perform well. Additionally, “We aim to show them that Filipino engineers are capable of building world class software. I plan to make some noise for what startups are doing here in the Philippines.” says Judah.

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With so many competing businesses around, it is but necessary to provide enough reasons why customers should maintain their loyalty to a business establishment. If we could not stop people from trying out other products or services offered by the competition, we can persuade them to go back to us if we provide the better solutions to their needs highlighted by value-added customer service, reasonable price, quality after-sales assistance, and the likes.

The 3rd Customer Loyalty Conference and Expo, held last October 24, 2014 at the New World Hotel in Makati city, recognizes that this is the "Age of Engagement" where everyone should extend extra efforts to understand the significance of identifying better and more aggressive ways and means to engage customers in order to keep them supporting our businesses.

There were several ideas presented by the many speakers to help key personnel from different companies plot strategies to achieve a more fruitful and harmonious relationship with our customers - the real reason why we are in business, and why we stay in business.

Companies that provide significant solutions for loyalty and rewards programs were also around to give the delegates an opportunity to network and eventually try out their products and services. The event is intended to offer prominent solutions to many requirements that would enable us to offer our customers a more engaging experience with us.

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It is in a forum where a lot of us find our passion. For me it is a life-changing event because we get to hear about the exciting things that people around the country, or the world, are doing. I find it an enriching event where there are many lessons to be learned. With all the rapid changes taking place around the world, I have often felt extremely overwhelmed. Attending similar events like a forum is my lifeline. I am grateful to be able to return home with wonderful ideas to improve my personal strategies at both my home and organization.

It is where we can also build connections. I meet people there who, like me years ago, are just starting out on their improvement journeys. These people inspire us and calls us to action with their passion and insight. It's great to be around so many like-minded individuals striving to create a better world. By collaborating with others, we can create new ideas to solve the new challenges brought about by a rapidly changing world.

In the networking sessions, I’ve found people who share their successes and failures as they work to improve their craft so invigorating. At the 26th National Quality Forum (NQF), an annual gathering of quality management professionals organized by the Philippine Society for Quality, Inc (PSQ), a non-stock, non-profit organization that laid down the groundwork for setting up a quality organization that can serve as a catalyst for action in the application for quality management, we become part of a worldwide movement. That feeling of belonging and being part of something global should never leave us and should continue to stay as long as we aim for the best.

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Your friendly neighborhood pambansang blogger was invited to watch a special advance screening of a video documentary of the dreaded disaster that hit our country. This 60-minute special will premiere in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia on Discovery Channel this coming Saturday, November 8 at 8 PM to mark the first anniversary of the typhoon that hit the Visayan region.

The documentary revisits Tacloban months after it is pummelled by one of history’s most intense storms - Haiyan or more popularly known in the Philippines as Yolanda. It is hosted by Filipino-British television presenter and actor Trey Farley who was chosen for the role so Filipinos can equally relate to a "kababayan" half-Filipino host interviewing them and telling the story on video. Since Trey understands a bit of our Filipino language, he can easily interact with the people and be able to convince them to share their experience with truthful emotions.

The documentary is in partnership with Filipino documentary makers, Caelestis Productions Inc. They visited Tacloban to uncover and honor the heroic human effort undertaken to rebuild the storm-ravaged city and the surrounding islands in an exclusive 60-minute documentary dubbed as HAIYAN: AFTER THE MEGASTORM.

We also got to interview Emile Guertin, the Executive Producer, via phone-patch. All of this was held at the Perceptions head office at the 17th floor of the Corporate Center building located at the McKinley Business Park of Bonifacio Global City (BGC).

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Learn and be knowledgeable as UST JFINEX proudly presents its 4th Annual National Finance Summit entitled: "Synergy Unbound: Prospects and Perspectives on ASEAN Integration" at the UST Medicine Auditorium on November 8, 2014 (Saturday) from 7am to 6pm.

This year, notable speakers will discuss concepts and principles that will enhance awareness among Financial Management Students from different educational institutions regarding ASEAN Integration. Furthermore, reputable companies will also be invited to provide career opportunities for our delegates.
BE INFORMED. BE RELEVANT.

Don't miss this opportunity! Ticket price is Php280 only. For inquiries, you may contact Ms. Sasha Telan (0917 497 0126).

‪#‎WeGoFurther‬

Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Synergy-Unbound-The-Fourth-National-Finance-Summit/1540474956169425