Mikey Bustos Is Proud of His Brown Body

Wazzup Pilipinas!

It is so funny that Filipinos are really obsessed in getting white like Caucasians. I still remember when everything that has glutathione was highly in demand and up until now when skin whitening lotions and the likes are still very popular beauty product essentials for women, and even men, who want to achieve celebrity-like status.

This is mainly because in a country where the color of the skin is one of the main factors on how people are judged or perceived, we are normally categorized to belong in a class of higher standard if we are of the whiter variety.

Yeah, in the Philippines, when your complexion is white, you get to be regarded as somebody affluent, and considered to be among the beautiful, fit to land a job in sales or showbiz. Even other industries prefer their employees with pleasing personalities. However, it is so sad that they would perceive skin color as the basis for beauty.

Damn it! We are Filipinos that are supposed to be "Moreno" in skin color. We are originally brown in color as per our ancestors. I have no quarrel with the mixed race since we have become global and got intimately close with our foreign brothers (thus Fil-Ams were born). But we should not see their white skin color as the top ranking complexion, and looking down on the "brown" race as inferior.

Afterthoughts from My Slingshot MNL Experience

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The startup community is saying that even if it's impossible, it should happen. Give them a chance to build their dream, and with the current efforts being done now, it would hopefully give them a better glimpse of the future. A future when they would soon join the ranks of legendary companies who were once startups just a few years ago, but now are big names earning big bucks out from their world-changing ideas.

Now that excellence in the academic field is no longer the main factor to consider when forecasting the future, many are realizing it is the right time to grab the opportunity. The present is filled with bright minds and passionate hearts who may one day become among the millionaires brought about by their creative ideas, especially those who develop revolutionary apps that dramatically changes our lifestyle into a more convenient and fast-paced activity.

Investors should now look into those startups engaging more with mobile and online solutions that rethink real world problems and develops applications with business-aligned opportunities. But they should also start the sparks in different places to eventually create multiple fires everywhere. I hope to hear many success stories soon especially after the Slingshot MNL event, the official startup event of APEC Philippines 2015, held last July 6 and 7, 2015 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila.

Startups could also start small by beginning to solve the problems within their neighborhood. Raise your first round smartly. Don't necessarily look for investors, but look for customers so eventually it would be the investors who would find you. Though we all know that startups are emotional rollercoasters, the founders should continue to be patient and hope that soon that majority of the private sector will kick in and fund their ideas. Hopefully the government has their own way to support our startup community.

Lazada Advocates Effortless Online Shopping to Consumers Across Southeast Asia

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Lazada, Southeast Asia’s leading online shopping and selling destination, kicks off its Effortless Shopping campaign(http://www.lazada.com.ph/effortless-shopping/) in the Philippines from 21-26 July highlighting the benefits of effortless online shopping to Filipino consumers.

“We are committed to providing an effortless online shopping experience to approximately 550 million consumers in the Southeast Asian region. While our customer satisfaction survey reveals that respondents are satisfied with their online shopping experience, there is an untapped opportunity to reach out to non-online shoppers by highlighting the benefits of online shopping and thus changing their perceptions,” said Inanc Balci, CEO of Lazada Philippines.

As an e-Commerce leader in the Philippines, Lazada provides consumers with an effortless shopping experience with its user-friendly sites and mobile apps accessible at their fingertips anytime, any day. It offers a wide selection of international, local and exclusive products; and multiple secure payment options including cash-on-delivery.

Consumers can shop with peace of mind on Lazada as all items purchased are covered by Lazada's Buyer Protection Program. This provides a guarantee that products are genuine, new and not defective; and for customers to return the items within seven days for a full refund, otherwise. Consumers can also shop with assurance knowing that they can reach out to Lazada’s customer service seven days a week by phone and email.