Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Free Wi-Fi Internet in Public Places Project Launched at National Science and Technology Week 2015

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From the press conference held a few days ago, there are already certain places in Quezon City and Manila, namely Quezon City Memorial Circle, Quezon City Hall, PHILCOA, Social Security Sysyem, LTO in Quezon City, and Rizal Park) that has the free Internet sharing called Free Wi-Fi Internet in Public Places project (and dubbed as Juan Konek) of the government spearheaded by the Department of Science and Technology- Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO). This was done to help the ICTO in assessing the system and make the necessary adjustment before they roll out the project on a larger scale.

The project was formally launched last July 24 during the 2015 National Science and Technology Week (NSTW)held at the SMX Convention Center Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay city from July 24 to 28 along with other project announcements and updates from mostly the government sector and their partners.

Senator Ralph Recto was the guest of honor in the launching of the free Wi-Fi project and was joined by DOST Secretary Mario Montejo, OST Usec Napoleon Casambre, and other personalities.

The increase in Internet connnectivity will jumpstart economic development by giving the people access to e-Commerce, e-Learning, and e-Government tools found online. The beneficiaries can engage in online jobs or selling to help them get decent income while allowing them to stay with their families. Even Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) will highly benefit from this project.

Asian Hospital and Medical Center Launches the Asian Cancer Institute

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Nobody likes to hear that they are infected with cancer. For many people, it means an eventual death. Not too many survive especially when the discovery was too late. Even if there was early diagnosis, no one can hide the suffering it brings to everyone including their family and loved ones for the possibility of dying from the disease is imminent. The depression brought about by financial difficulties and other sensitivities also further adds burden and pain to everyone aside from the victim.

It is thus best appreciated to step into a hospital that can offer its patients and families all the help they need to deal with the difficulties of the big C.

We are very fortunate that the Asian Hospital and Medical Center (AHMC) has finally opened a facility that will focus on cancer diagnosis and treatment. At a launch held last July 23, members of the media and other special guests witnessed the formal opening of the Asian Cancer Institute (ACI). The morning was dedicated to press conference where we got to meet and listen to the lead doctors that are part of the ACI team. Andres Licaros Jr,, President and CEO of AHMC, gave the welcome remarks while Dr. Corazon Ngelangel gave the keynote address. A question and answer took place immediately afterwards.

The afternoon was when the ribbon cutting ceremonies plus the unveiling of the ACI logo of which they explained the meaning. Department of Health (DOH) Usec. Vicente Belizario was the guest of honor who gave the keynote address. The facility was then blessed by a priests and cocktails was served after.

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33 Variations by Red Turnip Theater opened on July 24 and will run on weekends until August 23 at Whitespace, Makati. But as member of the media, we got the special privilege of watching it ahead of everyone else.

As always, I arrived ahead of everyone else too on the press preview night. I'm always the punctual blogger who would normally arrive an hour or more before the call time. Why? Because I hate coming in late and missing what happened at the start of every event. It's better to be early to avoid sudden traffic congestion or whatever unavoidable circumstances. There's also always something to look forward to when you come on time or earlier. Just as there are other rare opportunities when you leave last. May it be an opportunity to get an exclusive interview or to see how the stage is set before the start of the show.

I felt it was highly essential for me to watch this press preview because this will be the first time I will be watching a play from Red Turnip Theater. I always miss out on the opportunity due to so many obligations that I would just often assign correspondents to take my place. I would patronize theater shows more than mainstream movies because I believe it is at the theater where you would meet the real actors. The discipline involved in theater is so very different from the other. This makes it really a privilege to be invited to witness the performers as they do their thing live on stage. No take twos, ad-lib to keep the flow, work on each others' strengths, impress the audience with the passionate words and expressions, and the only special effects you'll get are from the lights and sounds, everything else is pure power of emotions from the theater actors and how they use the set to their advantage.

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Despite the condo boom happening in Metro Manila and other major cities across the Philippines, it seems that many Filipinos based in the United States still prefer to purchase houses.

This is according to latest data from global property portal Lamudi Philippines, which looked into the search behavior of online house-hunters from January to June 2015. According to the company, almost 8 million searches were conducted in the website during the time period, and 5.28 percent of that traffic comes from USA, a country with a significant Filipino population.

More than half (57.83 percent) of all these searches from U.S.-based property-hunters in Lamudi.com.ph were for houses, according to the company’s data. Condos are the second most searched property type, comprising 16.58 percent of all searches, followed by land/residential lots (13.64 percent), apartments (8.54 percent), and foreclosures (2.35 percent).

The city most Filipino-Americans are searching for is Quezon City, at 20.35 percent of all searches for the first half of 2015. Makati comes in second at 8.49 percent, then Manila at 5.33 percent. Interestingly, Tagaytay and Baguio are the fourth and fifth most searched cities by U.S.-based online property-hunters (5.10 and 4.91 percent, respectively), outranking other popular Metro Manila LGUs like Taguig, Pasig, and Mandaluyong.

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Riding on the success of 2014’s first high school hackathon, YouthHack Manila upped its game this year with Code Weekend, thirty-six hours of pure coding. The overnight event, held at Microsoft Philippines last July 11 and 12, drew close to one hundred students from various high schools and universities in the metro for workshops on coding, entrepreneurship, and the future of the technology industry in the country.

Unique among hackathons of its calibre, Code Weekend did not require its participants to already be familiar with coding languages. Seasoned coding veterans and aspiring programmers alike ended weekend run with an application of their own.

The first day kicked off with a session on the basics of web development by Mr. Mark Tarcelo, a computer science teacher at Philippine Science High School. Tarcelo introduced concepts and real-world examples in using HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap.

“If you want to understand how these new technologies are going to impact or maximize your life, you need to understand how these work, and how you can make your own contribution,” Tarcelo adds.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Every great idea deserves a breakthrough.

What started out as a vision to empower and inspire the Filipino youth through leadership trainings, public speaking workshops, and motivational talks for Aspire Philippines’ Founders V Manalo and Raymond Rodis is now a reality.

Don’t miss out as Aspire Philippines officially breaks through the Metro with its grand launch party, Breakthrough, at The Lounge in Tomas Morato, Quezon City on July 31, 2015 from 9:00pm – 1:00am!

From free flowing drinks to freebies, finger food and other fun games and surprises, this much-awaited party is definitely worth the wait. Party with the cool kids and bright minds, and you’re definitely in for a treat!

In ASPIRE PH, we don’t just WORK HARD. We PARTY HARDER!

Register now at tinyurl.com/ASPIREBreakthrough

For inquiries, contact Vinz Bana at 09269007332

This event is also brought to by BREAKTHROUGH’s media sponsors: When in Manila, Adobo Magazine, WazzupPilipinas.com and Astig.

Gantimpala Theater Foundation Presents Kanser@35 the Musical

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Gantimpala Theater Foundation's 38th Season is mounting KANSER@35 THE MUSICAL

by Dr. Jose Rizal based from the novel Noli Me Tangere. Over the past seasons, KANSER has always been staged as a straight play and it is considered as the " longest running play in Philippine theater. For this year, it will be presented for the first time as a musical theater production.

At the press launch last July 14, 2015 at Dong Juan restaurant located at 72 Mother Ignacia Avenue, Quezon City, most of the cast and crew were present to give members of the media a glimpse of what to expect on the musical to be held on August 28 and 29 (9 am, 12 pm and 3 pm) at the AFP Theater of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. It will then be held at the Star Theater of Star City on September 4 (9 am, 12 pm and 3 pm), then Cinema 3 of SM Southmall on September 11 and 12 (11 am and 2 pm)

No less than Gantimpala Theater Foundation president Jun Pablo was there, along with its creative creative director Joel Lamangan. Of course, the director of Kanser@35 the Musical, Franniel Zamora was there to introduce all cast and production members who were able to be there. Publicist Toots Tolentino officiated the program.

The main and some supporting casts also rendered a few beautiful song numbers for the appreciation of the audience who were present at the media launch.

Preparing for the Big One: UP Mountaineers and Primer Group Join to Ready the Public for Disasters

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Primer Group, the country’s leading retailer and distributor of premium travel, outdoor, footwear, wellness and urban lifestyle consumer brands, and the UP Mountaineers Search and Rescue, together mounted a series of disaster preparedness talks held at the Recreational Outdoor Exchange (R.O.X) at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City. The series is part of Primer Group’s effort to help in disaster awareness.

The partnership came in the heels of a recent study done by the Phivolcs and the Japanese government about the probability of a major movement of the West Valley Fault. This fault line runs from San Del Monte in Bulacan to Calamba in Laguna. Any movement will immediately impact cities like Quezon City, Paranaque, Alabang, Marikina, Pasig, among others, and is expected to cause massive damage to the surrounding cities.

What’s more, Metro Manila will be hit hard because of the large concentration of people and property.

“When the UP Mountaineers Search and Rescue started, we were mostly focused on search and rescue operations in non-urban areas. It was only after the Ondoy incident that we realized the need to educate and prepare people in cities for disaster situations because we realized how vulnerable urbanites really are.” said Jom Daclan, executive member of the UP Mountaineers Search and Rescue. “Many city residents are not aware of what to do and how to prepare for a disaster.”

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Are you in dire need of a relaxing vacation yet you don’t know where to go? This August, find out stunning destinations, de-stressing activities, rich cultures and great food on the all-new series JOJO’S DIARY OF ASIA, premiering on August 3, airing Mondays at 10 p.m.

JOJO’S DIARY OF ASIA follows the unforgettable journey of TV host and travel enthusiast Jojo Struys as she uncovers the unique ways people can disconnect from stress in their daily lives while soaking up different cultures and learning how to make a diverse array of traditional Asian dishes. Follow Jojo as she immerses in the deeply cultural customs and delights in Japan, the breathtaking natural beauty of Nepal and the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong.

Unearth the multitude of ways you can de-stress - bathing elephants in the Himalayas, learning breathing techniques from a Zen Buddhist monk and wielding a samurai sword in Tokyo. Join her as she discovers the pampering secrets of these three wondrous countries in JOJO’S DIARY OF ASIA, airing this August on TLC.

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WD, a Western Digital company, and world leader in storage solutions, today introduced the new, redesigned My Passport Ultra portable hard drives and My Passport for Mac drives. With the My Passport line now in its 7th generation, the My Passport Ultra and My Passport for Mac portable hard drives are now available in capacities up to 3 TB and in four stylish colors - Classic Black, Brilliant White, Wild Berry and Noble Blue.

“With more photos being taken than ever before, it’s critical to have a high capacity, reliable external storage solution that you can carry everywhere,” said Tony Tate, general manager and vice president of Content Storage Solutions at WD. “The latest generation My Passport drives deliver an easier automatic back-up experience, hardware-based encryption for security and higher capacities than ever before.”

My Passport Ultra portable drives come in 3 TB, 2 TB, 1 TB and 500 GB capacities and feature 256-bit AES hardware encryption – delivering a high level of security with no impact to write-speed or CPU activity. If your My Passport Ultra falls into the wrong hands, the 256-bit AES hardware encryption protects users’ files, folders, photos, videos and music with a password known only to them. USB 3.0 compatibility provides fast data transfer rates of up to 5 gigabits per second, while being backwardly compatible with USB 2.0. My Passport for Mac portable drives are available in capacities of 3 TB, 2 TB, 1 TB and also feature 256-bit AES hardware encryption with USB 3.0 connectivity.