Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Monday, September 21, 2015

CHED-NCR Declares November 17 and 20 as School Holidays

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In a memorandum to the Presidents/Heads of Public and Private Colleges and Universities in the National Capital Region (NCR) dated September 18, CHED-NCR Director Dr. Leonida S. Calagui reveals November 17 and 20 as “school holidays.”

The pronouncement was made in order to contribute to the security of the 21 Leaders expected to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on November 18 and 19, 2015. The Palace earlier declared November 18 and 19 as special (non-working) days in NCR via Proclamation No. 1072, series of 2015.

The memorandum also stated that all higher education institutions in NCR are encouraged to give their students alternative activities and assignments to keep them off campus and roads on the said dates.

Frolicking at the Panagbenga Festival of Baguio City (Part 2 of 2)

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This is part two of our #CamellaGesPanagbenga story where a handful of us went on a Baguio Road Trip to experience the sights and sounds of Panagbenga Festival. That's what I really thought.

However, the original plans were drastically changed without any consultation from the majority...or was I just unaware that the rest of the group were agreeable. Anyway, this was the story way back February 28 to March 1 but unfortunately I did not publish this article because it was too full of disappointment. But without any editing, I am now posting this to remind me how I really felt that day while showing you some of the beauty of Baguio city. I promise to write separate articles about the different places we've been to, including the ones I told in part 1 of this series, so I can show more photos of Baguio.

Incidentally, the real reason why we went up to Baguio was to help promote and blog about the promotional giveaways of Camella Homes where luck selfie addicts can get a chance to win prizes from Camella Homes. People just needed to visit the Vista land/ Camella Homes booth at the SM City Baguio, grab one of their fansigns, take a selfie with them, tag Camella Official on Instagram, tag 5 of their FB friends and then post. It's that easy. Camella Homes also sponsored some raffle and games during the GMA Kapuso Special Concert happening that night.

I was fortunate enough to get my name picked in the raffle, so I brought home some GCs with me on the way back to Manila.

As told on part 1 of this story, we had a home-cooked dinner after one of us decided to just buy ingredients at the local marketplace and cook dinner and breakfast. It was a very frustrating part of this Baguio adventure since I wanted to try out the popular restaurants of Baguio city.

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"Open-MINEded ka ba?" is a forum that will discuss the general issues revolving around the mining industry in hopes to enlighten the masses with facts coming from the experts.

Join us on September 22,2015 at 5:30pm at the College of Science Auditorium.

Pre-register at https://upminers.typeform.com/to/A50rcV

The UP MINERS’ advocacy is to promote proactive and responsible mining. The organization will hold its 12th Anniversary Celebration consisting of events that would best serve their cause. It will be a week-long anniversary celebration with the theme of “Orichalcum: Unraveling the Runes”.

Open-MINEded ka ba is co-presented to you by:
Nickel Asia Corporation
UP Sidlangan

Our Major Sponsor:
Rebisco Biscuit Corporation

Our Minor Sponsor:
MacroAsia Corporation

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Thinking of an adventure-filled weekend getaway in the Philippines? Well, the country boasts of over 7,000 islands, one of which is El Nido in Palawan.

El Nido literally means 'the nest' and it is called as such due to the presence of edible-nest swiftlets in the area. Swiftlets, which are small, blackish to brownish birds but with paler colors on their underparts, create their own nests from their saliva. The locals collect these solidified nests and sell them for more than Php500 per nest. It is the main ingredient of a $3,000-bowl of nido soup.

Enough with the origin of the place. Going back, there are many reasons why El Nido is a haven for the adventurous souls.

1) Scuba dive

El Nido has over 20 easily accessible diving sites. The majority of the islands also offer diving equipment rentals, in case you forget yours. Nevertheless, if isn't on your itinerary but you want to try it, enlist yourself in any of the dive courses offered at the local marine sports centers.

2) Snorkel

For adventure-seekers who are also nature junkies, snorkeling is the perfect way to discover El Nido's well-celebrated marine diversity. You'd see house reefs and various fish species endemic to the area as well as uniquely interesting underwater creatures. While snorkeling, get up close to the species and feed them. Snorkeling gear can be also rented.

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Witness and experience a musical festival unlike any other as Power Mac Center, the country’s leading Apple partner, brings back Sync Sessions, an audio-digital crossover experience that bring together some of the country’s iconic bands synchronize good music and cutting-edge technology using Apple devices.

“After a successful inaugural lineup last year, Sync Sessions went so well that we felt it timely to bring it back this year,” said Power Mac Center’s Marketing Director, Joey Alvarez. “With this groundbreaking festival, we hope to bring a whole new perspective in making and enjoying music as we encourage established and aspiring bands to use their Apple devices to create music.”

This year’s edition kicked off last September 19 at TriNoma, Quezon City with leading alternative rock band, Hale. It will be followed by a techno rock performance of Up Dharma Down on October 3 at Power Plant Mall in Makati; five-piece pop rock band Mayonnaise at SM Mall of Asia on October 10 and with chart-topper Sponge Cola culminating the series on October 17 at SM Megamall.

Sync Sessions started in 2014, showcasing the power of Apple products in creating revolutionary live band performances. Among the acts who took part in the Sync Sessions were Sandwich, Pedicab, Kate Torralba, Taken By Cars, Techy Romantics, The Zombettes, Pedicab, Gracenote, Ciudad, Itchyworms including Franco and Urbandub live performances at the Power Mac Center’s Light Year event recently.

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It was our last destination for our Bohol countryside tour but I chose to write about it first because of the thrill I got meeting the tarsier up close.

It's my first time to see the adorable little creature considered as the world's smallest primate and is so famous as an iconic symbol for Bohol. It is the only smallest primate that feeds on live prey.

You'll see their images in shirts, stuffed toys, postcards, figurines and other souvenir items every time you visit the Philippines. It is not only in Bohol that it's widely known but all over the Philippines and even the world. It is one of the animals that represent the Philippines aside from the carabao and the monkey-eating eagle ... and the askal (Asong Kalye) which has now been elevated to "aspin" (Asong Pinoy).

They say you never really have seen Bohol if you never visited the sanctuary sites of the tarsier. Just like the Chocolate Hills and the Loboc River Cruise, a visit at the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella, Bohol is a must for every itinerary. It should always be part of your list of places to visit and explore.

I would have to thank the Department of Tourism (DOT) for giving me the opportunity to be pat of the Bohol familiarization tour. It will be a very memorable part of my life.

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A total of 53 entries were shortlisted for various categories of the Globe Media Excellence Awards (GMEA), the most anticipated premier award-giving body that gives recognition to excellence in journalism in central Philippines

The premier award-giving body which recognizes excellence in journalism from the best breed of scribes in Visayas and Mindanao, the awards pay tribute and gives recognition to print, broadcast, and digital media practitioners who have excelled in their respective fields.

Awards night for the GMEA Visayas leg will be held on September 24, 2015 at the Grand Convention Center of Cebu, to coincide with celebrations for the Cebu Press Freedom Week.

Entries were from various media organizations in Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo. The finalists will vie for nine award categories namely: Reporter of the Year for Print, Explanatory/Investigative Story of the Year for Print/Online, Columnist of the Year, Photojournalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year for Television, Explanatory/Investigative Story of the Year for Television, Reporter of the Year for Radio, Blogger of the Year, and Social Media Advocate of the Year. There were a total of 688 entries this year compared with 522 last year.

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In this digital age, most people rely on digital technology to perform daily activities. The emergence of information and communications technology (ICT) paved the way for better delivery of services from different organizations including the government, private sector and nonprofits to the consumption of the general public. However, digital divide still exists where some people, mostly located in the rural areas, don’t have access to digital resources.

Now on its second year, Digital Strategies for Development Summit (DSDS) 2015: A Knowledge Exchange Forum for Asia-Pacific Region and Beyond aims to address this problem by promoting digital inclusion. Organized by DOST-ICT Office, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and managed by Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation, the event will be held on Sept 22-24 at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, Philippines. DSDS 2015 is sponsored by Intel, Accenture and Microsoft.

With the theme, Accelerating Inclusive Development through ICT Innovation, DSDS 2015 brings together international development partners, policy makers, regulators, telecentre operators and managers, content and services developers and providers and key players from the public sector, NGOs, industry and academia. This dynamic circle of participants equips each attendee to bring home best practices and lessons learned from real experiences on ICT innovation.

Among the globally renowned speakers were International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary General Houlin Zhou, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Montejo, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Director of Poverty Reduction, Gender, and Social Development Division Bart Edes, Intel Corporation Regional Director for Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific & Japan, Anjan Ghosh and DOST-ICTO Assistant Secretary Bettina Quimson.

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To be awarded for all our efforts to make our site stand out. loud and proud, is the best recognition that is very much appreciated by the WazzupPilipinas.com team. We have been receiving awards from different award-giving bodies since we founded WazzupPilipinas.com in 2013 and received our very first recognition as one of the Top Emerging Influential Blog Site by DigitalFilipino.com. It was soon followed by an overwhelming series of awards every year coming from different award-giving bodies.

These awards have always been our inspiration to continue our advocacy in providing relevant news and information despite some shortcomings and obstacles, and exaggerated issues fabricated against us. We all know that we wouldn't be very controversial, and highly-talked about, if we were not really making a big difference. The continued patronage of many brands and organizations who partner with us for the promotion of their events, products and services only shows that we continue to be among the top blog sites in the Philippines.

WazzupPilipinas.com was conceptualized entirely to promote the Philippines as the most preferred destination. This is why we targeted to partner initially with the government agency we know as the Department of Tourism (DOT). We further reached out to other government agencies like the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of Health (DOH), National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and many more, even reaching out to the Office of the President in Malacanan Palace.

The tagline of being the "Pambansang Blog ng Pilipinas" was mainly used because of that objective. We wanted to be the online media partner of not only our government but also of the many colleges and universities of the country, the many businesses and entrepreneurships belonging to the big corporations and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to the startups and advocacy programs of our countrymen and the many organizations that support everything about the Philippines.

Tanghalang Ateneo’s 37th Season Presents “R.U.R (Robot Unibersal Ni Rossum)”

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Tanghalang Ateneo, the longest-running theater company of the Loyola Schools of the Ateneo de Manila University, is celebrating its 37th season with the theme "Staging Revolution/s". The company will stage this season three works that have been deemed revolutionary when they were first unleashed to the world.

Opening the season is R.U.R. (ROBOT UNIBERSAL NI ROSSUM), a science fiction classic by Czech writer Karel Capek. Originally written in Czech, this Tanghalang Ateneo production will use a new Filipino translation by Palanca winner Guelan Varela-Luarca. Introducing the word “robot” to the English language, the play depicts the rebellion of human-like creatures that leads to the extinction of the human race. The danger of man’s desires of a utopian and totalitarian world is one of the play's central themes.

Avie Alcantara plays the role of Harry Domin, the general manager of R.U.R who envisions a world where humans are free from the shackles of labor.

Gel Basa and Sabrina Basilio alternate for the role of Helena Glory, daughter of the president who becomes the object of affection for the five men who run the robot factory called R.U.R.

Gab Tibayan portrays Fabry, the engineer and general technical director of the factory.

Jerome Ignacio plays Dr. Gall, head of the physiological department.

Jego Mallillin portrays Dr. Hallemeier, chief psychologist and educator of the robots.

Cholo Ledesma and Geo Celestino alternate for the role of Busman, the factory’s general marketing director and chief consul.

Jerome Flor plays Alquist, the architect of R.U.R who sticks to religious views and questions the morality of producing robots.