Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Globe Transmits Disaster SMS Alerts in Support of NDRRMC

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In support of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Globe Telecom transmitted text messages warning customers of potential danger coming from Typhoon Lando. Only customers in areas affected by the typhoon were given the message.

The move is also in compliance with the Free Mobile Disaster Alerts Act or Republic Act 10639, which requires all telecommunication service providers to send free mobile alerts before disasters such as typhoon happen.

“As mandated by law, Globe is privileged to be a conduit of useful information beneficial in ensuring the safety and security of people. We hope that through dissemination of timely and relevant alerts, Globe is able to assist and contribute to the government’s objective of minimizing casualties,” Globe Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Yoly Crisanto said.

The mobile alerts include critical information that affected communities can use to prepare for and respond to disasters. The disaster alerts sent by Globe through SMS messaging were directed to customers in Aurora, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Viscaya, Ifugao, Northern Quezon, Polilio Island.

Crisanto said that Globe is also closely coordinating with NDRRMC for the immediate restoration of telecommunication services in areas affected by Typhoon Lando. Outages were caused mainly by power outages while strong winds brought by the typhoon also caused transmission issues. Outages were monitored in the provinces of Aurora, Benguet, Ifugao, Isabela, Kalinga, La Union, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Quirino, Tarlac and Zambales.

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Halloween is fast approaching. For those who want to take their ghost-hunting experience to a different level this year, a trip to a mountain might be just what they need, as the Philippines is known to have supernatural elements lurking (and sometimes interacting with their visitors) in the depths of their land and mysterious forests.

As the saying goes, “Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints,” but locals say hikers who lived to tell their hair-raising experiences may not have followed this rule and had done something to offend those who dwell in these mountains. Though there are also hikers who insisted that they had prayed, asked permission, and were very respectful of the place and still experienced something out of the ordinary.

For those who’d rather see to believe, or are simply looking to have a good time, MyProperty.ph lists down five mountains in the country that are tied to various tales of mystery and horror.

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Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Loreta G. Ayson was awarded in the recently held ASEAN Energy Awards 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for her valuable contributions in forwarding energy cooperation as Senior Official on Energy (SOE) leader of the Philippines.

Usec. Ayson was awarded a trophy for Excellence in Energy Management along with eight other ASEAN leaders from different countries during the Awards Night last October 7 as part of the Joint Gala Dinner of the 33rd ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting and the ASEAN Energy Business Forum 2015.

The ASEAN Energy Awards, which started in 2000, is Southeast Asia’s prestigious annual awards program that recognizes outstanding work for excellence, creativity, practicality and dedication to a cause in the field of energy.

Usec. Ayson has been with the DOE since 1979 and has served in various capacities until she was appointed as Undersecretary in 2008. She has handled the DOE’s programs on energy efficiency and conservation, alternative fuels, energy research testing and laboratory, information technology management, as well as administration, legal and finance, including the supervision of the DOE Field Offices. She also served as Chairperson of the Policy Advisory Board of the Philippine Efficient Lighting Market Transformation Project and the Project Director of the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP). Currently, she handles the Energy Policy and Planning Bureau and the Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point System.

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The rise of millennial travelers, Filipinos’ increasing spending power, and aggressive expansion of commercial property developers in cities outside Metro Manila -- these are just some of the key trends that will discussed during the upcoming 4th Asia Pacific Real Estate Investment Summit (APREIS), to be held at Solaire Resort & Casino on October 22.

Moderating the discussion on these emerging trends on Philippine real estate is Jacqueline van den Ende, managing director of global property website Lamudi Philippines (www.lamudi.com.ph).

The discussion’s panelists include key people from different sector of the real estate industry. They include Al Legaspi, chief operating officer of Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts, who will share insights on the opportunities and challenges facing the country’s hospitality sector; Henry Co of First Philippine Industrial Park who will discuss industrial real estate; Lars Wittig of Regus Philippines and Michael McCullough KMC MAG Group, who will both tackle office real estate; Joseph Ramil Lombos, chief financial officer of DMCI Homes, to discuss the residential sector; and Lourdes Alano of Robinsons Land and Shaun Kwan of Trakomatic, to share their insights on the key trends in retail.

Among the burning issues to be tackled on during the discussion is how the Philippines can compete with established its Southeast Asian neighbors in terms of attracting foreign visitors, how the country can sustain buoyant consumption to maintain retail boom, and the opportunities for investors in the office sector.

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The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) welcomes the passage of the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) through Republic Act No. 106871 which was signed on October 15 by President Benigno S. Aquino III. The Commission hails it as a Landmark Social Legislation of the Administration benefiting Filipino youth.

Designed to unify all modalities of publicly-funded Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAPs)—Scholarships, Grants-in-Aid and Student Loans—for Tertiary Education, the UniFAST rationalizes the allocation, utilization and client-targeting of government resources and improves access to quality higher and technical education for those who need it. It shall also serve as the ultimate national human resource development mechanism and strategy that will direct beneficiaries to priority courses needed for economic growth and development. Further, it insulates any StuFAPs modality from political labeling or partisan affiliation.

The idea of a harmonized financial assistance program emerged more than five years ago as a proposal of the NEDA-Social Development Committee, but the real work took place in 2013 after a comprehensive study was conducted by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies. CHED’s current Higher Education Reform Agenda, which deemed UniFAST a priority strategy for access, gave the necessary impetus. The Commission provided continuous technical assistance to both the Lower and Upper Houses of Congress in the formulation and eventual enactment of the Law.

The UniFAST will be governed by a Board composed of the heads of CHED, DOST and TESDA as co-chairs, with the head of DepEd and representatives from DOLE, NEDA and NYC as members. The Board, with the support of a technical secretariat, will ensure program sustainability and safeguard student welfare. It will see to it that standard-setting, client- targeting, fund allocation and prioritization are based on supply/demand situations, prices and inflationary factors, the government human resources development plan and current trends in internationally-shared human resources.

Issued this 21st day of October 2015 at the Higher Education Center Building, C.P. Garcia Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City.

(signed)
Patricia B. Licuanan, Ph.D.
Chairperson

IPR Week to Focus on Cross Border Challenges, Cooperation

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Amid the rise of cross border issues in intellectual property (IP), the program line-up for this year’s IP Week Celebration, to run from 26 to 30 October, puts focus on the regional and international challenges and cooperation relating to IP protection, enforcement and adjudication.

To open this year’s IP Week celebration is the 5th Philippine Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Summit on 26 October at the Marriot Hotel in Pasay City. With the theme “Building Cooperation Across Borders,” the Summit is organized by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) and the National Committee on IP Rights (NCIPR), the multi-agency taskforce on IP enforcement.

To supplement the presentations and discussions on the latest issues and developments in the Philippine IP enforcement, the organizers have invited foreign speakers to discuss the pressing issues in global IP enforcement and share their respective country experience on the topic. They are Mr. Hideyuki Morooka of the Japan Patent Office; Mr. Nam Ngo Thien, IPR Attaché for South-East Asia of the Embassy of France in Singapore; Mr. Louis Bonnier and Atty. Jean-Pierre Maeder of the Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP); Mr. Cha Tae-won of the Korean Copyright Commission; Mr. Etienne Sanz de Acedo of the International Trademark Association; Mr. Man F. Tse of the National Intellectual Property Rights Center, USA; Mr. Ignacio de Medrano Caballero of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market; and Mr. Maysa Razavi of the International Trademark Association.

The Summit will also feature the awarding of this year’s IP Champions, a recognition given to the partner individuals and institutions in IP enforcement of the NCIPR and the oath-taking of the newest batch of the Young IP Advocates, an annual IP workshop for students from selected secondary schools.

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We were invited to attend the annual gala night of Jewelmer, a Filipino jeweler brand whose pieces are sold in mainstream stores worldwide, and supplies golden pearls to many international designer brands.

The Jewelmer brand name, put together by Filipino scion Manuel Cojuangco and French pilot and pearl entrepreneur Jacques Branellec, was coined from the English word "jewel" and French word "mer" which means "sea" in English. It is a partnership made several years ago that could be called a divine providence of which eventually resulted to another widely-recognized brand every Filipino should be proud of.

The annual gala was held at the Manila Peninsula Hotel on October 20, 2015 dubbed as "A Journey to the Extraordinary" where the company flaunted new priced pieces of their jewelry collection and new video presentations featuring how Jewelmer came to be.

The celebration was hosted by the adorably stunning Issa Litton, who introduced the two main men behind the brand. Both Cojuangco and Branellec gave their respective messages to the delight of the elite crowd.

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The Department of Energy (DOE), as part of its mandate to ensure sufficiency and reliability of the nationwide electric power supply, is enjoining all stakeholders to render support and assistance in safeguarding power facilities from any obstructions that would affect the continuous supply of electricity to all households and establishments.

“We appeal particularly to the local government units and land owners to cooperate with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the Concessionaire of the national transmission lines, in resolving the transmission issues on right of way and easements,” DOE OIC-Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada said.

The NGCP reported that landowners in various areas refused to allow their crew members to enter their premises to clear fallen trees and vegetation that pose a threat to the safe and reliable operation of the power lines. NGCP also reported their difficulty in seeking permission to cut trees under transmission lines that eventually cause trippings of lines.

The recent occurrence is a sustained tripping of the Agus 2-Kibawe Line 1 which is caused by a fallen tree cutting the NGCP line conductors. This, as NGCP reported, may result to the isolation of the Agus Units 1 and 2 that are connected to the affected lines.

“To prevent unwarranted power supply disruptions and avoid power-related incidents to occur, Distribution Utilities and NGCP should be given right to access or traverse designated area of the real property to ensure that potential hazards are proactively managed before they encroached on the power lines,” OIC-Sec. Monsada emphasized.

adobo Magazine Presents 2015 adobo Festival of Ideas

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Celebrating the power of creativity, adobo magazine, the word on creativity, presents the 2015 adobo Festival of Ideas to be held at Resorts World Manila's Newport Performing Arts Theater on Saturday, November 7, 2015. The whole-day affair will be filled with a series of collaborative talks featuring luminaries from the advertising and marketing industry.

This year, the Festival explores the theme "Driving the Creative Economy" which takes a look at our industry as a living system that thrives on the exchange of ideas and innovation. How do we nurture healthy symbiotic relationships as we network in real life and online? How do we replenish our creative currency and prevent bankruptcy or burnout? How do freelancers and fully-employed creatives benefit idea-wise (and financially) in a free or mixed creative economy? What is the currency exchange when cross-collaborating? How do we realize the ROI when investing creatively? These issues and more will be addressed when the adobo Festival of Ideas unfolds before its audience.

Targeted towards students and young professionals in communications, marketing, production, design, and multimedia arts, the adobo Festival of Ideas is an opportunity to learn from the industry's movers and shakers as they talk about their field of specialty. The speaker lineup include tandems like Kenneth Cobonpue, internationally acclaimed industrial designer and Manny Ayala, Managing Director of Endeavor Philippines, Ed Mapa Jr., Chief Executive Officer of TBWA\Digital Arts Network and Margot Torres, Deputy Managing Director & EVP of McDonald’s Philippines, Lou Dela Peña, Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Singapore and Paolo Mercado, SVP Communications and Marketing Services of Nestle Philippines, Ramon Jimenez, Jr, Secretary of Department of Tourism and David Guerrero, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Guerrero, and Mike Constantino, Managing Director of Brand New Media and Budjette Tan, Deputy Executive Creative Director of McCann Worldgroup Philippines. Solo speakers include: Eric Cruz, Executive Creative Director of AKQA Shanghai, Dan Matutina, designer and illustrator, and Leeroy New, artist, sculptor, and designer.

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Artistang Artlets, the Official Theater Guild of the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Santo Tomas, has been in active service to the Thomasian community for the past 35 years. As part of the guild’s thrust to promote theater as an alternative educational tool for the people inside and outside the university, we will be staging our Major Production for this academic year 2015 – 2016.

“Prima Facie” written by John Michael Peῆa is a play to be directed by Jennie Ver Gabon and produced by Shaira Joyce Javier to be staged this October 27, 28, and 29, 2015. Time slots will be 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm at the Benavides Auditorium, UST High School Building, University of Santo Tomas.

“Minsan, hindi tunay ang inyong nakikita.”

Inihahandog ng Artistang Artlets, ang opisyal na samahang pang-teatro ng Pakultad ng Sining at Panitik ng Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas, ang “Prima Facie” sa panulat ni John Michael Peña.

Walang sikreto ang hindi nabubunyag.

Ang dulang ito ay tungkol sa isang kandidatong tatakbo sana sa pagka-pangulo ngunit sa isang iglap, siya ay binawian ng buhay.Walang nakakaalam kung paano at ano ang ikinamatay niya maliban sa mga taong nakasama niya nang hapunan bago ang pagkamatay niya.

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The Department of Energy (DOE) assures of adequate supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and fuels nationwide. In reports submitted to the DOE, LPG suppliers and oil companies relayed minimal damage sustained by facilities and adequate supply in areas hit by typhoon Lando (International name: Kuppo) over the weekend. However, oil companies stated that gas stations in flooded areas will have to clear debris and check their pumps prior to the resumption of their operations.

“Supply remains sufficient for petroleum products. However, gas stations in areas without power may still be suspended inasmuch as electricity is needed for gasoline pumps to function,” DOE OIC- Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada said.

The DOE is coordinating with electric cooperatives to prioritize the restoration of power to gas stations to ensure continuity of works in the affected areas. “We are closely coordinating with the oil industry for the stable supply of petroleum products and resumption of retail activities to restore normalcy in businesses and households as quickly as possible,” OIC-Sec. Monsada added.

For updates on energy supply and power restorations, please visit the DOE social media accounts: Facebook:/doe.gov.ph; and Twitter: @doe_ph.

China’s Ministry Of Commerce Decides on Enabling Integration Of Substantial Portions Of HGST And WD Subsidiaries

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Western Digital Corporation announced a decision from China's Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM"), which enables the company to integrate substantial portions of its HGST and WD subsidiaries under Western Digital Corporation ("Western Digital"). As a unified entity, Western Digital's extensive technology capability, deepened patent and product portfolios, and talented global team will further drive its ability to innovate and lead in the changing data storage industry.

The agency's decision is the result of an ongoing dialogue regarding the "hold separate" restriction associated with Western Digital's acquisition of HGST in March 2012. As part of the agreement with MOFCOM, and in order to leverage the rich storage industry heritage of each long-standing brand, Western Digital will continue to offer both HGST and WD product brands in the market and maintain separate sales teams for two years from the date of the decision.

"The decision announced today positions us for continued growth and long-term value creation," said Steve Milligan, chief executive officer of Western Digital. "HGST and WD are an exceptional combination, and together, we will set the pace for innovation in this dynamic and evolving industry."

Integration activities will begin immediately and are expected to continue over the next 24 months. Western Digital expects the integration of corporate and other key functions, including research and development, heads and media operations, engineering and manufacturing, will result in significant opportunities for growth, synergies and cost savings consistent with the levels previously outlined by the company.

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In 2014, they produced the first episode of an independent web series entitled Q.C., created by Carlo Pacolor Garcia.

Set during the early 2000s, Q.C. is about a gang of misfits who’s always getting themselves into trouble. Until one day, they come across Sito, a rather pensive young man who doesn't seem to know what to do with his life. Fascinated by the group's anarchic streak and outlandish bravado, he tags along their merry and oftentimes destructive bouts of misadventures – only to find out that what enthralled him in the first place, the jolt he’s been searching for, is the very thing what will confound and ultimately break him.

They are holding a series of screenings in different bars, cafes, & spaces in Quezon City starting at UP Diliman Videotheque on October 30 at 5PM & 7PM. The first episode, Krus Na Ligas, will be screened during these events.

Their series of screenings aim to promote not only Q.C., but also the the Philippine independent film, music, and arts industry. It is a celebration of all the independent artists who struggle to be able to create and share works of art without compromising the creativity and honesty of their content.

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As the country’s leader in providing innovative digital services, Globe Telecom is supporting the Mondato Summit, an exclusive thought leadership forum on mobile finance and commerce.

On October 20th and 21st, the Mondato Summit Asia will be held at the Makati Shangri-la where leading experts and their peers come together in an intimate setting to undertake substantive dialogue to uncover actionable insights and advance common objectives. The event will gather decision-makers and influencers focused on the mobile finance & commerce (MFC) ecosystem in Emerging Asia. This is the first Mondato Summit Asia to be held in the Philippines. Last year, the forum was held in Singapore.

“Globe believes that innovation can be applied across a range of various platforms not only in technology but also in mobile finance and commerce. In supporting the Mondato Summit, we hope to bring in the innovative spirit of stakeholders in mobile finance and commerce. To help our nation move forward, there is a need to promote greater social inclusion and faster adoption to ICT to support our ability to transform society,” said John Rubio, President & CEO of Globe Fintech Innovations Inc.

Mondato Summit is expected to deliver indispensable knowledge, practical solutions, stimulating engagement, and invaluable contacts in a quest to help stakeholders navigate the fast growing, but highly fluid and complex, MFC space. The Summit format is designed to encourage interaction and create opportunities for department heads from banks, telcos, retailers, investors, development finance institutions/donors, policy makers/regulators, innovative start‐ups, media and others, to discuss real problems in the MFC space, and propose actionable, collaborative solutions.

Power Mac Center Inspires Tech-Savvy Bicol Youth

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Power Mac Center, the premier Apple partner in the Philippines, recently supported the 2nd Bicol Youth Technology Expo (BYTE) held recently at the Pili Capitol Convention Center in Camarines Sur. The expo was organized by the Information and Communication Technology Center (ICTC) of the Ateneo de Naga University.

As the main presenter, Power Mac Center partnered with ICTC to bring the technology of Apple Education Ecosystem to the Bicol academe in its efforts to share with and empower the teachers, students, and enthusiasts with the latest digital literacy skills through the use of Apple products.

Representatives from Power Mac Center’s Education Business Group acquainted the 750 people in attendance with the workings of iTunes University, iBooks Author, iCloud, and iOS App Development, as well as the production of digital creative content. Teachers also learned how they can access an extensive selection of references from educators worldwide to make students excited about learning. Since the dawn of the digital age, it has become increasingly important for teachers to keep pace with their students in terms of technology to grab and retain their attention.

“We’re very thankful to ICTC for inviting Power Mac Center to give these seminars,” Joey Alvarez, Power Mac Center’s Marketing Director said. “You see, Apple products are more than just gadgets -- they are tools that fuel creativity and provide endless possibilities for everyone, especially the youth. And it has always been our mission to support the academe in cultivating a love for learning.”