App Challenge Cebu 2016 Awards Winners

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Globe Telecom, in partnership with Molave Development Foundation, awarded Team Magtutudlog Bisaya, comprised of Jonie Aranzado-Jumamil, Genesis Lagacan, and Vahn Marty Cagalawan, as the Grand Prize winner of App Challenge Cebu 2016 held last December 13, 2016 at the Cebu City Public Library. The competition was designed to encourage local developers to create educational Android apps that will teach K-3 pupils about reading and writing in Cebuano. The team bested other teams in a live pitch and prototype demonstration to a panel of esteemed judges: Ms. Michelle Tapia, Ms. Bea Lacson, and Ms. Mara Garcia from Globe Telecom; Ms. Irma Saligumba from Molave Development Foundation; Ms. Irene Pilapil from the Department of Education, and Ms. Tina Amper of TechTalks.ph.

“Amazing, we can’t believe it,” Jonie exclaimed when he and his team won PhP 100,000 in the App Challenge. Aside from the cash prize, the team is supported with supervisory guidance and continued mentorship from Globe Telecom, Molave Development Foundation, and IREX through their Beyond Access program as they continue to build their learning app.

While the team, along with their university MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, celebrates their win, they are also looking forward to developing their learning app further in the next few months to come. The app, which will feature familiar games to Cebuano kids, will be an essential digital tool in teaching kids how to read and write in Cebuano. Education stakeholders present at the Pitch & Awarding, including officials from the University of Cebu, the Mayor’s Office, Department of Education, and the Cebu City Library, have commented on how the app will be a welcome addition to the literacy content for the Cebuano community.

At present, a lot of students have minimal-to-no usable material for in-classroom learning or for self-study especially for fundamental skills like mother tongue literacy in K-3, thus, while they are able to speak and to understand their main language or dialect, their reading and writing abilities are limited.

On the other hand, many teachers all over the country are saddled with additional work on content development to compensate for the lack of available good-quality materials instead of being able to focus on improving student outcomes.

Cebuano is among the pre-identified major Mother Tongues for instruction, according to the Department of Education. The language is the second most widely used language, after Tagalog, and is spoken by 21 million Filipinos.

The app is expected to help address the problem by teaching the half-a-million Cebuano children their native alphabet and helping them build their vocabulary, among other things, through various activities. Learning concepts will focus on colors, numbers, shapes, family members, and/or body parts.

Team MAJA, comprised of Aldrin Navarro, Jay Arnel Bilocura, and Jae Marie Magdadaro, came in as the first runner-up in the App Challenge. Their learning app, when developed, has great potential to be added to the ever-growing body of content for the Cebuano language.

Globe Telecom, along with Manila-based Molave Development Foundation and Washington D.C.-based IREX, are closely invested in enriching education through tools, content and technology that advance basic education in the Philippines. The local developer community is very much alive and thriving, and as highlighted through the promising work of budding developers, has great potential to help shape and transform Philippine education for the better.

PPA Ready for the Holidays all the Way to the Chinese New Year

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With only five days to go before the Philippines celebrates Christmas and 12 days away from the New year, Philippine ports remain efficient and productive despite the influx of Christmas cargoes.

Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago, however, continues to urge the cargo owners not to relax in the cargo withdrawals and continue to take advantage of the Truck Appointment and Booking System in order to have a very smooth turnaround time for the country’s foreign cargoes.

“Philippine ports, particularly our international gateways, will be in full commercial operations except for a couple of hours on Christmas and New Year’s Day because ships continue to come and go even during holidays,” Santiago explained.

“I am urging all cargo owners and other stakeholders to maintain their current operations in order to have a swift turnaround time for their cargoes and if possible send their exports bound for Chinese ports early to prevent any hold-up when celebrations for the Chinese New year kicks in,” Santiago said.

“The domestic ports are also replicating the procedures of the international ports in order to secure safe travel of passengers relative to Oplan Ligtas Biyahe: Christmas 2016 and at the same time guarantee just in time delivery of domestic goods,” Santiago added.

As of the moment, cargo utilization at the two main gateways of the Philippines—the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and the Manila South Harbor (MSH)—remain very healthy at 60% or approximately 49,000 twenty-foot equivalent units inside the terminal ready to be withdrawn or exported. Yard productivity at the two ports also remains high with an average of 20-25 moves an hour.

Both terminals attribute the healthy yard utilization and productivity to the Truck Appointment and Booking System as well as the high storage penalty imposed by the Authority.

Cargo volume, on the other hand, is in the uptrend since the start of the 3rd quarter due to the run-up to Christmas by about 10% a month.

PPA has likewise maintained the tight security in the domestic ports since the All Saints Day celebration to ensure safety, security and comfort of passengers while inside the terminals.

“I reiterated to our port personnel to take all the necessary measures to reduce any inconvenience and to make sure that our ports are safe at all times,” Santiago said.

PPA has likewise assured importers, exporters and cargo owners that ports have enough capacity with the coming Chinese New Year wherein Chinese-owned firms shut down operations for a couple of days for the festivities.

Have a Cheesy Christmas at Burgoo!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Imagine this luscious, heavenly, creamy cheesecake to be the centerpiece of your Noche Buena and Medya Noche table! Yes Burgoo American Bar and Restaurant is now selling your favorite Cheesecake in time for this Christmas season so the whole family can enjoy it at the comfort of their homes and also to giveaway to friends and loved ones.

Save as much as 20% discount for the whole cheesecake! It comes in two sizes: 8” Raspberry and Oreo Cheesecake priced at P1,800 while get 6” of these flavors for only P1,350. Other cheesecake varieties available are Black & White and Fudge Brownie Cheesecakes for P1,950 (8”) and P1,470 (6”). These impeccable and superior cheesecakes are made upon order only to ensure quality and freshness. Please order at least 3 days in advance at Burgoo Rockwell (8981815) to get these cheesecakes for take out or pick up only. However you can still coordinate at Burgoo Rockwell if you’ll like your cheesecake to be picked up at other branches located at Tomas Morato, The Podium, Gateway Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Robinsons Galleria, The Block, SM Marikina, Fairview Terraces by Ayala, SM Southmall, The District Imus, and Starmall Prima in Taguig, and Solenad 3 in Sta Rosa Laguna.

Also don’t miss Burgoo’s sumptuous variety of appetizers to share, sandwich and burgers, soups and salads, stone-baked pizzas, delicious pasta, mouth-watering chicken and chops, seafood sensations, premium steaks and ribs, and other luscious desserts this Christmas celebrations. At Burgoo it’s always a family treat!