Spread Good and Gandang Vibes with Viber and Vice Cosmetics

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Rakuten Viber unveiled their latest partnership with Vice Cosmetics, the popular makeup line of the unkabogable host and TV personality Vice Ganda. In the same way that Vice Cosmetics seeks to make beauty through high-quality cosmetics accessible to everyone—"ganda for all," as the slogan declares—Viber helps spread the good and gandang vibes by making connections and communications on the app even more fun and fabulous.

Fans can download the Vice Cosmetics Sticker Pack, featuring Vice Ganda and Benjie the Unicorn, for free. Made with bright and punchy colors and details, the stickers feature hilarious greetings straight from Vice Ganda's vivacious vocabulary—from "Tarush!" to "Ganap mo, 'teh?" Downloading the Sticker Pack lets you follow the Vice Cosmetics Community as well, wherein followers can get an up-close and exclusive peek into the fun conversations between Vice and some of his favorite buddies in a chat group.

This collaboration was unveiled last April 7, during a surprise birthday party for Vice Ganda thrown by Viber and Vice Cosmetics at Island PH. Amidst a bevy of Vice Ganda's celebrity friends like Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Vicky Belo, Hayden Kho, Karylle, and Angeline Quinto, revellers got to play with Vice Cosmetics sticker props and vinyl stickers for their photos in the island-themed party, and clink glasses filled with purple-colored, Viber-themed tropical drinks.

Best of all, fans can still get a chance to meet their idol through the Meet and Greet Vice Ganda Promo! Users simply need to send a Vice Cosmetics Sticker to the Viber PH Chat Bot as their entry to the promo (users can send one sticker per day). 10 winners of a Vice Cosmetics Box Office Pouch with four lipsticks will be drawn weekly , and three lucky Grand Prize winners will get to personally meet and greet Vice Ganda.

Contest runs until May 11, 2018 on the Viber PH Chat Bot, and winners will be announced on the Vice Cosmetics Community.

Kids Danced to Summer Rhythm at the Araneta Center

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Thirty kids aged 4 to 15 years old from Barangay Loyola Heights learned on April 17 the latest and hottest hip-hop moves from Dance Plus as they participated in Summer Rhythm, Araneta Center’s summer dance program for children. 

As part of corporate social responsibility, Araneta Center partnered with Miriam College and Alagang Kapatid Foundation (TV5’s social development arm) to allow kids from Daan Tubo, Park 7, and Marytown experience Summer Rhythm’s dance class. The activity aims to share the gift of dance to the children from the abovementioned communities and help its participants create memories that the children will cherish.

Launched on April 10 at Ali Mall, Summer Rhythm is Araneta Center’s summer dance program, which includes ballet and hip-hop classes for children aged 4 to 15 years old. The classes run every Tuesday and Friday from April 10 to May 18. Each session is held at the spacious Ali Mall Activity area, giving the participants ample space to move around and master their dance moves. 

The classes are facilitated by instructors from Dance Plus. Known as studio without walls, Dance Plus goes where students are by partnering with schools condominiums, gyms and malls to bring ballet and hiphop closer to where families get together. By conducting dance classes at the Araneta Center this summer, Dance Plus aims to reach more children and give its participants a “childhood enriched through a heart that beats for dance.”

Every P 1,000 single receipt purchase at any Araneta Center entitles kids to join Summer Rhythm. For more info, visit www.aranetacenter.net and www.danceplusph.com.

DOE Pursues Consumers’ Perspective for Electric Bill Reforms

Wazzup Pilipinas!

As part of its commitment to empower consumers, the Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with local government units and electric cooperatives of Leyte province, today held a briefing on the Proposed Uniform Monthly Electricity Bill Format that contains more pro-consumer information.

Two briefings were set for Tacloban City on 19 April 2018 (Thursday) at the DILG Convention Hall and in Ormoc City on 20 April 2018 at the Ormoc City Multi-Purpose Hall.

The briefing follows Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi’s directive to fully implement the consumer welfare promotion provisions of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

The briefing intends to inform the public on the Unbundling of Electricity Rates and the Proposed Uniform Monthly Electricity Bill Format of distribution utilities/electric cooperatives in relation to the implementation of Section 36 on the Unbundling of Rates and Functions of the EPIRA.

The law requires that any electric power industry PARTICIPANT shall functionally and structurally unbundle its business activities and rates in accordance with the sectors (generation, transmission and supply) and shall reflect the respective costs of providing each service.

DOE Undersecretary Petronilo L. Ilagan, who represented the Energy Chief, said the DOE’s battlecry is to serve consumers.

“The topmost element in achieving this [public service] is through greater transparency. This is the core message for today’s pivotal event that would spark reform in the consumer’s electric bill,” Ilagan said.

The DOE official said the discussions with the energy stakeholders endeavor to support the realization of the provisions in the EPIRA.

“We anchor this activity on empowering all electricity consumers. We need to equip them with accurate information as provided in the monthly electric bill to enable them to manage their electricity consumption more efficiently,” he said.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued in 2007 a policy directing all distribution utilities/electric cooperatives to post in their respective websites the breakdown of their generation charges, including but not limited to, their sources.

Another topic of discussion was about “ancillary services,” which are needed in the transmission sector to maintain the stability and security of the grid.

The DOE also shed light on the bill deposit, which is required from customers by distribution utilities of new and/or additional service equivalent to the estimated billing for one month. Currently, bill deposit is also not shown in the monthly billing statement.

Participants in the briefing were local government units of Tacloban City and Ormoc City, including barangay officials, the five electric cooperatives operating in Leyte, local media and other sectors related to the power industry.