Construction of Bulacan Airport set to begin before end of 2019

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Construction works for Bulacan Airport are set to commence before the end of the year.

This comes as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) concluded the Swiss Challenge for the unsolicited proposal of San Miguel Holdings Corporation (SMHC) today, 31 July 2019.

In the opening of bids conducted by the DOTr’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), there were no rivals to challenge the original proponent for the construction, operation and maintenance of the international airport.

DOTr Assistant Secretary for Procurement and Project Implementation Giovanni Lopez, who also leads the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), said that the Notice of Award to SMHC will be issued immediately after a recommendation from the Technical Working Group (TWG) is made within three days. It will then be submitted by BAC to the DOTr Aviation and Airports Sector within five days. 

“On the notice of award, there are some conditions that should be complied with. These include post performance security, proof of commitment, among others as stated in the law. They (SMHC) have 20 days to do so,” explained Asec. Lopez.

Once the Notice to Proceed is issued between August and the first week of September, the SMHC shall then be in charge of the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of Bulacan Airport.

DOTr Secretary Arthur P. Tugade expressed enthusiasm with the progress on the airport project.

“This new international airport is important in helping ease the congestion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Together with the expansion of Clark Airport and the construction of additional facilities at Sangley Airport, Bulacan Airport is part of ‘baskets of solutions’ to bring further connectivity to the Filipino people,” Secretary Tugade said.

For his part, DOTr Usec. for Planning and Project Development Ruben Reinoso Jr. noted that the Bulacan Airport is part of a larger regional development plan for Central Luzon.

“Along with other big-ticket infrastructure projects such as the Clark Airport expansion, North-South Commuter Railway, MRT-7 and the Subic-Clark Cargo Railway, the Bulacan Airport will help boost economic development in Region III,” Usec. Reinoso said.

The Bulacan Airport will have a design capacity of 100 million passengers per year but can be expanded to 200 million. With four parallel runways planned, it targets 240 aircraft movements per hour. The project will also include the construction of an 8.4-kilometer tollway that will connect the airport to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) in Marilao, Bulacan.

The new international gateway is expected to be operational within four to six years from the start of construction. SMHC is expected to break ground and start actual construction of the project before the end of this year.

Also present in today’s Opening of Bids were other BAC members, namely, DOTr Asec. for Legal Affairs Mark Steven Pastor; Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General for Administration Ricardo Banayat; Procurement, Planning and Management Division Chief Zenaida Biteng, and Budget Division OIC Marco Antonio Javier.

7 Web Design Mistakes You Need to Avoid Doing on Your Website

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Looking for ways to improve your website? Avoiding these 7 common mistakes can greatly improve your website. Find out how you can make your website more engaging today.

One of the most common trends in websites today is large media integrations on their home pages. Most businesses make long introductory videos for their companies and products. These videos are sometimes more than 20 minutes long and are published on their homepages. Some of them are so heavy that it drastically affects the loading time of the webpage.

What web designers forget about is that not everyone has Optimum 400 internet speeds. Web design is not an exact science. 

Sometimes you can think what you are doing will be appealing to your audience. But it turns out to be a flop. Even still there are some common mistakes that you should avoid making.

7 Web Design Mistakes You Should Avoid

Websites are the face of your business. Most consumers make up their mind about a business based on their website experience alone. Studies show that most users decide in 5 seconds or less if your website is appealing. So your website needs to be immediately appealing. That leaves very little margin for error in the design and development of the website.

Here are some of the common mistakes that you should avoid in your website design:

Over-Cluttered Home Page

Slow Loading Times

Small Fonts and Non-Contrasting Colors

Poor Navigation

Poor Content and Structure

Not Optimizing for Mobile Devices

No Clear Call to Action



#1. Over-Cluttered Home Page

Source: https://www.bluecorona.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/website-design-mistakes-example.jpg

Believe it or not, this is an actual design of a live website homepage. Do you see what is wrong with it? Only a good UX agency will tell you that one of the biggest mistakes you can make is immediately bombarding the viewer like this. So much of information is never good. 

Your home page should be clutter-free. And it should be well organized. If you have a lot of listings, like the website page above, then they should follow a structure. The images should all be of the same size and have some space between them. That will make your page look cleaner. And not overwhelm your viewer to the point that they decide to use another website. 

#2. Slow Loading Times

Source: https://www.bluecorona.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web-design-mistakes-speed.png

Slow loading times are a tremendous concern. Studies suggest that loading times of more than 5 seconds can be really bad for your user retention. It has become a common trend for business websites to have heavy images integrated on their homepages. That makes the pages slower to load.

Most users tend to simply move onto the next website suggestion in the search results. So if you are integrating heavy media on your website, it shouldn’t be on the home page. If you absolutely must, you can include a thumbnail or link on your home page. That keeps your homepage cleaner and improves loading times. 

#3. Small Fonts and Non-Contrasting Colors

Another common mistake that web developers make is not paying attention to fonts and colors. A font might look good in the development stage, but turn out to be too small after publishing. The font that you select should be clear simple. You should also consider the fact that most of your website views will be over mobile devices. That means the screens are likely to be smaller so your already small font becomes even smaller.

Additionally, you should also pay attention to your font and background color scheme. These should always be in contrast, rather than complementary. Complementary colors schemes might look good at first, but make it difficult to read the words. Especially if the font is also small.


#4. Poor Navigation

A good website experience allows the viewer to navigate easily and effectively. That means the navigation bar should be easily accessible. And visible from all the pages on your website. It is also important to name the links to different pages clearly. You can certainly be creative in naming pages. Instead of the standard ‘About US’ page, you can change it to ‘Get to Know Us’.

But whatever you do, make sure that the term clearly defines what the page is about. Otherwise, it can cause a lot of confusion and lower your website experience. Another thing to keep in mind is to never leave a dead link on your navigation bar. You might have removed a page from your website but forgotten about the link in the navigation bar. Dead links make the user feel like you don’t care about your website experience. 

#5. Poor Content and Structure

Remember this rule for any website, content is always king. If you have good content then it will increase your website experience. And structure goes hand in hand with your content. You need to carefully plan out your pages. The size and placement of images and the structure of your written content should all complement each other. 

#6. Not Optimizing for Mobile

Source: https://www.bluecorona.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/common-website-mistakes-to-avoid2.jpg

Not optimizing your website for mobile views is one of the most common mistakes. Today’s audience is a lot more likely to visit your website over a mobile device. So you need to focus on making your website mobile-friendly. That means optimizing your images, fonts, colors, and your content. 

#7. No Clear Call to Action

There has to be a reason you invest your time and money in creating and promoting your website. If your website does not have a clear call to action then it negates the purpose. If users can’t fulfil their purpose of visiting your website then they will simply leave.

Conclusion

If you haven’t realized, websites are now more important than ever for any business. The internet is more than just a medium for entertainment. Think about how you use the internet. I can speak for myself. I use my Optimum service for more than just Netflix and YouTube. I use the internet to do all my research, as well as most of my shopping. So most of my day involves using different websites. The one thing I have noticed is that if a website is not well designed, I am not likely to spend a lot of time on it.

Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2019 to Kickstart Tour in Cebu

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Good news, Cebuanos! This August, you can meet your favorite Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP) 2019 artists to show them your full support as the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) kicks off its mall shows and campus tours in Cebu.

Don’t miss your chance to jam with “LSS (Last Song Syndrome)” artists Gabbi Garcia and Khalil Ramos and take selfies with “G!” stars McCoy de Leon, Mark Oblea, and Paulo Angeles on August 2, 2019 at University of San Jose-Recoletos at 10:00 AM and Robinsons Galleria Cebu at 4:00 PM.

Fans can meet their PPP 2019 idols up close at SM City Cebu on August 3, 2019 at 4:00 PM, including Gabbi Garcia and Khalil Ramos from “LSS (Last Song Syndrome),” “The Panti Sisters” actor Christian Bables, and Mark Oblea from “G!”

The team of Sine Kabataan 2019 finalist “Pinggu, Pwede Na?” directed by Cebu-based filmmakers Elle Ubas and Johanna Valdez will also join the PPP 2019 mall shows and campus tours in Cebu.

Meanwhile, those from Davao and Pampanga will have the chance to interact with their PPP 2019 idols. There will be mall shows and campus tours in Davao from August 9 to 10, 2019 and in Pampanga on August 17, 2019.

Now on its third year, PPP 2019 with the theme “Pamilya, Pagkakaibigan, Pag-ibig” will be a week-long celebration of exclusive quality and diverse films from September 13 to 19, 2019. PPP 2019 will be the grand kickoff for Sandaan: the Celebration of One Hundred Years of Philippine Cinema.

PPP 2019 is presented by FDCP in partnership with the Cinema Exhibitors Association of the Philippines (CEAP) and sponsored by CMB Film Services. Other sponsors include Fire and Ice Productions, ThinkBIT Solutions and with media partners Inquirer.net, InqPOP!, and Solar Entertainment.