Oakwood Living Debuts in the US, Offering Residents Multifamily Living in Key Destinations

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Oakwood, the internationally renowned hospitality brand, announced today the debut of Oakwood Living, a new portfolio offering that delivers on multifamily living in the post-pandemic world with a focus on extended-stay accommodations, select services and amenities that allow residents to live like a local.

Built on the belief that good living can be achieved with the freedom to live life on one’s own terms, Oakwood Living allows guests to live well in an environment that enables them to care for themselves and their environment, while staying rooted in a good community.

With facilities targeted at young families and professionals, whom apart from seeking a convenient address perfectly positioned for both work and play within a community, also want long term leases with flexible terms, Oakwood Living offers up the perfect balance to live well with the option to work remotely or simply experience or explore a new destination. Located in Dallas, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; Los Angeles and Redwood City, California; residents can choose from a number of unfurnished residential options situated in engaging communities that offer key amenities including a dedicated resident’s lounge, outdoor BBQ, spacious fitness centers, as well as tech-enabled lifestyle services through Hello, Alfred, an app that provides residents with regular events and experiences that support their lifestyles.

Taking inspiration from the organic shape of roots and a location map indicator, the new brand spots a representative logo that visually tells of its story, in earthy colors of leave and tree that support the call for residents to stay rooted with an Oakwood Living property.

“At Oakwood, we have identified a rising opportunity to augment our positioning in the unfurnished multifamily accommodation sector with long-term lease options that still allow for flexibility. Oakwood Living signifies our dedication to the U.S. market and is a milestone moment in our portfolio’s growth,” said Dean Schreiber, chief executive officer of Oakwood. “We’ve strategically selected our inaugural locations where open palettes are extended to our future residents in the heart of active communities. Not only will they be able to create a personal space that truly inspires, we hope that it will also allow them to live authentically like a local.”

Oakwood Living locations offer a variety of amenities to deliver on their lifestyle commitment to residents including a dedicated pet run, built-in kitchens, in-unit washer and dryers, communal recreational facilities to foster connection, 24/7 package locker access, dedicated lounge with workspaces and more. Each Oakwood Living location offers a tight-knit sense of community, redefining multifamily living.

Resident applications for move-ins to newly rebranded properties Oakwood Living Dallas Uptown, Oakwood Living Miracle Mile, Oakwood Living Raleigh Brier Creek and Oakwood Living Redwood City are now available.

For more information about Oakwood Living, please visit: Oakwood.com/Oakwood-Living

Retired PCG Commandant, CG Admiral George V. Ursabia Jr. appointed as Undersecretary for Maritime of DOTr

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed retired Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant, CG Admiral George V. Ursabia Jr. as Undersecretary for Maritime of the Department of Transportation (DOTr). Ursabia’s appointment was issued by the President on 04 November 2021.

Ursabia, who was born in Polomolok, South Cotabato, retired from his post at the PCG on 08 September 2021. Ursabia spent 38 years in the government service.

While in command, Ursabia managed to boost the presence of the PCG in the West Philippine Sea and the southernmost part of the country through the Task Force Pagsasanay.

Under his command, the PCG also enhanced its recruitment process and made sure that all regions in the country are given a rational quota to ensure inclusivity.

Ursabia, during his term as PCG commandant, also improved the agency’s procurement system to be compliant with Republic Act 9187 or the Procurement Law.

In addition, the PCG’s systems and doctrines also underwent fine-tuning under his watch to make sure that its personnel can effectively deliver needed public service in a timely and cost-efficient manner.

“Our Coast Guardians go beyond the call of duty by providing a people-first approach in these trying times – and they continue to do so. We see them in the frontlines – in checkpoints, seaports, airports, and areas where there are needs to be met – aiding citizens with humility and compassion,” CG Admiral Ursabia said in his retirement speech.

As a humanitarian agency, the PCG under Ursabia’s command also helped deliver aid to the country’s far-flung areas, including Calayan Island, Pag-asa Island, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi amid the COVID-19 pandemic,

“Being a relatively young humanitarian government agency, there is still a lot to be done. The PCG will still face a lot of challenges and reforms, but I hope it will be for the better,” Ursabia added in his retirement speech.

Transportation Secretary Art Tugade meanwhile said Ursabia’s wealth of knowledge and vast experience in the maritime sector will prove most valuable as he takes on new tasks as an undersecretary of the department.

“I am confident that the skills and experience in the maritime sector of my good friend, Usec. Ursabia which were honed, and tested as a long-time commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard will prove most valuable to the DOTr,” said Secretary Tugade.

“There is no doubt that Usec. Ursabia can steer the maritime sector to great lengths given his character, leadership style and experience,” the Secretary added.

Memorial for fallen pandemic heroes in Benilde online art exhibit

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Fallen heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic are at the center of an online animated museum that is part of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Center for Campus Art’s ongoing digital art exhibition.

“Hall of Heroes” is Benjamin Marasigan, Jr.’s contribution to the online art exhibit “To Differ, Digitally 2: Love and Dissent in the Time of Pandemic.” The CCA led by Architect Gerry Torres and the New Media Cluster headed by Associate Dean Maria Sharon Mapa Arriola called on faculty members for “works in digital media that will venture to engage with and generate new content from its audiences online.”

Marasigan, founding chairperson and full-time instructor of the DLS-CSB School of Design and Arts Animation Program, is among 17 artist-educators and industry practitioners who heeded the call.

Curator Karen Ocampo-Flores describes TDD2 as “a fresh opportunity to deliver messages of social commentary through the digital medium” and “a timely response to conditions wrought by the present scourge of the COVID-19 virus.” This is only the second time that CCA collaborated with NMC as a group after launching its physical exhibit “To Differ, Digitally: Calls for Change Through New Media” in 2017.

“In this second year of the pandemic, we experience within our communities the harsh outcome of lockdowns: the loss of jobs, the lack of resources for survival, and the basic power to care for our health, physically and mentally. Overall, we grow more anxious about our future,” Flores explained in the exhibit brief found at CCA’s website (https://www.benildecampusart.com/exhibit/to-differ-digitally).

“The themes that have emerged deliver a viable spectrum of perspectives and concerns arising from the pandemic. One realm would be about connecting place and passage. At the herald of such works is a memorial for the fallen heroes, mostly medical practitioners who fought the mostly unknown effects of the SARS-COVID virus. The museum conceived as a monument by Benjie Marasigan, Jr. presents to us the necessity to both grieve and to never forget those who perished so that others may live,” she added.

Aside from being a tribute to frontliners and fallen heroes of the pandemic, Marasigan’s digital creations also serve as his reaction to the government’s response, amid volunteerism and bayanihan efforts.

“As I was watching the news about the deaths and difficulties faced by the frontline health workers, I felt helpless, frightened, sad, and guilty. Guilty of not being able to help because I cannot get out of the house. I tried to think of ways on how to best contribute to the effort against COVID-19, given the limitations of the situation,” Marasigan, who has been teaching in Benilde for 20 years now, shared.

“Since the start of the pandemic up to the present, I have tried to document what was happening in our country, through my digital illustration and paintings,” the former Hanna-Barbera animator added.

Marasigan, also a past president of the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI), likewise paid tribute to efforts of volunteer citizens such as community pantries. “One such volunteer group is the Art Relief and Mobile Kitchen (ARMK), headed by my friends Alex Baluyut and Precious Leaño. Their advocacy to give decent meals to communities affected by both natural and human calamities is very inspiring. In the same spirit, I volunteered to document their initiatives by painting the ingredients they used, the food they cooked, the people they feed, and the ARMK volunteers in action,” he concluded.

Apart from the Animation department, NMC also counts Digital Film, Photography, and Multimedia Arts under its faculty roster. Joining Marasigan in the exhibit are filmmaker and creative producer Seymour Barros Sanchez, film educator and writer Jag Garcia, motion graphics artist and designer Yolec Homecillo, multimedia designer Hannah Sison, 3D artist Volty Garcia, graphic designer and writer Katrina Juane, visual communicator Vanessa Puente, visual artist Emily Mones, designer, writer and artist Brian Bringas and graphic designers Dino Brucelas and Rafael Liao, writer and designer Ericka Garalde, multidisciplinary artist Teta Tulay, event consultant Mito Tubilleja, writer and content developer Penny Angeles-Tan, and photographer Jay Javier.

For more information, visit CCA's social media pages on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BenildeCampusArt), Twitter (https://twitter.com/csbcampusart), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/benilde.campusart/) and YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/BenildeCampusArt). Watch “Hall of Heroes” on this link: https://youtu.be/qm21uNkLTjg