Join in on FamilyMart’s Family Coin Campaign

Wazzup Pilipinas!

FamilyMart has got the solution to lighten up your bags and save your wallets from bursting by switching your loose change for peso bills. That’s right! The Family Coin Campaign makes your daily visits to the popular Japanese convenience store more worthwhile by letting you put your coins to better use.

Starting December 12, you can take all your coins to FamilyMart and exchange them with peso bills. Not only do you get to swap your loose change, you’ll also earn 50 bonus Snap points every time you do so. Exchange the equivalent amount of 5 centavos, 10 centavos, 25 centavos, 1 peso or 5 pesos for P50 bills, P100 bills, P500 bills, or P1000 bills. And if you pay the exact amount of your item using coins, you’ll also get an additional 50 bonus Snap points.

FamilyMart definitely makes your daily routine a whole lot more convenient and satisfying. So, head on over to your nearest FamilyMart store and swap or buy with those heavy coins to lighten your wallet.

For updates, exciting products, and awesome deals, like and follow FamilyMart Philippines on Facebook, @familymartph on Instagram, and @FamilyMartPH on Twitter. For store locations or more information on FamilyMart Philippines, log on to www.familymart.com.ph.

FamilyMart is the 2nd largest convenience store chain in the world with over 18,000 stores across Asia. In the Philippines, FamilyMart has branches in Makati, Fort Bonifacio, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pasay, Alabang and Laguna.

iPhone X, now available in Power Mac Center

Wazzup Pilipinas!

​Phenomenal star Maine Mendoza graces the iPhone X Midnight Launch party on December 1, 2017 as the newest Power Mac Center brand ambassador. (left) As a surprise, she hands over the iPhone X to its very first customer. (right) Mendoza is unboxing her special iPhone X package, which comes with premium accessories available at Power Mac Center stores.

It’s finally here! Power Mac Center has officially launched the most anticipated iPhone X, widely regarded as the most sophisticated iPhone yet. At the stroke of midnight on December 1, 2017, the premier Apple partner re-opened the doors of its flagship store in Greenbelt 3, Makati City to welcome shoppers who lined up early the previous day to be among the first to get their hands on today’s hottest device.

Before the selling started, guests were treated to free crash courses as well as live music mixes from DJ Callum. Among the Power Mac Center brand ambassadors who graced the event were Maine Mendoza, Marc Nelson, Rico Blanco, Gab Valenciano, Sam YG, Jinno Rufino, Kim Jones, Jericho Rosales, Tommy Esguerra, Cesca Litton, Richard Juan, and Kaila Estrada.

Meanwhile, the first 200 buyers received premium accessories worth up to P23,000 each!



iPhone X is now available in select Power Mac Center stores nationwide. Price starts at Php64,490.

Premier Apple partner Power Mac Center launches the iPhone X at midnight on December 1, 2017 in its flagship store in Greenbelt 3. iPhone X is now available in select Power Mac Center stores nationwide. Price starts at ₱64,490.

​Filipino Apple fans eagerly wait in long lines to show support for the iPhone X as it launches in Power Mac Center Greenbelt 3 on December 1, 2017.




​Also in the event are Power Mac Center brand ambassadors and loyal Apple fans (L-R) Rico Blanco, Richard Juan, Kaila Estrada, Maine Mendoza, Jinno Rufino, Marc Nelson, Tommy Esguerra, Gab Valeniano, Sam YG, and Cesca Litton, and TJ Manotoc.​​

Adoption of IoT Platforms Will Be the Top IT Trend in 2018

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Smart object storage, analytics and AI, and the extension of agile methodologies across the enterprise will all play key roles during the coming year

Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., recently released its key business and technology trends for Asia Pacific in 2018. These trends are jointly predicted by Hubert Yoshida, chief technology officer, and Russell Skingsley, chief technology officer Asia Pacific.

The adoption of Internet of Things (commonly referred to as IoT) platforms will dominate enterprise IT strategies in 2018, alongside a number of other areas. Yoshida and Skingsley have identified ten key trends for the Asia Pacific technology market in 2018.

#1: IT will adopt IoT platforms to facilitate the application of IoT solutions
IoT solutions deliver valuable insight to support digital transformation and are rapidly becoming a strategic imperative in almost every industry and market sector. IT must work closely with the operations side of the business to focus on specific business needs and define the scope of an IoT project.

“Building IoT solutions that provide real value can be difficult without the right underlying architecture and a deep understanding of the business to properly simulate and digitalize operational entities and processes. This is where the choice of an IoT platform and the choice of an experienced service provider is important,” according to Yoshida.

“Enterprises should look for an IoT platform that offers an open, flexible architecture that simplifies integration with complimentary technologies and provides an extensible “foundry” on which to build a variety of industry applications that companies need to design, build, test, and deploy quickly and with minimal hassle,” added Skingsley.

#2: Object storage gets smart

Enterprises started their digital transformation this year but the first problem that they ran into was the ability to access their data. Data is often locked in isolated islands that make it costly to extract and use. These islands were built for purpose and not to be shared, and many contain data that is duplicated, obsolete or no longer used because of changes in business process or ownership.

“Data scientists tell us that 80% of the work involved in gaining analytical insight from data is the tedious work of acquiring and preparing the data. The concept of a data lake is alluring, but you can’t just pour your data into one system, unless that data is properly cleansed, formatted and indexed or tagged with metadata so that the data lake is content aware. Otherwise you end up with a data swamp,” commented Skingsley.

While object storage can store massive amounts of unstructured data and provide metadata management and search capability, the ability to be context-aware is missing. Object storage now has the ability to be “smart” with software that can search for and read content in multiple structured and unstructured data silos and analyze it for cleansing, formatting and indexing.

“Hitachi Content Intelligence can extract data from the silos and pump it into workflows to process it in various ways. Users of Content Intelligence can be authorized so that sensitive content is only viewed by relevant people and document security controls are not breached. Content Intelligence can create a standard and consistent enterprise search process across the entire IT environment. It can connect to and aggregate multi-structured data across heterogeneous data silos and different locations and provides automated extraction, classification, enrichment and categorization of all of an organization's data,” said Skingsley.

#3: Analytics and artificial intelligence

2018 will see a growth in analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) across the board as companies see real returns on their investments. According to IDC, revenue growth from information-based products will double the rest of the product and services portfolio for a third of Fortune 500 companies by the end of 2017.

“AI became mainstream with consumer products like Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri, and Hitachi believes that it is the collaboration of AI and humans that will bring real benefits to society. Through tools like Pentaho Data Integration, our aim is to democratize the data engineering and data science process to make Machine Intelligence – a combination of Machine Learning and AI – more accessible to a wider variety of developers and engineers,” said Skingsley.

Pentaho’s machine learning orchestration, with integrations for languages like R and Python and for machine learning technologies like Spark MLlib, are steps in that direction. Lumada, Hitachi’s IoT platform, enables scalable IoT machine learning with flexible input and outputs, standardizes connections that can automatically configure and manage resources, and is compatible with Python, R and Java for machine learning.

#4: Wider adoption of video analytics

Video content analytics will be a “third eye” for greater insight, productivity and efficiency in a number of domains beyond public safety. Algorithms that automatically detect and determine temporal, spatial and relational events combined with other IoT information, like cell phone GPS and social media feeds, to apply to a wide range of businesses like retail, healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, education and entertainment.

Yoshida believes that video can provide unique functions like egomotion – 3D motion used in autonomous robot navigation – behavior analysis and other forms of situational awareness.

“Retailers are using video to analyze customer navigation patterns and dwell time to position products and sales assistance to maximize sales. Video analytics relies on good video input so it requires video enhancement technologies like de-noising, image stabilization, masking and super resolution. Video analytics may be the sleeper in terms of analytics for ease of use, ROI and generating actionable analytics,” said Yoshida.

#5: Extension of agile methodologies across the enterprise

Digital transformation is all about efficiency and working together to drive faster and more relevant business outcomes. This is why more information technology organizations are adopting agile methodology.

IT organizations have a legacy of siloed operations with server, network, storage, database, virtualization, and now cloud administrators passing change notices back and forth to deliver a business outcome. In fact, many would argue that IT was more focused on IT outcomes and not business outcomes.

“Even when data centers used technology to create shared data repositories to break down the data silos, the different functions were still focused on their own objectives and not on the overall business objectives. Now with cross functional teams using iterative agile sprints of two to four weeks, IT can focus on relevant business outcomes and deliver it more efficiently,” said Skingsley.

Under the leadership of Chief Information Officer, Renee McKaskle, Hitachi Vantara has been using agile methodologies over the past two years to drive digital transformation, and the results have been highly impactful.

“Agile provides us with a nimble approach, where small cross functional teams, with a clear direction and strategic milestones, can iterate through short sprints to ensure alignment across the board, communicate effectively, and focus on problem solving and achieving our common business goals,” said Yoshida. He also noted that 2018 will see more enterprises move to agile and DevOps in software development, with agile methodologies being used across the enterprise.

#6: Data governance 2.0

2018 will see new challenges in data governance which will require organizations to implement new frameworks. The biggest challenge will come from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will give EU residents more control over their personal data. This regulation will drive up costs and increase the risks involved in collecting and storing personal data. Violations of the GDPR could face fines totaling up to $21.75 million, or 4% of EU’s total annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year.

“Previous data governance was based on the processing of data and metadata. New data governance must now consider data context. If a user invokes their right to be forgotten, a company must be able to locate that individual’s data, eradicate it and provide proof that this has been done. GDPR’s mandatory breach notification of within 72 hours also means organizations face a very short window to respond. The ability to do this is impossible if the data is scattered in different application silos and cannot cover data stored on mobile devices or in the cloud. In 2018, data governance frameworks will need to be updated to include content intelligence tools,” comments Skingsley.

#7: Containers enable movement to the next level of virtualization

Container-based virtualization is the latest virtualization technology that will gain wider acceptance in 2018. Considered a new generation of virtual machines (VMs), which abstracted an entire device including the operating system (OS), containers consist only of the application and all the dependencies that the application needs.

Yoshida adds, “Containers are lightweight, in that they do not need a dedicated OS for each container, which helps to reduce costs. Their open configuration also means that they can run on numerous platforms and they allow applications to run isolated from one another, resulting in greater security. Monolithic applications can be written as micro services and run in containers, for greater agility, scale, and reliability.

Enterprises are migrating and developing new applications with containers in order to be competitive in today’s market that is defined by agility and efficiency. As an organization, we have built our IoT platform, Lumada, on containers and micro services and are fully embracing the benefit that they bring by moving our management software for Pentaho worker nodes, Hitachi Content Intelligence and Hitachi Infrastructure Director to containers as well. Storage Virtualization Operating System (SVOS) for Virtual Storage Platforms (VSP) also has a plugin to provision persistent VSP storage in containers – a trend we expect many storage vendors to follow next year.”

#8: Blockchain projects will mature

According to Yoshida, blockchain will be in the news in 2018 for two reasons:

First is the use of cryptocurrencies, which saw growing acceptance this year as a stable currency in countries that were plagued by hyperinflation. Japan and Singapore are also indicating that they will create flat-denominated cryptocurrencies in 2018 that will be run by banks and managed by regulators. Consumers will use this for P2P payments, ecommerce and fund transfers. This will lead many banks to turn to blockchain to help them build the capacity needed to manage accounts in cryptocurrencies.

Second is the growing use of blockchain in the financial sector for routine processes like internal regulatory functions, customer documentation and regulatory filings. Interbank fund transfers via blockchain ledgers are also expected to expand in 2018, and other sectors will begin to see prototypes with smart contracts and identity services for healthcare, governments, food safety and counterfeit goods.

#9: Time is right for biometric authentication

The increasing numbers of passwords required by today’s consumers will also support the shift towards biometric authentication in 2018.

“In reality, most of us use the same password for the accounts that we don’t think are very important. Unfortunately, hackers also know this, so once they discover a password, they will use it to successfully hack other accounts. Businesses are coming to the realization that proxies that represent our identity - like passwords, ATM cards, and pin numbers - even with two-factor authentication, are hackable,” says Skingsley.

“Smart phone vendors and financial companies are moving to solve this problem by using biometrics which represent the real user. But choosing the right biometric is important. If a biometric like a fingerprint is hacked, there is no way to reset it in the same way you would a pin number or password. Since we leave our fingerprint on everything we touch, it is conceivable that someone could lift our prints and reuse them. Hitachi recommends the use of finger vein, which can only be seen when infrared light is passed through a live finger to capture the vein pattern and is the most resistant to forgery.”

#10: Co-creation of value

Traditional business thinking starts with the premise that the producer autonomously determines value through its choice of products and services. Consumers have typically been consulted through market research and were passively involved in the process of creating solutions and value. In 2018, Yoshida thinks we will witness a shift in value creation, away from producer-centric, solution-value creation to a co-creation paradigm of value creation.

“Producers and consumers can no longer survive in the digital world with this traditional approach to value creation. In the digital world, the pace of change is relentless and problems span across multiple domains, with a blurring of industry domains and boundaries. Producers cannot take years to develop a solution and consumers cannot plan their business on multi-year roadmaps that may not deliver what they need. If consumers and producers are to innovate, they must be active participants in the value creation process as co-creators,” comments Yoshida.

Hitachi sees co-creation as the process of collaborating with customers and ecosystem players in order to innovate and create new value for business stakeholders, customers and society at large. The company has been co-creating with a number of customers and has developed a co-creation methodology that it expects will see further uptake in 2018.

For further insights into the top IT trends for APAC, please sign up here for the upcoming webcast which will take place at 11:00 a.m. (HK/SG time) on December 12, 2017.

Over 170 Companies and Individuals Win Energy Efficiency Awards

Wazzup Pilipinas!

STAUNCH ENERGY DEFENDER: Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi with Assistant Secretary Robert Uy and Senior Undersecretary Jesus Cristino Posadas and UNIDO's Representative Tonilyn Lim conferred the Special Recognition Award to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian during the 35th Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Awards (DEAEEA) held last 7 December at the Passion Restaurant, Maxims Hotel in Pasay City. The prestigious award is given to an individual who served the country through honed, crafted knowledge and talents on energy efficiency and conservation.

The DEAEEA is an annual awarding ceremony held every December to honor and recognize individuals and organizations with an outstanding performance in energy efficiency and conservation which greatly contributes to proper energy management. #ESafetyMo

The Department of Energy (DOE) honored over 170 establishments and energy stakeholders during the 35th Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Awards (DEAEEA) on 7 December 2017 at the Passion Restaurant, Maxims Hotel in Pasay City.

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi together with Undersecretary Jesus P. Posadas, Assistant Secretary Robert Uy, and Mr. Gerry Manares, Chairman of DEAEEA Technical Evaluation Committee conferred the awards in seven (7) categories: Special Recognition Award to an Individual, Secretary’s Award, Hall of Fame Award, Outstanding Award and Outstanding Energy Managers Award, Citation Award and Special Award. Special recognition was also given to ASEAN Energy Efficiency and Conservation Awardees, the top ten performers in the Government Energy Management Program (GEMP), experts and implementers of Energy Management Systems.

With the collective energy efficiency measures, Cusi said, “more than 1 million megawatt-hours of electricity or PHP 9.7 billion has been saved, or an equivalent of 512 million kilograms of CO2 emissions.”

“Energy efficiency is but a small part of our efforts to forge an environmentally sustainable energy sector,” he added.

Cusi said “Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. For 3 years in a row, we have ranked 1st in environmental sustainability on the World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma Index.”

The Secretary emphasized the vital role of the consumers in achieving a sustainable future. He said that “with the right information, consumers will be better equipped to exercise their power of choice and make more efficient use of energy.”

The 35th DEAEEA were given to the following individuals and establishments:

Special Recognition Award: Senator Sherwin Gatchalian

Secretary’s Award: San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp.-Manila Plastics Plant

Hall of Fame Award:
1. 6750 Office Tower
2. Greenbelt 3
3. Holcim Philippines, Inc.-Bulacan Plant
4. Dole Philippines, Inc.-Upper Valley (DUVO) Cannery
5. First Farmers Holding Corporation
6. IBM Philippines, Inc.-Building J UP AyalaLand Technohub
7. Toshiba Information Equipment (Phils.), Inc.-CIP Site

Outstanding Award and Outstanding Energy Managers Award:
1. U.P. Town Center/ Francis S. Tenefrancia
2. Pavilion Mall/ Jesus V. Nacubuan, Jr.
3. Glorietta 3/ Ransie E. De Sahagun
4. Tutuban Center/ Joven C. Cristobal
5. Greenbelt 5/ Armin Lexter G. Tan
6. Greenbelt 3/ Armin Lexter G. Tan
7. Greenbelt 4/ Alvin Bryan S. Musngi
8. Greenbelt 1/ John Ignatius R. Laplana
9. The District North Point/ Leopoldo Nino A. Jayme
10. Market! Market!/ Edwin B. Villanueva
11. Nestle Philippines, Inc. - Lipa Factory/ Lester A. Adviento
12. Nestle Philippines, Inc. -Tanauan Factory/ Edwin E. Erasquin
13. Froneri Philippines, Inc.-Pulilan Factory/ Dennis V. Sibulo
14. San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp.- San Fernando Beverage Packaging Plant/ Fernand V. Rivera
15. San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp. Metal Closure & Lithography Plant San Fernando Pampanga/ Marciano P. Payumo, Jr.
16. San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp.-Canlubang PET & Caps Plant/ Mario M. Mabaga
17. San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp.-Manila Plastics Plant/ Joey A. Lingbaoan
18. San Miguel Brewery Inc.-San Fernando Brewery/ Florito F. Santos
19. San Miguel Brewery, Inc.-Davao Brewery/ Wigbert Michael R. Blardony
20. San Miguel Brewery, Inc.-Bacolod Brewery/ Rofuat L. Lu
21. San Miguel Brewery Inc.-Sta. Rosa Plant/ Rofuat L. Lu
22. Manila Water Company, Inc. -Lucban Pumping Station/ John Paul Galman
23. Continental Temic Electronics Philippines, Inc./ Edgar I. Bondoc
24. Maynilad Water Services, Inc.-La Mesa Treatment Plant 2/ John Gerald H. De Jesus
25. Maynilad Water Services, Inc.-La Mesa Treatment Plant 1/ Adrianne Rose G. Castillo
26. Shopwise San Pedro/ Senorito Gejis
27. Shopwise Sta. Rosa/ Vince Dacanay
28. Shopwise Sucat/ Renz Francisco
29. Shopwise Vito Cruz/ Venancio Peralta
30. Shopwise Harrison Plaza/ Mark Anthony Francia
31. Shopwise Imus/ Herminio Saulog
32. Shopwise Commonwealth/ Jerson Fugen
33. Shopwise Basak Cebu/ Jaworski Rendar
34. Shopwise Araneta/ Nercy Jane Torilla
35. HSBC Centre/ Matthew Earl I. Ramoso
36. 6750 Office Tower/ Patrick Joseph V. Penacerrada
37. Convergys One Building/ Ruth K. Adaro
38. UP-AyalaLand Technohub/ John Boris R. Austria
39. Baguio AyalaLand Technohub/ William Z. Santiago
40. MSE Building/ Charles C. Hernandez
41. Universal RE Condo Corporation/ Lolita T. Vicente
42. Glorietta 2 BPO/ Mark Ryan T. Quierrez
43. Serendra Retail/ Diego Angelo C. Gonzalez
44. Bonifacio Technology Center/ Marvin John M. Gacula
45. KGB Building/ Julian C. Cuartero, Jr.
46. The Mind Museum/ John Adam P. Sumbillo
47. Maybank Corporate Center / Felipe A. Ladignon, Jr.
48. Genpact Services LLC-Plaz@ A Bldg./ Arnold P. Pagcaliwagan
49. Genpact Services LLC-Vector 2 Bldg./ Raymond Angelo Pedracio
50. Citibank Square Condominium Corporation/ Richard V. Teodocio
51. Nexperia Philippines, Inc./ Ramil A. Soriano
52. Toshiba Information Equipment (Phils.), Inc.-LTI Site/ Rolando G. Arciaga
53. AGC Flat Glass Philippines, Inc./ Alfred G. Pascual
54. JY Campos Centre/ Judith Monica C. Cu
55. Honda Cars Philippines, Inc./ Reginald M. Castillo
56. Robinsons Fuente/ Manuel T. Llagas
57. Robinsons Place Angeles/ Leo S. Galuego
58. Robinsons Place Antique/ Sunny A. Deramas
59. Robinsons Place Palawan/ Elmer B. Borejon
60. Eagle Cement Corporation/ Danny S. Madriaga
61. Holcim Philippines, Inc.-Bulacan Plant/ Samuel O. Manlosa, Jr.
62. IBM Philippines, Inc. -Building J / Nicasio Bordeos, Jr.
63. IBM Philippines, Inc.-Two Evo Tech Building/ Nicasio Bordeos, Jr.
64. IBM Philippines, Inc.-Building E/ Timitty Joseph Amparo
65. Pepsi Cola Products Phils, Inc.-Davao Plant/ Larry James V. Agustin
66. Pepsi Cola Products Phils, Inc.-Cebu Plant/ Erwin Avergonzado
67. Dole Philippines, Inc.-Upper Valley (DUVO) Cannery/ Tomas A. Socorin
68. Dole Philippines, Inc.-Cannery Complex/ Wilson Peria
69. Philippine Mining Service Corp -Bohol Plant/ Paul M. Espina
70. Canon Business Machines (Philippines), Inc./ Hiroki Matsubayashi
71. ON Semiconductor Philippines, Inc.-Carmona Plant/ Ramil Mandocdoc
72. First Farmers Holding Corporation/ Beau G. Ruiz
73. International Wiring Systems (Phils.) Corp. / Leslie T. Baun
74. New Carcar Manufacturing Inc./ Leeman R. Aguirre
75. Toshiba Information Equipment (Phils.), Inc.-CIP Site/ Roberto B. Tan

Citation Award:
1. Fairview Terraces
2. Glorietta 5
3. Greenbelt 2
4. TriNoma Mall
5. One E-Com Center
6. SM City Manila
7. SM Mall of Asia
8. SM City Fairview
9. SM City Clark
10. SM Southmall
11. SM Delgado
12. SM Harrison
13. Maynilad Water Services, Inc.-Tondo Sewage Pumping Plant
14. Shopwise Filinvest
15. Marketplace by Rustan's Rockwell
16. Tower One & Exchange Plaza.
17. Teleperformance Center Ayala
18. ON Semiconductor SSMP Philippines Corp.
19. CitiTower Condominium Corporation
20. Robinsons Place Tagaytay-Summit Ridge Promenade
21. Robinsons Place Ilocos
22. Robinsons Place Cainta
23. San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp-Manila Glass Plant
24. San Miguel Brewery Inc.-Polo Brewery

Special Award:
1. Ecotower
2. Metrobank Card Corporation
3. Shell Shared Service (Asia) B.V.
4. Manila Water Company, Inc. -San Juan Pumping Station
5. Manila Water Company, Inc. -Balara Pumping Station
6. Two E-Com Center
7. SM Center Pasig
8. SM City Bacoor
9. SM City Marikina
10. SM City Cebu
11. SM City Masinag
12. Maynilad Water Services, Inc.-La Mesa Pump Station & Reservoir
13. Shopwise Antipolo
14. Bonifacio High Street -East
15. BPI-Philam Life Alabang Condo Corp.
16. Vertex One Building
17. Solaris One
18. Ayala Museum
19. Glorietta 5 BPO
20. The District Imus
21. Metropoint Mall
22. San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp.-Metal Closure & Lithography Plant Cebu
23. Forum Robinsons (Pioneer)
24. Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp.-Meycauayan Bulacan Plant
25. Pepsi Cola Products Phils, Inc.-Tanauan Plant
26. Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc. San Fernando Plant
27. Nestle Philippines, Inc.-Cabuyao Factory
28. IBM Philippines, Inc.-Hanston Building

ASEAN Energy Award:
1. Maynilad Water Services, Inc.-La Mesa Treatment Plant 2
2. BPI-Philam Life Makati Condominium Corporation
3. Ayala Malls Solenad 3
4. Greenbelt 5
5. Serin
6. San Miguel Yamamura Fuso Molds Corporation
7. ON Semiconductor Philippines, Inc.-Carmona Plant
8. Continental Temic Electronic (Phils), Inc.
9. SM Jazz Mall
10. SM Seaside City-Cebu
11. Five E-com Center
12. One E-com Center

Government Energy Management Program (GEMP) Award:
1. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
2. Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions
3. Department of Agrarian Reform
4. Department of Environment and Natural Resources
5. Forest Management Bureau
6. Mariano Marcos State University
7. Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
8. National Housing Authority
9. National Irrigation Administration-UPRIIS
10. Philippine National Oil Company

The DOE also recognized the newly certified National Experts on Energy Management Systems (EnMS) as well the companies who have installed the EnMS under the DOE-Philippine Industrial Energy Efficiency Project (PIEEP). These include Job Jacob Gonzales, Desiderio Caliba, Erick Estiller and Val Gregana who were trained by international experts of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Energy Management System Project Implementers of the EnMS include Chowking Highland Commissary, Sucat Plant; Chowking Highland Commissary, Muntinlupa Plant; Tong Hsing Electronics (Phils), Inc.; and Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines, Inc.-Canlubang Plant.

The 35th DEAEEA winners have been carefully selected by the members of the Technical Evaluation Committee composed of the DOE, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, MERALCO, Petron Corporation, Philippine National Oil Company, National Power Corporation, Energy Practitioners Association of the Philippines, Philippine Energy Conservation Center, Inc., Energy Development Utilization Foundation, Inc., and Chevron Philippines.

The DEAEEA was named after Don Emilio Abello, a pioneer in the enercon movement whose commitment to the conservation of energy was demonstrated through prudent policy formulation and an intensive information drive. These efforts gave birth to the DEAEEA that honors outstanding performers in energy efficiency and conservation in the business, industrial, commercial and power sectors, as well as individuals with exceptional contributions in energy management.



“E-SAVING” EXCELLENCE AWARD: Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi together with DOE Senior Undersecretary Jesus Posadas, Assistant Secretary Robert Uy and Technical Evaluation Committee Chair Mr. Gerry Manares presented the Secretary's Award to the representatives of San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp. - Manila Plastics Plant during the 35th Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Awards (DEAEEA) held last 7 December at the Passion Restaurant, Maxims Hotel in Pasay City. The Secretary's Award is the highest recognition to be conferred in the ceremony and is given to a former Hall of Fame awardee with the highest Percent Energy Conservation (PECO) rating of not lower than 15%.

The other awards presented during the DEAEEA ceremony were: Special Recognition Award, Hall of Fame Award, Outstanding Award and Outstanding Energy Managers Award, Citation Award, Special Award, ASEAN Energy Award and the Government Energy Management Program (GEMP) Award. #E-SAFETY MO




THE EVALUATORS: The DOE also recognized the 35th DEAEEA Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) who were tasked to apply their technical expertise and skills in coming up with the criteria and the selection process for the different award categories. Members of the TEC are composed of the DOE, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, MERALCO, Petron Corporation, Philippine National Oil Company, National Power Corporation, Energy Practitioners Association of the Philippines, Philippine Energy Conservation Center, Inc., Energy Development Utilization Foundation, Inc., and Chevron Philippines. Presenting the plaque of recognition are Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Undersecretary Jesus Cristino Posadas and Assistant Secretary Robert Uy. #E-SAFETY MO

Eugene Domingo Stars at PETA's 'Night, Mother Adaptation

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Award-winning female comedian Euguene Domingo comes back to theater reprising acting on a play shecwas once involved in. Butvshe wasn't playing thevrole of the daughter back then but the mother.

This time she plays the role of the "miserable with her life" daughter with that urge to end her life. Ironically, her character relates the whole idea with her mother who, at the excerpt, pervently tries to convince her otherwise. This could mean her character is just trying to call attention to herself. Suicidal tendencies could be visible but those whonhave seen other adaptations of 'Night, Mother could shed some light on these questions.

I never do research before attending a media launch or preview. It would prevent me from expecting too much or too little as I do want a fresh perspective. Sinxe times also change, the adaptations also evolve and are sometimes cuztomized to catch up with today's realities.

I was undoubtedly surprised learning that I was not watching a comedy eventhough Eugene Domingo was the lead actor. But I shouldn't have reacted that way now that I know her roots was in theater.





True enough, Uge has come a long way from her theater origins. Her shift towards television and movies never stopped her from returning to her true love - the theater.

She now performs at PETA Theater Center for 'Night, Mother, an adaptation from an existing play.

I have to commend PETA for their various offerings. I do hope many would support their shows as they are definitely worthe the time.

For actors lije Eugene, there is so much discipline in theater as compared to mainstream relevision and movies. Fir me, theater is where we would see a lot of professionals seekibg to satisfy their thirst for true acting. Stuff like memorizing a 72-page script, quick-thinking for ad libs all throughout the play (in this case 90 minutes), and catching fellow actors when they fail to deliver lines, are just some of the skills and discipline that you'll learn from being a theater actor. Itbis not easy, but it challenges them to what they are capable of doing.



We took a video of the excerpt so please do watch it on our YouTube channel at http://www.YouTube.com/user/wazzuppilipinas

We also have a quick interview and shout-out with her uploaded on our social media pages.

The play will be running from February 2 to March 19, 2018 so be sure to include it on your calendar for next year.

LTO Statement on License Plate Procurement

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Amidst the perception that the agency is not moving forward with the supply of license plates, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Chief, Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, is on top of the situation and is proceeding with the procurement of license plates with dispatch and in accordance with existing procurement laws.

The matter was raised during the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation meeting on 06 December 2017 which he was unable to attend due to his hospital confinement since Tuesday, 05 December 2017.

It will be recalled that the 2013 procurement of Motor Vehicle (MV) /Motorcycle (MC) plates was questioned before the courts and the Commission on Audit, and these cases remain pending to this day. Said procurement should have covered the supply of license plates from ‎2014-2018.

Moreover, in June 2016, the SC issued a temporary restraining order preventing the LTO and the Department of Transportation and Communication from releasing and distributing 700,000 license plates turned over by the Bureau of Customs after the plates' supplier-importer failed to pay the required customs duties.

Thus, when the present administration came in July 2016, there was no budget allocation for procurement of license plates for 2016, 2017 and 2018. Unconvinced that the procurement of license plates is dependent on the resolution of the cases involving the previous procurement, ASec Galvante then requested for additional funds to be included in the LTO’s 2017 budget in the amount of P400 million in order to proceed with the procurement of license plates.

Sometime in November 2016, DOTr Secretary Arthur P. Tugade approved the request and set aside the amount of P1 billion from DOTr’s budget for LTO’s procurement of license plates.

The LTO clarified that the agency has already issued the notice of award (NOA) to the winning bidder in the procurement of license plate in the amount of P978.8 million on 01 December 2017.

The winning bidder, Trojan Computer Forms Manufacturing Corporation and J.H. Tonnjes E.A.S.T. GmbH & Co. KG Joint Venture, has already been required to provide the performance security. Initial delivery is expected sometime in March 2018.

The LTO assures the public that the agency is doing the best it can, in compliance with existing laws and regulations, to deliver the license plates.

Why Spend Christmas at the Araneta Center

Wazzup Pilipinas!

There are only just a couple of weeks before Christmas day. And while some may already be trapped in a Christmas rush or the “holidaze,” Christmas at the Araneta Center continues to make spirits bright.

Aside from being one of the top destinations for those looking to buy Christmas presents or ornaments, Araneta Center has a full lineup of exciting activities that will make sure spending the Yuletide season here will be worthwhile.

1. Alab ng Puso: Rockers’ carol
“Jingle Bell Rock” may be one of the most popular Christmas songs, but at the Araneta Center, the public can rock with the hits of some of the country’s biggest musical acts in “Alab ng Puso,” a free concert at the Times Square Food Park on Saturday, December 9 at 4 p.m.

The concert, which celebrates human rights, will feature performances from Sandwich, Noel Cabangon, Cookie Chua, Gary Granada, Aia de Leon, Tanya Markova, and spoken word artists Alfonso Manalastas and Juan Miguel Severo.

2. Impossible: Possibly the season’s best show
In a bevy of Christmas shows, is it still possible to find one that is entertaining as it is fresh and new?

Turns out, it is. Impossible, the world’s greatest magic show, comes to Araneta Center for the holidays. The show will run from Christmas day, December 25, 2017 to January 3, 2018 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Ben Hart and Magical Bones, two of the magicians on the show, have earlier visited the country and thrilled Filipinos from all walks of life with their impressive tricks. Hart has earned a reputation for his unorthodox methods, while Bones has built a name as the world’s “best hip hop magician.” Joining the two are Ali Cook, Chris Cox, Josephine Lee and Bello Nock. Tickets are now available. For reservations and more information, visit TicketNet.com.ph or call 911-5555 or 374-9999.



3. Times Square Food Park: Gifting the senses
Dubbed as one of the most “Instagrammable” sites this Yuletide season, the Times Square Food Park serves as the bigger and better location of the iconic Araneta Center giant Christmas tree and the new tunnel of lights.

It also houses stalls that sell various food items and beverages—truly a perfect bonding spot for families, friends and couples.

As an added treat, there are fireworks shows every Fridays and Saturdays of December.

4. Santa Claus (and more) is in town!
Who wants to get stuck in a mall full of restless bargain hunters? Fortunately, this is not the case at the Gateway Mall, Ali Mall and New Farmers Plaza.

Aside from being a top choice for those looking for gifts for their loved ones, the three malls also offer a respite to shoppers with chorale performances every day of December.

Santa Claus also roves around the three malls to spread the Holiday cheer and pose for photo-ops with Christmas shoppers whether they are naughty or nice.

5. Simbang Gabi: Tradition lives on at the Center

While some may be caught up with the hustle and bustle of the Christmas rush, many more make sure that they do not forget the true essence of the season.

The tradition of Simbang Gabi or Dawn Masses lives on at the Araneta Center with Gateway Mall, Ali Mall, New Farmers Plaza and Farmers Market providing the public a convenient venue for the Masses to remember the birth of Jesus Christ.

Whether it is a “silent night” or a season filled with “joy to the world,” Araneta Center’s Christmas activities are a gift to the senses and the spirit.

Azkals Places Second In CTFA Invitational Tournament

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Azkals grabs second place in the recently concluded CTFA Invitational Tournament held in Taipei from December 1 to 5. In spite of an undermanned team, and three-day preparation - the quickly assembled Azkals composed of a few veterans, players from the U22 SEA Games squad and University stand out squeezed a second-place finish ahead of Timor Leste and Laos.

Most of the regular Azkals were not available because they we not released by their Clubs due to the PFL season is in its semi-finals stage. The CTFA Invitational Tournament dates are also outside of the FIFA dates so a number of call ups on foreign based Filipino players were not successful.

Asked about his reaction on Mr. Dan Palami’s description of the Azkals outing in Taipei as the Taiwan ‘debacle”, Mr. Jefferson Cheng, Team Manager says:

“If this is accurate, I am surprised with the comments of Dan (Mr. Palami). We are working for the same organisation which is the PFF, and representing one country, Our Country. I think a more encouraging and supportive stance will do more good for Philippine Football than complaining and maligning the players and coaches who did their best for their country. I think whoever makes these negative statements are being unfair. We ended up second place with 3 days preparation, the players were given the best organisation one can possibly do with the time, and logistics constraints we have plus the conflict that the CTFA Tournament have with the PFL schedule.

My role is temporary as the PFF Secretary General asked for assistance because most of the Clubs with the regular Azkals players including Mr. Palami’s Global FC are in the PFL semi-finals hence the Clubs prioritise the League instead of the National Team that is why they did not release the players. The regular Azkals Coach Thomas Dooley also had a very important previous commitment to speak in an AFC event representing the PFF.

Mr. Palami suggested certain players, we contacted them even bought them airline tickets but they did not come for some reason.

During the Tournament were some calls and red cards that did not go our way which could have changed the complexion of the games and the result of the Tournament. I am not offering any excuses as there are none needed. The Players and Coaches did their best and what is important is they were there on the field fighting. We had three days to prepare and the players coming in from a long hectic PFL schedule, a 2nd place finish is descent under the circumstances.

We should draw our attention to the positives. We may not have won the tournament but the winner here is Philippine Football. The exposure given to our younger players was the right thing to do. Just ask Miyagi from Cebu, who scored his first international goal with the Senior National Team, ask what the Cebuano football fans think about that. Or Gayoso from Ateneo who had his first cap. What about the sight of the younger players playing alongside their Idols! The senior players mentoring and leading the younger ones was a very good and encouraging thing to see. I think this is what team sports are all about. This experience of our younger players will only encourage and bring more fans, supporters and followers to our National Team and Philippine Football. Importante magtulungan tayo.”

Vic Sotto and Dawn Zulueta Headline Meant to Beh at MMFF

Just like every year, Octo Arts Films has a movie to offer featuring the Bossing himself. But unlike next year when they failed to get in to the festival, now they are back with a big bang as a different leading lady joins their lead comedian as headliner of the movie entitled Meant to Beh.

For the movie, bloggers were invited to a blogcon with Vic Sotto, Dawn Zulueta, JC Santos and Direk Chris Martinez attendibg the event. There are several celebrities included in the cast but only the three and their director.

It is not always that you get to do a video interview with Bossing Vic Sotto. I would have also interviewed Dawn but she already left when I was done with Bossing. You can watch the video on our official Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/wazzuppilipinas

Meanwhile, video coverage of the blogcon, from start to finish, are currently being uploaded at our official YouTube channel at http://www.YouTube.com/user/wazzuppilipinas



As usual, Vic was cool and composed at the Meant to Beh blogcon. He always projects himself as graciously decent eventhough he cracks a joke every now and then. His antics during the introduction started some laughter and consistently was there during the Q&A with the bloggers.

Their movie is also something new for the comedian since the plot deals with some family struggles specifically the "disenchantment" between husband and wife, and the temptations that surrounds.

Opposite Dawn Zulueta, plus an additional cast of younger actors, including child star Baste, and not to forget their usual extras from Eat Bulaga Dabarkads, the movie still somehow uses tried and tested formulas of showbiz.



Below is the official press release from the blogcon:

Meant To Beh Explores True Love’s Possibilities

Does true love stand the test of time? This is explored in “Meant To Beh” the latest blockbuster film starring Vic Sotto and Dawn Zulueta.

During the holiday season, happy families and loving relationships are highlighted amongst the merrymaking of the holidays. With Meant To Beh, moviegoers are treated to this funny and poignant story about the Balatbat family, where they can pick up timely lessons about life and love along the way. Middle-aged couple Antonio (Vic) and Andrea Balatbat (Dawn) try their best to raise their three children, Christian (JC Santos), Alex (Gabbi Garcia), and Riley (Baby Baste).

The Balatbats have a perfect family setup despite the fact that the couple was only forced by their parents to get married when they were younger. These and other issues arise through the years, creating challenges and hardships that threaten the harmony within the family and eventually lead to a point where the couple, realizing that they never really loved each other, decides to separate in order to find themselves.

This decision breaks their children’s hearts and they devise way to get their parents back together again despite both finding new respective partners. It has become their mission to get their parents to fall in love.

The family movie, which Dawn describes as “heartwarming”, is said to be the first “serious” comedy by Bossing Vic Sotto. He is very proud of the Filipino values that are highlighted, aside from the production’s entertainment value that will be enjoyed by audiences young and old. “There are no grand special effects this year, unlike the Enteng Kabisote series that we have presented in the past holiday seasons. It is a simple, relatable story that takes a closer look at today’s Filipino families and the values that we cherish.”

The movie, which also stars Sue Ramirez, Ruru Madrid, Andrea Torres, and Daniel Matsunaga is directed by Chris Martinez for Octoarts Films, M-Zet Productions and APT Entertainment.

Meant To Beh: Ika-Something na Utos will make its premiere in Philippine cinemas on December 25, 2017 as one of the eight official entries of the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival.

Tricks to Win Online World Travel Luxury

Wazzup Pilippinas!

I've won more than a dozens of world trip. Including major world sporting events like World Cup, Lemans, MotoGP, Festival, Racing, Beerfest, Ski, Disney and several F1 world race trip-tours. Most of it are coming from easy online contest. So here's my tips to fulfill your dream of travelling around the world the fastest and easiest ways. They may say that there's a travel bucket list, but the truth is when we get to appreciate  the beauty of travelling.  

It may sound that my travel bucket list is already fulfilled. And guess what its still not. So here's what I'm still working on NBA Finals, Ryder Cup, Champions League, Superbowl, Wimbledon, Masters, Nascar, The Hobbit, Euro Luxury Cruise, Indianapolis 500, Floyd TBE Boxing Club, Las Vegas Main Boxing Events, UFC Main Event, Hanging out with World Champs, Hollywood, 007 Movie Scenes Trip, Monaco Glitz and Glamour OMG its a lot more.    

One Championship Holds One: Warriors of the World Official Face-Off in Bangkok

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The largest global sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), recently hosted the ONE: WARRIORS OF THE WORLD Official Face-off on Wednesday, 6 December atop the 61st floor of the Vertigo Restaurant in the Banyan Tree Bangkok Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. In attendance was ONE Championship President of Thailand, Mr. Kamol ‘Sukie’ Sukosol Clapp and main event competitors Yoshitaka Naito and Alex Silva, as well as co-main event competitors Shannon Wiratchai and Rasul Yakhyaev. The rest of the athletes also faced off.

Visit the official ONE : WARRIORS OF THE WORLD OFFICIAL Face-off photo gallery by clicking here

The press conference was held in lieu of all the action which takes place Saturday, 9 December at the Impact Arena, as the absolute best in local and international martial arts talent take the ONE Championship cage to showcase their skills in front of a global audience at ONE: WARRIORS OF THE WORLD.

Kamol ‘Sukie’ Sukosol Clapp, ONE Championship President of Thailand, stated: “ONE Championship is back in Bangkok for another evening of world-class martial arts. This is an exciting one for fans, as ONE: WARRIORS OF THE WORLD is set to feature some of the best and most talented Thai martial arts superstars on the biggest stage of global competition. Fans will not want to miss all the action that goes down at the Impact Arena on Saturday night. Get ready as we have an amazing card prepared for you all!”

Yoshitaka Naito, ONE Strawweight World Champion, stated: “Hayato [Suzuki] is known as one of the best wrestlers in Japan, so I was shocked to see him lose against a jiu-jitsu champion. Alex Silva’s grappling is extremely good. Silva’s strength is of course his ground techniques, but his striking is probably not a big threat. Silva has never gone five rounds, so if it goes the distance, it will be my time. I am confident in my abilities and that I will successfully defend my belt.”

Alex Silva, ONE Title Challenger, stated: “It is most important that before you are even a champion, that you have a good personality, and a good character. You need to be humble. That is how I want to inspire people. That is very important to me. I think that is what has brought me to where I am today — being humble and having a good character, whether you are a champion or not. I am grateful for the opportunity to challenge for the title, and will do my best to take home the win on Saturday night.”
Shannon Wiratchai, ONE Athlete, stated: “Competing in front of my hometown fans is always a great pleasure, and huge pressure at the same time. Life is all about changing. In every change there is always an opportunity. Rasul is dangerous everywhere. But I think I can handle him on the feet. Chechen wrestlers are always some of the best in the world, but I have wrestled with many high-level wrestlers. 2017 is a year that I have been working very hard. I hope I win this match, and 2018 will be another year that I keep working hard. Not just for myself, but for Thai martial arts.”

Rasul Yakhyaev, ONE Athlete, stated: “My defeats taught me to take more care of myself — of my health, my diet, and my training schedule. Shannon is a decent athlete with a lot of experience in the cage. I have not watched all of his matches, but I am sure I can win. I have the complete skill set to achieve victory. Shannon is going to be a tough challenge, but I wish him to have a good training camp with no injuries. When the big day comes, one of us must win and one will lose. I will be the one who wins.”

Reigning and defending ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito of Matsudo, Japan, is unbeaten in his professional career with a perfect 12-0 record. He owns six victories by submission and one by knockout. The 33-year-old, who made a name for himself at Japan’s world famous Korakuen Hall competing for Shooto as its Flyweight Champion, captured the ONE Strawweight World Championship by submitting Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke in his promotional debut in 2016. Naito makes the second defense of his strawweight belt against Alex Silva.

Alex “Little Rock” Silva of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is a second-degree black belt and Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion feared for his relentless pursuit of submission finishes.

Silva is riding high on a five-bout winning streak, rapidly climbing ONE Championship’s stacked strawweight ranks. He is a technical grappling specialist with a penchant for securing highlight-reel submissions. With steadily increasing confidence, Silva’s last five victories have all ended in spectacular fashion. In his most recent contest, Silva made quick work of the highly-regarded and previously unbeaten Hayato Suzuki, earning him an opportunity for the ONE Strawweight World Championship.

Shannon “OneShin” Wiratchai of Thailand is one of the most thrilling offensive innovators in ONE Championship. The creator of the OneShin Striking System, Wiratchai developed his own style which incorporates various elements from Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Training out of Tiger Muay Thai and Bangkok Fight Lab, Wiratchai emerges as Thailand’s biggest and most exciting martial arts star. In his last bout, Wiratchai made quick work of Rajinder Singh Meena, stopping his foe with a knee to the abdomen in less than 30 seconds into the first round. Wiratchai seeks to continue his winning ways as he faces Rasul Yakhyaev in the co-main event of the evening.

26-year-old Rasul Yakhyaev of Grozny, Russia, is a lightweight who has racked up a solid following over his seven-year professional career. A jiu-jitsu and combat sambo practitioner, he is adept in both striking and mat techniques, and is considered a solid contender with tremendous combat skills. A well-rounded warrior, four of Yakhyaev’s victories have come by submission while three have come by knockout. After establishing a name for himself in Eastern Europe, he made his ONE Championship debut in December of 2015, and now seeks to take his career to the next level against Shannon Wiratchai.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

NEC and Hortonworks Present Big Data Solutions to Transform Future Industries

Wazzup Pilipinas!

NEC hardware is fully optimized to work with Hortonworks Data Platform powered by Open Enterprise Apache Hadoop

NEC and Hortonworks have strengthened their partnership to bring quality Data Management Platforms to increase efficiency in handling Big Data workloads.

NEC Philippines along with Hortonworks conducted a roundtable in Shangri-la Hotel, Makati, gathering different IT Professionals, industry executives, and industry giants in the Philippines to shed light on the importance of understanding Big Data analytics and how to utilize them for their respective industries, especially for Enterprise customers. “The NEC-Hortonworks partnership aims to provide solutions and create insight into the key factors to being competitive and driving our companies to further growth,” NEC Philippines President Elizabeth Pangan said.

“In this partnership, NEC is committed to provide the best Hadoop platform for data management processing. As part of this solution, NEC brings specialized hardware that is designed and optimized for Big Data workloads,” Pangan added. The partnership combines NEC's "Data Platform for Hadoop" with Hortonworks Data Platform to allow enterprise customers to process structured and un-structured data on a single platform. Hortonworks Data Platform is optimized with NEC’s Server hardware, such as the DX2000 which can be fully customized for a variety of Linux Operating Systems to meet the needs of the enterprise market. The roundtable was fruitful and informative as the executives listened to talks about The Art of Data Science, Getting Into the Data Driven Economy, Delivering Faster Analytics at Scale, and Hortonworks Data Platform End-to-End Solution. Both NEC and Hortonworks are committed to deliver quality support in addressing technical concerns enterprise customers might have with this Large-scale Distributed Processing Platform.

Fern. Releases Debut Single “Into You” and Peaks at # 1 on Spotify!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

17-year-old singer-songwriter-producer Fern. releases debut single “Into You” under Universal Records and immediately peaked at # 1 on Spotify!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Fernando Tan a.k.a. Fern. is a 17-year-old singer/songwriter/producer whose self-discovery of his musical talent began at the young age of twelve. He was first a lead vocalist-guitarist for a band but his craft grew wider and deeper with his newfound knowledge of producing. His learning proved fruitful when he was tapped with a great opportunity to co-write and co-produce Claudia Barretto’s successful single “You.”

With a multitude of original songs written, one might ask where a young boy of seventeen draws inspiration from. “I haven’t experienced much of the world. Usually I use films for inspiration.”

His ability to empathize is what he wishes to be known for, beyond just the sound of his music. The essence of his craft is to let people realize what they are going through. “I want my music to speak for the people who can’t speak up.”

When asked about the story behind his debut single entitled “Into You”, “It’s a metaphor for something,” he answered. “I don’t want my mom to know.”

Universal Records is more than proud and elated to announce that the debut single “Into You” peaked at number 1 on Spotify shortly after its release, and still maintains its position up until now.

Fern.’s single, “Into You,” is now released on all digital platforms, to be followed by his debut EP this 2018.

FERN. ’s debut single #IntoYou is now available on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, Amazon and Spinnr


iTunes/Apple Music
https://itunes.apple.com/ph/album/into-you-single/1304844864

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/track/15J8g6mMjEkIPDuSiSOtUT?si=R1DZwR4ET520taA293P7Ig

Deezer
https://www.deezer.com/album/50865262

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Into-You-Fern/dp/B0772CKLJV

Spinnr
http://www.spinnr.ph/desktop/#songdetail?musicCode=6019010004423362

Keynote Speech of DOE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi at Oil Industry Management Bureau Day

Wazzup Pilipinas!

To our distinguished guests, friends from the media, DOE management and staff, Good morning!
 
We must all be proud of what we have attained so far as a result of strenuous discussions, exchanges and revisions. The government and private sector working together towards a common goal that is for the common good of the industries and the consumers as a whole.
 
The Revised Retail Rules, The Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry Regulation and Handbook on LPG Safety Code in Refilling Plant are a welcome development in its respective sectors. For one, we now have categories for gas stations that will serve, among others, as basis of additional facilities and services. We are also open to the various technology-options that are being introduced in the market to address the proliferation of liquid fuels in soda bottles or “bote-bote” and to cater the dynamic segment of the transport industry, the tricycles and those living in remote areas.
 
Furthermore, the DOE and the Downstream Oil Industry have already drafted and endorsed to the DTI BPS for issuance of the new PNS for Biodiesel blends of both Automotive and Industrial Diesel Oils to comply with the standard specification under the Philippine Clean Air Act.
 
These are potent measures to encourage the entry of new industry participants and to address or at least minimize the noted infractions being made by unscrupulous entities.  Need I say that we must not lose sight of our partnership, that we need to jointly monitor and for each industry stakeholder to exercise self-regulation.
 
So, what is the bottom line? These issuances generally put in place the requirements for ease in doing business and reiterate and identify the national standards on quality and quantity that is, for the protection of consumers’ welfare. As what we have always been advocating, safety comes first and there is no compromise on that. While the industry is deregulated, government must ensure that all stakeholders abide to the laws, rules and regulations governing the business especially, on safety.
 
We all know that this does not stop here. In fact, there are still a lot of things to do and we appreciate your continued support on the more urgent additional rules.
 
For one, the need to review and eventually update the compliance to the Biofuel requirements on Ethanol and CME blends. 
 
Secondly, a Joint Administrative Order (JAO) is planned to be issued on the first quarter of 2018 directing all LPG Industry participants to observe minimum safety standards in the transportation and distribution of LPG in Cylinders. It was crafted to apply to all persons involved in importing, refining, refilling, storing, transporting, marketing, distributing, hauling, retailing, selling, and/or trading of LPG in cylinders. The LPG Industry participants are enjoined to adhere to and observe strictly the guidelines and all the submissions and compliances that are prescribed and mentioned in the said JAO. In order to effectively implement the provisions in the circular, the proposed JAO is promulgated for the information, guidance and compliance of all concerned. This measure shall be made in coordination with our partner agencies such as DILG, DOTr-LTO and MMDA who are directly involved in the regulations of vehicles transporting petroleum products.
 
And the last but not the least, a Department Circular on the Unbundling of Oil Price Adjustment is being prepared that is seen to enhance the availability of information regarding the details of any oil price adjustment including the reasons for such. It shall also mandate the direct explanation of the adjustment by the respective oil companies and the requirement of specifying the date when the price adjustment from the biofuel shall be effected. It shall be released on the first quarter of 2018.
 
This sums up what we have accomplished to date and what we need to finish in the early part of 2018. 
 
As we endeavor to put order in these industries, we again call on you to join us in pursuing and championing it.
 
Thank you and Good Morning!

DOE Moves Against Adulterated ‘Bote-bote’ Fuels

Wazzup Pilipinas!

OIL CONSUMER DAY: All smiles as the Department of Energy (DOE) celebrates Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) Day as part of the National Energy Consciousness Month (NECM). Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi together with DOE Undersecretary Donato Marcos, Office of the Secretary Director Cesar Dela Fuente, OIC for OIMB Director Rino Abad, OIMB Assistant Director Rodela Romero, other DOE officials, representatives from different oil industry stakeholders and former DOE Secretary Zenaida Monsada were present during the presentation of five (5) new policies for the downstream oil industry: 1) DPNS/DOE QS 004:2017 CME-Blended Automotive Diesel Oil (ADO) Specification; 2) DPNS/DOE QS 013:2017 CME-Blended Industrial Diesel Oil (IDO) Specification; 3) Code of Safety Practices for LPG Refilling Plants; 4) Retail Rules; and 5) Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Regulation. These policies are aimed at protecting consumers and guiding industry players in offering better products and services.

The sale of adulterated gasoline and diesel to tricycles and jeepneys in the countryside may soon become a thing of the past, according to Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

On Tuesday, Cusi presented new policies crafted by the Department of Energy (DOE) Oil Industry Management Bureau that would ease the establishment of gas stations in the countryside.

Cusi said that the “bote-bote” system or sale of gas and diesel on soda bottles opens end-users to the purchase of adulterated fuel and exposes the public to the dangers of fire and explosion.

The new policies under the downstream oil industry are intended to further protect consumers by enticing industry players to provide better services and products.

The policies were unveiled as part of OIMB Day in line with the celebration of December as the National Energy Consciousness Month (NECM).

Themed with the E-Power Mo campaign, the NECM highlights the importance of energy in the daily lives of the Filipinos and the country's overall economic development.

“The Revised Retail Rules, The Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry Regulation and Handbook on LPG Safety Code in Refilling Plant are a welcome development in their respective sectors,” said Secretary Cusi.

“We now have categories for gas stations that will encourage the putting up of safer products, facilities and services,” said Cusi.

“We are also open to the various technology-options that are being introduced in the market to address the proliferation of liquid fuels in soda bottles or 'bote-bote'", he added.

Cusi affirmed the need to cater to the dynamic segment of the transport industry, the tricycle drivers and operators and those living in remote areas.

Cusi said the DOE drafted and endorsed to the Department of Trade and Industries-Bureau of Product Standards the new Philippine National Standard (PNS) for automotive and industrial diesel products in compliance with the standard specification under the Philippine Clean Air Act.

The DOE-OIMB also separated the PNS for automotive and industrial diesel oil.

PNS/DOE QUALITY STANDARD: 004:2017

The improved PNS/DOE Quality Standard (QS): 004:2017 on coco-methyl ester (CME)-blended Automotive Diesel Oil Specification contains revised technical provisions to upgrade the fuel quality requirement (such as reduced sulfur content limit in compliance with Euro-4 emission standard) and test methods for more accurate evaluation of fuel quality.

PNS/DOE QUALITY STANDARD 013:2017

The upgraded PNS/DOE QS 013:2017: CME-Blended Industrial Diesel Oil Specifications include introduction of cetane number or derived cetane number as new property, removal of distillation property, reduction in the limit of carbon residue, increase the limits of density, flash point and kinematic viscosity and updating of test method.
Said standards aim to improve diesel quality for cleaner and efficient fuels sold in the market.

CODE OF SAFETY PRACTICES FOR LPG REFILLING PLANT and RETAIL RULES

Giving more protection to oil consumers, the DOE-OIMB issued the Code of Safety Practices for LPG Refilling Plant and updated the Retail Rules. These two policies are essential to safeguard the welfare of the consumers against unscrupulous trading of petroleum products (i.e., adulteration and under-delivery), said the DOE.

They will also provide regulations on emerging and expanding technologies in the retailing of liquid fuels and more stringent measures for safe LPG manufacturing and use.

PHILIPPINE DOWNSTREAM NATURAL GAS REGULATION

Lastly, the DOE-OIMB also announced the issuance of the Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Regulation (PNGR), which provides standardized guidelines in the accreditation, operation, maintenance of natural gas infrastructures and facilities as well as its supply importation and transportation.

The PNGR will also liberalize entry to the natural gas market and adherence of participants to international andj Philippine health, safety, security and environment standards.

The policy will also allow Third Party Access to liquefied natural gas (LNG) import receiving facilities, Transmission and Distribution pipelines to create more players in the downstream natural gas value chain.

SPT Networks Asia Wins Big at 22nd Asian Television Awards

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia Wins ‘Cable & Satellite Network of the Year’ at the 22nd Asian Television Awards, Takes Home Five Awards for AXN and The Amazing Race Asia Season 5

Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia scooped the pool at the 22nd Asian Television Awards in Singapore taking home five awards including the highly coveted ‘Cable & Satellite Network of the Year’.

Sony’s flagship channel in Asia, leading English general entertainment powerhouse,
AXN, won ‘Cable & Satellite Channel of the Year’. The channel was also recognized for its hit-rated, pan-regional original production, The Amazing Race Asia Season 5, with three competitive awards: ‘Best General Entertainment Program’, ‘Best Reality Program’ and ‘Best Adaptation of an Existing Format’.

“We’re celebrating SPT Networks’ 20th anniversary this year and the five Asian Television Awards we received is a testament to the incredible teamwork, passion and creativity that we invest in our network every day. As the leader in genre-defining channels, it’s in our DNA to know our viewers’ habits and then deliver compelling content to win their hearts, minds and screens,” said Virginia Lim, Senior Vice President and Head of Content, Production and Marketing, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.

Lim added, “AXN has a celebrated track record of creating blockbuster, pan-regional original productions that truly engage our viewers across multiple platforms. In 2016, it was The Amazing Race Asia Season 5, and this year we’re owning Thursday nights with Asia’s Got Talent Season 2. Watch this space as there will be more award-winning
original productions coming up, including AXN’s new magic series, The Elements with Cosentino, premiering in January 2018.”

The Amazing Race Asia Season 5 premiered in October 2016 securing AXN’s position as the #1 English General Entertainment channel in its Thursday night timeslot, with a 51% share of the genre. Hosted by TV personality Allan Wu, The Amazing Race Asia Season 5 was also the top rated original production of the year, which followed the adventures of 11 fearless teams who traversed Asia in a bid to win USD100,000.

The Amazing Race Asia Season 5 was produced in collaboration with award-winning international production company, Profiles Television and globally renowned series creators Bertram Van Munster and Elise Doganieri.

DOTr-TRB Issues Toll Operation Permit for TPLEX Binalonan-Pozorrubio Segment

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation-Toll Regulatory Board (DOTr-TRB) issued last 29 November 2017 a Toll Operation Permit (TOP) to the Philippine Infrastructure Development Corporation (PIDC) for the maintenance and operation of the Binalonan-Pozorrubio Segment.

The TOP was issued after a joint inspection conducted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), TRB Technical Staff, and representatives of PIDC, who confirmed that the particular portion of TPLEX is “substantially complete and is safe to be operated commercially.”

In compliance with the Toll Concession Agreement, the DPWH, as well as representatives from concerned parties are set to open the TPLEX Segment 7, Section 3A-2 which stretches from Binalonan to Pozorrubio, Pangasinan.

Segment 7approximately 10.10 kilometers is the second to the last portion of the TPLEX project that would be constructed by PIDC.

Segment 7, Section 3A-1 of TPLEX officially opened last 28 July 2016.

To date, almost 20,000 vehicles traverse the stretch of existing TPLEX segments daily, from La Paz, Tarlac to Urdaneta, Pangasinan

All Systems Go for the Biggest ColorManila Run

Photo Caption: ColorManila’s CMR5
, held January of this year at SM Mall of Asia Event Grounds gathered 12,000 runners.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

ColorManila, the country’s most aggressive ‘concept fun-run’ organizer, gears up for its biggest and most colorful event to date - the ColorManila Run Year 6, also known as CM Paradise Run, to be held on January 7, 2018, at the SM Mall of Asia Event Grounds, in Pasay City.

CMR5, which was held January of this year, saw a record-breaking, sold-out event with 12,000 participants joining the race. The event also got international recognition and was a Finalist for Asia Sports Industry Awards in Bangkok, Thailand, for both the Mass Participation category and the Best Integrated Marketing Campaign for a Sports Event category. The event also got featured in various news outlets in 13 countries, including Malaysia, India, Turkey and Spain, among others.

This year, they are targeting 15,000 runners who will get to enjoy the ‘Paradise-themed run’ which takes place on the first Sunday of 2018.

CM Paradise Run includes four race distances, 3K, 5K, 10K and 21K. The experience will take runners through various color stations with palm trees, garlands and hammocks. This will be capped off with the CM Color Festival where runners will get to groove and dance to the music of the DJ, as they simultaneously throw colored powder in the air.



A true Filipino start-up, ColorManila was started almost 6 years ago by Jay Em and Justine Cordero, with the vision of growing fun-runs in the country. Today, the company has seen over 150,000 runners join their various events, spread across the country from Ilocos Sur on the north to Davao, down south.

ColorManila VP Justine Cordero says, “We’re proud to say that ColorManila started as a passion project, which grew into a company. Throughout the years, we have seen runners who have been with us from our inception, whom we see every year. We’ve seen participants spend their life events with us, such as proposals, birthdays and anniversaries.”

Cordero continues, “The hundreds of thousands of runners we have seen over the years are also part of the ColorManila family and we look forward to seeing them again, and of course new runners who will surely enjoy this ‘Paradise-filled’ experience.”

Runners can also expect celebrities and athletes to join the event. In the past years, celebrities such as Karylle, Kuya Kim, Yassi Pressman, Dominique Roque, Sam YG, Bubbles Paraiso, Yael Yuzon, Katarina Rodriguez, Clea Pineda, Coach Jim Saret, Sheena Halili, Rica Peralejo, Jodilly Pelendre, Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong, Rovinson Fernandez, Miss Universe Maxine Medina, 1st runner-up Ms International Nicole Cordovez, Phil and James Younghusband, Melissa Gohing, Crystal Belo, Maxine Magalona, JC Intal, Elmo Magalona, Patricia Tumulak, Bb Pilipinas Ann Colis, Eric Virata, Toni-Toni, Gerard Pizaras, Jan Marini, Dominique Roque, Diana Zubiri, Bb. Pilipinas Zara Carbonell, Will Devaughn, Eruption and Volcanoes’ Chris Everingham were spotted in their events.

As for the kits, runners can choose from the Deluxe Kit, Rockstar Kit, 21K Kit and the VIP Kit. Deluxe Kit, which is priced at P950, comes with a dri-fit shirt, sunglasses, race bib, color packet and finisher’s medal.

While the Rockstar Kit, priced at P1,500, comes with a dri-fit shirt, sunglasses, race bib, color packet, finisher’s medal, drawstring bag and headwear.

The 21K Kit is priced at P1,900 and comes with a singlet, sunglasses, race bib with timing tag, color packet, finisher’s medal and a finisher’s shirt.

Finally, the VIP Kit, which is priced at P2,500, comes with a dri-fit shirt, VIP sunglasses, race bib, color packet, finisher’s medal, drawstring bag, headwear, and VIP Access.

VIP Access includes the following: Access to the Premium Lounge with a changing tent, portalets, special redemption area for baggage, hydration, color packet, and medals. Also, exclusive 10% discount in all CM Merchandise. It also allows access to designated VIP parking at the SM Mall of Asia grounds.


Registration is still ongoing, for more information, visit at colormanila.com.