Asian Hospital and Medical Center Launches the Asian Cancer Institute

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Nobody likes to hear that they are infected with cancer. For many people, it means an eventual death. Not too many survive especially when the discovery was too late. Even if there was early diagnosis, no one can hide the suffering it brings to everyone including their family and loved ones for the possibility of dying from the disease is imminent. The depression brought about by financial difficulties and other sensitivities also further adds burden and pain to everyone aside from the victim.

It is thus best appreciated to step into a hospital that can offer its patients and families all the help they need to deal with the difficulties of the big C.

We are very fortunate that the Asian Hospital and Medical Center (AHMC) has finally opened a facility that will focus on cancer diagnosis and treatment. At a launch held last July 23, members of the media and other special guests witnessed the formal opening of the Asian Cancer Institute (ACI). The morning was dedicated to press conference where we got to meet and listen to the lead doctors that are part of the ACI team. Andres Licaros Jr,, President and CEO of AHMC, gave the welcome remarks while Dr. Corazon Ngelangel gave the keynote address. A question and answer took place immediately afterwards.

The afternoon was when the ribbon cutting ceremonies plus the unveiling of the ACI logo of which they explained the meaning. Department of Health (DOH) Usec. Vicente Belizario was the guest of honor who gave the keynote address. The facility was then blessed by a priests and cocktails was served after.

33 Variations by Red Turnip Theater

Wazzup Pilipinas!

33 Variations by Red Turnip Theater opened on July 24 and will run on weekends until August 23 at Whitespace, Makati. But as member of the media, we got the special privilege of watching it ahead of everyone else.

As always, I arrived ahead of everyone else too on the press preview night. I'm always the punctual blogger who would normally arrive an hour or more before the call time. Why? Because I hate coming in late and missing what happened at the start of every event. It's better to be early to avoid sudden traffic congestion or whatever unavoidable circumstances. There's also always something to look forward to when you come on time or earlier. Just as there are other rare opportunities when you leave last. May it be an opportunity to get an exclusive interview or to see how the stage is set before the start of the show.

I felt it was highly essential for me to watch this press preview because this will be the first time I will be watching a play from Red Turnip Theater. I always miss out on the opportunity due to so many obligations that I would just often assign correspondents to take my place. I would patronize theater shows more than mainstream movies because I believe it is at the theater where you would meet the real actors. The discipline involved in theater is so very different from the other. This makes it really a privilege to be invited to witness the performers as they do their thing live on stage. No take twos, ad-lib to keep the flow, work on each others' strengths, impress the audience with the passionate words and expressions, and the only special effects you'll get are from the lights and sounds, everything else is pure power of emotions from the theater actors and how they use the set to their advantage.

Filipino-Americans Prefer PH Houses Over Condos

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Despite the condo boom happening in Metro Manila and other major cities across the Philippines, it seems that many Filipinos based in the United States still prefer to purchase houses.

This is according to latest data from global property portal Lamudi Philippines, which looked into the search behavior of online house-hunters from January to June 2015. According to the company, almost 8 million searches were conducted in the website during the time period, and 5.28 percent of that traffic comes from USA, a country with a significant Filipino population.

More than half (57.83 percent) of all these searches from U.S.-based property-hunters in Lamudi.com.ph were for houses, according to the company’s data. Condos are the second most searched property type, comprising 16.58 percent of all searches, followed by land/residential lots (13.64 percent), apartments (8.54 percent), and foreclosures (2.35 percent).

The city most Filipino-Americans are searching for is Quezon City, at 20.35 percent of all searches for the first half of 2015. Makati comes in second at 8.49 percent, then Manila at 5.33 percent. Interestingly, Tagaytay and Baguio are the fourth and fifth most searched cities by U.S.-based online property-hunters (5.10 and 4.91 percent, respectively), outranking other popular Metro Manila LGUs like Taguig, Pasig, and Mandaluyong.