Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Ballet Philippines’ Dance Spring Begins With Body Positive + & Hugot Sa Rosas This September 12 - 20

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Two fresh productions are set to bring Ballet Philippines (BP)’s 46th Season off to a good start. On September 12, 13, and 19, the company will perform Body Positive +, A Dance Gala for HIV Awareness. September 20 brings the comeback of Hugot Sa Rosas, featuring Ballet Philippines 2, BP’s junior performing arm. The performances will be held at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater).

Swans, Queers, and the rise of AIDS take the spotlight in Body Positive +. Featuring excerpts from Swan Lake, Mark Bogaerts’ Bolero, Enrico Labayen’s Cloth, and other landmark pieces, the show celebrates the dancers’ innate athleticism in the context of the alarming rise of HIV in the Philippines.

Enrico Labayen’s works add a deeper dimension into the show’s HIV awareness advocacy. A Ballet Philippines alumnus and staunch AIDS activist, Labayen lends his voice to raise up the advocacy in the Be Positive forums at the start of the Body Positive + shows.

For one night only, Ballet Philippines 2’s acclaimed concert, Hugot Sa Rosas, returns for a performance at the CCP Little Theater. Set to music from Vincent de Jesus’ Songs to Slash Your Wrist By, the show highlights the talents of BP’s junior company and its new breed of dancers and choreographers. The show premiered at Ballet Philippines Studio One in February 2015, as part of Fringe MNL.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

MiCab, the Cebu-based tech startup celebrated for its locally-developed and low cost taxi-hailing app for the riding public, welcomes the new guidelines on ride-sharing apps crafted by the Land Transport and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

“As more and more Filipinos use app-based services for commuting, the new LTFRB rules can help level the playing field in the industry and ultimately benefit commuters with better and safer app-based car hire services,” said miCab founder Eddie Ybañez.

For Ybañez, LTFRB’s setting of new regulations for online and mobile-based transport services goes a long way in providing more convenience and safety to public commuters.

“The LTFRB’s new rules make the Philippines the first country to establish guidelines in this brave new world of internet and mobile app-based solutions to public transportation. This is indeed a landmark ruling,” he said.

The LTFRB defines private vehicles for hire that use net or mobile apps for booking and dispatching as a “Premium Taxi.”

Under its new rules, premium taxi operators must have at least 20 units in his or her fleet. These vehicles must be brand-new at the time of franchise application, follow the color set by the agency, and have a maximum age of only 7 years.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Twitter today expanded its self-service ads platform from 33 countries to over 200 countries and territories. Now, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from Honduras to Hong Kong can more effectively reach target audiences on Twitter in 15 languages. In addition, Twitter announced that there are now approximately 100,000 active advertisers on Twitter, including SMBs.

Asia Pacific is Twitter’s fastest growing region worldwide and the platform expansion provides additional support for SMBs in Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Philippines. According to recent research from the Asian Development Bank, SMBs account for 98% of all enterprises in Asia.

"Small and medium-sized businesses face the most challenges and are least resourced to promote the good work they do," says Emily Huo, SMB lead for Asia Pacific at Twitter. "With the expansion of the Twitter self-service ads platform, we are excited to help SMBs level the playing field with digital advertising."

Since Twitter launched Twitter Ads for SMBs over two years ago, Twitter’s clients have talked about how they’ve used Twitter’s creative, measurement, and targeting tools to drive website clicks or conversions, leads, and app installs or re-engagements. And, with objective-based campaigns, reports, and pricing and other tools available on Twitter’s global marketplace, it’s easier than ever for SMBs to drive results on Twitter while only paying for the actions that align with marketing objectives.