Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Netflix: Not All Regions Are Created Equal

Wazzup Pilipinas!

On January 6, 2016, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that Netflix was going live globally. That is great news, but did you know the new netflix regions have a maximum number of 600 TV and movie titles available compared to 14,156 TV and movie titles available right now across 24 Netflix regions.

The service became available in 130 new countries. See the full list of countries Netflix supports on their website: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/14164

You can also see the full list of titles available on the new Netflix regions at https://www.filmefy.com/stats by selecting the Netflix region you want to see.

The expansion is a great initiative to improve access to content in countries where Netflix wasn’t available, but not all Netflix regions are created equally. For example, Netflix South Africa has 678 TV and movie titles available. Netflix India has 739 titles available. Compare that with the 5,659 titles available on Netflix United States.

You might be interested to know about how you can get more from your Netflix account.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We at the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) always strive to promote the ideals of good governance with our policy of open and transparent bidding. We have nothing to fear because we maintain that the procurement process of the three-year Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) maintenance service provider was completely aboveboard.

According to news reports, the complaint was filed by Vito Gaspar Silo, the Secretary General of the Alliance for Consumerism and Transparency or ACTION.

We will review the complaint once we receive an official copy, but rest assured that we will fully cooperate with the investigation, just as we always have with institutions established to fight corruption in the government. We have faith that the impartiality and courage of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales will lead to fair proceedings that will shed light on this matter.

Due to the urgency of the system’s need for a maintenance provider and in order to restore vital public services, as many passengers rely on the service every day, the DOTC resorted to an alternative mode of procurement under the Government Procurement Reform Act, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) opined to be justified and was unanimously approved by the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB).

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Indigo was once widely favored by the local weaving industry as a traditional way of adding color to fabrics due to its excellent resistance from fading or running. Yet, over the years, this natural dye was pushed to the sidelines by the emergence of cheaper and easier to obtain synthetic dyes which were quick to be embraced by textile manufacturers.

But not all is lost. A collaborative network of non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations in South and Southeast Asia called Non-Timber Forest Products – Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP) has started working on The Indigo Project which reaches out to indigenous populations in upland and rural communities in the Philippines and Indonesia. These artisans include members of Mangyan Alangan, Mangyan Hanunoo and Mangyan Iraya of the island of Mindoro; Higaonon of Bukidnon, Palaw'anon and Tagbanua of Palawan, T'boli of South Cotabato, Maguindanao weavers and those of Negros.

The Indigo Project promotes the development and implementation of environmental and social standards in hand-woven textiles production. It supports production and sourcing of environmentally friendly natural dyes and fibers, establishes eco-friendly product standards, and scales production of eco-textiles.