Bangui Windmills of Ilocos Norte

Wazzup Pilipinas!

In this era of heightened environmental consciousness and the global drive to develop and use “green” power, windmills are on top of the pile of choices. They do not cause pollution, require no fuel, do not create greenhouse gases, and produce no waste.


The Bangui Windmills of Bangui, Ilocos Norte is the first “Wind Farm” in the Philippines consists of wind turbines on-shore facing the South China Sea and considered to be the biggest in Southeast. Asia. These gargantuan windmills are spread across a 6.5 km stretch or about 236 meters of the grey sand beach.

Standing 70 meters above ground and arranged in an arc spanning a total of nine kilometers straddling nine barangays, the windmills are difficult to miss, even by those who are several kilometers away.

The windmills, officially referred to as the NorthWind Bangui Bay Project, aren’t there as whimsical adornments to the local landscape, because they actually provide forty percent (40%) of Ilocos Norte's 600,000 population's power requirements making Bangui the capital of green energy in the Philippines.

NorthWind Power Development Corporation, the Manila-based company that runs the farm, reported a P70-million annual savings passed on to consumers in the form of cheaper power rates.

There are actually three wind locations in Ilocos Norte, namely, the 33-MW Bangui Windmills, operated by NorthWind Power Development Corp.; and the wind farms in Burgos (150 MW), owned by the Energy Development Corp. (EDC), and Pagudpud (81 MW), of the North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp. (NLREC).

DOH Stresses Cleanliness Against Diarrhea Outbreak in Zamboanga

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Health (DOH) in collaboration with the Local Government of Zamboanga City intensifies its surveillance and health promotion activities on sanitation and water safety after a diarrhea outbreak was reported in the city due to rotavirus, norovirus, and adenovirus.

Last March, 2016, increasing cases of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) were reported from different hospitals in Zamboanga City. As of May 25, 2016 a total of 2,936 cases were admitted in eleven hospitals within Zamboanga City. Cases started to appear on March 28, 2016 and peaked on April 3-5, 2016. There were 22 deaths reported. The said deaths are due to other associated illnesses acquired by the patient like pneumonia, dehydration, malnutrition and myocardial infarction (heart attack)

In addition, cases of AGE were also reported in Isabela City, Basilan and Zamboanga City and Sulu. As of May 20, 2016, a total of 201 cases were seen in four hospitals of Isabela City, Basilan, and Zamboanga City while 1,706 AGE cases were reported in Sulu. Cases in Isabela City, Basilan and Zamboanga City appeared on March 29, 2016 and peaked on April 24, 2016. There were no deaths reported within Isabela City, Basilan, and Zamboanga City while 23 deaths due to other associated illnesses were reported in Sulu. Further verification on barangays with highest attack rates is ongoing.

"Currently, DOH is closely coordinating with the City of Zamboanga to address the diarrhea outbreak. All water sources found positive for fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli were chlorinated and disinfected so it will be safe for human consumption. This also includes distribution of jerry cans to affected areas and information dissemination to the public on the importance of proper hygiene." Health Secretary Janette P. Loreto-Garin explained.

Banaue Miclat-Janssen: Gearing Up for Her Silver Linings in the Arts

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Careers come and go. It is how one makes or breaks it.

As a prelude to the forthcoming silver linings of her career in the arts next year, multi-talented artist Banaue Miclat-Janssen has been connecting her heart, mind and soul into a wholistic process as part of her time capsule in order to become a much more meaningful artist.

Having worked with many co-artists over the past two decades in Manila and New York, Banaue has been praised for her openness to communicate thoughts, views and ideas by explaining the purposes of her goals. With her high level of intelligence, excellent memory, charming mannerisms, sensitivity, innovativeness, imaginativeness and loving temperament, Banaue’s career will surely fall properly into its place spelling more successes in the near future.

But even while others seem to have perceived Banaue for keeping a low profile in her career path, she has actually a very keen interest in its advancement. Quiet competence and consistency, that’s what she adheres to. In fact, Banaue’s closest circle of friends swear by her skills on time management. She combines her duties as a wife, mother, teacher and actor in many thousand ways.

Banaue is a pure Filipino born in Beijing, China. She credits her heritage to make her heir to a unique tradition that provides intensity to her craft as an artist. The high sense of cultural awareness in China, with its constant drilling in the importance of fundamentals, and a history that goes back thousands of years, opened her senses to the ancient world of the arts. Enriching this is her claim to the Filipino culture—molded and shaped by years of colonialism, of cultural diversity, of political ruptures, and a resilience and steadfastness of spirit. It is this Filipino spirit that empowers her with the creativity that compels her to be immediate and unburdened as an artist.