Department of Transportation Encourages Commuters to Reload Beep Cards Outside Train Stations

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is encouraging train commuters to reload their BEEP or stored value cards in off-site reloading centers to shorten queues in ticketing stations and to reduce their commute time.

MRT-3 and LRT Lines commuters may reload their “tap-and-go” cards in 76 sites in Metro Manila, 16 of which are within walking distance (200 meters) from stations. Commuters may reload at Bayad Center and its partner outlets, Tambunting, Villarica, and SM Bills Payment centers.

Since its introduction in April 2016, the off-site ticketing system has generated over 50,000 top-up transactions.

By September, commuters will also have the option to reload in over 1,100 Metro Manila branches of 7-Eleven, Mini Stop, and Family Mart. This is on top of over 300 more Bayad Center branches that will allow top-up transactions.

The Department is also encouraging the over one million daily train commuters to shift from single journey tickets to stored value cards. As of June 2016, around 45% of passengers are still using single-journey tickets, falling in line at the ticket stations every time they ride the train.

The Beep card system, a unified ticketing system, was introduced last October 2015, allowing passengers to transfer from one train to another. The MRT-3 and LRT Lines 1 and 2 used to run on two different payment cards.

Exclusive Two-Night Omakase Dinner with Both New York and Manila Chefs of Nobu

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Nobu New York's Filipino Executive Chef, Ricky Estrellado, teams up with Nobu Manila’s Head Chef, Michael De Jesus, for a rare and exclusive two-night Omakase dinner.

The two chefs have collaborated to come up with a gastronomic feast that Nobu-fies timeless Filipino recipes with Japanese-Peruvian influences, for a special engagement on August 18 and 19.

The two-night event highlights the collaboration of two talented Filipino chefs who have both worked with the renowned Chef Nobu Matsuhisa for years. Chef Ricky, who has worked with Nobu for 22 years, is the Executive Chef in New York, overseeing both the Nobu New York in Tribeca and Nobu Next Door along Hudson Street. Chef Michael, a Fil-Am who grew up in the USA, started his nine-year career with Nobu in the Los Angeles restaurant then worked in Nobu Las Vegas, immediately before coming to Nobu Manila early this year.

The dinner’s indulgent eight-course menu highlights Nobu-style interpretation of Filipino classic cuisine starting with Sisig Foie Gras on a Gyoza Cone followed by Seared Tuna Kinilaw with Ceviche Gelee and Green Papaya Salad in Shiso Crepe and Lapu-Lapu with a choice of Jalapeno or Matsuhisa dressing. One of Nobu’s signature dishes, Yellowtail New Style, is reintroduced with a green mango salsa while the Spiny Lobster Tempura is served in Miso Sinigang Consomme. The evening’s entrees, Sous Vide Crispy Pata with Amazu Ponzu and Rencon Laing and Beef Short Ribs Kare-Kare Anticucho, proffer a refreshing perspective to the traditional Filipino pork and beef dishes. Before dessert, an array of sushi likewise incorporates local cooking methods and ingredients, such as Saba Tinapa Style, Local Tuna Toyomansi, Whitefish Sharsado Style, Salay Salay Paksew, and Mixed Seafood Kilawin Taco. The Nobu-Style Water Halo-Halo offers a delightfully sweet ending to the dinner’s full-on experience.

Akbayan Youth to Palace: Remember Mark Chua, Don't Revive ROTC!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Akbayan Youth today appealed to palace officials not to push through with their plans to revive the compulsory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) for college students in memory of Mark Chua, the student from University of Santo Tomas who exposed corruption in the ROTC program and whose murder led to the passage of the "National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001" which rescinded ROTC as a pre-requisite to graduation.

"We hope Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo remembers how many young people fought for the abolition of mandatory ROTC in college, including Mark Chua who bravely exposed the corruption within their ROTC program and ended up giving his life for speaking truth against power," said Rafaela "Paeng" David, Chairperson of Akbayan Youth.

The youth group emphasized that instead of instilling discipline and patriotism, ROTC instead promoted bullying and violence in campuses. "At such a young age, ROTC exposes the youth to grueling and violent hazing practices, from physical to psychological abuse, to instill in them fear and blind obedience. Worse, it is their fellow youth who becomes perpetrators of this cyclical system of abuse. It is not love of country nor discipline that ROTC instills in the youth, but the greed for power and bullying." added David.

David also said that the program will only promote sexism and discrimination among the youth.

"If you are physically weak, feminine or gay, ROTC will force you to 'man up'! With premium on being 'macho', the ROTC openly discriminates against those who are weak or those who stand out of the mold of a standard cadet," David said.

The youth groups lastly urged government to instead bolster democratization within the school, not militarization.

"The colleges and universities must be safe spaces for the youth, where they can learn how to responsibly use their freedoms and learn how to be active citizens. Government thus must promote other citizenship-based education courses and community service programs that instead empowers the youth to act and creatively express their solidarity with their fellow Filipinos, not programs such as the ROTC that seek to silence, disempower and force the youth to conformity." concluded David.

Akbayan Youth has actively pushed for the abolition of the ROTC and has vowed to fight against efforts that seek to backtrack the reforms already achieved in making ROTC non-compulsory for college students.