Hontiveros, Community Leaders File Alternative Mining Bill

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday filed a bill to limit mining operations and ensure the protection of communities and the environment through taxes and heavy fines.

Together with community leaders and advocates from Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), the neophyte Senator filed the Alternative Minerals Management Bill or Senate Bill #1069 to "rectify the failure of Republic Act 7942 or the Mining Law of 1995", the country's current law governing mining.

"There is a need to overhaul our current mining policy to ensure the proper management and utilization of our mineral resources", Hontiveros said.

The Senator also lamented the "low return and high costs of mining", citing that the industry only contributes 0.7% to the country's gross domestic product" while incurring high costs in terms of environmental degradation, loss of livelihood and human rights violations.

Hontiveros, also an environmental advocate, seeks to factor climate change in the government's mining policy framework by inculcating environmental tax and the establishment of a Calamity and Human Rights Protection Fund.

"It's time for mining companies to ensure that their operations do not harm the environment and are a source of contribution to the community", she added. "Super-heavy fines and revocation of licenses to operate await mining companies that violate the law", warned Hontiveros.

"The bill also limits the areas of operations of mining companies", she further explained. The bill protects watershed, key biodiversity areas, critical habitats and geo-hazard areas are no-go zones for mining companies.

Aside from the bill, Hontiveros supports a comprehensive review of all existing mining applications and licenses of all mining countries to determine what companies and mining areas, including places near settlements and biodiversity areas, are compliant with their respective environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) and those that have repeated records of abuse and exploitation. The Senator is also supporting the call of environmental advocates for a thorough investigation on the real economic benefits of mining.

Fast, Reliable Internet for Philippine Homes

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Converge ICT, a world-class provider of ICT products and personalized services, now offers a more reliable and high-speed internet solutions for homes with its FiberX plans.

Despite the presence of several internet service providers (ISPs), the struggle to access information needed for daily living still remains challenging.

The Philippines is one of the countries in the world that is notorious for its slow and unreliable internet connection. In the recent ranking among Asia Pacific countries, it emerged as second slowest with an average speed of 3.64 megabits per second (Mbps), a disturbing mile behind more than 100 Mbps of Hong Kong and Singapore which are on top of the list.

According to Dennis Anthony Uy, Converge ICT president and CEO, FiberX uses pure fiber optics that allows symmetric connectivity. It enables the users to experience superior internet connection and reliability since it neither congests nor degrades data as it passes through, allowing for a speedy downloading and uploading process.

“Fiber technology offers many benefits to both households and businesses because it provides higher bandwidth. What this means is that, people can now enjoy faster internet and that translates to better productivity,” Uy said.

Converge ICT’s FiberX technology provides 100 percent end-to-end fiber technology from its node to the subscriber. This makes for fast browsing, video-streaming, and seamless gaming, among others.

Furthermore, Converge ICT’s pure fiber technology offers better security because unlike copper wire, which is the conventional material used by other providers, fiber is dielectric. This means that it does not transmit energy so conversations on LAN are fully secured.

FiberX comes in different packages that are tailor-made depending on the needs of the consumers. They may avail of Converge ICT’s FiberX with a 20 Mbps, 50 Mbps or 100 Mbps bandwidth, respectively.

Converge ICT has already connected its fiber-powered capabilities to cities like San Juan, Las Pinas, Manila, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Makati, Pasig, Taguig, CAMANAVA Area, Pasay, and Muntinlupa , Angeles in Pampanga and Tarlac City and Subic.

Converge ICT is licensed to operate nationwide. More than 6,700 km. of fiber optics cables (FOC) were rolled out nationwide with the use of the latest micro- trenching technology.

For more details, please visit the website at http://www.convergeict.com/about.php.

Selfie-Optimized Mirrorless Camera Fujifilm X-A3 Hits the Global Market

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Millennials will have a field day with the global announcement of Fujifilm’s newest innovation, the selfie-optimized mirrorless digital camera X-A3.

Designed with the younger, selfie-loving generation in mind, the X-A3 offers outstanding image quality with the company’s proprietary color reproduction technology. For easy self-portraits, the X-A3 has an LCD screen that is not blocked by the camera when tilted by 180 degrees, thus maintaining 100% visibility. Other features such as Eye Detection AF are designed to improve self-portrait shooting even more, and the new Portrait Enhancer mode includes the option to brighten the skin-tone. The X-A3 can shoot approximately 410 frames per charge, and, when fitted with the supplied lens “XC16-50mmF3.5-5.6 OIS II,” it can focus on a subject at a distance of approx. 7cm from the front edge of the lens for macro photography.

Furthermore, the X-A3 is a mirrorless camera that combines a newly developed sensor and color-reproduction technology that has been refined over 80 years to deliver premium-quality portraiture. It enables users to record the subject’s texture, form, and even the atmosphere of the scene. In a few words, the shots look palpably alive.

Further enhancing the X-A3’s appeal is its retro design that no doubt is coveted by younger users. The top cover, front plate and top dials are made of aluminum. The newly developed faux leather has significantly enhanced the overall texture.

The use of two Command Dials means you only need a thumb to quickly adjust aperture, shutter speed and exposure settings. Frequently used functions such as white balance, continuous shooting and the self-timer can be assigned to standalone function buttons, eliminating the need to go through the Menu screen each time you need to change settings.

And since the younger generation tends to be impatient and always on the go, they will love the X-A3’s extended battery life of approximately 410 frames per charge. The energy-efficient design has extended the battery life to a class-leading level, allowing you to concentrate on shooting pictures without having to worry about remaining battery power.

The X-A3’s class-leading minimum working distance allows users to approach a subject up to the class-leading distance of approximately 7cm from the front edge of the lens to enable macro photography while the built-in pop-up flash supports the Super Intelligent Flash that accurately controls light output according to individual scenes.

What’s more is that the X-A3 can also be used for full HD video recording. The Film Simulation function can be applied to video recording for a diverse range of creative effects. You can shoot beautiful video blogs and do cool selfie using a camera with a flip screen, which will undoubtedly be very useful.

Turning on the electronic image stabilization function delivers the five-axis image stabilization that combines optical and electronic stabilization, significantly reducing a variety of camera shakes that could occur during video recording. This function allows you to record high quality video with reduced camera shake while walking around with the camera in your hand.

The X-A3 also comes equipped with enhanced autofocus settings and versatile shooting functions including the electronic shutter with the maximum speed of 1/32000 sec.

Not the least of the X-A3’s outstanding features is its wireless communications functionality, which enables remote shooting from smartphones and tablets. One can transfer photos immediately from their camera to their favorite social media platform.

Versatile, multifunctional and innovative, the new FUJIFILM X-A3 is a product of FUJIIFLM’s 80-year history and expertise in photographic film manufacturing.