Hontiveros to LGUs: Respect and Fully Implement RH Law

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Senator Risa Hontiveros and Rep. Emmeline Aglipay-Villar vows to defend the RH law budget in a press conference last September.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros called on the local government of Sorsogon City to respect the full implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (Republic Act 10354), also known as the RH Law, after a Commission on Human Rights (CHR) report indicated that it withheld artificial contraceptives from women residents in the last four years.

“Sorsogon City Mayor Sally Lee, who is otherwise known as an advocate of women's participation in societal affairs, should immediately answer the serious allegations made by the CHR. Withholding artificial contraceptives from women is an insult to the hard work of Filipino women’s movement who waited 13 long years for the passage of the RH Law," Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros, who is the Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said that the RH Law is a landmark piece of legislation that solidified reproductive health rights and choices.

"The government must provide free access to family planning commodities to poor women nationwide to help address the country’s high maternal mortality rate. Our women should be given the widest array of options on how to plan and manage their families. Withholding access to contraceptives is a clear violation of the law,” Sen. Hontiveros said.

It was reported that the CHR has documented reports that women in far-flung barangays in Sorsogon City were denied reproductive health products and services. The documentation likewise reported of unwanted pregnancies and instances that women gave up their babies for adoption as a result of the denial of RH services.

“We want the Sorsogon City government to explain and be accountable to these alleged violations. It is our moral and civil obligation to ensure that we continue to respect, protect and uphold women’s rights. The refusal to implement the RH Law is an utmost disrespect to the choices of women regarding family planning methods in accordance with the law. Kailangan may sumagot at may managot sa mga paglabag na ito,” she added.

Hontiveros vowed to ensure the full funding of the RH Law in the proposed 2017 National Budget

Lazada Philippines Sweeps the Christmas Season with More Than 400,000 Items in 24 Hours

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Lazada Philippines has set a new record on the first day of its highly-anticipated shopping event. On November 11, Filipino shoppers checked out more than 400,000 items on the website and mobile app.

“Online Revolution is the biggest online shopping event in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.” said Inanc Balci, CEO of Lazada Philippines. “We created Online Revolution in 2012 to encourage more consumers to experience the benefits of shopping online. Every year we see a larger pool of online shoppers, with growing diversity across generations and geographical locations. This was once again confirmed this year, as we saw consumers ordering from places as far as Bongao, Tawi-Tawi to purchase international and local brands not previously available to them. This makes us very excited about the future”

The operations team was in full swing as items shipped from the warehouse were 22x more than an average day. The shortest lead time from checkout to delivery was a record-breaking 8 hours, a feat worth celebrating at the Lazada warehouse. The first 11.11 delivery was received by a customer at 10:29am.

Filipinos were truly in a Christmas shopping frenzy. With deals starting from midnight, shoppers spent about seven minutes on the Lazada’s website and fourteen minutes on the Lazada mobile app. In the first minute of the sale alone, a total of 241 items were checked out, ending the day with more than 400,000 items.

11.11 is only the beginning of a month long sales event. During the next 4 weeks, Lazada will tailor its offering to all its customers’ interests with a weekly curated selection of items for beauty fans, supermoms and families, techies and fashionistas. The deals extend over 17 product categories including Fashion, Health & Beauty, Home & Living, and Electronics.

Customers also get a chance to win an Isuzu D-Max and Turkish Airlines international roundtrip tickets with a minimum purchase. Join the Christmas shopping craze by visiting www.lazada.com.ph or downloading the Lazada Mobile App for free.

The Power of Pen Food Writing Forum Visayas Tour Speakers

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Food has gone out of the confines of the kitchen. For many years now, its emergence in art has influenced our experience with cookery. Aside from the act of preparing a dish; our contemporary culture has opened to many other subjects of interest such as food blogging, food styling, and food writing in general.

In fact, the vast surfacing of blogs and social media platforms have instituted food blogging as a career path for those who would like to establish themselves in the culinary world.

Food writing and critiquing however are not merely made of personal commentaries of one’s experience of a specific dish or restaurant. Its arising demand for discourse and discussion have initiated The Power of Pen, a food writing forum workshop that aims to instruct both amateur and professional writers and culinary practitioners as to how they should utilize writing in their chosen fields of either exploration or expertise.

 On its 5th year, The Power of Pen is touring Visayas with the University of Cebu as its co-­‐presentor and official venue. The forum will be studded by highly commendable personalities from our culinary and cultural threshold from chefs and restaurateurs to authors and publishers.