Millennials ‘Make A Difference’ While Exploring Romblon Through Volunteerism

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Driven by their passion and desire to make their time worthwhile this summer, twenty volunteers  from across the country who were mostly millennials recently gathered for a three-day outreach program called I am M.A.D. (Making A Difference) Camp  in the municipality of Magdiwang,  Sibuyan Island, Romblon.

The millennial volunteers consist of old and new ones united to help 50 students of Tomas and Maria Maglaya Memorial School in Magdiwang to develop their innermost potentials and to make a difference in many simple ways starting from themselves to their families, schoolmates, and their community.

“I am a millennial myself and for me, having a purpose is empowering. Just as we millennials are seeking to find purpose in our career, we also seek purpose in almost everything we do which includes travelling. But regardless of generation, we are all human beings. Each of us is looking for a place to belong, feel loved, and know that we are truly making an impact. This is what I am MAD, Inc. is doing, making meaningful difference not only to our beneficiaries but also to our volunteers who are committed to discover and share their passions through volunteering,” Mark Conrad ‘Maco’ Ravanzo, co-founder and CEO of I am Making A Difference, Inc. said.

During the first part of the camp, students were engaged to various sets of fun and educational activities including storytelling, team-building, games, and obstacle courses—all advocating the four core values of  I am MAD of being Maka-diyos, Maka-tao, Makabayan and Makakalikasan.

Pinoy Otaku Festival Danketsu: Uniting the Otaku Culture in the Philippines

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"I was crying in the bus reading all the feedbacks about #POF2017#POFDanketsu. Salamat po. Kayo po ang tunay na star ng event." - David D'Angelo

David has a lot of reasons why he was crying. It was a cry for joy because of the highly successful turn-out of their event.

Many had lots of fun at the Pinoy Otakufest (Festival for Pinoy Pop Culture)! It is now considered, as one of the best cosplay / otaku conventions in history with thousands of attendees flocking the Fairview Terraces venue on both event days, May 20 and 21, 2017.

This is the fourth run of the festival with the theme of “DANKETSU” - Japanese term for “unity.” The organizers wish to bring together and unite the Otaku culture in the Philippines which includes cosplay, manga, music, games and more. They invited various organizations to collaborate with them and show a message of unity towards achieving positive endeavors in the culture.

The event is free admission, but many would still not hesitate to pay to attend this amazing event.

With so many activities, panel discussions, booths and performances from the Otaku community, supporters, sponsors and media partners like Wazzup Pilipinas, the event was undoubtedly more than awesome as expected.

Congratulations to David D'Angelo and Ranne Tubig, as well as the other organizers and participants of POF for an amazing event. You guys deserve all the praises!!

Wazzup Pilipinas Radio 2nd Episode: Dissecting Anime and Cosplay in the Philippines

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We've just completed another episode of Wazzup Pilipinas Radio over 8Trimedia Network and broadcasted live on DZRJ 810 AM, plus livestreaming on Facebook Live and YouTube Live. The best about our show is that you can easily go back and watch the episode just in case you missed it, or is not an early riser as the 6 to 7 am time slot is indeed too early for a Sunday.

Wazzup Pilipinas Radio guests were Emerson Anthony Lacson, Ferrari Lacson and Ronald Guanzon from the Anime and Cosplay community. Thank you to my co-host, David D'Angelo (aka Master Pogi) for reaching out to these guys and inviting them to our show.

We've learned that the twins (Emerson and Ferrari) are very active in the cosplay community and had a very interesting past engagement with Ronald whom they consider as a major influence and mentor.

We heard Emerson talked about his cosplay of John Wick (Keanu Reeves) while his twin brother cosplays Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and a surprise re-launch of We Are Anime (WAA) from Ronald Guanzon, who is the man behind its popularity way back when anime was just starting in the country. You could consider him as a pioneer of the anime community in the Philippines. He even showed us an image of an anime character he named as "Waa" of which I jokingly said it could also be called as Waa-zzup Pilipinas!

Wow is just not enough to express our appreciation of the discussion of many topics as they express their thoughts and opinions about the community. They should return for a part two of our discussion as the topics are almost endless. I'm sure many are interested in finding out more about anime and cosplay.