Renaissance Art Gallery Celebrates “XIV” Years With Group Show on June 8 - 20

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Renaissance Art Gallery, a leading purveyor of non-representational art in the country, celebrates its fourteenth anniversary with a show titled “XIV.” Founded in 2003 by Noli and Agnes Romero, the gallery has spearheaded the discovery and support of young abstractionists, giving them the opportunity of being launched in their own first solo exhibition. On occasion, however, Renaissance Art Gallery has also exhibited classic and conservative contemporary masterworks.

Curated by noted art critic, writer and visual artist Cid Reyes, the participating artists in “XIV” are: Allain Hablo, Sio Montera, Josef Laureano, Pao de Guzaman, Arley Carig, Jay Ragma, Art Bermido, Aner Sebastian, Resty Tica, Rick Hernandez, and Sam Penaso.

A man of many talents, Allain Hablo is, first and foremost, a thinking artist. Sio Montera’s works are distinguished by an ambitiousness of scale and a mania for surprising materials. In a transitional stage, Josef Laureano’s works are more audacious in the gestural character of Abstract Expressionism. Emerging abstractionist Pao de Guzman comes from a studied representational idiom. Arley Carig advances into the evanescent depths of space. Jay Ragma generates visual excitement with throbbing retinal sensations. Art Bermido manipulates space with neither beginning nor end. Aner Sebastian transports the viewer into a once remembered, favorite spot of nature. Resty Tica pursues an abstraction of subtlety and tranquility. Rick Hernandez is an acolyte of geometry, unbuirdened by objects and ornaments. Award-winner Sam Penaso explores the three-dimensional field with his so-called “scraptures.”

The show runs from June 8-20, 2017. Reception cocktails will be held on June 14.

Renaissance Art Gallery is at the 4/L, The Artwalk, Bldg. A, SM Megamall, EDSA corner Julia Vargas Avenue, Mandaluyong City. For inquiries, call mobile: 0917-7625692. Email: renaissanceart.ph@gmail.com.

DOTr and LRTA Breaks Ground for LRT2 East Extension Project- Package 2

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Travel time from Recto to Masinag will soon be reduced to 40 minutes compared to the usual travel of up to 3 hours in the same route by bus or jeepneys.

On May 30, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) headed by Secretary Arthur P. Tugade and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) Administrator Gen. Reynaldo I. Berroya led the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Masinag and Emerald stations of the LRT-2 East Extension Project. The ceremony was held at the center island of the proposed Masinag station at Brgy. Mayamot, Antipolo City, infront of SM Masinag.

“It will be a timely addition to have both new stations in the LRT Line 2 as we acknowledge the need for greater accessibility of passengers coming from the eastern side of Metro Manila, extending to key areas of Antipolo and its nearby cities,” DOTr Secretary Arthur P. Tugade stressed.

“This increased capacity of 80,000 daily ridership of the rail line will not only provide a means to decongest our roads, but more importantly offer better riding options to our daily commuters. As we improve the public’s general mobility, we also unburden them from traffic worries,” Sec. Tugade added.

The additional two stations are designed to accommodate an additional 80,000 passengers daily during its first 5 years of operation, which will add to the current LRT 2 average daily ridership of 240,000.

Representatives from the provincial government of Rizal and cities of Antipolo, Pasig and Marikina also attended the event.

According to LRTA Administrator Berroya, the LRT2 East Extension Project is a proof that the government takes solving traffic woes seriously.

“The completion of the LRT Line 2 East Extension Project is part of the fulfillment of the government’s promise to ease traffic congestion by extending the service of the LRT Line 2 System to the eastern part of Metro Manila,” he said.

The LRT-2 East Extension Project involves the construction of a 4.0 kilometer extension of the existing LRT-2 System from Santolan, Pasig City to Masinag in Antipolo. Rizal. Two (2) additional stations will be built namely the Emerald station which will be located infront of Robinsons Metro East and Sta. Lucia in Cainta, Rizal and Masinag station which will be located before the Masinag Junction in Antipolo City.

The D.M Consunji Inc (DMCI) bagged the contract for the 2 stations which is set to start construction works on 6 June 2017 and targets completion in August 2018.

Secretary Tugade also asked for the public’s understanding as the construction phase of the project would affect the traffic flow in the area. A Traffic Management Plan (TMP) was released by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) detailing the list of alternative routes motorists may use to avoid the construction site. This can be found on the official social media accounts of DOTr, LRTA and its other partner agencies.

The LRT- 2 East Extension Project is set to be operational in the first quarter of 2019.

Oceana Partners with Stakeholders to Champion Benham Rise

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Together with its allies in the government and private sector, Oceana Philippines is urgently pushing for the legal protection of Benham Rise (renamed recently as Philippine Rise) as a marine protected area including the declaration of Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of Benham Rise, as a no-take zone, where human activity is not allowed.

In a policy dialogue called “Bayanihan Para sa Benham” hosted by Oceana and graced by representatives from various government agencies and other stakeholders, Director Mundita Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shared that Benham Rise was designated as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA) by 196 countries during the 13th Meeting of the Convention of Parties (COP) to the Convention of Biological Diversity in Mexico in December 2016.

EBSAs are said to be “geographically or oceanographically discrete areas that provide important services to one or more species or populations of an ecosystem or to the ecosystem as a whole, compared to other surrounding areas or areas of similar ecological characteristics, or otherwise meet the following scientific criteria: Uniqueness or rarity, Special importance for life history stages of species, Importance for threatened, endangered or declining species and / or habitats, Vulnerability, fragility, sensitivity or slow recovery, Biological productivity, Biological diversity and Naturalness.” Benham Rise scored high in four of the seven criteria, a global recognition of its importance, and of being pristine and unique.

The COP Decision described Benham Rise as “relatively pristine … of critical ecological importance, including for offshore mesophotic coral reef biodiversity and for the sustainability of fisheries.” It added that “aside from being an important source of biodiversity and contributing to the resiliency of threatened ecosystems,” Benham Rise was also cited as “forming part of the only known spawning area of the Pacific blue fin tuna, Thunnus orientalis.” Other world famous EBSAs include the famed Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and the Rajah Ampat Park in Indonesia.

“We need to conduct more research on Benham Rise to know exactly what there is to protect,” explained BMB Director Mundita Lim.