Jose Mari Chan for SM Supermalls Countdown to 100 Magical Days of Christmas

You'll know that it is the start of the Christmas season when you see Jose Mari Chan guesting on shows already.

The man has become one of the iconic representations of Christmas due to his many memorable Christmas songs, aside from his many other memorable and widely used songs outside the season. I'm betting that many generations know the man through his popular songs that have made OPM a lot more interesting.

SM Supermalls knows that fact and thus it was not surprising that he was the surprise guest at the #SMagicalChristmas countdown to 100 Magical Days of Christmas. We were fortunate to have him on our video singing a few lines of one of his popular songs, and finally doing the iconic Wazzup Pilipinas shout-out.

He also promised to give everyone in attendance at the event his latest Christmas album, Now that's a great treat aside from the cute Teddy Bears of Joy that SM gave us that day.

Also present at the event were two children who also sang with him on one of his adorable songs making the performance a lot more sweet and cuddly just like the teddy bears that surrounded the entire venue.

Thank you, SM Supermalls for inviting us to your launch of 100 Magical Days of Christmas. True enough, it seems like Christmas is extra special at all SM Supermalls because aside from the many sales, we get a lot of bonus attractions by way of special events like Meet and Greets, Toy Fairs, Mini-Concerts, and many other activities making every visit truly memorable, especially for the children.

Santa seems to be always around when you visit any SM branch because you'd feel extra special and like a VIP at their malls.

If you want to know more, check out our video coverage at http://www.YouTube.com/user/wazzuppilipinas of the talk of one of SM Supermalls. executive highlighting the many special activities in store for us throughout SM's 100 Magical Days before Christmas.

Also check out more photos at our official Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/wazzuppilipinas

Christian Bautista Kapit Album Launch

Christian Bautista has always been one of my favorite Filipino balladeers ever since he joined a singing competition on television. His voice is uniquely distinctive and he definitely has the good looks to match that would make him a perfect entertainer. Of course, we prefer a charming face to go with that soothing voice.

I'm sure girls are swooning over this guy for both his pleasing personality and voice. It is great news to know that after a few years he has again come out with a new album. We know he has the following to push for more album sales since who would get tired of hearing his songs? May it be a cover or original composition, Christian Bautista's music will always linger longer.

Congratulations to Christian for the Kapit album launch held on September 20 at Universal Records office at Universal Towers located in Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. The event was attended by several members of the media from traditional radio, TV and print to the new media composed of bloggers, vloggers and a lot more.

The album contains 12 songs with Kapit as the highlighted song. He jams with Morisette Amon, Eunice Jorge, Jessica Sanchez, Gabbi Garcia, and Jennylyn Mercado. It would have been fun if one or two of these ladies were there at the album launch too but it was mentioned that he would also have another album launch cum concert happening at the Music Museum on September 29 where fans would get a free album out of the Php500 ticket. That's actually a great deal already since the album already cost Php300 each making the concert a big bonus for only at Php200.

Together We Inform, Educate, and Involve our Listeners, Viewers and Readers

My daughter, being the Editor-in-Chief of their college publication, just came back from several days of Journalism workshop in Baguio and told us that the speakers there are speaking negatively about bloggers. There was a mention that unlike journalists, whose work undergo several revisions (most of the time passing through several people) before their articles gets published. It was also said that most bloggers do not have reliable sources.

Checking the list of speakers, my hunch was right, they all belong to the "senior" members of society.

Until now some couldn't accept the fact that online media is the NOW and the FUTURE....and that anybody can easily share reliable news because developments on the Internet has made communication, access to information and its dissemination conveniently possible even in real time.

But similar to journalists, bloggers now get the same, if not better, access to newsworthy events or features. However, unlike most journalists, bloggers (especially the news and events niches) tend to release the stories as soon as possible thanks to social media.

Being fast is extremely valued as breaking news are highly viewed and of huge interest. Except for columnists, trad media would often disclose their frustrations online rather than allowed to openly share their thoughts on their write-ups.

We only take the time to sit down leisurely and write in-depth stories or editorials when it's a slow day. On most days, we temporarily stick to just retelling the stories. When we get to finally breathe, that's the time we go more aggressive.

However, just like any other job or expertise, we would all have our own way of working on it.

Believe when I say that welcomed breaks from a busy or hectic schedule rarely happens. We have to voluntarily take a break from all the event coverage, press conferences, product launches, media partnerships, etc.

Not that we are complaining, because that is a good problem. We are simply implying that it is still our sincere intention to only come out with informative, well-balanced and accurate stories using the very little info and access privilege we have.

Though there may still be the perception if prestige towards traditional media, they should not deny that they only get the upper hand access to the bigger news because aside from their resources and financial edge, there are still people who discriminate the lesser popular media outfits.

Bloggers in Malacanang? Why not? As for me, everyone of us citizens should be free to drop by whenever we please. Let the security work overtime., and not just during special visits. We should all be able to easily chat with any government official including the president.

The only reason why they fear or see bloggers as a threat is perhaps due to the glaring fact that we areaking their profession almst obsolete.

Why? The people should not really care about grammatically perfect and detailed news. The stories are useless when they are told too late. Honestly, most of the times the stories also become "modified" when it has to be screen by so many people where some would have vested interest. Whether they are taking care of the media outfit's image, or simply want to establish ethics in journalism, most people are still after the layman's version - simple enough to understand stories without the complex vocabulary or technical jargon.

Why are bloggers popular? Most of us won't sugarcoat just to make our stories sweet for all. Trad media should partner with us instead because at the end of the day, all we want is to inform, educate, and involve our listeners, viewers and readers.