Yellow Taxi Driver Returns $3000 to OFW

Wazzup Pilipinas!
Ninoy Aquino International Airport - A newly arrived OFW experienced service at its best after he recovered his hard earned savings in the amount of $3,000.00.

Virgilio Legaspi, who arrived today on board a PAL flight from the Dammam, Saudi Arabia, took a yellow taxi from NAIA 1 and asked to be brought to a bus station in Sampaloc. However, upon checking his belongings, he was shocked to discover that his money was missing. He immediately took a cab back to NAIA 1 with the hope to get his money back.

The driver, Gilbert Punzalan of Golden Star Transport, an accredited transport company in NAIA, said that he noticed a white envelope beside the hand break of his vehicle. Thinking it was trash, he took the envelope and was about to throw it when he felt something was inside it.

He was surprised to see 30 pieces of $100 bills inside and immediately looked for any identification of the owner that he can find. He discovered that the name of the owner matched the name of the passenger in his the dispatch slip. He immediately notified his superiors and rushed back to NAIA Terminal 1 with the hope that the owner would come back for his money.

Legaspi and Punzalan finally met and the former was so happy to get his money back.

“Ako po ay nagpapasalamat kay Bro. Honest siya talaga kaya bilib po ako talaga sa kanya. Talagang improved na.”

When asked further about what advice he can give to other taxi drivers, Punzalan has this to say; “ Pera lang yan madaling kitain. Ang tiwala mawawala sa inyo kung sakaling pag interesan ninyo ang mga bagay na hindi sa inyo. Sana tularan nyo si Bro sa ginawa nya.”

For his part, driver Punzalan said “alam ko pong pinaghirapan ni Sir yan perang yan. Mahirap pong gastusin ang perang hindi mo pinaghirapan. Mas importante po ang trabaho namin.” Punzalan has been an accredited transport driver in NAIA for 6 years.

MIAA GM Ed Monreal said that he is proud to have the likes of Mr. Gilbert Punzalan among the ranks of NAIA accredited taxi drivers.

“Ako ay nagagalak sa katapatan ni Mr. Gilbert Punzalan. Sana manatili siyang tapat sa kanyang trabaho at maging tunay na ehemplo ng kabutihan sa mga kapwa niya transport drivers.

Ang mga maliliit na kabayanihang tulad ng kanyang ginawa ay malaking tulong sa ating efforts na mapaganda ang imahe ng NAIA sa mundo.”

Anggun Named Global Judge for Picture This Festival for the Planet

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Sony Pictures Television Networks (SPTN), in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, today announced that internationally renowned musical artist Anggun has been named global judge for the Picture This Festival for the Planet (www.sonypicturethis.com), a short-film competition for emerging filmmakers, everyday storytellers and changemakers worldwide to showcase the positive future they see for our planet. Also joining an esteemed list of judges announced in the past several weeks are YouTube vloggers Damon and Jo, who will serve as the first and only digital-native judges for the festival.

Anggun, a World Music Award winning artist whose single What We Remember is currently on the Billboard Dance Charts in the US, is a judge on the hit-rated series, “Asia’s Got Talent,” and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador (2009-2017).

Anggun said: “I am very proud to be a global judge for the Picture This Festival. As an environmentally-conscious individual and artist, I believe delivering optimistic messages is the best path to creating public awareness. This festival emphasizes that creativity, imagination and visual talent can make an impact on how we can create a better and more sustainable future.”

Damon and Jo, otherwise known as Damon Dominique and Jo Franco, are digital content creators, entrepreneurs, travel experts and authors who have over 1 million followers across YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. The duo are currently in production on their Facebook Watch series Damn Millennials and recently released their first e-book Woke all while running their YouTube channel and travel site, Shut Up and Go.

Damon and Jo said: “In any given month, we may find ourselves in several different continents. Our passion for traveling, learning languages, documenting, and encouraging others to do the same is because we feel that the Earth's story can be told through every day perspectives. And more importantly, if people see the conditions of what's out there, and experience it either through our lens or that of their own eye, they'll be more empowered to take action and help what's important to them.”

Photo Caption: L-R: Anggun; Damon Dominique & Joanna Franco

Entries opened in January, with people from over 70 countries submitting videos between one and eight minutes in length inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of global goals agreed upon by all 193 member states of the United Nations to end poverty, protect the planet and promote prosperity for all.

Partners in this year's festival are: the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Association of the United States of America, WeTransfer, Sony World Photography Awards, Sony Alpha Universe, the Environmental Media Association, Connect4Climate and leaders and environmental visionaries from around the globe. SPTN launched a similar contest in 2016 across its channel portfolio worldwide, including its flagship brands AXN, Sony Channel, Crackle and Animax and those same flagship channels will participate in this year’s festival.

In addition to Anggun, Damon and Jo, the list of celebrity advocates and industry leaders who will judge film submissions includes: Megan Boone, environmental advocate and actress from the hit TV series “The Blacklist”; Elizabeth Cousens, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, United Nations Foundation; Mr. N.P. Singh, MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India; Marie Jacobson, EVP Programming & Production, Sony Pictures Television Networks; Tom Bernard & Michael Barker, Co-Presidents, Sony Pictures Classics; Glenn Gainor, President of Physical Production, Screen Gems; Debbie Levin, President & CEO, Environmental Media Association; and Damian Bradfield, President and Chief Marketing Officer, WeTransfer.

This summer, eight (8) regional winners will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the Picture This Festival for the Planet for a day of networking and training alongside industry leaders and social impact partners at the Sony Pictures Studio lot, followed by a screening of the regional winners’ films. Regional winners will receive airfare and accommodations for two nights in Los Angeles, along with a Sony RX0 Camera and a one year WeTransfer Plus account, with the grand prize winner honored with a Sony A6500 camera and a SEL1670 lens.

The Picture This Festival for the Planet is Sony Pictures Entertainment’s latest project to bring awareness to the SDGs. In 2016, the United Nations and SPE launched Angry Birds for a Happy Planet, a global youth outreach campaign that leveraged online and social media platforms to encourage action to protect the planet and fight climate change. Centered on the Sustainable Development Goal #13 – to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, the campaign featured Red and other characters of The Angry Birds Movie. In 2017, supported by the cast of the Smurfs: The Lost Village, audiences were encouraged to join “Team Smurfs” for the “Small Smurfs Big Goals” campaign that inspired everyone to learn about and support the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Submissions for the Picture This Festival for the Planet opened January 30 and will close April 30. The contest will be open to entrants from select countries worldwide. Please visit sonypicturethis.com for more information and to enter for free. You can follow the Picture This Festival on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Cre8 Salon Forges Strong Alliance with L'Oreal and Orly

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Cre8 Salon has just recently marked another historic milestone for itself as the company partners with two of the country's premiere brands with products widely used in the salon business, L'Oreal and Orly.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing ceremony was held on April 3, 2018 at Mesa Filipino Moderne restaurant located in Timog Avenue, Quezon City.

Cre8 Salon, which currently has 21 company-owned branches, plans to expand to 100 more branches within 5 years. From the Question and Answer portion with the members of the media, they said that they may also open the business for franchising opportunities soon.

Basically the partnership involves provision of training to all employees of Cre8 Salon which will be conducted by trainors coming from the camps of both L'Oreal and Orly. This also includes international beauty experts that will be visiting Manila.  The two companies will be providing training to both current and future Cre8 Salon staff to improve their skills, and eventually their services as well.

Cre8 Salon will now carry L'Oreal and Orly brands exclusively. The two brands have consistently provided products that have exceeded their client's expectations and thus helped them solidify their brand presence.

The MOA signing was led by James Paul Santiago, CEO of Cre8 Salon, who also gave the opening remarks, together with his sister, Ma. Angela Santiago, Founder and Finance Director of Cre8 Salon.

The other signatories, which includes the people from Orly and L'Oreal, were Roshell Zamora, Sales Manager; Persie Torregoza, General Manager for Sprint Asia Beauty; Mark Jason Dee, Marketing Director; and Luis Antonio Yanga, General Manager for Professional Products.

We've learned that Cre8 Salon is literally a family business since all 7 siblings are practically involved in the regular operations with specific roles and designations within the company. Angela said in an interview with Wazzup Pilipinas that she visits Cre8 salon branches everyday, so with the current number of 21 branches, we mentioned that their division of visits would most probably be 3 branches per sibling since there's 7 of them. 

But what would happen when they have an additional 100 within the next 5 years? Could they still handle it? That would probably mean hiring even their cousins and other relatives if they want to maintain the management of their business within their ... clan (since they've already grown too big to handle by just 7 people. 

But of course, we'll find a solution to that challenge when we get there. We want Cre8 Salon to grow bigger to provide more employment opportunities. They did say they employ around 10 people per branch so an additional 100 branches would mean 1000 happily employed and skillful staff thanks to their newly forged alliance with L'Oreal and Orly.

What strikes us most everytime we see a Cre8 Salon branch is the stunningly attractive and huge logo cum signage that fronts their salon branches. You'll definitely take a second look, try to read what it says, and admire the artistry that went to the design of the logo. It is apparent that there's a scissor image within the logo and how they capitalize on the lucky number 8 as a prominent part of their business name.

Congratulations to the Cre8 Salon family for this new coalition. We're planning to visit their branch nearest to us soon to probably do a special vlog of their services. That would surely be great to witness how they'll be able to transform us into a new look - a before and after make-over vlog which is just perfect timing since our hair terribly needs a haircut right now, and a possible change of hairstyle that's appropriate for our age.

This means you have to watch out for another special feature about Cre8 Salon soon. So until next time, this has been your Pambansang Blogger signing off for now, and see you again soon on our next blog adventure.