Atty. Mark Tolentino Terminated as Assistant Secretary for Railways

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) welcomes and strongly supports the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to terminate the services of Atty. Mark Tolentino as Assistant Secretary for Railways due to questionable dealings and unfairly involving the first family with matters regarding the Mindanao Railway Project.

The DOTr, under the leadership of Secretary Arthur Tugade, does not and will not tolerate such acts by its officials or employees. 

Namedropping and seeking the assistance of the President, his family, or any other influential individual, either for government projects or for personal gain, will never be tolerated. 

May this be a warning to all government officials and employees.

Rest assured that the Mindanao Railway, a priority project under the Build Build Build Infrastructure program of the Duterte administration, is ON TRACK and ON SCHEDULE. Phase 1 (Tagum-Davao-Digos) will be completed in 2021, without delays and without corruption.

Kim Chiu and Paulo Avelino Conquered Big Days with Berocca!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A fast-paced lifestyle is often filled with physically exhausting and mentally-draining activities. For spirited men and women, Big Days can mean the challenges they go through every single day – the rush hour traffic in the morning, beating deadlines and targets at work, while having enough energy to go to the gym or go out with friends after!  And a great way to conquer big days is with BEROCCA everyday!



Celebrities Kim Chiu and Paulo Avelino, like many of us today, also lead very active lifestyles.  For them, every day is a Big Day, each with their varied commitments aside from very demanding production schedules for TV shows and movies.  Kim also does Muay Thai and trains for triathlons, as well as helps out with their family business, and still goes out for occasional trips abroad with family and friends.  Paulo on the other hand has a passion for riding motorbikes, works out to maintain his physique, all while making sure to have time for date nights.  The two have enough energy to keep a healthy balance of work and “me” time with the help of Berocca. 

That’s because the Vitamin B-complex in Berocca helps release the energy from the food we eat, and we need to replenish especially when doing physical challenges or even when under emotional stress.  Berocca’s combination is unique because aside from Vitamin B-complex, it also has vitamin C plus calcium, magnesium and zinc that is clinically proven to give increased physical energy and mental sharpness to help you conquer Big Days.

With its aim to support and sustain consumers with their everyday challenges, Berocca recently launched concluded its #ConquerBigDays campaign last May 06 at the SM Megamall Activity Center with Kim and Paulo. Five big game stations that challenged guests’ physical energy and mental sharpness were  situated around the area: Build Your Big Day Mega Tetris, Conquer Your Commute Ball Pit, Score Big at Work Basketball, Pick Your Priorities Giant Jenga, and The Final Stretch Bungee Run. Each team, composed of media, influencers, and promo winners, and headed led by Kim and Paulo, went head to head in each station. With the help of Berocca, both teams were able to complete all challenges and go on with their big days. In the end, Team Kim emerged victorious, conquering all game stations aheadbut Team Paulo definitely did not make it easy.

Just like Kim and Paulo, you can easily conquer you big days anytime, anywhere with the help of the new Berocca singles pack. For only P22.50 SRP, it can help give you the extra energy and mental alertness that can beat deadlines and juggle schedules.  Grab it now in all major drugstores nationwide!

#ConquerBigDays with Berocca!

For more information, find Berocca on Facebook (www.facebook.com/BeroccaPh) and on Instagram (@BeroccaPh). Check out and share the Berocca experience with the hashtags #BeroccaPH and #ConquerBigDays.

Multivitamins and Minerals is the generic name of Berocca Performance.

Per DOH-FDA-CDRR Permit No. 052 s. 2018

Business of Football - Philippines' Conference Sets Roadmap for Growth of the Sport in the Country

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Photo Caption: Front Row (L-R): LaLiga’s Almudena Gomez Benito, LaLiga Managing Director for SEA, Japan, Korea and Australia Ivan Codina, PFF General Secretary Atty. Ed Gastanes, MMC Sportz CEO Eric Gottschalk and SMG Insight Managing Director Frank Saez.
 
The recent success of The Azkals, with their Asian Cup qualification, and their FIFA ranking at its highest at 111, has given football a renewed confidence, and a positive outlook in terms of the growth of the sport in the Philippines.  

Football is now tipped to become the fastest growing sport in the country, with the largest potential for success commercially, and in terms of on-pitch success.  The sport which is currently number 3 in the Philippines in terms of popularity and participation, after basketball and boxing, is said to be still further behind compared to other sports, such as volleyball, billiards, etc., in terms of TV coverage.

These were among the insights and trends gathered from top-notch executives of organizations such as AFC, PFF, PFL, LaLiga, Dentsu X, SMG Insight, Globe Telecom, RSportz, Toby Sports and Manila Times, at the ‘Business of Football - Philippines’, organized by MMC Sportz.  The sold-out event was attended by more than 185 local and foreign delegates on 18 May 2018 at the New World Makati Hotel.  

MMC Sports CEO Eric Gottschalk says, “Research in this market, shows that TV is still the number one platform here in the Philippines, and is the number one medium that advertisers are looking for, to spend their budgets on.  We also learned that live TV coverage actually stimulates stadium attendance, and not vice versa.  If there’s more football on TV, we will see more fans in the stadium.  Currently football is not ranked among the top 100 TV programmers in the Philippines and is only number 3 sport in terms of participation and popularity after basketball and boxing.  Football needs media in order to drive commercial revenues for the clubs.”  

“Now is also the perfect time to get involved in football since sponsorship and advertising opportunities are currently very affordable compared for example to basketball, but this is predicted to change within the next 6-12 months, as values are expected to increase sharply.  Football also needs to create more idols and heroes to attract more media coverage overall, other than just covering game scores. Each team has a unique story which just needs to be told,” says Gottschalk.

Following the presentation about the Philippines Football League (PFL) it was agreed that the PFL now fills the lack of regular created football content as the leagues matches (87 in 2018/19 season) contribute year-round stories to keep football in the news. In the past, the main talking points were around the Azkals which only play very few home matches each year.     

Public education about the game of football is also needed on all levels as many people in the Philippines are still not aware about the rules or aware of programs available like coaching academies, amateur competitions, or how and where to follow the professional league.  Ten thousand (10,000) qualified grassroots coaches are also needed to satisfy the local demand and to trigger strong football development and growths.

Investors on the other hand are looking for consistency and credibility of the football product but with the PFL in the second season and foreign sponsors expected to invest in the Philippines, local brands should consider to follow suit.  

On the sports retail side, only 1.5% of current retail sales are attributed to football, while basketball enjoys a healthy 46% market share. As a result, only limited line items and stocks are available in stores and entry level boots and replica jerseys are too high priced to be affordable for the average consumer.

The national player registration program, MY PFF, has been launched with the objective to collect vital statistics and data about the football community which is urgently needed to support the youth football development strategy of the PFF and to develop a players pathway.  As FIFA has mandated to register the estimated 1.5 million players in the Philippines, the PFF has urged organizers and players to already register online as by next month only registered players will be allowed to participate in sanctioned events.

The “Business of Football – Philippines” conference also announced 36 career opportunities related to sports and football, including positions in marketing, legal, competition management and coaching, with all these listing being available online with MMC Sportz or for direct inquiries with the PFF.

In his closing remarks, MMC Sportz CEO Eric M. Gottschalk stated that “More importantly, Don’t Break the 12th Man! It is important that all stakeholders don’t forget to engage with the fans. The fans are the most important aspect of the development of football in the Philippines – if there are no fans of football then there is no media, no spectators, no players, no games, no business. Everyone is required to ensure we keep the fans (football consumers) engaged year-long and the first step would be to get the media behind the game. There is a strong football - community out there already and hopefully, we the TV broadcasters will take another look at football and give them at least some consideration on the program schedule. 

I believe today’s conference was a great success.  We brought the football community together, stimulated thinking, exchanged ideas and transferred a lot of knowledge. Now it is up to the football stakeholders to continue the progress. 

From our end (and with the approval of the PFF) we will stage the 2nd edition of BOF early 2019 and hopefully we will be able to report on some of the changes initiated today.”   

Speakers who shared their insights include LaLiga Managing Director for South East Asia, Japan, Korean and Australia Ivan Codina, AFC Head of MA Services Domeka Garamendi, SMG Insight Managing Director Frank Saez, Azkals Team Manager Dan Palami, Globe Director for OIC, Citizenship and Advocacy Marketing Miguel Bermundo, PFL CEO Lazarus Xavier, PFF General Secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes, Ignite Sports Group Managing Director Michael Reyes,  Asian Replica Designs Founder & Owner Jonathan Mallinson, Quorum Group President & COO Jose Claudio, Jr., Mediapro Asia Director of Sales and Sponsorship Salauddin Sinnakandu, and MMC Sportz Marketing CEO Eric Gottschalk. 

Organized by MMC Sportz Asia, the event was sanctioned by the Asia Football Confederation (AFC) and the Philippines Football Federation (PFF), and sponsored by La Liga, Dentsu X, SMG Insight, RSportz, Globe Telecom, Toby’s Sports, Manila Times and Platinumlist.