MARINA Rolls Out Ship Modernization Program

Wazzup Pilipinas! 

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) has started rolling out its domestic ship modernization program through an information campaign in Batangas City on 03-05 September 2018. 

The MARINA, along with the Development Bank of the Philippines Leasing Corporation (DLC) and Department of Finance (DOF), oriented 80 motorbanca owners and operators from region 4 on the importance of upgrading wooden-hulled motorbancas into either steel, aluminum, or fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) boats. 

"Safety of life at sea is primordial to MARINA and ship modernization is a step towards attaining this objective," MARINA Domestic Shipping Service Director Sonia Malaluan said citing the motorbanca modernization as the first phase of MARINA’s domestic ship modernization program. 

As it is committed to provide full support to its stakeholders, the MARINA has partnered with DOF’s Municipal Development Fund Office (MDFO) to open the Municipal Development Fund (MDF) to motorbanca owners who will modernize their boats. 

To further aid the motorbanca owners, the MARINA will also provide incentives, capability, and capacity building, as well as guidance in establishing cooperatives that can offer additional financial support during the implementation of the program. 

MARINA’s information campaign will continue in different provinces across the Philippines aimed at clarifying issues of coverage, exemptions and transitions under the program. 

With the shift from wood to a technologically-advanced hull materials, the MARINA expects domestic vessels to be faster, efficient, and resilient for the enhancement of maritime safety in the country. 

Aside from ship modernization info campaign, you may also see info on how to track your goods order.

34 Cities, Municipalities Recognized for Outstanding Education Efforts

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Recipients of Seal of Good Education Governance

get incentives from PLDT, Smart

Thirty-four cities and municipalities from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were recognized yesterday for their outstanding efforts in improving the quality of basic education in their communities. Seventeen of them will be conferred the Seal of Good Education Governance, while the rest will receive the Jesse Robredo Award in Education Governance, named after the late interior secretary and longtime mayor of Naga City.

Recipients of the Seal of Good Education Governance plus an Incentive Package from PLDT and Smart:

1. Bacnotan, La Union
2. Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya
3. Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya
4. Solano, Nueva Vizcaya
5. Villaverde, Nueva Vizcaya
6. Diffun, Quirino
7. Navotas City, Metro Manila
8. Valenzuela City, Metro Manila
9. Maribojoc, Bohol
10. Mambusao, Capiz
11. Concepcion, Iloilo
12. Lambunao, Iloilo
13. Leon, Iloilo
14. Mina, Iloilo
15. Cagayan de Oro
16. Datu Paglas, Maguindanao
17. Bongao, Tawi Tawi

Recipients of the Jesse Robredo Award in Education Governance:

1.    Vigan, Ilocos Sur

2.    Agoo, La Union

3.    San Fernando, La Union

4.    San Gabriel, La Union

5.    Santol, La Union

6.    Dao, Capiz

7.    Ivisan, Capiz

8.    Argao, Cebu

9.    Ajuy, Iloilo

10. Alimodian, Iloilo

11. Cabatuan, Iloilo

12. Lemery, Iloilo

13. Maasin, Iloilo

14. Miagao, Iloilo

15. General Santos City

16. Parang, Maguindanao

17. Upi, Maguindanao

All the 34 local government units (LGUs) met the Synergeia Foundation’s criteria for good education governance. To qualify, they must have reinvented their local school boards and organized functional school governing councils. The cities and municipalities must have also reduced the number of non-readers and frustrated readers in their locality by at least 20 percent.

Moreover, their cohort survival rate (the percentage of first graders who went on to sixth grade) must be higher than the national average of 80% or must have increased by at least two percentage points. The LGUs must have devoted an increasing amount of their budget to education.

Synergeia – a coalition of individuals and organizations working closely with LGUs – started giving the Seal of Good Education Governance last year to promote transparency, accountability, and excellence in the delivery of basic education by local governments. It received 350 LGU nominations this year, which is higher than last year’s 250 submissions.

This year’s results were deliberated upon by Synergeia trustees and representatives from PLDT, Smart Communications, and SGV Foundation.

As an incentive to the Seal holders, PLDT and Smart will provide technology packages suited to the LGUs’ respective circumstances and needs. Among the possible incentives are:

• Installation and maintenance of Smart Wifi in the LGU’s nominated university
• Provision of InfoCast, a web-based solution that will allow the LGU to broadcast announcements and receive feedback via text message
• Smart School-in-a-Bag, which contains a solar panel to serve schools without electricity, mobile devices, curriculum-based educational content, teacher training, monitoring, and evaluation

All recipients of the Seal of Good Education Governance will get smartphones and a cash prize from PLDT and Smart. On top of these, thousands of individuals from each of the 17 Seal recipients who will sign up for KasamaKA will get a free three-month micro-insurance coverage from FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT-Smart digital unit Voyager Innovations. KasamaKA is a community-based, self-help, income-generating, and inclusive ecosystem-building movement.

“We at PLDT and Smart hope that these technology tools would help the country’s outstanding LGUs deliver quality education to their constituents. We recognize that tech solutions to challenges in education work only when major stakeholders pursue innovative learning programs,” said PLDT and Smart Public Affairs Head Ramon R. Isberto.

ShopFest Set to Become the Philippines’ First Stop for Year-end Shopping

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Resolving information asymmetry for shoppers by helping them locate lifestyle purchases and best buys tailored to their needs.

Starting your year-end shopping has never been better with ShopFest, a four-month long shopping festival organised by ShopBack, your one-stop lifestyle e-commerce portal empowering smarter online purchases. With over 300 Stores participating online, ShopFest, which will be held from 1 September to 2018 to 3 January 2019, will introduce you to a new world of online shopping where you will not just get the best value for your money but also amazing cashback!

ShopFest is catered to bring together online marketplaces in the Philippines to provide you an effortless shopping experience while empowering sales in the digital economy. ShopBack is committed to its mission to help its Filipino customers get the best savings and convenience out of their online shopping, making shopping more affordable for Filipino customers with all the must-have vouchers, promotions and cashbacks at their fingertips.

“Christmas countdown starts in September for all Filipinos and that’s the main driving force for us to spend during the year-end period,” said Mr. Prashant Kala, Country Head of ShopBack Philippines. “With this consumer insight in mind, we set out to construct a meaningful platform that efficiently connects both retailers and shoppers  for the year-end period when shoppers are prepared to spend in preparation for the most important festive season of the year.”

ShopFest is set to become the first stop for year-end hassle-free shopping by onboarding over 300 participating retailers to satisfy all your shopping needs. ShopFest with its partners will impact the 6 major sales event (9.9 Rewards Day, 10.10 Perfect Ten, 11.11 Singles’ day, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, 12.12 Online Revolution and Christmas & New Year sale) as shoppers explore the endless number of deals with ShopBack’s platform, contributed directly by the participating retailers.

From grocery shopping, health and beauty, to travel needs and dining, ShopFest’s partner retailers such as Booking.com, Lazada, Traveloka, Foodpanda, and more are gearing up to give the best deals to customers when it comes to lifestyle shopping.


Gamifying shopping journeys to deliver the ultimate experience for shoppers

To further elevate the joy of year-end shopping, ShopBack created the ShopFest Ultimate Experience together with other participating online retailers. Shoppers get to earn points by performing the following actions:
Making purchases via ShopBack during ShopFest and/or
Searching for special keys to unlock Treasure Chest via the ShopBack app

“Booking.com is delighted to partner with ShopBack for ShopFest Ultimate Experience. With over 28.9 million accommodation listings available on Booking.com across the globe including everything from homes, villas and apartments to world-class hotels and resorts, we provide accommodation options for every kind of customer throughout the region. That’s why we are providing the ShopFest Ultimate Experience Grand Prize, so Shoppers can go out and stay in some of the amazing places we have on offer. Connecting travellers with unique places to stay anywhere in the world is the reason Booking.com exists.” Said Stewart Jones, Regional Director of Strategic Partnerships, APAC, Booking.com.



ShopFest, by ShopBack

Since ShopBack’s launch in the Philippines in 2015, the company is now a dominant player in the Southeast Asia e-commerce cashback market. Having established its presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and most recently, Australia, ShopBack is well on its way to becoming every online shopper’s top pick for a cashback site.

For more information about ShopBack, visit www.shopback.ph or download the ShopBack app for free on the App Store or Google Play Store. Follow Shopback on Facebook www.facebook.com/ShopBackPhilippines/ and Instagram @shopbackph. Also, do not forget to check out the biggest year-end shopping sales at www.shopfest.ph.