21st Global Pinoy Bazaar at The Fifth

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Uniting Filipino entrepreneurs to have a mindset of excellence and passion to develop and make homegrown products made with one hundred percent Filipino love and pride has been a staple project of Yabang Pinoy. From the moment it was conceptualized, it is clear for the movement that one of the most powerful solutions to elevate the economic terms of the country is to continuously believe and support Filipino products, ideas and services that are proudly made in the Philippines. This statement holds true until now.

On the road to the movement’s fifteen years of celebrating Filipino Pride since 2005, Yabang Pinoy presents the 21ST GLOBAL PINOY BAZAAR, the biggest gathering of Yabang Pinoy partner-brands and pioneering in showcasing a wide range of products, concepts and services that champion Filipino ingenuity and craftsmanship.

The 21ST GLOBAL PINOY BAZAAR showcases an extensive array of Filipino brands and products that will entice each market segment. One can find the Yabang Pinoy partner-brands that are present over the years such as Iconic Socks, The School of Satchel, Gouache, Hodge Podge, Straightforward, Sustainably Made by MARSSE Tropical Timber, Misispi, Mia Casa, Designs by Abby Jocson, My Journey, and Foodsource. The bazaar will also feature new and competitive players in the market such as Shop & Paul, Gira, Heart Factory, Bounty Sprouts, Holly’s, Pacaro, Gene + Jas, Bath & Buddy, and Aromatik Artisan Fragrances.

Yabang Pinoy encourages every person to make a difference and contribute to the booming Filipino marketplace by choosing local this Christmas. It will not only support local craftsmanship and creativity but will also skyrocket the effort of each and every Filipino entrepreneur in the holiday season.

In the yuletide spirit and merry-making of Christmas in the Philippines, Yabang Pinoy invites everyone to complete your gift list for your family, friends, and colleagues and let us all shop at the 21st Global Pinoy Bazaar. This will be held on November 30 and December 1, 2019 (Saturday and Sunday) at The Fifth in Rockwell, Power Plant Mall, Makati City.

DOST-SEI Awards 207 Scholarships Under Bangon Marawi Program

Wazzup Pilipinas!

207 Qualifiers of the Bangon Marawi Program on STHRD signed the Scholarship Contract as they begin their journeys as DOST Scholars to help Marawi City get back on its feet.


Two years since the siege, Marawi City is onwards to its full recovery.

Providing a boost to its resurgence is the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute’s (DOST-SEI) Bangon Marawi Program in Science and Technology Human Resource Development (STHRD), which recently awarded a total of 207 scholarships in the undergraduate and graduate levels for students from the city.

A total of 177 Bachelor of Science (BS), 27 Master of Science (MS), and three Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) qualifiers under the Batch 2 of the Bangon Marawi Program in STHRD was approved by DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña last September 5, 2019. Most of these qualifiers then signed the Scholarship Agreement on October 16 at the Mindanao State University-Main Campus in Marawi City.

DOST-SEI Director, Dr. Josette T. Biyo, led in orientating the qualifiers on the scholarship policies. Once documentary requirements have been validated, the newly hailed scholars will begin receiving financial assistance such as monthly stipend and book allowance for the First Semester AY 2019-2020. These will be released through the Project Coordinator at MSU – Iligan Institute of Technology in Iligan City.

Dr. Henry P. Aringa, Project Leader of the Program at MSU-Marawi, lauded DOST-SEI’s efforts in helping build back the once progressing city. He urged the qualifiers to maximize the opportunity by pursuing excellence in their studies and later on serve the city.

Biyo likewise congratulated the grantees and urged them to finish their courses to help their families recover from the impacts of the siege. “This program seeks to have a long-term effect on your city as we want you to be the ones to spark the rehabilitation of human and social infrastructures of Marawi,” she remarked.

Biyo also mentioned that the DOST-SEI provided a Learning Resource Center (LRC) not only for the scholars under the Bangon Marawi Program but for all DOST Scholars under the RA 7687, RA 10612, and Merit Scholarship Programs, as well as for graduate scholars under the Science and Technology Regional Alliance for National Development (Project STRAND). The LRC, which began operation last September 27, is equipped with 15 desktop computers, a laptop, and a printer/scanner that can be used for academic research, tutorials, and other activities.

The Program, which began early 2018, was able to help hundreds of affected students pursue their studies. Notably, out of the 217 BS, 20 MS, and 10 Ph.D. scholars from the first batch of beneficiaries, 131 have already graduated of which three and nine earned Magna cum laude and Cum laude honors, respectively.

“This is proof that despite the damages brought about by the siege, the people of Marawi have remained strong and hopeful. In the next few years, we believe that the Bangon Marawi scholars are already equipped with the knowledge and skills to bring a new dawn to Marawi,” Biyo said.

Suwag o Suko? Conserving Tamaraws and Empowering the Rangers Who Protect Them

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Representatives from different sectors came together to witness how the Tamaraw Conservation Programme (TCP) and Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park (MIBNP) rangers risk their lives to protect the tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis), a wild buffalo found solely on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines. It is among the world’s most endangered animals, considered critically-endangered and just a step above extinction in the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.

To raise both awareness and funds for tamaraw conservation, the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) partnered with TCP plus a talented group of storytellers for a documentary entitled Suwag o Suko: Saving the Tamaraw from Extinction.

“Suwag o Suko is a love letter to the tamaraw rangers and everyone working in conservation. It was made with local audiences in mind because we want to instill a sense of pride, shared identity and ownership for our natural heritage,” explains Celine Murillo, who wrote the script with director Mark Ace Gatdula and other pro bono volunteers. The hour-long documentary examines the economic, social and cultural significance of the tamaraw and how its survival is invariably tied to the management of the MIBNP, its indigenous mangyan tribes, plus the continuous conservation efforts of rangers.

Tamaraw Month is celebrated each October. We herald this unique, biologically-important and culturally-significant animal. We must spread awareness for conservation,” says DENR TCP Coordinator Neil Anthony del Mundo.

Canon Philippines, Tamron, Benro, Eco Explorations and the Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation pitched in to make the film possible.

“One of Canon’s major priorities among sustainability programs is biodiversity conservation, locally and globally. It is an honor to partner with DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau and BIOFIN to bring light to pressing issues surrounding our wildlife, particularly of endangered species like the tamaraw. We hope to inspire millions of Filipinos to support conservation programs to help keep this species thriving in the wild,” says Canon Marketing Philippines, Inc. Vice President Anuj Aggarwal.

Nestled between Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, MIBNP hosts the largest remaining population of tamaraw at 480 heads, down from 523 in 2018. A century ago, an estimated 10,000 heads inhabited all of Mindoro, from coastal lowlands to its highest peaks. In the 1930s, widespread cattle ranching spurred a deadly outbreak of rinderpest, which soon infected many of the island’s bovines. The tamaraw population was decimated – by 1969, numbers were estimated to have plummeted below 100.

The population has rebounded to 480 heads within MIBNP – a far cry from the original 10,000, but a sure sign that TCP and MIBNP’s conservation efforts are paying off. Leading field conservation efforts are two dozen TCP and about a dozen MIBNP rangers who conduct park patrols, keep poachers at bay and dismantle animal traps illegally set-up in strict protection zones.

Since its inception in 2012, BIOFIN has worked with both the public and private sectors to enhance protection for the country’s biodiversity hotspots by helping secure funds to implement sound biodiversity programs.

UNDP Philippines Resident Representative Titon Mitra highlighted the importance of financing biodiversity conservation by noting that, “According to the latest UN biodiversity report, up to one million animal and plant species are on the verge of extinction. We are now faced with an unparalleled loss of biodiversity at an alarming rate. Now more than ever, we need to take a multi-stakeholder approach in addressing this crisis.”

BIOFIN Philippines’ second phase runs from 2018 to 2022 and includes the implementation of finance solutions to raise resources for the tamaraw and other endangered species through creative crowdfunding and diaspora. Tamaraw conservation for example, is now being considered for corporate social responsibility funding.

Under the DENR-UNDP collaboration, BIOFIN works to close the financing gap for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity by identifying, accessing, combining and sequencing sources of biodiversity funding to finance the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP), the country’s roadmap to conserving its natural resources. PBSAP’s implementation will cost PHP24B per year or PHP334B (USD7.4B low estimate) from 2015 to 2028. However, public expenditure was estimated at only PHP4.9B per year (USD110M), revealing an annual gap of almost PHP19B (USD349M). Finance solutions addressing this gap have been identified and are presently being piloted by BIOFIN.

Suwag o Suko: Saving the Tamaraw from Extinction is scheduled for nationwide screenings in the coming months, with possible international exposure through video-on-demand platforms. A national caravan shall follow the film launch to create additional buzz and catalyze support for tamaraw conservation.

Parties interested to support conservation either in-cash or in-kind can contact BIOFIN at biofin.ph@undp.org.