Livelihood Program Set for T’bolis in South Cotabato

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Seven entities signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide livelihood opportunities and markets to coffee and abaca farmers from upland T’boli communities in South Cotabato.

The partnership among the Peace and Equity Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, Philippine Fiber Industry Development Industry (PFIDI), United Maligang Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Joscual Trading and the local government unit (LGU) of T'boli will benefit 200 farmers of Knoon Highland Farmers Association (KHFA) and strengthen their community by helping them be competitive in the value chain while doing conservation-based agriculture.

According to Joscual Trading owner Jojo Joson, they hope to train 75 KHFA members to produce high quality green coffee beans.

“Second to that, we also want them to fully participate in the value chain by training them on how to process their coffee,” he said.

Joson added that bringing PFIDI and UMFMPC will revitalize abaca production, a year-long crop as opposed to seasonal coffee.

Meanwhile, the T’boli LGU through the Office of the Municipal Agriculture will provide other institutional development and capability-building assistance to KHFA and will monitor and evaluate the implementation of the projects based on the MoU.

For her part, PEF Area Officer Shunie Pearl Palacios noted that the community is looking forward to the development with the coming together of the leading stakeholders in the area.

“Na-observe ko na tumaas ang level ng motivation ng mga farmers to work hard sa mga farms nila knowing na may mga organizations at LGU na nakasuporta sa kanila. I believe it's a good start towards community empowerment, to trust each other,” she said.

Also present at the signing ceremony held last November 2019 were T'boli Mayor Dibu Tuan, Councilor and Sangguniang Bayan Chairman on Agriculture Pacifico Cordada Jr., USAID Program Manager Rey Teves and KHFA President Levy Calan.

FDCP To Hold the Fourth Annual Film Ambassadors' Night In February: FDCP To Hold the Fourth Annual Film Ambassadors' Night In February

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For its annual kickoff event, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) will usher in 2020 by honoring Filipino filmmakers, producers, actors, projects and the various figures of the film industry that received global recognition over the past year at the fourth edition of FDCP’s Film Ambassadors’ Night.

Film Ambassador’s Night, which inaugurated in 2017, has honored over 200 filmmakers with particular focus on those who represented the Philippines in the international arena. In this year's edition to be held on February 9 (Sunday), FDCP will recognize several Film Ambassadors who consist of Filipino film industry artists, filmmakers, and films across genres and formats that received awards in film festivals abroad.

“We call our honorees Film Ambassadors for their incredible role in promoting and elevating Philippine Cinema globally by winning in international platforms,” said FDCP Chairperson Liza Dino said, “ Their works and artistry add to the whole of an already great Filipino heritage that is constantly growing in scale and quality. and it makes us truly proud that we call the world's attention to the Philippine Cinema through their efforts,” she added.”

In the past, these recognitions have included director Brillante Mendoza as part of the A-listers category for winning the special jury prize in San Sebastian Film Festival in 2018 and directors Treb Monteras and Mikhail Red as some of the many ‘Film Ambassadors’. The event also brings together industry workers and opens up the possibilities of sharing experiences and future collaborations.

In addition to recognizing these ‘Film Ambassadors,’ FDCP will present the Camera Obscura Artistic Excellence award to three members of the film industry. This award recognizes outstanding representatives of the film industry — be they filmmakers, producers, actors and so on — who made breakthroughs internationally, brought an appreciation for Philippine cinema abroad, and have positively inspired the Philippine film industry to aspire to greater heights. Awardees will receive a trophy and 50,000 pesos from FDCP.

Last year’s Camera Obscura awardees included filmmaker and national artist Kidlat Tahimik, film producer Bianca Balbuena and the highest-grossing Filipino film of 2018, The Hows of Us. Other past winners include Lav Diaz and Jaclyn Jose, as well as the films Saving Sally (dir. Avid Liongoren) for its recognition as an original full-length animation film and Kita Kita (dir. Sigrid Andrea Bernardo) for setting a new box office record as the highest-grossing, independently produced Filipino film.

FDCP’s Film Ambassador’s Night is the first of many events to be held this 2020 by the agency as it continues spearheading the year-long celebration of Sine Sandaan, the commemoration of a hundred years of Philippine cinema.

Wazzup Pilipinas Awarded As Most Outstanding Social Media Influencer at NCCAA 2020

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The multi-awarded blog from the Philippines was awarded as Most Outstanding Social Media Influencer at the National Customers' Choice Annual Awards (NCCAA) 2020 held on January 17, 2020 at the Diamond Hotel in Manila.

Wazzup Pilipinas, together with other brands and personalities, were recognized by the NCCAA Council as exemplary and deserving recipients for the year 2020.

The gala night started off with the ceremonial cake slicing, wine toasting and opening speech, followed by several performances from various entertainers like Anthony Rosaldo, Ate Gay, Rodney G, the Sexbomb Dancers, the G-Force Dancers, Ate Gay, Diana Meneses, and a few more while everyone was having a sumptuous dinner.

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The awarding ceremonies came next where Wazzup Pilipinas was among the media outfits that received an award that night. Wazzup Pilipinas is Hall of Fame awardee  for having won as Most Outstanding Social Media Influencer for three consecutive years.

Several businesses and entrepreneurs were undoubtedly inspired to continue doing their best because of the recognition. We all owe our customers top-notch products and services that would be globally competitive.

We did a livestream and video coverage during the awards night so please look for them on our social media pages primarily on our official Facebook page.