2 Benildeans compete in new filmfest

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Two students from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde are vying for awards in a new and unique film competition tonight, November 12 at 8 p.m.

Nicole Lyka Calingasan and Janina Cortez, both fourth year film majors at Benilde, are among the Top 20 finalists in the Three Shots Film (3SF) festival organized by Media Underground or MUD Studios.

Calingasan’s entry which made it to the 3SF finals is entitled “Lamang Lupa.” The short film is about a special fertilizer which holds the secret to a gardener’s lively plants.

Meanwhile, Cortez is behind the short film finalist “4:00 p.m.” It is about a high school student who comes home exhausted after a long day at school.

Calingasan and Cortez, who also both hail from Rizal aside from being film students, were challenged by MUD’s call to make a short film using only three shots and three cuts for a story composed of a beginning, middle and end, with a minimum running time of one minute and a maximum of 15 minutes.

Calingasan, who took a specialization in Screenwriting at the Benilde film department, “loves stories that disturb.” She has written and directed films that “often explore the morbid and the deeply personal.”

Following her passion for storytelling, Calingasan also enjoys experimenting with various themes and genres. “After all, stories have been my playground since childhood and now, I consider filmmaking as the means of bringing my imagination to life,” she shared.

On the other hand, Cortez’s films are “based on her own experiences or of those around her.” She turns these stories into either a poetic drama or romance. Through her films, she wants “to raise awareness on issues that she experiences herself such as those related to identity, loss, and trauma.”

Cortez grew up drawing, painting, and making arts and crafts. She finished senior high school with Arts and Design as her track. “My interest in filmmaking sparked in junior high. I was a photographer for the school’s publication for three years, so I was one of the few students with a camera. Because of this, I was often asked to film for requirements. And so, I learned to love the craft,” she recalled.

MUD Studios founder and director August Lyle Espino attended a workshop a few years ago, “where they were challenged to think outside of the box and create an even shorter version compared to what was usually required for a short film.” This inspired him to help organize the 3SF festival.

Espino revealed that the Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Cinematography winners will receive cash prizes and plaques of recognition. The festival will also award a Jury’s Choice and People’s Choice.

A four-lens kit worth 12,000 pesos, including a travel case bag, 7.5mm fisheye lens, 16mm wide-angle lens, 25mm macro lens, 65mm telephoto lens, two clip mounts, and cleaning cloth, courtesy of Kase Lens PH, and three pieces Selens Redhead Lights with light stand kit await the special prize winners.

Filmmakers Arvin Belarmino, Tristan Cua, Emmanuel Dela Cruz, and Peter Mackie made up the 3SF jury.

1982 Ventures invests in Lista, the MSME book-keeping app for the Philippines

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Lista is empowering millions of MSME businesses in the Philippines move from pen and paper to digital says Herston Elton Powers of 1982.vc.

Lista is a bookkeeping app for MSMEs based in the Philippines. Through its financial inclusion app, they offer Filipinos a free and secure way of managing finances such as tracking debts, recording transactions, and even issuing invoices.

Lista raised an oversubscribed round from 1982 Ventures, East Ventures, Saison Capital, Alternate Ventures, Monde Nissin Family Ventures' Willy Arifin and prominent angel investors such as former Grab Philippines President and co-founder Brian Cu, Pinelabs CEO Amrish Rau, CRED Founder Kunal Shah, Jupiter Bank Chief Executive Officer Jitendra Gupta and Google APAC Senior Execs Aurelien Pichon, Alap Bharadwaj. 

Lista was founded by Aaron Villegas, an experienced entrepreneur with product experience, and Khriz Lim, a former Grab executive that led GrabFood's expansion into the region. Since its launch in September, Lista has helped collect close to US$1.5 million in receivables of MSMEs all over the Philippines.

Aaron Villegas, co-founder of Lista, stated, "Helping Philippine MSMEs was an advocacy close to my heart. Growing up, I saw the challenges my family endured in running a sari-sari store (community store)." Continuing, "I spent almost a year just talking to various MSMEs in the province and trying different ideas to help them grow. And that's when I realized that the first thing to do to really help them grow is through digitization and replacing pen and paper with easy-to-use tech."

As the pandemic struck early last year, digitization of business processes proved to be pivotal in ensuring the continuity of business operations. Micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs were among the most affected during the prolonged quarantines - 74% of these businesses halted operations due to the lockdowns according to the country's Department of Trade and Industry. MSMEs are vital to the Philippine economy as they comprise about 99.51% of business establishments in the country and employ around 63% of the country's workforce, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Khriz Lim, former Grab executive and co-founder of Lista stated, "MSMEs are the backbone of the Philippine economy and it's time we stop leaving them behind. Through this app, we want to revolutionize the way MSMEs operate and provide them with a reliable digital partner for small businesses in the country."

Using digital tools can help fill this gap and allow them to record transactions and track their growth more easily. Lista aims to help MSMEs, including freelancers, logistics operators and riders, and other small businesses, digitize their business and provide a free and secure way of easily managing their finances.

Herston Elton Powers, Managing Partner of 1982 Ventures stated, "Lista is empowering millions of MSME businesses in the Philippines move from pen and paper to digital. The bookkeeping app space in the Philippines is wide open and Aaron and Khriz are the right founders to capture the opportunity. Lista's product and strong traction have put them in pole position to win the market."

Lista will use the funds to grow their team and expand their product offering to reach more MSMEs in the country.

Law group hits Locsin for 'dirty ashtray award' during WHO conference on tobacco control

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Public interest law group ImagineLaw criticized Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Boy Locsin, Jr. for what they call a ‘blatant disregard of the position of the Department of Health (DOH) and the medical community against vapes and e-cigarettes’.

Locsin as head of the Philippine delegation to the ninth Conference of Parties (COP9) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) being held this week touted vapes and e-cigarettes (novel tobacco products) as ‘less harmful’ as part of the Philippines’ Statement on the WHO FCTC Global Progress Report. The secretary also praised tobacco companies for their ‘innovation in creating products that deliver satisfaction but with far less harm’.

“Secretary Locsin’s statements in the COP 9 echo the false narratives peddled by tobacco companies,” according to ImagineLaw Executive Director Atty. Sophia San Luis. “These narratives go against overwhelming medical and scientific opinion on the real harms of vapes and e-cigarettes,” she added.


Dirty Ashtray Award


The Philippine government on Tuesday was also awarded the ‘Dirty Ashtray Award’, a lampoon award given by international watchdog Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) to companies and governments seen as peddlers of tobacco industry interests.

Together with Guatemala, the award was given to the Philippines on the second day of COP 9 for “insisting on amendments with unhelpful and often confusing wording which wasted valuable COP time,” according to the FCA.

“It is a great misfortune and an example of supreme irony that tobacco interests are represented in the Philippine delegation to an international platform for tobacco control, while public health interests are sidelined,” said San Luis. “This is a big insult and a shameful setback in the Philippines’ efforts to curb the rising number of deaths caused by the tobacco industry in the Philippines,” she added.


Locsin urged: listen to DOH


ImagineLaw urged Locsin to withdraw his statement and allow the DOH to take the lead in advancing public health interests in the COP9.

“It is a public health conference of parties by the World Health Organization. Secretary Locsin famously said before to leave the matters of foreign affairs to him. In the same light, he should also leave public health matters to the DOH,” said San Luis.

She also urged the Philippine delegation to listen to health experts and ‘commit to curb the harms of vapes, e-cigarettes, restrict access to these novel products and dispel unsubstantiated harm reduction claims.’

“Physicians and the medical community have been clear about the danger of vapes and e-cigarettes to people’s health. They are not a viable smoking cessation nor harm reduction tools but a way for tobacco companies to secure their profits.