Negrense Designers Rock

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

This month the Negros Season of Culture honors Design deep-down the Negrense DNA. Toto Sicangco has spent half a century in New York City creating costumes and stage sets on Broadway. The Rockettes and Siegfried and Roy’s Vegas performances have showcased his designs. He worked on musicals, like The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, and Brigadoon; on ballets, like the Swan Lake and The Nutcracker; and on operas, like The Barber of Seville and Carmen. Catch Toto Sicangco when he sits down with the NSC team in “I will convince you that it’s beautiful. That’s my job.”

“The Legacy of Teng Jacinto” celebrates 70 years of remarkable work of Architect Teng Jacinto. Especially in Negros, one cannot separate Jacinto from the JUB name, which he started with fellow architects Toto Unson and Nonoy Benedicto. Teng Jacinto looks back to a legacy of homes and buildings he has designed, first with his partnership, and later on his own. 

The new Riverside Medical Center building in Bacolod, opened only this year, was designed by Jacinto, now in his early 90s. 

NSC features two young designers who recently won international acclaim. 

At the 2020 Young Asia Designers Award, the entry of Negrense Interior Design maverick Maita Hagad won the Gold Price for Interior Design. In “Learn Protect Discover”, Hagad redefines the way we regard our physical surroundings, from the structural to the sensory. 

Meanwhile, the youngest designer and the only Filipino in the 2020 Fashion Week San Diego was Negrense Bea Cruz. Competing from home, watching her collection presented virtually, Cruz bagged the Top Designer award, as well as the best team award for BeaCruzPH at the FWSD’s fashion exhibition held in collaboration with Sotheby’s New York. Follow this young designer in “Forward through the Past: The Fifties’ Fine Sophistication, Today”.

Text By: Alan S. Gensoli

Photos By: John Kimwell Laluma, Bea Cruz and Maita Hagad

Nephromed banks on PLDT digital solutions to ensure smooth operations, dialysis patient care

Wazzup Pilipinas!?


As the country’s largest fully integrated telecommunications provider, PLDT has always been dedicated to empowering Filipinos with its customer-focused digital technologies and helping them unleash their infinite potential.

The group has been a reliable partner of households, private firms, communities, and the government in creating a solid network foundation to connect and fulfill their basic need to communicate.

One of its valued clients is Nephromed Asia Dialysis Center, a dialysis franchise chain that provides high-quality and affordable access to kidney treatments in the Philippines and other Asian countries.

Through PLDT’s B2B arm, PLDT Enterprise, the group was able to extend cutting-edge digital technologies to power the business and serve the various healthcare needs of patients.

For the healthcare provider, a strong and reliable internet connection is necessary to work efficiently with relevant offices and facilitate the seamless transmission of data which are essential for processes such as billing system. The reliable internet connection provided by PLDT ensures that Nephromed is updated with its billing statements, resulting in efficient operation and patient retention.

PLDT Enterprise, through BEYOND FIBER solution, delivers a fast and reliable internet connection that allows patients to watch shows via video streaming sites while they are having their treatment. Nephromed centers are equipped with television monitors and free WIFI connections for patients who undergo hours of dialysis treatment every week.

The said connectivity also allows patients and their companions to access their social media accounts and surf uninterruptedly to stay connected with their families.

“Nagpapasalamat kami sa PLDT Enterprise na naging katuwang namin sa paghahatid ng serbisyo sa aming mga pasyente. We now experience fast and reliable internet connection which enable us in dealing with PhilHealth and providing our patients and their families with free WIFI while they are in the center,” said Ben Calderon, Managing Director of Nephromed Asia Dialysis Center – Rizal.

PLDT Enterprise continues to empower businesses to innovate and thrive in this increasingly changing digital world. It provides solutions to create a lasting and positive impact on business.

As a growth enabler, PLDT Enterprise aims to empower its valued micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) partners by delivering digital solutions from connectivity, and financial assistance, to upskilling and training that create a lasting and positive impact on their operations as they move towards digital transformation.

Through the group’s SMBiz Sulong Campaign, the group distinguishes its MSME partners that it has been supporting in their digital pivot with the help of its products and solutions, including BEYOND FIBER, Postpaid, Smart Enterprise Broadband, and Bizload.

PLDT Enterprise offers Beyond Fiber Sulong Plan, an all-in-one solution that aims to help MSMEs in their journey toward digital transformation. It aids the digital pivot of MSMEs through a set of enterprise technologies that are bundled in a single, affordable plan.

This features Beyond Fiber Sulong Plan with speedboost for a total of 100 Mbps for reliable connectivity, Maya QR for cashless payment transactions; Multistore, used for creating an eCommerce website; Antivirus Endpoint Advanced Security (EAS) Lite to protect business devices and data from cyber threats; and Domain, a service that allows businesses to get their own unique address or link online.

“PLDT Enterprise has empowered a strong connectivity foundation that supports our thrust of providing high-quality treatment and care to our patients. Technology is indeed a powerful tool to unlock limitless opportunities, especially for MSMEs, and we are grateful that PLDT Enterprise is there to guide us as we embraced innovation to deliver enriching healthcare services to our patients,” Calderon added.

For more information, visit pldtenterprise.com.





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Road closure set along Meralco Avenue to give way for Metro Manila Subway project

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Motorists are advised to avoid the north and southbound portions of Meralco Ave. in Pasig City beginning 03 October 2022 as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to start the construction of Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) - Shaw Boulevard Station.

The road closure takes effect until 2028 and will cover the front section of Capitol Commons up to the corner of Shaw Boulevard.

Meralco Avenue will serve as the project’s access point to the subway’s Shaw Boulevard Station.

Motorists are advised to take alternative routes to be provided by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and the City Governments of Pasig and Mandaluyong.

Public Utility Jeepneys (PUJs)—from Meralco Avenue going to Shaw Boulevard will be rerouted to Captain Henry Javier St. to Danny Floro St. and vice versa

Modernized Jeepneys—from Meralco Avenue going to Shaw Boulevard will be rerouted to Dona Julia Vargas Avenue to San Miguel Avenue and vice versa

UV Express Vehicles/Units—from Meralco Avenue going to Shaw Boulevard will be rerouted to Dona Julia Vargas Avenue to San Miguel Avenue or Anda Road to Camino Verde

Private Vehicles—all available routes are accessible

Hailed as the “Project of the Century,” the MMSP will be the first underground mass transit system in the Philippines – a modern railway system that will be at par with the rest in the world.

Funded by the Japanese government, the subway is a 33-kilometer rail line that will stretch from Valenzuela City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City, reducing travel time between Quezon City and NAIA from 1 hour and 10 minutes to just 35 minutes.

Once operational, the 33-km underground mass system will cut across eight cities in Metro Manila, passing three central business districts, and service up to 370,000 passengers daily.