DepEd, Embassy of Spain, and Fundacion Mapfre Initiates Turnover of Road Safety Teaching Aids for Public Elementary Schools in PH

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The turn-over of Road Safety Teaching Aids for Public Elementary Schools to the Department of Education (DepED).

DepEd together with the Spanish Embassy in partnership with Fundacion Mapfre through Mapfre Insular are working together for an advocacy on Road Safety Awareness. Together, their goal is to make available educational materials for 47,000 public elementary and high schools nationwide.

Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines, H.E. Luis Antonio Calvo, with DepEd Undersecretary of Programs and Projects Dina Ocampo, and Mapfre Insular president and CEO, Javier Warleta, initiated the turnover of Road Safety Teaching Aids for public elementary schools in the country, between Fundacion Mapfre and the Department of Education (DepEd). 

The materials were given to improve the teaching-learning process in schools so that students may be aware of how to safely navigate Philippine roads, particularly the busy streets of the metro.

Soft copies of the program’s materials will be stored in the DepEd Portal to provide easier access for the teachers. Ultimately, the goal is to reach out to 47,000 schools nationwide—both in the elementary and secondary levels. 

On top of raising awareness among the youth, DepEd, Mapfre, and the Spanish Embassy would like to extend road safety consciousness to adults as well, since they are the members of society who use the roads more often. DepEd recognizes that changes will come faster if adults lead by example. 

As a start, teachers must be able to learn from the program and share it with their students and families.The Spanish Ministry of Education and Embassy have worked closely with DepEd on special programs, and are thus very supportive of the project. 

The collaborators would like to emphasize safety as a way of life. They believe that values and health education are as important as traffic and car safety principles.

Fundacion Mapfre, the corporate social responsibility arm of MAPFRE S.A., a leading Spanish insurance multinational company, operating in the Philippines through Mapfre Insular, has been working with the Department of Education since 2011, developing modules in two learning areas: Araling Panlipunan and Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao. 

Since then, road safety has been taught in at least two thousand schools nationwide. Beginning this March 2015, teaching aids will be distributed and used in schools.

Transcending the generation gap

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Filipinos are family-oriented. That is the story of our culture. A fact woven into the very fabric of our existence. 

From our first hours on earth to the very last, we are surrounded with family. We celebrate birthdays, fiestas, countless Christmases and reunions together. Truly, we value our family ties. 

From our parents and siblings, to our lolos and lolas, Pinoys are known for putting a premium on what matters most.

That’s why the cast of Rep’s latest offering believe that Filipinos can relate with the story of 4,000 Miles, a play about an widowed old woman and her grandson who suddenly drops by after a cross-country bike ride.

“It’s about understanding. It’s about our journey towards growth and wisdom. That’s what makes it so universal. I think by the end of it, we’ll all walk away just a bit wiser about the dynamic of human relationship,” Bart Guingona, the play’s director said.

Jeff Flores, who plays the role of Leo in the stage play, says that Filipinos would be able to identify with the characters in this adaptation of Amy Herzog’s masterpiece. “Leo and Vera have a very untraditional dynamic...there are things in their relationship that is very universal, and that is something that Filipinos should watch,” Flores added.

Flores will be sharing the stage with one of the most veritable names in Philippine theater, Baby Barredo, who will be playing the role of Vera. Her castmates and director were all praises for Barredo, who they say is quite a joy to work with.

Flores also feels very privileged to portray the role of Leo. A character he says he finds so easy to identify with. “Leo is a manchild. He has a habit of running away from the stress, which works for me in my life. Being Leo has forced me to admit a lot of things that are childish about myself.”

The play will be shown on March 6 to 29 at the Onstage Theater, Greenbelt 1, Makati City. And as early as now, the cast of 4,000 Miles is more than excited to bring this story to Pinoys. Guingona, describes the material as one of the best-written plays he has handled. He excitedly shares that a monologue delivered by Flores’ character is destined to be a classic. “What I love about this play is it is a quiet play. There’s no histrionics and high-drama,” Guingona added.

Caisa Borromeo and Cara Barredo will also join the cast as Bec and Amanda, respectively. 

In its various runs across America, 4,000 Miles has received praise for its story. It has been heralded as the Best New Play by the Obie Awards in 2012 and was a Finalist for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. Amy Herzog was also recognized as an outstanding playwright by the New York Times.

4,000 Miles will be shown starting March 6 and will last until March 29 at the Onstage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City. Theater veteran Baby Barredo will play the role of Vera, while Jeff Flores will portray Leo.

About 4,000 Miles

After suffering a major loss while he was on a cross-country bike trip, 21 year-old Leo seeks solace from his feisty 91 year-old grandmother Vera in her West Village apartment. Over the course of a single month, these unlikely roommates infuriate, bewilder, and ultimately reach each other. 4,000 Miles looks at how two outsiders find their way in today's world.

4,000 Miles will be staged from March 6 to 29 at ​Onstage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City. Ticket prices ranges from P400 to P600. For more details regarding 4,000 Miles, call the RepertoryPhilippines at 843-3570 and book tickets through Ticketnet at 891-9999 or visit their website at www.ticketworld.com.ph​

WD Mounts First Gamers Cup for Press

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WD, the world’s leading provider of excellent computer storage solutions, hosts its first ever gaming tournament for the Philippine tech press on March 6, 2015 at Imperium e-Sports Bar and Video Game Lounge in Metrowalk Commercial Complex, Pasig City.

Dubbed as “WD Gamers Cup: WD X Imperium Media LAN Party”, this gaming event marks the exquisite collaboration of WD with Metro Manila’s most popular and chicest Internet bar, Imperium. The LAN party features the country’s most celebrated gaming and technology bloggers and technology media members as gaming competitors, giving them interactive and first-hand experience of the overall reliability of one of WD’s top-of-the-line hard drive lines, WD Green.

“WD Gamers Cup, in collaboration with Imperium e-Sports Bar and Video Lounge, is a perfect platform to not only engage and celebrate the country’s top technology influencers in a friendly Counter Strike match, but to also inform them the outstanding features of WD Green,” says Charlotte Koa, WD Philippines country sales manager. 

The Many Wonders of WD Green Drive

From WD’s Power of Choice line, WD Green hard drive takes pride in its eco-friendly and power-saving attributes. Increased power consumption is being prevented with its GreenPower Technology, as it manages heat which allows the hard drive to operate cooler with increased overall reliability. This unique technology of WD Green also decreases noise and vibration levels as well as hard drive failure, allowing you to work with your computer in a more hassle-free manner. Also, its advanced 4K HDD formatting makes WD Green a stronger solution compared to its rivals in the market.

Although famous for its power-saving and eco-friendly features, WD Green also works best as a complementary drive to solid state drives (SSDs) as it solves storage limitations through the Smart Repsonse Technology. It also delivers the ultimate experience for gamers who want a steady balance of capacity and speed. 

“WD Green once combined with SSD though the Intel rapid storage technology, can achieve the speed of SSD then take advantage of the additional capacity from HDD. It’s like Hybrid Drives,” explained by Albert Chung, Senior Product Marketing Manager for WD APAC. “WD Green as a second drive can be alternative for the WD Black- which is popular for its system performance. SSD can provide the needed speed of the gamers, yet with WD Green Drive, the capacity of the desktop storage could increase.”

WD Green- an eco-friendly, high performance storage device that is highly recommended for primary use in Desktop and All-in-One PCs, could also be a supplementary storage for backing up files and archiving.

Best-in-class power management, reduced heat output, and next-generation technologies such as IntelliSeek, WD Green offers a perfect balance of performance and power.

A Perfect Techie Collaboration

The gamers cup organized by WD, with the collaborating efforts of Imperium Internet bar, has hyped up the local tech and gaming scene. WD has awarded 5 WD Green hard drive units to the winning team, plus a cool party to the tech press. Although the event is primarily aimed at WD’s brand awareness, the exciting event has also inevitably changed the e-gaming landscape in the Philippines, according to Raphael Gancayco, president of Imperium e-Sports Bar and Video Game Lounge. 

“The WD Gamers Cup has given its participants a glimpse of what it is like to compete in a global e-Sports tournament scenario. This event has made e-Sports even more popular in the Philippines. The goal of Imperium e-Sports Bar has always been to elevate the level of professionalism of e-Sports in the country, and I believe WD is doing just that with this amazing gaming tournament and party,” says Gancayco, who is an international professional e-sports gamer himself. 

He also shares how WD Green has empowered his business. “We at Imperium e-Sports Bar personally love the features of WD Green hard drive. We run high-powered PCs and we take advantage of the reduced power consumption without sacrificing performance that only WD Green can deliver. The enormous storage capacity allows us to have ready access to graphic intensive games and allow us to produce more content in the future,” says Gancayco. 

Shopaholics, check this out! iPrice, the one stop shopping destination

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Living life to the fullest. How to enjoy the wonderful world, shopping is a good idea. I read somewhere before, it's like through shopping, somehow we found a new focus and our moods get uplifted. What we can't solve in real life, we solve it through retail therapy.

Early years, there were times I find information about sales then I scan ads in the newspapers.  We really enjoy shopping, holiday seasons or not, we do shopping when :

1) we need it, family needs or for ourselves;

2) just want something;

3) for gifts on occassions or anytime you want to give people we love;

4) we saw some promos on TV, or heard on radio

5) there are big big sale on malls;

6) we also read on newspapers or magazines there are shopping spree on many items in many different shopping malls;

7) or checking our favorite retailers’ websites;

8) and really, we are Shopaholic, and more! 

But wait, the present times make purchases online. Something made shopping made simple. Make the purchase only if the item meets two criteria: It’s discounted by at least 20 percent, and you were planning to buy it anyway.

By then competitors may have matched prices or even started a price war.

iPrice stays away from the nitty-gritty part of e- commerce that is operations, logistics and the like. iPrice is your helping hand out there in the online shopping jungle of thousands of different websites and millions of different products. We help you to find what you’re looking for and then we hand you over to our trusted e-commerce partners to actually buy the products you want.

In this function, we aggregates all the products from the most trusted e-commerce shops in Asia and globally onto one platform: iPrice. We offer a lot of fashion on iPrice but many other product categories as well.

iPrice provide product information about different brands as well as offer coupon codes and discounts up to 70% that are collected from our affliates such as Zalora, Lazada, Banana Republic, Romwe and many more. ​You can always check it out at iPrice.ph​.

When you don’t know yet what you want to buy, check out what the editorial team has curated for you or follow our community of avid shoppers. If you tell us a little bit more about yourself, will start putting together your individual shopping experience.

Relevant sales, offers and promotions are brought to alongside the products you’re browsing. So gone are the days of checking 20 different websites to find a particular product or the two hour hunt for the best price.

Stay connected with us as we bring the hottest updates to you.

iPrice provide you the best deals for all your favorite online stores. Score coupons codes for stores like Zalora and Lazada here http://iprice.ph/coupons/.

iPrice is your one stop shopping destination.

31st Star Awards for Movies 2015 Winners: Nora, Gretchen, Piolo, John Lloyd, Richard Yap, and Bimby Yap received top awards

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Nora Aunor, Gretchen Barretto, Piolo, John Lloyd, Richard Yap, and Bimby Yap received top awards during the 31st Philippine Movie Press Club Star Awards for Movies held Sunday night, March 8, at The Theatre, Solaire.

Nora Aunor, Movie Actress of the Year

Piolo and John Lloyd were both named Movie Actor of the Year. Piolo won the award for his role in "Starting Over Again," while John Lloyd got the nod for his performance in "The Trial."

Kim Chui, Iza Calsado, Xian Lim and Pops Fernandez hosted this year's PMPC Awards night. 'The Voice PH' co-host Robi Domingo served as segment host.

Bimby Yap with mom Kris Aquino at the 31st Star Awards for Movies ( Photo : darlasauler)

Here is the full list of winners of the 31st Star Awards for Movies: 

Nora Aunor Lifetime Achievement Award: Celia Rodriguez 

Best Movie of the Year: Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo 

Best Indie Movie of the Year: The Janitor

Movie Actress of the Year: Nora Aunor (Dementia)

Movie Actor of the Year: John Lloyd Cruz (The Trial) and Piolo Pascual (Starting Over Again) 

Movie Director of the Year: Enzo Williams (Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo) 

Indie Movie Director of the Year: Michael Tuviera (The Janitor) 

Movie Supporting Actress: Gretchen Barretto and Sylvia Sanchez (The Trial) 

Movie Supporting Actor: Nicco Manalo (The Janitor) 

New Movie Actor: Richard Yap (The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin) 

New Movie Actress: Sofia Andres (Relaks, It's Just Pag-ibig) 

Movie Child Performer: Miggs Cuaderno (Asintado) and Bimby Yap (The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin) 

Movie Screenwriter: Ricardo Lee, Enrico Santos and Kriz Gazmen (The Trial) 

Movie Cinematographer: Carlo Mendoza (Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo) 

Indie Movie Screenwriter: Arlyn Dela Cruz (Maratabat: Pride and Honor) 

Indie Movie Cinematographer: Rain Yamson (Magkakabaung)

Indie Movie Original Theme Song: "Sige Lang Nang Sige" with Lyrics by Bibeth Orteza, Music by Myke Solomon, Interpreted by Aiza Seguerra, Rafa Siguion-Reyna and Cris Villonco (Hari ng Tondo) 

Indie Movie Production Designer: Chito Sumera (Mga Kuwentong Barbero: Barber's Tales) 

Indie Movie Editor: Tara Illenberger (The Janitor) 

Movie Original Theme Song: "Hindi Pa Tapos" Composed and performed by Gloc-9, arranged by Paulo Zarate (Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo) 

Movie Editor: Benjamin Tolentino (Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo) 

Movie Production Designer: Roy Lachica and Joel Bilbao (Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo) 

Movie Sound Engineer: Albert Michael Idioma (Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo) 

Movie Musical Scorer: Von de Guzman (Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo)

Indie Movie Musical Scorer: Von de Guzman (Dementia) 

Indie Movie Sound Engineer: Albert Michael Idioma and Alex Tomboc (The Janitor) 

Special Awards

• Darling of the Press: Vicky Morales
• Nora Aunor Ulirang Artista Lifetime Achievement Award: Ms. Celia Rodriguez.
• Ulirang Alagad Ng Pelikula Sa Likod Ng Kamera Lifetime Achievement Award: Maryo J. delos Reyes
• Face of the Night: Iñigo Pascual and Kylie Padilla 
• Male Star of the Night: Julian Estrada Female Star of the Night: Sofia Andres

The 31st Star Awards for Movies is a blocktime production of Airtime Marketing, Inc., headed by producer Tess Celestino-Howard, in cooperation with the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC) under the leadership of Mr. Joe Barrameda, current President and Over-All Chairman.

The PMPC Star Awards honors the best Filipino movies of 2014 for the mainstream and indie film categories.Telecast of the awards night is on Sunday, March 22, 2015 on ABS-CBN's Sunday's Best.