Restaurateurs and foodies unite to fight hunger and child malnutrition

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Action Against Hunger, a global humanitarian organization that fights against the causes and effects of malnutrition, launches Restaurants Against Hunger!  - the campaign aims to unite chefs, restaurant owners, and foodies all over the world to help raise donations for their cause. 

Now on its third year in the Philippines, the campaign started in France in 1998 and has also been implemented in other countries such as Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Guatemala, India, Italy, Peru, Spain, United Kingdom and the USA. 

Dale Nelson Divinagracia, Action Against Hunger Fundraising and Resource Development Manager, shared “Malnutrition is prevalent in the areas where Action Against Hunger is working. In North Cotabato, there was a 5-year old child who was practically skin and bones, he was pale and his hair was not growing. He was suffering from wasting because he was not eating enough food and not having a varied diet. For months he was only eating boiled cassava, banana, and sweet potato."

The Philippines is facing a serious problem with malnutrition. 33% of children under 5 are malnourished. That’s 1 out of 3 children. Being in the food industry, restaurants are natural allies in the fight against hunger and child malnutrition. 

That's the idea behind this campaign - the participating restaurants will choose a dish (or dishes) from their menu and for every order of those dishes, a portion of the profit will be used for projects to fight hunger in the Philippines.

Action Against Hunger organization do this campign for the third time in the Philippines, and this year it will run from October 1 to December 1.

6 simple resons to join the campain: 

• Be part of an international campaign
• Saving the lives of malnourished children in the Philippines
• Minimal costs, easy implementation
• Media exposure in traditional media and social networks
• Benefit of positive PR: attract and retain customers
• Motivate your staff in supporting a life-saving cause

The key is to unite our voices to highlight the problem and provide sustainable solutions. You will be part of an international campaign spanning four continents that has been supported by world renowned chefs and restaurants. 

Here's how to join the fight against hunger with some easy steps:

• Restaurant owners can easily participate by answering the form online and diners can help by patronizing the restaurants. You can sign your restaurant up to become a participant at www.restaurantsagainsthungerphilippines.org. 

• They don’t have a minimum or a maximum amount for the donations and it’s very easy to implement. You also don’t have to worry about having extra work because Action Against Hunger will provide the marketing materials like the posters, table-tops, “dishes that feed more” stickers to label the menu and information notes for the staff.

• For everyone, you can participate in the campaign by patronizing the participating restaurants and ordering their chosen dishes that will help raise donations for Action Against Hunger. The menu items will be labeled with “dishes that feed more” or you can ask the servers about them. 

• You can help combat hunger and malnutrition in the Philippines because if you order the featured dishes, a portion of the profit goes to their projects!

During the press conference last September 5 held at Acceler8, Paseo de Roxas, Makati, they shared to us that as of now, participating restaurants are: Alba Restaurante Español, Aracama, Azuthai, Café Mediterranean, Calderon, Chef Laudico OK Café, Chelsea Kitchen, Chotto Matte/Izakaya Sensu, Corner Tree Café, Cyma, Friends & Family/Coconut Club, Green Pastures, Grilla, Ikomai, Ilustrado, Kabila, Museum Café, Providore, Saboten, Sangkap, Simple Lang, Sobremesa, Terraz Bistro & Meetings, Terry’s Bistro, The Old Spaghetti House, The Shrimp Shack, Wild Ginger, and The Bistro Group

To know more about the campaign, visit www.restaurantsagainsthungerphilippines.org

 or follow these social media accounts 

www.actionagainsthunger.org / www.restaurantsagainsthungerphilippines.org

FB: @RestaurantsAgainstHungerPH / @ActionAgainstHungerPH

IG: @RestaurantsAgainstHungerPH 

Twitter : @EndHungerPH 

XCALE: Asia e-Commerce Summit 2018 : “Tapping Into the Trillion Dollar e-Commerce Industry”

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XCALE, the collaborative partnership of topnotch e-commerce gurus and pioneers today announced the event XCALE: Asia e-Commerce Summit 2018 with the theme “Tapping Into the Trillion Dollar e-Commerce Industry”. Speakers from various e-Commerce industries will share their expertise worth spreading on September 29, 2018, 9AM at SMX Convention Center.

XCALE: Asia e-Commerce Summit 2018 is organized under the license of XCALE Group and includes a one-day summit which celebrates E-commerce and elevate the businesses of attending participants into a whole new level.

The Summit is a gathering of at least 1,000 participants to boost and brim online marketing ideas, impart knowledge and network with industry experts to strengthen their respective businesses. Confirmed partner-speakers and co-presenters are Alibaba, Lazada, Payoneer, OneOkada, ShineOn, Viralstyle and a lot more that are related and significant in the e-commerce arena.

The show will be broadcasted and covered by various media outlets, print, broadcast and digital. The host of the conference is an award-winning Sales guru and Success Coach which will make the event even more memorable.

Tickets are available for P3,000 (inclusive of meals and summit materials). VIP tickets are available at P7,000 for front seat + VIP networking dinner. Both tickets are on early bird rates of P2,000 and P3,999 respectively.

Interested parties can book their tickets and read more about the participants at: xcalesummit.com/ticket. To find out more about the XCALE: Asia e-Commerce Summit 2018, visit the link above and our website www.xcalesummit.com.

Filipina singer Maria Laroco impresses The X Factor UK judges, gets a standing ovation from Simon Cowell, Louis Tomlinson, Ayda and Robbie Williams

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Maria Laroco, 17, from the Philippines, wowed all four judges of The X Factor UK with her rendition of Purple Rain sung by Prince on the second week of the competition. Maria flew to UK all the way from the Philippines, sharing it was just her third time to get on a plane.

Before her performance, Judge Simon Cowell asked Maria what gives her the strength to come all the way from where she lives to perform in front of them. The young lady immediately answered “Since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to be an international superstar and I want to be big! That’s why I’m doing this because I love to do this, and this is my dream!”

Deep into Maria’s performance, as she hit on the high notes, the crowd started cheering loudly and were on their feet, the judges then followed one by one started by Robbie Williams, Ayda Williams and Louis Tomlinson. Simon Cowell was also on his feet at the end of her song.

Host Dermot O’leary expressed his awe by asking Maria’s companions “Is there anyone in the Philippines who can’t sing?”

“That was absolutely incredible, incredible.” Former One Direction member and Judge Louis said. “To do what you’ve just done at 17, vocally, you absolutely, blew me away! Well done!” He added.

Judge Ayda gushed “O.M.G! You just bossed that stage, well done!”

Judge Simon asked “Was there ever one moment where you doubted this?”

Teary eyed Maria responded “No, I never gave up on my dreams, a lot of times people tell me that I can’t do it, that I’m not good enough.”

“Look what you did to the audience, that hasn’t happened a lot!” said Judge Robbie. “You’re amazing! I’m going to kick this off, and I’m going to give you a massive yes!” He added.

Judge Ayda followed saying “I’m gonna give you all the yeses I can possibly give you, Yes!”

“Maria, thank you so much for auditioning for this show, it’s a yes!” said Judge Louis.

“So you are 17 years old, and you’ve flown all the way [from the Philippines], which is a long trip, you’ve taken on probably one of the biggest songs in the world, I’m gonna go beyond the billion yeses, I’m gonna give you infinity yeses!” Judge Simon expressed.

Maria Laroco now moves on to the next round of The X Factor UK. 

The X Factor UK airs first and exclusive, same day as the UK on Blue Ant Entertainment every Sundays and Mondays at 7:55 PM. Blue Ant Entertainment is available on SKYcable channels 53(SD) and 196(HD), SKYdirect channel 35, Destiny Cable channel 53, and Cablelink channels 37(SD) and 313(HD).

Cebu Pacific encourages Filipinos to enjoy life’s first experiences with new campaign

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Experiencing first moments always leave a big impact in everyone’s lives. From something as simple as meeting a new friend, to thrilling new adventures such as driving your own car or travelling out of the country—these unforgettable moments turn into wonderful memories that are worth treasuring for a lifetime.

Among these cherished moments is that exciting feeling one can get from traveling for the very first time. For today’s young Filipinos, flying off to a destination is a realization of their long-time hopes and dreams. Accompanying them in their journeys, the country’s leading local carrier, Cebu Pacific, opens a world of possibilities where everyJuan can create their life’s most memorable moments. 

“It has always been our goal to support everyJuan to fly to their dream destinations. Now, we want to take things to greater heights, and share and celebrate exciting first memories and experiences with our loyal patrons,” said Cebu Pacific Director for Corporate Communications Charo Logarta Lagamon.

Cebu Pacific inspires more Filipinos to travel and gain more experiences with its Make Moments Happen campaign. The airline is touching on relatable stories that perfectly capture the interests of the viewers, especially the frequent and first-time fliers.

In support of its campaign, Cebu Pacific is releasing a series of digital videos that showcase real-life situations which are worth capturing as it happens. It focuses on first time moments that define everyone’s lives and shows how the airline plays a role in elevating the experience.

The first episode, Leah (First Break), follows a hardworking Manileña who is looking for a break from her busy reality. As her birthday comes near, she decides to take a leap and book that much-awaited vacation to a local destination, alone for the first time in her life.

Following Leah’s story, Cebu Pacific will also share an uplifting narrative of first achievement and a heartfelt tale of first welcome. Watch and share the videos on Cebu Pacific’s official Facebook page or YouTube channel. 

‘The Hopeful Romantic’, insanely, shamelessly hilarious, sexy romance movie

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A unique and quirky pairing, Pepe Herrera and Ritz Azul together in ‘The Hopeful Romantic’ are dynamic, unpredictable, and “combustible” pairing as they did great in the comedy, hilarity, and guilty laugh-out-loud moments.

Pepe Herrera fits this role so well as the ambitious, unsophisticated, and goofy guy who is totally clueless of the world’s ways yet aspires to still find his “dream girl”.

Ritz is one of the prettiest and classiest looking young actresses around today in Philippine Cinema. Ritz portrays the role of Veronica, a gold-digger and devirginized a virgin.

Their comical pairing alone is a precursor of all the funny mishaps, misfortunes, and misadventures at ‘The Hopeful Romantic’ movie from Regal Entertainment, Inc., directed by Topel Lee, an acclaimed Filipino film director, TV director and music video director and cinematographer.

With Pepe and Ritz and full cast , this is a very interesting and connected to real life, ‘The Hopeful Romantic’ has been proven that comedians or funny guys–never mind their looks, though–make great partners for women looking to be with someone who can make them laugh.

Here's a romcom movie with a super valuable life lesson.

As Veronica, Ritz portrays a kept woman in the high society world and a woman who tries to survive despite being difficult life she has gone through.  

Then one day, he meets Jess (Pepe Herrera), a valet parking assistant at a posh hotel, who is also honest and most of all, a virgin. He promised himself that he will only give himself when he already found his true love. 

Jess meets Veronica gets mesmerized by her presence. One thing lead to another, and Veronica gave Jess the “first time”. Jess, believing in the magic of what happened between them, decides that Veronica is his one true love. 

However, there is one problem; Veronica has no idea that he is not rich. Afraid that revealing himself will make him lose Veronica, Jess starts to pretend the part. He kept on doing this until his resources spill away. The inevitable happens, and Veronica learns the truth about Jess.

The Hopeful Romantic opens September 12, 2010. The funniest romantic film of the season is directed by Topel Lee. 

For more updates, follow Regal Entertainment Inc on Facebook, @RegalFilms on Twitter, @RegalFilms50 on IG and Regal Cinema channel on YouTube.

Congratulations and best wishes to the whole cast, direk Topel Lee and production team!