Filipino culture showcased in Lisbon Business Mirror 25 September 2019
LISBON—The Philippine Embassy led the monthlong celebration of the 121st anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence in June at the Terras Sem Sombra, Artes â Solta Festival in Ferreira do Alentejo.
In collaboration with
organizers, the embassy and municipality officials, the Philippine Day activity
provided an inclusive experience on the richness and vibrancy of Filipino culture
through food, music, traditional games and handicrafts. The embassy also took
the opportunity to promote various tourist destinations in the Philippines by
giving away anahaw-woven fans from Quezon province, dried mangoes from Cebu and
3D holographic destination luggage tags from the Department of Tourism.
Filipina entrepreneur and Chef Jaymaylyn Galiza Day prepares Filipino-style fried lumpia. Guests also got to sample spicy sisig.
The morning program started
in the Ferreira do Alentejo Municipal Garden with a Filipino fiesta setting
with kiosk of street food, exhibited and operated by Jaymalyn Galiza Day, a
Lisbon-based chef who owns Diplomata catering service. Filipina entrepreneurs
and co-owners of GustoKO, Paula Figueras and Queenie Guzman, also showcased a
selection of handicraft products.
Figueras and Guzman are
recognized as the embassy’s “cultural entrepreneurs” for not only creating
economic value to Philippine products, but for also pursuing Filipino culture
and heritage.
The afternoon event gave
participants an ultimate Filipino eating experience with Filipino favorites,
such as pork adobo with rice served in coconut rice bowls, as well as local
snacks from Alentejo like ferreirense (cake), chouriço (sausage),
as well as traditional cheese and olives.
Visitors enjoy Filipino pork adobo served in coconut rice bowls.
Visitors got to play
Filipino traditional games such as sungka, dama and patintero,
while Filipino children also enjoyed participating in the traditional Alentejo
games like paper kite making, rope jumping, walking with stilts and face
painting.
Pundaquit Virtuosi, a
28-member youth string ensemble from San Antonio, Zambales, ended their 2019
European tour with an evening concert before a crowd of 500. It played a
diverse repertoire of classical music masterpieces, popular original Pilipino
music staples and contemporary standards.
The show ended with the
string ensemble and Portuguese all-male singing group Os Boinas (The Berets)
performing the song “Amor Pelo Dois,” the winning Portuguese entry at the 2017
Eurovision singing contest.
Ambassador Celia Anna M.
Feria expressed her appreciation to the Municipality of Ferreira do Alentejo
and to festival organizers for allowing the embassy to showcase the best of
Filipino culture. Members of the Filipino community in Lisbon also came to
partake in the festival.
The Terras Sem Sombra
festival is held annually since 2013, bringing music, heritage and biodiversity
together. This year’s edition also featured Madrid-based Filipina soprano
Aniway “Manila” Adap, who performed a full-concert repertoire at the Igreja
Matriz de Sao Vicente in Cuba Alentejo in May.
The Philippines also shared
its best practices of biodiversity conservation in April for the “Resist the
Invader: The Water Hyacinth and the Guadiana Basin” event in Elvas, Alentejo.
The Philippine Day Activity at Ferreira do
Alentejo is a culmination of the Country’s participation in the 2019 Terra Sem
Sombra Festival. DFA
Travel website recognizes Manila, Cebu as among Asia's friendliest cities Alec Go Manila Bulletin 25 September 2019
Manila and Cebu ranked 4th and 15th, respectively, in Big 7 Travel’s list which was released recently.
The travel website described Manila residents as “famously welcoming,” and the city a “friendly place to spend some time in.”
Roxas Boulevard, Manila (supplied)
“It’s a place where locals have a buzzing attitude and an eagerness to show off their city to out-of-towners,” the article stated.
Cebu City, on the other hand, was recognized for its “exuberant vibe” and the presence of multiculturalism among its residents.
Ayala Center, Cebu City
Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, and Chiang Mai were the hailed the top three friendliest cities in Asia.
Big 7 Travel said they surveyed their “social audience of 1.5 million” for the list.
There were no specific criteria given to respondents, but factors such as where they felt the most welcome and how easy they navigated the area either with the help of locals or not were considered.
Big 7 Media is a travel website that features content on food, travel, and hotels around the world.
Philippines rises to No. 21 in Fiba 3X3 Men's world ranking
Randolph B. Leongson Spin.ph 25 September 2019
A SPOT in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament is within reach for the Philippines as it rose to 21st from 25th in the Fiba 3x3 Men's World Rankings.
Philippines 3x3 has amassed 8,156,366 points, putting it in play for the Olympic Qualifyng Tournament (OQT) a month before the October 31 Fiba-imposed deadline.
Pasig Chooks made it to the quarterfinals of the Kaohsiung Challenger on Sunday.
Balanga Chooks is also set to participate in the Jeju Challenger and the 2019 Fiba 3x3 World Tour Jeddah Masters next month as the country's last ditch effort to stay within the top 24.
The three highest-ranked federations will automatically qualify for the Olympics, while host Japan has gained automatic entry.
Twenty teams will compete in the OQT for four slots to the Olympics while the last slot will be disputed in a Universality OQT.
Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 league owner Ronald Mascariñas said more 3x3 activities are set in October. "We just can't wait and leave out fate to chance. We have to continue pushing until our goal is met." said Mascariñas.
Singapore keen on bigger investment to Philippines
Bianca Cuaresma Business Mirror 25 September 2019
Singapore businesses looking for
expansion opportunities in the region are highly considering the Philippine
market as their choice investment destination, a recent survey showed.
The Singapore Business
Federation’s (SBF) recent National Business Survey showed that the Philippines
was among the top 10 markets of interest for Singaporean companies looking to
expand their business.
“While many Singapore companies
have established operations in the Philippines in industries such as
manufacturing and infrastructure, there are untapped opportunities in areas
such as information technology and digital solutions, which our companies with
the capabilities will be able to take up,” SBF Chairman Teo Siong Seng said.
He added that the economic and
social progress the Philippines has made, thus far, makes for an attractive and
compelling case for Singapore investors.
“Asean remains a bright spot in a
cloudy global economy and has abundant opportunities and potential for growth.
Singapore and the Philippines have always enjoyed close economic ties,” the SBF
chairman said.
In 2018, Singapore was the
second-largest investor in the Philippines, and the Philippines’s largest
export market among the member-states of the Asean.
Loh Chin Hua, chief executive
officer of Keppel Corp. who is also co-chairman of the Philippines-Singapore
Business Council, said the company is now exploring ways on how it can expand
its investments in the Philippines, especially with the Duterte’s
administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure modernization program now
in full swing.
Keppel Corp. is one of
Singapore’s largest conglomerates with involvement in the infrastructure
sector.
He also noted that among the
advantages of doing business in the Philippines is that investors can borrow in
the local currency, thus reducing risks and enabling them to get reasonable
returns.
“And that is quite a remarkable achievement
because not many countries in this region can say that. And when you have to
invest abroad but you have to borrow in their currencies, it always increases
the risks,” Loh said. “For Keppel, we have operated two shipyards in the
Philippines, and we are now looking to see how we can do more here.”
Earlier this month, a delegation
of 21 Singapore business leaders from 14 companies joined the business mission
organized by the SBF from September 9 to 11 2019. The delegation was led by SBF
Chairman Teo Siong Seng.
Philippine city turns plastic trash into tulips to fight waste
Reuters 25 September 2019
MANILA (Reuters) - A southern Philippine city has turned discarded plastic bottles into flowers to fill a garden of thousands of colorful tulips, capturing tourists’ attention and building awareness about recycling.
The tulip garden, which opened on Monday, was built from 26,877 bottles collected from 45 villages around Lamitan City in Basilan, an island province on the southwestern tip of the archipelago.
Plastic bottles were cut into the shape of tulips and painted red, yellow, pink and blue, while others were blended into sand and cement and used to make pathways in the garden.
The Philippines is a major source of ocean plastics and only a small amount of its waste is recycled.
Plastic bottles make up a large chunk of waste in Lamitan, and turning them into a tourist attraction can help combat plastic pollution, said the city’s mayor, Rose Furigay.
“Let us be mindful of how to minimize the use of plastic,” she said.
Basilan is among the country’s poorest provinces, notorious for being a stronghold of an Islamist group known for banditry and kidnapping.
Reporting by Jay Ereno; Writing by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez
Philippines boosts global ranking in trade facilitation
Louella Desiderio Philippine Star 24 September 2019
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines saw its trade facilitation score go up in this year’s United Nations (UN) Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation amid improvements in four out of five categories tracked by the report.
This year’s report showed the Philippines got a trade facilitation score of 80.65 percent, up from 69.89 percent in 2017.
Covering 128 economies, the UN report looks at trade facilitation measures being implemented in relation to the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, digital trade, small and medium enterprises, agriculture and women, and trade finance.
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The measures are grouped into five categories which are cross-border paperless trade, paperless trade, institutional arrangement and cooperation, formalities, and transparency.
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines had a better trade facilitation score than neighbors Indonesia (80 percent), Brunei Darussalam (77 percent), Cambodia (71 percent), Vietnam (61 percent), Myanmar (60 percent) and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (59 percent).
The Philippines, however, was behind Malaysia and Thailand which both got 83 percent, and Singapore which had a score of 94 percent.
Results of the survey showed the Philippines had higher scores in all the categories except in institutional arrangement and cooperation, where its rating was unchanged at 55.56 percent. In the cross-border paperless trade category, the Philippines got a score of 55.56 percent this year from just 33.33 percent in 2017.
The Philippines’ score also rose to 77.78 percent this year from 70.37 percent in 2017 in the paperless trade category.
In terms of the formalities category, the Philippines had a rating of 100 percent this year from 87.50 percent last year.
The Philippines also had a 100 percent score in the transparency category this year, up from 93.33 percent in 2017.
In conducting the survey, the UN aims to help countries benchmark and reduce the time and cost of trading across borders.
It likewise seeks to provide information for policy makers to take advantage of trade in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which aims to put an end to poverty.
A Filipino first: A fashion show at the House of Lords
Miss Charlize Business Mirror 23 September 2019
LONDON—For the first time in
fashion history, a Filipino designer was able to showcase the finest of the
Philippines at the Palace of Westminster.
Parkfleet Consultancy & Services and Topline International, the producers of the exclusive event, called “Creative Economy Through Fashion,” enlisted Cebu-based designer Philipp Piezas Tampus to display the ingenious uses of indigenous materials, such as hablon and piña cocoon.
Philipp Piezas Tampus and Marie Fairbank; Bianca Lopez Salimbangon; Kacey Coleen, and Kimmie Famero
The grand neo-Gothic architecture
and ornate Augustus Pugin-designed interiors of the House of Lords served as
the backdrop for the sampaguita-inspired pieces that Tampus presented.
The sampaguita flowers,
painstakingly attached and embroidered to long gowns and tea-length dresses,
are made of piña cocoon while the hablon was made by weavers in Argao,
Cebu. Tampus also showed sharp menswear suits and charming children’s wear.
It was Mike Acebedo Lopez,
commisioner of the Cebu Ports Authority and managing director of Topline, that
suggested Tampus to be the featured designer at the economic forum-cum-fashion
show.
“When I saw my sister Bianca’s
wedding dress designed by Philipp, I sent a photo to Savita Kaye [CEO and
founder of the House of iKons, a show during London Fashion Week] and Marie Fairbank
[Parkfleet founder] who immediately wanted to see more,” Lopez shared. “When
Savita saw his portfolio, which includes Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia’s inauguration
dress, it was decided that Philipp would be one of the featured designers at
the House of iKons show and the lone designer at the House of Lords.”
It was Fairbank who
conceptualized “Creative Economy Through Fashion,” which aims to empower the
farming sector that is the main source of materials for the fashion industry.
“When I realized that our designers
who come to the UK spend thousands or millions and go home without ROI because
they have no access to business people for collaborations and business
sustainability, I wanted to help in my own way,” said Fairbank, a doyenne in
the Fil-Brit community in London.
“I believed that to do a forum at the House of Lords, I’d be the first-ever Filipina to organize an event in such a prestigious place. The venue was chosen so we could attract high-profile business people, potential investors and government officials that we could link them to the designers,” she added.
Among the attendees were lords
and ladies, a diamond dealer, Dr. Vanessa Brady, OBE; Prof. Mark Watson-Gandy,
barrister/CEO; Deputy Chief of Missions Ambassador Frank Cimafranca and wife Lu
Calunsag; Deputy Mayor of Elstree and Borehamwood Cynthia Alcantara-Barker;
hotelier Julie Aquino, businesswoman Eme Echavez, CareHands Ltd. Director Elsa
Binas and Consul Stacy Alcantara Garcia.
“I wanted to promote the
Philippines but starting first with Cebu, because that’s where I’m from. In my
next event, I will include anyone that will support my cause,” Fairbank said.
“I will also invite fashion designers from Africa, the Mediterranean and the
Caribbean.”
