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| (Image Source: Panay News/SM City Iloilo) |
With thousands of domestic and foreign visitors packing various festival activities, Dinagyang’s return to the city’s streets exceeded expectations according to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas. A “complete success” was how he described the festival’s return to a face-to-face celebration after two years of restrictions due to the coronavirus disease pandemic. “Everyone wanted a strong comeback…It was a complete success and this showed that Dinagyang and our Sto. Niño is beyond politics,” added Treñas.
Dinagyang Festival is known far and wide for its participants’ impressive choreography and striking costumes that reflect Ilonggo ingenuity, craftsmanship, and artistry. Treñas congratulated the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. (IFFI), organizer of Dinagyang 2023, the participating tribes and corporate sponsors, among others. “I acknowledge all our sponsors from the private sector for their significant contributions in the success of Dinagyang. Of course, sa inyo tanan, mga pinalangga ko nga Ilonggo. Ang tanan nga ini bangud sa inyo kag para man sa inyo. Your strong support in all our activities played a meaningful role in the overall success of the festival,” said Treñas. The festival’s top sponsor was SM City Iloilo which served as a venue for many Dinagyang activities including the first-ever Dinagyang Ilomination last January 21st, Batchoy Festival, festival costumes exhibit, and concert of various performing artists including Asia’s Pop Heartthrob Darren Espanto, among others.
The festivities were graced by no less than First Lady of the Philippines Atty. Liza Araneta Marcos and some prominent government officials including House Speaker Martin Romualdez; Senators Risa Hontiveros, Jinggoy Estrada, Mark Villar, Francis Tolentino, and Bong Revilla; and former senator Franklin Drilon, among others. YouTube sensation Small Laude, broadcast journalist Karen Davila, lifestyle columnist and philanthropist Tessa Prieto Valdez, television presenter and entrepreneur Tim Yap were also there to join the festivities. They were warmly welcomed by Treñas and SM Supermalls president Steven Tan. Several dignitaries from foreign embassies attended the festivities as well including Romanian Ambassador to the Philippines HE Raduta Dana Matache with Mr. Constantin Matache; Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines HE Agus Widjojo and his wife, Mme. Ranny Agus Widjojo; Royal Thai Ambassador to the Philippines HE Tull Traisorat; Royal Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines HE Christian Halaas Lyster; Hungary Ambassador to the Philippines HE Titanilla Toth; Embassy of Polland Ambassador to the Philippines HE Jaroslaw Szczepankiewicz; Embassy of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Charge d’Affaires, a.i. Ms. P.G.P. Kaushalya; Consul General of Japan in Cebu Hideki Yamaji; and Embassy of the United States in the Philippines Chief Consuls Kristofer Graf and Leo Balantac. Hiligaynon for revelry or “merrymaking", the Dinagyang Festival is Iloilo City’s version of the Ati-atihan celebrations widely observed not only in Panay Island but also in other parts of the country.
Two of the many foreign dignitaries who graced the festival were full of praises. “I love the colors and dedication of the people. Everything is perfectly organized,” said Romanian Ambassador to the Philippines Raduta Dana Matache, expressing her excitement and delightfulness to come back for Dinagyang 2024. Matache also cited Iloilo City’s cleanliness and food. “I love your food and I still have to experience (more of) Iloilo City. Thank you,” she added. On the other hand, Embassy of Poland in Manila Chargé d’Affaires Jaroslaw Szczepankiewicz lauded the performances of the Diangyang tribes. “Maganda, very nice. I like it,” he told the press. Szczepankiewicz said he would definitely recommend Iloilo City as a good destination to visit when he returns Poland. “I always say you have the best food here, lots of ancestral houses to visit and museums. Iloilo has the potential to be the cultural center of the Philippines,” he added. The Iloilo River also caught Szczepankiewicz’s attention, noting its cleanliness and lots of mangroves growing.
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AirAsia Philippines Reminds Guests Of Strict eTravel Requirement Compliance
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| (Image Source: AirAsia Philippines) |
AirAsia Philippines is reminding all arriving international guests to fill out the Philippine One-Stop Electronic Travel Declaration or the eTravel card three days or 72 hours before their scheduled departure to facilitate a hassle-free entry to the country. The eTravel platform replacing the One Health Pass is the only travel requirement for fully vaccinated Filipino and international travelers. It is available online via etravel.gov.ph.
AirAsia Philippines Head of Communications and Public Affairs Steve Dailisan shares, “During the recent months, we monitored around 20% of arriving international guests who are still unable to complete the eTravel requirement prior to their flight, causing long queues at the arrival area. As a mandatory requirement of the Philippine Government on safety and security, we would like to highly encourage the compliance of our guests as we promote a seamless customer experience with AirAsia.” The Department of Tourism, meanwhile, noted that more than 4.8 million tourists are expected to visit the Philippines this year. The World’s Best Low-Cost Airlines expect arrivals to increase beginning Q2 2023 during summer, especially for the island destinations including Bohol, Boracay, Cebu, and Puerto Princesa.
To encourage more international tourists to visit the Philippines, AirAsia recently opened its 3x weekly flight to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Travelers flying to Guangzhou (Canton), China, and Tokyo (Narita), Japan may now find the best value deals through the airasia Super App. Flights to these key routes are expected to start next month. Departing international passengers at the NAIA Terminal 3 are also advised to allocate ample time before their estimated time of departure to facilitate smooth check-in, security clearance, and immigration screening. The World’s Best Low-Cost Airline is also advising its guests to download the Super App, and regularly visit the airasia fly safe page and airasia Super App social media platforms Facebook and Twitter for flight schedules and other travel advisories.
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ABS-CBN Wins ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard Golden Arrow Award Anew For Good Governance
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| (L-R) SEC chairman Emilio B. Aquino, ICD vice chair & president Ma. Aurora "Boots" Geotina-Garcia, ABS-CBN head of SSC Paul Michael Villanueva, PSE president and CEO Ramon S. Monzon, and ICD chairman Atty. Cesar L. Villanueva (Image Source: ABS-CBN Corporation) |
ABS-CBN Corporation, the premiere media and entertainment company and leading content provider in the Philippines, was honored anew for its good corporate governance alongside other top Philippine publicly-listed companies after it received an ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) Golden Arrow from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) last January 20, 2023. The network's SSC Head Paul Michael Villanueva accepted the award for the company at the ACGS Golden Arrow Awards held inside the Sheraton Manila Hotel.
ABS-CBN was included for the third time as one of the outstanding domestic publicly-listed companies that are well-managed and compliant with government regulations based on the 2021 ACGS assessment results for 2020 operations. The company also received ACGS Golden Arrows for its 2018 and 2019 operations. The ACGS is an assessment tool used in participating ASEAN nations like the Philippines to determine if an organization is being managed well and compliant with government regulations. Among the factors considered in the assessment are a company’s policies and practices on the rights of shareholders, responsibilities of the Board, and disclosure and transparency, among others. A non-stock, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the professionalization of Philippine corporate directorship, the ICD aims to raise the level of corporate governance policy and practice to be at part with the best of the world.
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Four Jollibee Group Brands Named Among America's Favorite Restaurant Brands
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| (Image Source: Jollibee Foods Corporation) |
More wins for the Jollibee Group, as four of its brands made it to the list of America’s Favorite Restaurant Chains for 2023. Newsweek, a premier US and international news magazine and website, in partnership with global data firm Statista, named Jollibee, Chowking, Smashburger, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) as among the best in their respective selected categories. “We are honored that our brands are included in this list of most favorite restaurant chains in the United States. We thank our customers for their continued support, resulting in this citation that inspires us even more in our mission of serving great-tasting food, bringing the joy of eating to everyone,” said Jollibee Group President and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong.
The 2023 ranking was determined based on the results of an independent survey among over 4,000 customers and employees of restaurant chains in the United States. The respondents were asked to indicate which restaurant chains would they recommend among three ethnic cuisines and 13 dish categories. The three ethnic cuisines include Chinese, Italian, and Tex-Mex; while the 13 dish categories consist of BBQ, burgers, chicken, coffee/tea/baked goods, ice cream/frozen yogurt, juice, and smoothies, noodles and ramen, pizza, sandwiches, seafood, soup, steak, and Sushi. Jollibee was cited in the chicken category, Smashburger for burgers, CBTL for tea and coffee, and Chowking for the Chinese cuisine category.
According to Statista, all ratings were transformed into a score value and aggregated toward a final score. The survey respondents rated their experience with the restaurant chains using these nine assessment criteria: taste, cleanliness, hygiene and COVID-19 measures, transparency about ingredients, location, dealing with environmental issues, accessibility, service quality, and treatment of employees. To receive an award, a restaurant chain needed to receive a minimum number of recommendations and an overall score of at least 7 out of 10. In addition, a restaurant chain was required to have at least three locations across different cities within at least two U.S. states.
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Watsons Encourages Consumers To Practice Refilling
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| Watsons recently opened its second Refill Station for Naturals By Watsons at The Block, SM City North EDSA (Image Source: Orange Magazine TV/Watsons Philippines) |
After the 1st Refill Station was opened in the SM Megamall store in 2022, the leading health, wellness, and beauty retailer Watsons have recently launched its second Refill Station for Naturals by Watsons at The Block SM City North Edsa store to encourage more consumers to do good by reusing their plastic bottles, thereby reducing the use of plastic.
The Refill Stations are part of A.S. Watson Group’s global commitment to encourage its customers to lead more sustainable lifestyles by offering more options for them to do so. With two Refill Stations, customers can now conveniently refill their clean empty Naturals by Watsons bottles with their favorite variants: Aloe Vera Shampoo, Coffee Shampoo, Argan Shampoo, Olive Shampoo, and Aloe Vera Body Wash. Empty bottles with screw caps are also available for purchase in the store, and customers can save up to 40 percent vs. regular bottles. Refill Station customers will also get a free sticker that they can customize. Only clean, dry, and empty Naturals by Watsons bottles can be refilled at the Refill Stations.
If you cannot visit the Refill Stations, Watsons also offers refill packs of its Naturals by Watsons products as well as hundreds of refill packs from Safeguard, Dove, Johnson’s, Colgate, Gillette, Babyflo, Sunsilk, Luxe Organix, Head & Shoulders, and many others. Refill packs are 40% cheaper than regular packs and they also produce 75% less plastic waste as compared to regular bottles. These refill packs are available in all Watsons stores nationwide and online via the Watsons App. “We hope our customers contribute to a more sustainable world by reusing the containers and hence, reducing plastic waste,” said Watsons Philippines Public Relations and Sustainability Director Viki Encarnacion.
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Refresh Your Watchlist This 2023 With Exciting Content Via SKYcable Channels
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| (Image Source: ABS-CBN Corporation) |
Embrace the new year ahead by hooking onto fresh shows and series as SKY offers a wide variety of content via their SKYcable subscription plans, available for as low as Php500 per month, allowing you to enjoy live sports, comedy, cartoons, and more. Enjoy this limited offer as you tune in this January to the much-awaited HBO original series based on the popular 2013 video game, “The Last Of Us". New episodes of this post-apocalyptic adventure starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are being aired on HBO every Monday at 10:00 pm.
Add more thrill to your evenings with the new ABS-CBN series, “Dirty Linen", airing weeknights at 9:30 pm on Kapamilya Channel. In this revenge drama, Alexa Salvacion (Janine Gutierrez) plots revenge to reveal the truth about the Fiero family and seek justice for her mother. As for those who haven’t streamed the iconic run of “Drag Race Philippines", you can finally watch it on cable via TLC every Monday, 9:55 pm, starting February 6th. Witness twelve drag queens flaunt their skills and slay the stage with their beauty and brains.
Sports fanatics can fuel their adrenaline rush with the array of shows available on beIN Sports and Premier Sports. Stay tuned to the heated matches of the Australian Open on beIN Sports 2 until January 29 while waiting for the live airing of Super Bowl LVII and the much-awaited halftime performance of Rihanna on Premier Sports this February 13. Kids are also in for an adorable and educational treat with the new show on Da Vinci Kids. “Junior Vets", showing every Saturday and Sunday at 6:35 pm, features young aspiring veterinarians getting hands-on experience with the guidance of actual vets. Enjoy these and more by subscribing to SKYcable. For more updates on SKYcable's programming and other cable plans, follow SKY on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@myskyupdates) or visit mysky.com.ph for more of our offerings.
