One of the Philippines most organized blogging organization — Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc. (CBSI)  is celebrating its 4th year anniversary.

The gathering, which is expected to draw old and new Cebu Blogger members, will be held at Azkals Sports Bar and Grill  on February 11, 2012 from 5:30PM – 8:00PM.

Cebu Bloggers Will be Checking In at Azkals Sports Bar and Grill

Azkals Sports Bar and Grill
Treehouse Building, Ramon Aboitiz St, Cebu City.
(right next to backgate of St.Theresa’s College)
Opens Mondays through Thursdays
BAR HOURS: Weekdays – 4:00PM – 1:00 AM and  Weekends – 4:00PM – 3:00 AM

For reservation contact at +63 915 343 3251 and +63 32 2391967. Interested parties can also email at azkalssportsbarandgrill@gmail.com.

One significant detail to set the 2012 Sinulog celebrations apart is the introduction of PLDT WiFi Zones all across public thoroughfares and establishments nearest the event to maximize the Sinulog experience.

In partnership with Cebu City Government through the Office of the Mayor, Councilors Bob Cabarrubias and Mike Ralota, PLDT WiFi Zones have been set up in time for Sinulog but will be a service made available to Cebuanos year round starting January 12. The PLDT WiFi Zones may be accessed in Gen. Maxilom Avenue, Gorordo to Fuente Osmeña Circle, Osmeña Boulevard, Portions of N. Bacalso Avenue and P. del Rosario, the Cebu City Sports Center, Cebu City Hall, Provincial Capitol, Magellan’s Cross and Plaza Indepencia and many other establishments.

The service will be free for the duration of the festival. Consumers just need to look for the PLDT WiFi Zone booths strategically located along the festival route to get their free WiFi zone PINs.

“PLDT has always considered Cebu as one of its priority cities. With the unveiling of its latest technology, the PLDT WiFi Zone, the Sinulog Festival, every Cebuano’s proudest moment, can now be shared throughout the world as it takes place,” according to PLDT Head of Cebu Operations Bong Lintag.

PLDT Vice President for Data Acquisitions Retail Business Group, Gary Dujali, believes that powering Cebu up for its biggest festival will prove to be a great development for everyone involved. “This new service we are proud to finally launch in Cebu is an extension of our subscribers’ internet connection at home. They can take advantage of ultra fast and reliable WiFi service not just at home but everywhere in the city.” Residents of Metro Manila can attest to experiencing WiFi like no other from more than 2000 establishments upgraded to the WiFi Zone just from last year.

PLDT Retail Business Group Head, Dan Ibarra, continues by saying that “With PLDT WiFi Zone, PLDT subscribers can experience the strong connection they get at home and they never have to miss out on their broadband experience.” It means that for the first time in Sinulog history, people can share what they’re going through online and in real time as PLDT WiFi Zone is right where all the festivities are centered! Posting photos in real-time of the most colorful costumes, the most captivating Cebuana beauties, or even your best dance moves won’t have to wait until after the festival is over.

PLDT WiFi Zone is the same unlimited myDSL connection you take with you outside the home and is made even more convenient by utilizing just one username and password when you connect to it. Experience PLDT WiFi Zone now for as low as P150 a month for PLDT myDSL subscribers, and P300 for PLDT landline subscribers. PLDT subscribers can register at www.pldtwifizone.com to try the service out for free until January 15 in the midst of the Sinulog merriment and to be privy to areas in Cebu that are set to be upgraded to the WiFi Zone in the near future.

Subscribers of Globe Telecom are in for a better experience with more channels for customer service that will immediately address needs and querries of its existing clients.

In a pioneering move, Globe launched new online channels to provide subscribers a variety of options where they can easily ask for after-sales support wherever they are and whatever time of the day. Subscribers here and abroad can get real-time feedback from customer service representatives (CSR) who are on duty 24/7 through the chat functionality available on the Globe website or by adding the Talk2Globe account (Talk2GLOBECHAT) on Yahoo! Messenger.

Globe subscribers anywhere in the Philippines can also get assistance through SMS by texting HELP to 1234 for free. These new channels feature faster response time to a specific customer inquiry, as well as uninterrupted and seamless service with a conversation tracking feature.

The new customer touchpoints are on top of the existing channels available for Globe subscribers such as the Talk2Globe Hotline via 730-1000 (toll-free via Globe Landline) or 211 (toll-free via Globe/TM mobile), official Talk2Globe social networking accounts in Facebook and Twitter, and the Talk2Globe e-mail account (talk@globetel.com.ph).

“As part of our commitment to superior customer experience, Globe gets closer to customers using new service technologies that spell convenience, accessibility, and faster response,” said Joe Caliro, Head for Customer Experience of Globe. “This gives our customers an opportunity to use their preferred channel to communicate with us, letting them enjoy talking to Globe their way with our widest range of self-service channels.”

Globe also launched *143#, the newest and easiest quick-service menu that allows subscribers to know more about the latest Globe promos at the touch of a button for free. Both prepaid and postpaid subscribers using this innovative service can quickly access billing and load details, as well as call, text and surfing promos, do GCASH transactions, download related services, and share prepaid load to Globe and TM users without having to memorize registration codes and access numbers. To use the service, just dial *143# and press the call button on the mobile phone.

In an unprecedented move at personalization, Globe set up an exclusive Visayan interactive voice response (IVR) system and deployed Visayan-speaking CSR agents based in Cebu to serve sales, after-sales, and technical concerns on broadband and landline services of customers in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. The company partnered with Aegis People Support and Tech Mahindra, two of the top call center companies in the global BPO industry. “This is a milestone not only for Globe but for our Visayan-speaking subscribers because they will find that when they talk to Globe, we are more responsive and there are no language barriers,” added Caliro. Mobile services will be served starting January 15, 2012 for prepaid and February 13, 2012 for postpaid.

The Visayan language is the second most-widely spoken dialect in the country, with over 20 million Filipinos speaking the language in various provinces and cities in Visayas and Mindanao. Visayan-speaking subscribers can call the Hotline at (02) 730-1000 or 211 and choose the Visayan option to listen to a Visayan-speaking IVR or speak with a Visayan CSR.

In 2009, Pinoyworld was one of the first blog to post an article based by a Jesuit Catholic Priest James B. Reuter originaly titled,”Justice at 3 A.M.” I posted it under the title “Remembering the Heroism of Philip Pestaño“

After nearly a decade, Ten Navy Officers are charged with the nonbailable crime of murder were:

• Capt. Ricardo Ordoñez
• Cmdr. Reynaldo Lopez
• Hospital Man 2 Welmenio Aquino
• Lt. Cmdr. Luidegar Casis
• Lt. Cmdr. Alfrederick Alba
• Machinery Repairman 2 Sandy Miranda
• Lt. Cmdr. Joselito Colico
• Lt. Cmdr. Ruben Roque
• PO1 Carlito Amoroso
• O2 Leonor Igcasan

According to an article by Inquirer.net:

The 24-year-old Pestaño was found dead in his cabin aboard the BRP Bacolod City on September 27, 1995, shortly before the ship was to dock at the Philippine Navy headquarters in Manila. He had bullet wounds in the head.

A supposed suicide note was found on his body, but his parents, Felipe and Evelyn, refused to believe that their son killed himself and filed charges against the Navy officials.

In 2009, the anti-graft body, then headed by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, dismissed the complaint, saying the evidence was circumstantial.

The Pestaños filed a motion for reconsideration, which was granted in an order approved by Gutierrez’s successor, Conchita Carpio Morales, on Jan. 10.

The alleged inaction on the Pestaño case was one of the grounds raised against Gutierrez during her impeachment in 2011.

In the latest order, Ombudsman Morales said the circumstances surrounding the young officer’s death belied the earlier finding that he had committed suicide. His own wounds did not appear self-inflicted, she said.

Morales said Pestaño had two contusions on the right temple and a cut in the left ear, which, it added could not have been caused by the bullet fired into his head but a hard, blunt object.

The bullet’s entry wound was oval in shape and did not bear any tattooing, smudging or burn mark as what would have happened during a close-contact fire, Morales said.

“It is farfetched for a person who commits suicide to shoot himself on the head at a distance,” she noted.

Citing findings of forensic experts, the Ombudsman said the handwriting on the suicide note was different from that of Pestaño.

More news about the case can be viewed here: Ombudsman files murder raps vs 10 Navy officials for Pestaño murder.

The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), in partnership with the Alternative Contemporary Art Studio and The Grove by Rockwell, will launch the Contemporary Cebu art exhibit to bring national attention to Cebuano artists and their works. The exhibit will be open to the public tomorrow(January 4, 2011) at Cebu City Museum  at 6:00 PM and will run until January31.

New masterpieces that exemplify contemporary movements in painting, sculpture, and performance arts by leading and upcoming artists from the region — Palmy Pe-Tudtud, Marvin Natural, Kidlat of the Junks Collective, Karl Roque, Sio Montera, Ritchie Quijano, and Tito Cuevas—are featured in the exhibit. Russ Ligtas of Butoh will give performances on Jan. 12 and 13.

RAFI has been Alternative Contemporary Art Studio’s major partner since Contemporary Cebu’s inception in 2011. This year, they took in The Grove by Rockwell as a major partner. The other sponsors of the exhibit are the Cebu City Government, Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission of Cebu City, National Commission for the Culture and the Arts, Blue Shield Risk Management, Gothong Southern, Michelangelo Pizzeria, and Hola España.

For more information about the exhibit, you can call (63 32) 418 7234 local 520 and look for Nancy Cudis, or email at Nancy.Cudis@rafi.org.ph .

Past records of the Department of Health show an increase of the number of patients at the local hospitals after a long Christmas vacation.

This prompted Dave Bargamento, National Nutrition Council 7 nutrition officer, and Ronald delos Reyes, program coordinator of the Eduardo J. Aboitiz Cancer Center, to urge the public to observe a healthy lifestyle during the holidays.

During the Dec. 17 episode of Pagtuki, the weekly radio program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. aired every Saturday morning over dyLA, Bargamento and delos Reyes shared tips on how to stay healthy this yuletide season.

“People, especially those who are always attending parties, should eat moderately. They should avoid eating high fat and salt content foods. Too much of fat and salt will always have a negative effect on one’s body,” Bargamento explained.

Both Pagtuki guests promoted the eating of fruits and vegetables and lessening the use of seasonings.

“Since it would be a long holiday for everyone, it would be better to give time to exercising. Exercise would help burn excess calories. The sweat would help release toxins from our body,” delos Reyes said.

“Intake of water would also be helpful, especially when you drink alcoholic beverages. Water can help dilute alcoholic drinks,” Bargamento added.

They also advised partygoers to eat food that are rich in protein before going to their parties, saying that being very hungry before an event would trigger them to eat a lot.

“Eating ham on noche buena should also be minimized. Ham is processed meat and is high on salt. One or two slices of it would be enough,” Bargamento said.

He also urged parents to store the kids’ favorite, spaghetti, properly since it “perishes easily” compared to other food. Both Pagtuki guests pointed out that excess intake of food would lead to obesity that increases the risk of other possible illnesses, such as colon cancer. (by Hannah Reoma/RAFI intern)

CEBU, Philippines – Philippine wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Cebu-based website MyCebu.ph have partnered to deliver information on tourism and heritage sites to mobile phones and tablets through quick response or QR code scanning.

The project is being undertaken in partnership with the Department of Tourism Central Visayas.

Smart and MyCebu.ph will place special markers on tourism and heritage sites all over Cebu.

The markers will contain a snipper of information about the site and a QR code that, when scanned, will be open an article about the landmark. To be able to laod the information, users must be connected and they must have a QR reader in their devices. Most phone platforms offer free QR code scanners in their respective application markets.

The project is set for launch at historic Barangay Pari-an Cebu City today. Smart and MyCebu.ph also announced the immediate availability of a free electronic guidebook to the Sinulog for the iPad, Iphone, Kindle, Android tablets and phones and other smartphones and ereader brands. The guidebook will be offered for free downlaod at the airport, Ayala Center Cebu, hotels, restuarants and other tourism establishment in Cebu. It will also be given away at the officers of the DOT and the Sinulog Foundation.

MyCebu.ph Founder Marlen Limpag with an epub version of "A Guide To Cebu 2012"

Smart and MyCebu.ph also launched “A Guide To Cebu 2012,” an electronic guidebook on Cebu. Get Guide to Cebu 2011. The guidebook will be sold on Amazon and other online bookstores but will also be mad available for free downlaod at the airport, Ayala Center Cebu, hotels and other locations frequented by tourists.

The Sinulog guidebook is available for downlaod starting today. A Guide To Cebu 2012, however, will be made available for download in January in time for the Sinulog.

For the launch, Smart and MyCebu.ph will take guests on a short heritage walk in Paria-an to demonstrate the viewing of information through QR code scanning.

The highlight of the tour will be the display of the San Juan Bautista Parish Church through a QR code marker at the chapel that is built on where the church used to stand. The parish church is described by historic records as the most opulent in Cebu. It was torn down in the late 1970s during a conflict between the Pari-an community leader and a Spanish priest.

The project showcases journalism that takes takes full advantage of new technology to deliver information to people,” said Marlen Limpag, MyCebu.ph editor,” With the project, people are able to read on their phone or tablet about historic events right at where these happened.”

Limpag stressed, however, that the project isn’t purely historical or heritage.” Tourists can also get tips on how to get the most of their stay right at the tourist spot they are visiting.”

“This is a very exciting project for us. We are not only promoting tourism here in Cebu, we also get to work with passionate people from MyCebu.ph, DOT, Sinulog Foundation, local bloggers and local community leaders in helping preserve these heritage sites by raising awareness through Internet and communications technologies.” said Atty. Maria Jane C. Paredes, senior manager for Public Affairs Group, Smart.

The group will also showcase video clips linked to the QR codes in select tourism and heritage areas.

The capitalize on social networking to help spread word on the country’s tourism sites, the articles loaded by the system are plugged into various social networks like Facebook, Google+, Twitter and even location-based services like FourSquare. They can then “Like” or tweet about the place.

“Filipinos are very social in nature. We can use social media to our advantage to help encourage more tourists to visit Cebu and the rest of the country. This initiative in Cebu is just the start of something bigger for us. We plan to bring this nationwide in support of the DOT and the various local government units.” added Paredes.

But while the system makes use of QR scanning, Limpag said they are looking forward to using technologies like NFC or near field communication to deliver data in the future.

“We think QR code scanning is transitory. We look forward to using NFC to simplify delivery of information and we are happy to have partnered with Smart, which pionered the use of the NFC as well as other leading wireless technologies in the Philippines,” Limpag said.

The QR code project will be pioneered in Pari-an and downtown Cebu City. Smart and MyCebu.ph, however, will work to expand the system to cover important tourism and historical sites in Cebu.

If you are planning to visit Cebu on January for SINULOG 2012, better get a hold of this digital guide.

MyCebu.ph, with the support of Philippine wireless leader Smart Communications Inc, has published a guidebook for Sinulog 2012.

This guidebook is available for free download at the Mactan Cebu International Airport, Ayala Center Cebu, malls, hotels, restaurants and other tourism establishments in Cebu.

The Guidebook started as a personal project of Marlen and Max Limpag. With the help of its partners, the project is full blown to become one of the three digital tourism projects that the couple is launching.

In an interview by PINOYWORLD.org, “This digital guide can provide you all the details that you need to know about Sinulog, and all the related information about Cebu.”

The guidebook comes in two versions: .epub and Mobile Version.

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE HERE

What is the best way to celebrate the gift-giving season?

For some people like Ency Encinares, a volunteer deaf mute teacher, and Venerva Amil, a teacher for the Bajau community in Barangay Alaska Mambaling, Cebu City, volunteering for a cause is the best form of a gift this yuletide season.

They both define volunteerism as serving without something in return, as long as the one doing it happy with what he or she is doing doing. They also associate volunteerism as saying the truth, letting the people know that one is sincere with his or her voluntary service.

Encinares and Amil were guests during the “Pagtuki” episode last Dec. 3 when the topic was on the state of the Cebuano volunteerism. Pagtuki is the weekly radio program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) aired every Saturday morning over dyLA.

“When I was still in college, I belonged to an organization that is into helping the community. I have had worries, such as failing my subjects since I gave so much of my time as a volunteer. But at the end of the day, I find fulfillment in what I was doing,” Encinares explained.

He added that he would have had a hard time learning the sign language if he was not dedicated and passionate about it.

For Amil, she has seen the need for the Bajau community to focus on education, especially learning the Cebuano language.

“I decided to share my knowledge with them. Even though there are a lot of challenges being a volunteer teacher, such as getting the cooperation of the Bajau community, these are not reasons for me to stop. I know majority of my students want to learn. I want to impart to them that education is very relevant in our lives,” Amil shared in Cebuano.

Apart from sharing their personal experiences on volunteerism, they also encouraged the public, particularly the youth, to do voluntary work and contribute to community development.

“Volunteerism should start in us. Set yourself as an example so that the rest will follow,” Amil advised. (by Hannah Reoma/RAFI intern)

If we are to provide a measuring stick of knowing how the Cebu Blogosphere had grown these past years, one would be tracking the developments of Best Cebu Blogs.

Their vision:

“Best Cebu Blogs Awards aims to recognize the existence and relevance of blogging in Cebu’s local blogging scene by pooling the finest online publishers in the Queen City of the South. It also aspires to augment Cebu bloggers’ influence in the general cyber community worldwide.”

For most, it was a time of the year in Cebu where everyone gathers and see who had excelled in the field based on the criteria set by the organizers and judges.

On a personal note, Best Cebu Blogs says more than what it is presenting every year. It not only emphasizes the importance of quality online publishing but also the value of continuous growth.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, it was basically the selection of top 10 best blogs in the Cebu blogosphere as adjudged by the popular vote and a panel of qualified judges.

PinoyWorld is proud to say that it was selected as one of the Best Cebu Blog Awardee of 2009. In 2010, we came in as sponsor. RLCOMM International, the mother company, supports BCB’s visions.

This year, BCB has grown in terms of quality blogs in different niches. Forty one bloggers (41)  are vying for seven titles:

• Top 10 Famous Blogs Facebook Contest
• Best Cebu Food Blog
• Best Cebu Personal Blog
• Best Cebu Photo Blog
• Best Cebu Travel Blog
• Best Cebu Technology Blog, and
• Best Cebu Fashion Blog

Not only has the number of qualified blogger/participants, and their niches had grown. The progress can also be seen in the number of industries supporting it. The 4th Annual Best Cebu Blogs Awards is made possible by Nokia Philippines, Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort, SM City Cebu, Timex Philippines, GT Cosmetics Manufacturing, GT & Me, Globe Telecom, Wacky Tots PhotoBooth, Orange Brutus,  Cebu Bloggers Society Inc., Empress Of Drac, Bjorn Cebuano, Face Cebu, Pulso.PH, and Old’s Cool Online.

Seeing BCB’s growth in the past years makes me smile and proud. BCB does not only promote quality and progressive online publishing, it also indirectly strenghtens and supports my personal vision for a unified, strong, dynamic and responsible social media community for Cebu.

My sincerest Congratulations to its Founder Mark Monta (http://facecebu.net), Co-Organizer Agnes Jimenez (http://www.empressofdrac.com/), Co-organizer Bjornson Bernales (http://www.bjorncebuano.com/) and the rest of the BCB 2011 Team!

Sincerely,

RUBEN B. LICERA, JR.
Moderator, PinoyWorld.org
Chairman, Visayas Blogging Summit 2011
Vice President, Cebu Bloggers Society