PAL RAINE

The City of Manila has definitely had a resurgence under the leadership of Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso.

When Mayor Isko removed unlawful obstructions and cleared illegal vendors off of Manila’s streets and sidewalks, he effectively changed how the city looked and how it moved. By cleaning up the city and bringing order to chaos, the determined mayor gave the City of Manila a fresh new feel that continues to inspire business confidence and draw consumer interest. And this hasn’t changed despite the COVID pandemic.

According to Lobien Realty Group (LRG), the City of Manila has a total of 99,874.29 square meters (sqm) of gross leasable office space and only 5,650.63 square meters (sqm) are currently vacant. LRG pointed out that this translates to a single digit vacancy rate of 6%, which is very low and signifies that in Manila, there is demand for office spaces and what is supplied in the market is being taken up.

One of the most highly anticipated real estate developments in Manila is the Doña Elena Tower, a mixed-use building developed by Happy Coral Way Realty Corporation. This 11-storey building will soon rise in the busy district of Sta. Mesa Manila near the boundary of Mandaluyong City.

The Doña Elena Tower, which has LRG as its sole leasing agent, will provide Manila with 19,051 sqm of gross leasable area. Built at an accessible location that’s surrounded by a wide variety of businesses and essential institutions, the Doña Elena Tower offers its tenants the chance to work in a community where most of what they may want or need is readily available. Situated close to the entry and exit ramps of the on-going Skyway Stage 3 project and within the public transport system that connects EDSA through Shaw, LRG says Doña Elena Tower gives the added benefit of having quick access to Mandaluyong’s burgeoning business and residential areas, without having to deal with the hustle and bustle of the already crowded central business districts of Makati, BGC or Ortigas.

LRG believes that the office space market is a good barometer for the state of the economy because when office spaces are in demand and supply is being taken up, it means that businesses are expanding, jobs are being generated and money is being spent. Based on the high demand for office spaces in Manila, LRG expects that finding tenants to occupy Doña Elena Tower will not be difficult. Judging by LRG’s optimism, it can be said that Happy Coral Way Realty Corporation made an excellent decision to build the Doña Elena Tower in the City of Manila.

It's been a long time I haven't updated my web log. Hope everyone is in good condition. What keeps me busy for the past three months?

On March 16, 2020, Philippines was under Enhanced Community Quarantine. A total lock down was imposed throughout the island, restricting the movement of the people, but Quarantine Pass was issued for basic necessities, work, and health. In Davao City, which where I reside, instead of a quarantine pass, we called it FMPass or FOOD and MEDICINE PASS.

Food & Medicine Pass Coding

Davao City was placed under ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine) last April 4 to April 19 and was extended to May 15. A further evaluation made by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), Davao City then placed under a General Community Quarantine (GCQ) from May 16 to May 31, after months of ECQ some of the guidelines were changed, that allow the reopening of business activities and offices, but FMPass is still strictly implemented to mobilize the movement of the people especially those who are in the Barangay mark as VERY HIGH RISK.

Sadly, my barangay belong to the VERY HIGH RISK category.

What's a FOOD & MEDICINE PASS Coding? Under the FM pass system, residents are allowed to go out of their homes only if they need to buy food and medicine. It is regulated by the Davao City Police Office by only allowing FM pass holders with numbers ending in ODD NUMBERS to go out every MWF. While the FM passes ending with an EVEN NUMBERS are allowed to go out every TThS. And no FM pass is allowed to be used on Sundays.

The General Community Quarantine (GCQ) was extended until June 15 in the cities of Davao and Zamboanga City, in the resolution 40 released by the IATF-MEID, while the rest of Mindanao is under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ). Still Davao City residents are advised to continue using the FM passes, this is a contrary response of Mayor Inday Sara Duterte to General Año statement that quarantine passes during GCQ are not needed in Metro Manila.

President Rodrigo Duterte has opted to extend GCQ as per recommended by the IATF, over Metro Manila and several areas in Luzon, Central Visayas and in Mindanao, DAVAO CITY and Zamboanga City from June 16 to June 30, 2020.

THE NEW NORMAL

The clustering was lifted and some guidelines were changed, but people are still advised to avoid going to the Very High Risk areas. Some establishments are now open, like malls, churches, hotels, barber shop, salon, provided that the minimum public health standards such as wearing of masks, providing alcohol or hand sanitizers and maintenance of social distancing protocols and no sharing of equipment are observed.

For basic education, the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan will be enforced in the schools, this is to adopt various learning system, such as, but not limited to face-to-face, blended learning, distance learning, homeschooling, and/or online classes. There is no final decision on this, but the enrollment is ongoing.

In every barangay, strict protocols are still observed. In our Barangay we still have the DCPO and Military assigned to check FMPass number coding and if you're working you have to present your company ID or Employment Certification.

Aside from face mask and alcohol or hand sanitizer as part of the #newnormal, you will also see the changes of our public vehicles like the taxi, bus, jeepney and tricycle.

The plastic cover is designed as a compartment and the same time protection for the passengers. And jeepney drivers are not allowed to have 10 or more passengers inside the vehicles. Same as with the tricycles and trisikad, not to exceed three passengers.

For some private establishments I've visited, there's a protocol that you have to sign a form before entering their premises. It's a bit a waste of time if you are in a hurry, but we need to submit their safety rules and regulations, this is to speed up Covid-19 contact tracing.

I appreciate their safety protocols, aside for the sign up they also check your temperature and sanitize your hands before handling you their priority number.

COUNTERS WITH PLASTIC COVER
and FOOT STAMP STICKERS FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING

SIT APART FOR PROPER SOCIAL DISTANCING

As long as there's no found cure or vaccine for Covid-19, the "New Normal" life applied. We need to adjust our way of living, from home to work and interacting with other people.

Therefore, our old routines should be changed, as our lives adapt the entering into the "new normal".

As the Philippines enters its fourth week in the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and with the recent announcement of its extension until April 30, front liners are racing against time to stop the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve. Here in Mindanao, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases climbing over a hundred, Pilipinas Shell has expanded its efforts in the Mindanao region to improve public transportation and aid frontliners in their fight against a potentially severe outbreak.

Frontliners get fuel discounts when they gas up at Shell

PARA SA BAYAN project amid pandemic

Free fuel has been provided to two partner hospitals, Davao Doctors Hospital in Davao and Polymedic Plaza in Cagayan de Oro.

“The health and safety of our people, our customers, and the community are most important to us, and we continue to monitor the situation closely so we can respond to the needs of our kababayans,” said Pilipinas Shell’s CEO and Country Chairman Cesar Romero.

“As everyone plays their part in this fight against this pandemic, patuloy ninyong kasama ang Shell sa bawat biyahe ng buhay.”

After identifying a mobility challenge in the area, Pilipinas Shell offered the fuel subsidy to its partners in order to aid the transportation of frontliners, the mobilization of ambulances, and other ongoing relief efforts.

An ambulance gassing up at a Shell station

Shell’s gas stations have also starting donating water and food packs to nearby hospitals and frontliners from their Select convenience stores. One site in Davao has even set itself up as a donation hub where people can leave donations such as PPEs and food packs to be picked up by the Davao Task Force and delivered to hospitals.

Other stations have also started making face shields for frontliners and have donated them to Socomedics Hospital in Koronadal City as well as various checkpoints throughout Iligan City.

As of the moment, there are also 61 Shell retail gas stations in Mindanao who are offering discounts on gasoline and diesel products not only for frontliners, but for everyone making their journey on the road.

In an effort to help decongest traffic in supermarkets, Select stores have updated their product offerings to provide basic needs to the public so they can continue to purchase crucial supplies while still maintaining appropriate social distancing.

Various retailer partners have also stepped up to provide additional support by offering free coffee, face masks, and snacks at their stations.

For 106 years, Shell as remained committed to be the country’s partner in nation-building. During this trying time, the company has made the Philippines’ mobility, health and safety, and energy security its top priorities. It aims to help the nation weather today’s COVID-19 situation so it can be ready to progress again tomorrow.

Do you love to travel or are you a WAHM (Work-At-Home-Mom)? Today's technology with all the games, social media, blogging, vlogging, etc., it's hard to live without an extra source of battery. That's why power banks are very important to us, because it literally save our phone and other gadgets from draining too quickly.

I've used several power banks that are well known in the market, but VEGER POWERBANK 20000mAh for me is the one that suits my needs. These 20000mAh of power can hold two or more gadgets and last for 48 hours, perfectly good to use if you love to travel especially to places without electricity.

VEGER is the fastest growing powerbank brand in the Philippines. They pioneer in compact, high quality, and efficient portable chargers. Their powerbanks sophisticated designs built to suit people's modern lifestyles and that makes them popular to Filipinos of all ages.

They supports best-selling portable charger, and that includes a quick charger, wireless charger, metallic portable charger, and digital display portable charger. They believe that quality should never be compromised and always deliver the real capacity indicated on each and every powerbank.

All Veger Powerbanks has Superior Circuit Protection Chip for: Overcurrent, Overvoltage, Temperature, Short Circuit, Input Anti-reverse, Overcharge and Overdischarging.

Veger is a registered power bank brand by Manila Utopia Originality Technology Corporation in the country, and the global leader in powerbank charging technology.

Last February 28, after unboxing the package, I used the VEGER VP2012 20000mAh in charging my mobile phone. And I am amazed with the outcome, for almost 20 minutes I fully charged my phone, the power bank left with 80% power, that's why I still used it on charging my tablet.

But look at the photo above, I can still use the remaining power for the next day. It's very important that you choose a power bank that has a larger capacity than your device needs.

Honestly, it's not a perfect to carry around. But then always remember that larger capacity of the power bank, the heavier it will be, so if you're using a laptop or a tablet this VEGER Power Bank 20000mAh is more reliable and reasonable. I prefer higher capacity rather than portability. And I also prefer high quality but affordable like VEGER POWERBANKS!

What I really like about this powerbank is that it has a multiple USB Ports to charge two or more devices at the same time.

Aside from USB Output 1 and 2 it has also Type-C Input and a Micro USB Input. I'll be able to charge my smartphone and tablet at the same time or I can also share it with a friend.

VEGER has a 2.0A IQ USB Output. In my experience, I fully charge my smartphone in 15-20 minutes. For me, it's the fastest though I know there are already 3.0 or more faster output charging available in the market today, but this one works for me and I'm happy with the outcome.

The input charging takes some time to fully charge. Based on the manual, input charging time is 11-12 hours.

Watch my video here: https://youtu.be/h7_lvyidJMM

Veger Powerbanks are available in Lazada and Shopee .

Or Visit https://www.veger.ph and Veger Philippines on Facebook for more details.

Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) once again became the first Philippine bank to launch a smart branch that leverages world-class 5G technology for seamless connectivity with IOT (Internet of Things)-enabled services.

PHOTO CAPTION: In photo (from left to right): Albert de Larrazabal (Globe Telecom Chief Commercial Officer), Peter Maquera (Globe Business Senior Vice President), Ernest Cu (Globe Telecom President & Chief Executive Officer), Denis Omila (UnionBank Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer), Ryan Acosta (UnionBank Head for Infrastructure and Service Management), Paulo Santos (UnionBank Head of Enterprise Communication and Collaboration).

Partnering with Globe Business, the enterprise arm of Globe Telecom, UnionBank deployed 5G-grade connectivity at its Dasmarinas, Cavite branch — the first of its ARK 2.0 branches — for faster speeds, higher bandwidth, and a more stable internet connection. Twenty times faster than other networks available, 5G technology will allow branch employees to connect 32 devices at the same time without sacrificing performance.

Researchers say that 5G banking will take customer experience to the next level via augmented reality and virtual reality on their smartphones. According to leading digital financial publication The Financial Brand, by combining 5G and artificial intelligence (AI), banks can better harness the always on, real-time data coming from devices, which will allow better prediction and anticipation of a customer’s preferences and behaviors.

“Excellent customer experience will always be an important driver to a company's growth and relevance. This is the very reason why we at UnionBank constantly innovate and improve our services to ensure that we offer nothing but the best to our clients,” said UnionBank executive vice president and chief information officer Dennis Omila. “Partnering with Globe for its revolutionary 5G network and connectivity is one way we can provide a more seamless and efficient operations.”

“5G is an important building block in helping Philippine companies remain competitive in the digital age. This is the reason we are accelerating our efforts to deploy 5G, so we can provide more Filipino companies like UnionBank the chance to go beyond what the current technology allows them to do,” added Globe Business senior vice president Peter Maquera.

Earlier at the launch of UnionBank’s 15 new ARKs — or fully digital branches — led by the pioneering ARK for Business, UnionBank president and CEO shared the plan to take their network infrastructure to the next level with software-defined and artificial intelligence capabilities. The bank has a “Tech Up, Pilipinas” advocacy that seeks to utilize technology to make financial services available to all Filipinos.

Meanwhile, its valued partner Globe Business continues to redefine how businesses work—which goes beyond functions, numbers, and performance. It is committed to enable its clients and partners to catapult their enterprises to success by providing the right technology, infrastructure, and know-how to create a positive impact and transform people’s lives.

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For more information, please contact:

Yoly C. Crisanto
SVP, Corporate Communications
Globe Telecom, Inc.
Email Address: gtcorpcomm@globe.com.ph
Globe Press Room: globe.com.ph/about-us/newsroom
Twitter: @talk2GLOBE │ Facebook: www.facebook.com/globeph

I hate traffic jams! Traffic on roads causes delay of works, everyday life, it makes you angry, disappointed, stress, etc. Good to know that Samar 1st District Representative Edgar Mary Sarmiento offers a solution to EDSA traffic.

House Transportation Committee Chair and Samar 1st District Representative Sarmiento unveiled the blueprint of his proposed centralized and synchronized bus dispatch system which would turn the EDSA's rowdy and chaotic city buses into a fast, efficient and predictable mass transport system.

Sarmiento, a civil engineer, disclosed the full details of his proposal after announcing that his panel is closely working with the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to craft a roadmap which would solve EDSA's traffic problem.

In his proposal, Sarmiento said that the innermost lane of EDSA will serve as an "express bus lane" which can be accessed through stations used by the MRT. Like a carousel, the "express bus lane" will just circle around EDSA, duplicating the route of the MRT.

"People who use the MRT can now have the option to ride the bus, which will be also operated like a carousel. The buses will only load and unload passengers in a synchronized manner at the MRT stations so they are basically an extension of the MRT.

"Walang magiging traffic dyan because the entire inner lane from Taft Avenue to North Avenue and vice-versa will be enclosed and exclusive to the express bus lane," Sarmiento said.

Sarmiento said that the three lanes in the middle of EDSA will be dedicated for all types of private vehicles subject to the existing vehicle reduction programs like the number coding scheme. Private cars will only be allowed to use the outer lane when turning into an intersection.

The outer lane of EDSA or the yellow lane will be used as a dedicated city bus lane which will also adopt a centralized and synchronized dispatch system. Dedicated bus stops will be established one kilometer apart. Loading and unloading of passengers will be strictly implemented on these bus stops.

Sarmiento said that while the express bus lane will cater to passengers who also use the MRT, the city bus lane operation will extend up to the Parañaque Integrated Bus Terminal (PITX) in the south and the Valenzuela Integrated Bus Terminal (VIBT) in the north and vice-versa.

"City buses will now be using the outermost lane in EDSA or the yellow lane. They will be traversing EDSA in a carousel-type system until they reach the proposed north terminal which is the Valenzuela Integrated Bus Terminal. From there, the city buses will now traverse to the south still using the outermost lane until it reaches the proposed south terminal which is the Paranaque Integrated Bus Terminal," Sarmiento said.

"We propose this to eradicate the kanya-kanya system of the buses wherein they compete with each other creating chaos through overtaking, overspeeding, and overstaying. Puno man o hindi, lalarga po ang mga city buses dahil may schedule na po ang biyahe nila at hindi na sila makikipag-agawan ng pasahero dahil hindi na commission-based ang kita kundi sahod na ang matatanggap ng mga drivers at konduktors," Sarmiento added.

Sarmiento said that also part of the proposal is to modernize the fare system using tap or beep card.

"Once everything has been set in theory and generated through computer by the MMDA, it will be presented to the public through a dry run, which will be implemented on a day with the least number of vehicles in the road. We are going to have a computer-generated simulation of this proposal to be led by the MMDA," Sarmiento said to dispel fears that this could end up just like the other failed "experiments" of the MMDA.

Sarmiento clarified however that his proposal can still be subject to improvements and adjustments by the DoTr and the MMDA which is will the frontline implementing agencies.

"Lastly, this proposal is a work in progress. Details will be discussed by the Executives. Ang inyong lingkod, bilang Chairman ng House Committee on Transportation ay willing na magbigay ng suporta sa DOTr kung may mga kailangang polisiya upang maipatupad natin kaagad ang mga planong ito," Sarmiento said.

Sarmiento said that if and when the plan is set into motion, the private vehicles that continue to clog EDSA middle lanes would be reduced eventually "because people would now start riding the bus rather than drive their car in what is described as one of the world's biggest parking lot."

"With this system, if the trains and buses will be fully operational, and the commuting public is now effectively and efficiently being moved, that’s the time that we can reduce the volume of private vehicles in EDSA and the major thoroughfares in Metro Manila," Sarmiento said.

"Once the volume of vehicles were reduced, that’s the time that we can introduce major infrastructures in EDSA and other major thoroughfares," he added.

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Press Release
January 10, 2020
Philippines

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