Joining Forces Alliance On The Elimination Of Violence Against Children

Child rights organizations call for the prevention of physical and humiliating punishment against children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Physical and psychological violence, particularly at home, are among the most pervasive types of abuse experienced by Filipino children. Both can be worsened by the COVID-19 enhanced community quarantine.

In fact, 3 in 5 children have experienced some form of physical violence, the 2016 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children revealed. Sixty percent of these cases happened in their own homes, with 1 in 2 children experiencing corporal punishment. 

The Dawn's Jett Pangan revives 'Salamat' for special heartwarming video

Jett Pangan found himself singing a familiar song in unfamiliar territory when he had to revive “Salamat” in a tribute video reflecting meaningful connections in the time of COVID-19.

Produced by Smart Communications, The Dawn’s frontman traded the original rock arrangement of the song for a subdued yet moving version of the late ’80s classic.

Jett said singing “Salamat” during this difficult time was at the very least emotional and reminded him of life’s simple constants. “Recording ‘Salamat’ in this context was a lot more emotional. It reminded me of just how important it is to feel support from family and friends in a very trying time even if we’re apart.”

He added, “There was a sense of comfort knowing that even if I’m physically limited to do ‘normal’ things because of the quarantine, I’m still able to take part in sharing a song that can help inspire people to hang in there and look forward to the day that we can go on with our lives without fear.”

Be a Smart Shopper! 5 Shop from Home Tips For Every Filipino

Catch the 5.5 Shopee Mart Sale from April 22 to May 5 and enjoy deals as low as  ₱5 and Free Shipping with P0 minimum spend

In the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak, we must stay healthy and safe. Shopping at home is the most convenient way to get your daily essential needs, and there’s no better way to get your shopping done from home than with Shopee! Here are some tips to make your #ShopeeAtHome experience easier and help you decide better:

Plan ahead and ready your list

9 GCash-friendly Online Stores for your Quarantine Needs and Cravings

Do you feel like you’re running out of options for your essentials and cravings this enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)? You might be having problems looking for cashless stores to avoid getting the virus through money bills. Or maybe you’re just tired of the same, old online sellers you go to for your quarantine needs. 

Rest Assured Amid The Pandemic

It has been a wild start of the year 2020 for all of us. There were a lot of threats such as wildfires, natural calamities, and now a huge pandemic that we have not experienced in a hundred years. Most of us have been quarantined for a weeks and have adapted to many changes in life, while there are also frontliners who continue to provide what we need to ensure we stay at home and hopefully stop the spread of the virus.

As we have to embrace this temporary lifestyle of being in our homes, we tend to discover new things that we can actually do despite being indoors all the time. There are some businesses that let their employees work from home and still remain productive and keep the economy afloat, however there are also some things that we could not do since many offices and services have been closed.

Sesame Street's Elmo's Playdate Special To Air On HBO, HBO GO, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang

A half-hour special Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate is set to entertain kids and families on HBO, HBO Family, Cartoon Network and Boomerang – as well as the regional streaming service HBO GO. Part of Sesame Workshop’s Caring for Each Other initiative, the special is aimed at helping kids and families around the world feel connected in this time of uncertainty and features everyone’s favourite “Sesame Street” friends. Celebrity guests include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross.

Top 5 K-Content on Netflix that you can Watch at Home with your Family

Staying at home means more bonding time with your family. Now is the best time to catch up with your favorite TV series and movies. We listed down the top five Korean shows you can binge-watch on Netflix and enjoy with the whole family right now:

Crash Landing On You

Everyone’s talking about it. You’ve seen all the memes. If you haven’t checked out this hit show yet, now is the time to do just that. As the title implies, a rich South Korean CEO accidentally ends up across the border in North Korea, and she must rely on a North Korean soldier’s help to try and get back home. Of course, it isn’t that easy—and for sure, a relationship blossoms along the way.

This kilig-inducing show also gives us a fascinating view of Switzerland from start until end. Now that it’s all over, you can binge-watch the entire story on Netflix and see why everyone’s fallen in love with it.

Tanghalang Pilipino goes online with ‘PansamanTANGHALAN’

The NCOV-19 pandemic may have caused stage productions to prematurely close, but Tanghalang Pilipino (TP), the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), has prepared a slew of programs on its temporary home – the digital platform.

Aptly-billed “PansamanTANGHALAN,” this program aims to defy the limitations brought about by this crisis and with the use of the online platform, to continuously educate and awaken the cultural consciousness of Filipinos, not just in the country, but all over the world.

Now You Can Watch First Seasons Of HBO Originals For Free Next Month

Here’s another reason to stay home and do your part… by watching TV on the sofa! Entire first seasons of select iconic HBO Originals and HBO Asia Originals are now available for free for one month starting 15 April on HBO GO – no registration or subscription is required.

Never got around to seeing (or desperate to re-watch) dramas like ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘The Wire’? Now you can. The iconic shows are also joined by the award-winning series that everyone’s talking about right now, ‘Succession’. And if you need a laugh? Try these hit comedies: ‘Ballers’, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson; ‘Barry’, with Bill Hader; ‘Silicon Valley’, featuring Thomas Middleditch and Kumail Nanjiani; and satire ‘Veep’, starring serial Emmy-winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Closer to home, check out ‘Folklore’, a horror anthology series with each episode based on folklore from Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand; ‘Invisible Stories’, which tells untold stories from the heartlands in a fictional neighbourhood housing estate in multi-cultural Singapore; ‘Miss Sherlock’, a bold interpretation of the classic Sherlock Holmes, re-envisioned in Japanese and set in modern-day Tokyo; ‘The Teenage Psychic’, a coming-of-age story from Taiwan that revolves around a 16-year-old girl with the ability to see spirits but wants to lead a typical teenage high school life; and ‘The World Between Us’, another Taiwanese series that follows the aftermath of a mass-shooting.

PLDT-Smart Foundation donates over 50,000 face masks and various PPE for frontline health workers

Health workers at the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 in Metro Manila have received fresh support in the form of face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPEs).

The PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) has turned over 50,000 face masks and other PPEs to various hospitals in the Metro.  

The Philippine General Hospital, which is one of the COVID referral hospitals in the country, received 20,000 surgical masks for their frontline health workers from PLDT and PSF.   

Several hospitals and government response teams also received 50 hazmat suits each from PSF with the assistance of the Makati Medical Center Foundation. This includes the Rizal Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, East Avenue Medical Center, Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.