Heartwarming mother and daughter story wins the grand prize in Natucair #DealWithTheSmell Viral Video Competition

Grand prize winner Rodel Mercado’s “Wedding Day” is a touching story of a daughter professing her gratitude and love for her mother on a very special wedding day.

A beautiful story of the enduring love shared between a mother and her daughter has claimed the top prize in the Natucair #DealWithTheSmell Viral Video Competition, an event focused on highlighting the creativity and vision of Filipino filmmakers. 

Directed by Rodel Mercado, “Wedding Day” is a touching story of a daughter professing her gratitude and love for her mother on a very special wedding day. The film’s themes of the power of family and finding the courage to choose love again allowed it to take home the grand prize of P100,000.

PascualLove: Care begins with family

 PascualLab celebrates 75 years by spreading the love

Pascual Laboratories, Inc. (PascualLab), one of the most trusted pharmaceutical companies in the Philippines¹, celebrates 75 years in the industry by highlighting the value of care that comes from the family via its campaign “PascualLove: Care begins with family”.

Built on a love for fellowmen by founders, chemists, and husband and wife team of Isosceles and Leonora Pascual, PascualLab started as a small laboratory inside their home in Tondo, where they developed medicines for war-related diseases during  World War II.

Since then, it has grown to be one of the top Filipino-owned pharmaceutical companies, behind well-loved brands such as Poten-Cee Vitamin C, Vitex negundo L. Lagundi Leaf (ASCOF), C-Lium Fibre, and OraCare Mouthrinse.

Lil Tjay rewrites the rules of success with new album, Destined 2 Win

Today, multi-platinum rapper Lil Tjay has released his highly anticipated sophomore album Destined 2 Win via Columbia Records. The South Bronx native solidifies himself as a creative force to be reckoned with, featuring a wide range of diverse collaborations from 6LACK, Polo G, Fivio Foreign, Moneybagg Yo, Offset, Saweetie, Toosi and Tyga on the 21-track album. 

Destined 2 Win proceeds the 19-year-old rapper’s platinum-certified 2019 debut album True 2 Myself. The album includes three bonus tracks from Lil Tjay and production credits from 808 Melo on “Go Crazy” and G-Ry, OG Parker, Smash David and El Patron on the track “Move.”  

"The reason I named the album Destined 2 Win cause I always felt like I had something in me that was going to be great. It’s just a body of work to highlight my accomplishments,” says Lil Tjay.  “I’m still trying to figure out my lane. Whatever happened in my life is what got me here. If I didn’t go through some of these experiences then I probably wouldn’t be myself. There’s always obstacles, I’m pretty sure there’s going to be more obstacles and I just know I’m going to be able to fight through it. You know? Destined 2 Win.”

Demand for laptops, phones to increase in 2021 as WFH, online classes continue

With many Filipinos continuing to work from home and students still attending their classes online, the demand for laptops, smartphones and other “new normal essentials” will continue rising. This is according to leading consumer finance company Home Credit, noting that the trend might be seen not just in 2021 but in the foreseeable future. 

From new normal to just normal 

“One of the most defining buzzwords in 2020—'new normal’—continues to be a relevant word as we welcome the new year,” remarked Sheila Paul, Home Credit Philippines’ chief marketing officer. “And as millions of employees and students continue to live, work and play from the comfort of their homes, we believe that it is starting to shift from ‘new normal’ to simply our normal way of life from now on.” 

Gabri Panlilio WIll Make You Love Classical OPM

We have heard a lot of singers with different genres, but have you tried listening to classical singer singing to tunes of pop music? It's actually surprising that this style brings flavor to the usual tunes that we have. Yet not everyone can shift to this because it takes training and techniques to make them possible.

This is what Victoria Gabrielle "Gabri" Panlilio has trained for years starting at a young age and is now considered as one of the country's emerging classical crossover artists, following in the footsteps of her musical idols such as Audra McDonald, Renee Fleming, Natalie Dessay and Cecilia Bartoli.

Her love for classical music started when she was 10 years old. Inspired with the Phantom of the Opera, she began her formal lessons and also trained under mezzo-soprano Clarissa Ocampo. Currently she is coached by  multi-awarded Fil-American tenor Arthur Espiritu.

BRIA Homes’ Astra Vertical Villages to address Filipino millennials’ demand for affordable condominiums

Young Filipinos would do well to check out BRIA Homes’\
 Astra Vertical Villages, the leading housing developer’s
 newly launched affordable condominiums.

Millennial Filipinos, or Filipinos born between 1981 to 1996, are ticking one ‘adulting’ goal after the other. While some aspire to start a family, most young professionals are focused on their careers, preferring to slug it out in highly competitive workplaces and earn fat paychecks in the process. This often results in substantial savings that, in the past, they would splurge in travel and leisure pursuits, the latest gadgets, or even brand-new cars. 

However, the corona virus pandemic has reportedly changed millennials’ spending patterns—for the better. With health protocols restricting their social lives and putting a damper on their travel plans, young adults—aged 20 to 30—are now investing their money in property. Real estate experts affirm this, crediting the positive trend to attractive payment terms offered by developers and the new flexible work arrangements. 

Inspired by true events, Taiwan and Thailand’s first BL series, Call It What You Want, sheds light on the darker side of the entertainment industry

“Actors are like products we buy; we can do anything we want with them.” – Call It What You Want

Call It What You Want, the first-ever BL co-production series between Taiwan and Thailand is set to premiere exclusively on Asia’s leading global LGTBQ+ streaming platform, GagaOOLala on Friday 9th, April 2021. Directed by the Thai BL filmmaker Aam Anusorn Soisa-ngim, Call It What You Want marks GagaOOLala’s first original Thai BL series with a six-episode series featuring a cast of both Thai and Taiwanese actors.

Award-Winning Film Dear Tenant Champions Gay Parents in Taiwan

Dear Tenant, the recipient of three prestigious accolades (Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screen Film Score) at the Golden Horse Awards 2020, the Oscars equivalent of the Mandarin-speaking world, will premiere in on April 1st  exclusively via the global LGBTQ+ streaming platform, GagaOOLala.

The film, directed by Cheng Yu-chieh, tells the story of Lin Jian-yi (Mo Tzu-yi), a gay man who devotes his life to his dead partner’s ill mother, Zhou Xiu-yu (Yao Chun-yao), and his son nine-year-old son, Wang You-yu (Runyin Bai). But after the suspicious death of Mrs. Zhou, Lin is unjustly accused and becomes a victim of the judicial discrimination against sexual minorities. 

Taiwan is often considered to be the pioneer of gay rights and recognition and a shining beacon for gay culture in all of Asia. With an estimated 130,000 people in attendance, Taiwan was the only country in the world to host an in-person gay parade in 2020 amid the global COVID outbreak, as well as the only country in Asia to have legalized same-sex marriage back in 2019. But despite such widespread advocacy, Cheng’s Dear Tenant sheds light on the grim reality of gays and other sexual minorities still facing hostility and discrimination in Taiwan with much of Taiwanese society still needing to go a long way when it comes to the full acceptance of queer people.

Globe and Animo Labs launch country’s biggest 5G Hackathon

For innovation to take flight and new technologies to flourish, collaboration across industries is important. Globe has been at the forefront of network improvements and innovations to further uplift the connectivity experience of Filipinos nationwide. As the world moves at full throttle in digital transformation, Globe and DLSU’s Animo Labs launched the country’s biggest 5G Hackathon competition for students and professionals hungry to dive into innovation and digital learning.

Eastern Communications gets four recognitions at the 18th IABC Philippine Quill Awards

Premier telecommunications company Eastern Communications receives four recognitions at the recently concluded 18th IABC Philippine Quill Virtual Awards Night.  

Their winning entries include Happy Eastern: Supporting Employees Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic for Communication Management Division, garnering awards under both the Internal Communication and Employee Engagement Categories; Connected: Eastern Communications' #SafeAndStrongAtHome video series during the COVID-19 pandemic under Communication Skills Division, Audio/Visual Category; and Celebrating Customer Loyalty: The Eastern Link VIP Club Anniversary Event under Communication Skills Division, Special and Experiential Events Category.