World Vision deploys response team to super typhoon-stricken Bicol provinces

In the wake of supertyphoon Goni (local name Rolly), child-focused humanitarian agency World Vision dispatches team as it firms up its response to initially assist 10,000 families or 50,000 individuals in the affected communities of the ravaged Bicol region, south of Manila.

"Thousands of children and their families are now displaced and taking shelter in evacuation centres. Our goal is to assess their condition, be on the ground the soonest possible and support the local government's initial relief efforts as necessary," shares Ajab-Aram Macapagat, World Vision's Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs (HEA) director.

Field staff based in the Bicol provinces namely Albay, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur continue to coordinate with local government offices for its rapid assessments as they look into immediate and expressed needs of the people affected.

Filipina singer-songwriter Meagan Trees inhabits wisdom beyond years on “Take Me Away”

Meagan Trees has always brought an understated sense of spontaneity into her storytelling approach, leaving plenty of room for both personal awakening and introspection to take off and not miss a mark. On her latest single, “Take Me Away,” the Dumaguete-based singer-songwriter reflects on the importance of being vulnerable and taking risks—something that most of us aren’t willing to become.

Delicately produced and delivered with heart-stopping quietness, “Take Me Away” inhabits wisdom beyond years. There’s nothing messianic about it; no platitudes to feed the ego, and no gatekeeping of moral ascendancy to prove a point. What makes the song truly human is that it’s willing to embrace every bit of the experience—be it good or bad, and that there’s beauty in wanting to wake up your inner child and be open to possibilities, no matter where it takes you.

Alex Bruce drops infectious new jam “Yakap”

It’s been a very challenging year for the music industry in general, but not for Filipina rapper Alex Bruce, who continues to enjoy commercial and critical plaudits—thanks to her slickly produced, empowering anthems.

Her Wish 107.5 Bus performances of “Mind As A Weapon” and “Pull It Off” have garnered more than a million hits respectively, while the latter earned the young prodigy a record for the youngest female artist to have scored a top 3 on Wave 89.1’s weekly chart. To top it off, the 13-year-old rapper/songwriter has recently teamed up with global hitmaker August Rigo, whose songwriting and production credits include BTS’ “Black Swan” and Justin Bieber’s multi-platinum album, My World 2.0, for the trap banger “Go Crazy.”

Public school teachers get specialized training from Globe

Globe further enhances its support to the Department of Education (DepEd) by helping public school educators keep up with the demands of the new normal through free professional development training designed to provide teachers with essential knowledge and skills on digital literacy, blended learning and 21st century learning methods.

The program is part of Globe’s Global Filipino Teachers (GFT) initiative and is being implemented through a combination of webinars and downloadable self-paced materials for teachers to apply their learnings. GFT was launched in 2009 to deliver information and technology-based training to public school teachers across the country.

With the nation’s shift to remote learning, Globe found it essential to partner with Habi Education Labs and Teach for the Philippines, as both are well known for their exceptional work in forwarding 21st century learning in public schools nationwide. 

Influencer Kiko Ipapo and Actor Jovani Manansala Star in the First Filipino Period BL Series Happenstance

Director Adolfo Alix Jr. revealed new details about his upcoming BL series Happenstance during an online press conference on Saturday evening. Kiko Ipapo and Jovani Manansala will play Wade and Jose Manuel, two people who magically meet although they are living in different periods - one in 1974, one in 2020. Jose Manuel is grounded after his military father learned of his relationship with Luis, an activist. Wade, on the other hand, is recovering from a recent break up with Eric and while on vacation is caught up in the quarantine because of the CoVid 19 pandemic. After the super moon, an opportunity opens for these two heartbroken souls to connect across time and find love once again.

The two leads are relative newcomers. Kiko Ipapo is a social media personality and influencer. He started as a print model before deciding to try his luck as an actor. Happenstance is his first foray into acting. Opposite, Jovani Manansala also started in the entertainment industry by doing several commercial ads. After that, he acted in television shows like ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ & ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’ and in the independent films Mamu, And a Mother Too and Jolly Spirit.

MVP Group gears up for Typhoon Rolly

The MVP Group of Companies is gearing up for the onslaught of Typhoon Rolly. Manuel V. Pangilinan, in a tweet last Saturday, committed that the network operations centers for telco, power, and tollways will be operational and manned 24 hours, and that the Group has mobilized its foundations to do relief and medical work in the wake of Typhoon Rolly.

A look into education’s new normal-DepEd shares insights on the first weeks of classes

Various industries in the Philippines are already on their slow but steady path to recovery and that includes the education sector. Despite the compromises and major changes made in the educational system to navigate through the now normal, the Department of Education (DepEd) has successfully opened classes for SY 2020-2021. 

“DepEd recognizes the challenges of the school year ahead, but if we opted for an academic freeze, we would have lost many months of the childrens’ learning,” said DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones. “The opening of the school year has generally been very successful, and we will continue to face any challenge that lies ahead with great resolve to continue education in the country.”