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‘Geeks On A Beach 2023’: Startup founders to gather at Panglao, Bohol Philippines
Movers and shakers of the Philippine startup community, innovators and investors, and global and national leaders are set to gather for the sixth edition of the tech-famous Geeks On A Beach (GOAB) international conference on November 22 to 24 at the renowned Panglao Island in Bohol, Philippines. Spearheaded by GeeksPH and co-organized by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), GOAB will be a bold exclamation mark to cap the 2023 Philippine Startup Week events to be held nationwide. About 500 participants are expected to discuss at GOAB the trends and forecasts on tech, startup and design, with conversations and interactions aimed at enabling the best to ride the wave of technological advances. DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy is expected to formally open GOAB. “We are as excited as our alumni and the startup community in bringing GOAB back. Ten years after the first GOAB and a pandemic-induced hiatus, there are certainly a lot of new and positive developments to celebrate from the advance of digitalization, the rise of AI and more funding raised by Filipino startups,” said GOAB founding organizer Tina Amper of GeeksPH. Apart from Amper, the other members of the GOAB founding organizing team are Dave Overton of Symph, Mark Deutsch of Happy Garaje and Doris Isubal-Mongaya of PRWorks. Serving as GOAB advisors are Manny Ayala of Hatchd and Endeavor PH, Plug and Play Tech Center’s Jojo Flores, Shoppable’s Chris Blanquera, Stephanie Caragos of Syntactics, Embiggen Group’s Paul Pajo, and Christina Laskowski of Silicon Valley-based Science and Technology Advisory Council. Founders, CEOs, thought-leaders The speakers at GOAB are a veritable who’s who in the startup... read moreDTI warns vendors of uncertified Christmas lights
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is warning all retailers that will be caught selling and distributing uncertified Christmas lights. DTI Central Visayas Director Asteria Caberte said the agency will be strictly monitoring the sale of Christmas lights in the market to protect consumers from the hazards posed by uncertified products such as electric shock and overheating that often lead to fire, property damages and even loss of lives. She warned traders that the DTI will penalized those who are caught selling and distributing uncertified Christmas lights under Republic Act (RA) No. 4109 or the Standards Law. In a bid to protect consumers, the department has issued a list of certified Christmas lights manufacturers in time for the Yuletide season. The list, which can be viewed at DTI Bureau of Philippines Standards (BPS) website at www.bps.dti.gov.ph, includes the Philippine Standards (PS) licenses and Import Commodity Clearances (ICC) of each manufacturer. The PS and ICC certificates are issued to manufacturers or importers of mandatory products after they have undergone checking and inspection for product standards compliance. Director Caberte said DTI has intensified its monitoring and enforcement activities across the region and those who will be caught violating the law will be penalized with monetary fines and product confiscation. The DTI also reminds consumers to buy only Christmas lights certified by the Bureau of Philippines Standards (PS) to avoid any injurious or untoward incident from happening. “For the consumers, we suggest that you look at the packaging of the Christmas lights and make sure there’s a certification seal. We would always suggest that consumers go for certified Christmas lights with... read more
BOHOL’S CHOCOLATE PRINCESS WINS APEC BEST FAMILY SUPPORT AWARD
Tagbilaran City. DalareichPolot, General Manager of DalareichTableya and CEO of Guinto Chocolates, wins in the worldwide search for APEC Business Efficiency and Success Target (BEST) Award for “Best Family Support” during the Women and the Economy Forum in La Serena, Chile. Dalareich’s business model presentation was done via Skype, where she was competing with nominees from twenty one (21) other APEC economies. In her presentation, Polot narrated her romance with cacao and highlighted how her passion for tableya has developed over the years beginning when she was a kid. It may be recalled that Polothad the big break in her chocolate journey when she joined the Young Entrepreneurs Bootcamp in Manila in 2013, which was sponsored by the SamahanngmgaPilipinasaReporma at Kaunlaran (SPARK!) and the United States Embassy, where she emerged as the Grand Prize Winner and received $5,000 and a trophy.Polot is the current Chair of the Bohol Cacao Development Council. The BEST Award includes seven categories, including the Grand Prix, Highest Growth Potential, International Attractiveness, Best Social Impact, the 4th Industrial Revolution Project, and two new important nominations: Best Family Business Support and the Best Top Manager, which werelaunched this year. The award was received by DTI Region VII Director Aster Caberte, who represented the Department of Trade and Industry in the APEC Ministerial Meeting from October 2-9, 2019.(VLigan, DTI...
‘Geeks On A Beach 2023’: Startup founders to gather at Panglao, Bohol Philippines
Movers and shakers of the Philippine startup community, innovators and investors, and global and national leaders are set to gather for the sixth edition of the tech-famous Geeks On A Beach (GOAB) international conference on November 22 to 24 at the renowned Panglao Island in Bohol, Philippines. Spearheaded by GeeksPH and co-organized by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), GOAB will be a bold exclamation mark to cap the 2023 Philippine Startup Week events to be held nationwide. About 500 participants are expected to discuss at GOAB the trends and forecasts on tech, startup and design, with conversations and interactions aimed at enabling the best to ride the wave of technological advances. DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy is expected to formally open GOAB. “We are as excited as our alumni and the startup community in bringing GOAB back. Ten years after the first GOAB and a pandemic-induced hiatus, there are certainly a lot of new and positive developments to celebrate from the advance of digitalization, the rise of AI and more funding raised by Filipino startups,” said GOAB founding organizer Tina Amper of GeeksPH. Apart from Amper, the other members of the GOAB founding organizing team are Dave Overton of Symph, Mark Deutsch of Happy Garaje and Doris Isubal-Mongaya of PRWorks. Serving as GOAB advisors are Manny Ayala of Hatchd and Endeavor PH, Plug and Play Tech Center’s Jojo Flores, Shoppable’s Chris Blanquera, Stephanie Caragos of Syntactics, Embiggen Group’s Paul Pajo, and Christina Laskowski of Silicon Valley-based Science and Technology Advisory Council. Founders, CEOs, thought-leaders The speakers at GOAB are a veritable who’s who in the startup...Local News/ Bohol Balita
Assured of win, Aris still “friends” with opponent
By JUNE S. BLANCO WHEN the Bohol Poll prediction of a landslide his win in the congressional race in the 2nd District comes true, Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado said he will still remain friends with sitting Board Member Agapito Avenido. “I will offer my hand of friendship, a hand of reconciliation, to Aga,” Aumentado said, calling the latter “his worthy opponent”. This after the solon got 83% while Avenido managed only 16% in the penultimate election round of the Bohol Polls conducted April 20 to May 7, 2019 by the Holy Name University’s (HNU) Center for Research and Publications (CRP). Director Ma. Paz Espiritu of the CRP ensured that her team inserted questions on the voters’ preference for congressman of the 2nd District and vice governor in this round before tomorrow’s elections after they somehow “inadvertently” left these out in an earlier round conducted in February to March, the results of which were presented last March 15. As the CRP boasts of a “scientific method” that the Social Weather Station (SWS) had trained them to do, Aumentado thanked the people of the 2nd District who participated in the polls for their trust and confidence in him, in what he has done for them, and will still do in his coming third...Arup presents pre-FS on Bohol-Leyte Link Bridge
By JUNE S. BLANCO DESIGN giant Arup, with 34 offices worldwide including in Manila, presented April 2 to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bohol 2nd District Engineering Office (DEO) in Ubay town its pre-feasibility study (FS) for the Bohol-Leyte Link Bridge (BLLB). Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado who attended the presentation said once constructed, the “ambitious” bridge from Ubay via President Carlos P. Garcia to Maasin City in Southern Leyte will connect Bohol to the rest of the country by land. Aumentado said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded the pre-FS, and a full-blown study will follow. “The bridge is part of the dream of my father, [former] Gov. Erico Boyles Aumentado, to put Bohol among the fast developing provinces in the country today”, the solon said. The father is his immediate predecessor in the House of Representatives. After the funding for pre-FS for the BLLB, Aumentado said up next will be the funding for the FS for Bohol-Cebu Friendship Bridge. He expressed gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for pushing these major projects for this province. The BLLB is part of the Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility (IPIF) for roads and bridges of DPWH. On the other hand, Arup’s website states that the company has been working in the Philippines since 1986 – and established a permanent office in Manila in 1990. It provides total design services to meet the increasing demand for high quality, international standard projects for the country’s growing economy. Among the prominent buildings it has designed are the Grand Hyatt Metrocenter, the tallest and biggest mixed-use development in the Philippines, and the St...Aris alarmed over ‘unstable’ power
By JUNE S. BLANCO REP. Erico Aristotle Aumentado has expressed alarm over the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) pronouncement, through Cebu and Bohol Information Officer Betty Martinez, that Bohol’s power supply is now “critical”. Aumentdo said he is also saddened with the development, because as early as the last term as governor of his namesake father and immediate congressional predecessor Erico Boyles Aumentado, the lack of power to meet the province’s need with the looming implementation and completion of the Panglao Bohol International Airport was already recognized. The solon had expected that the Provincial Government would have already foreseen this considering that it had continuously invited investors to locate in Bohol. As the investors streamed in, he said, the need for additional power, and faster internet, should have been anticipated already so that these will not reach such critical point. Investors continue to stream in, but their respective operations might be hampered due to the lack of sustainable power, or the additional cost of maintaining power generators. “To think that the airport in Panglao is not yet operating its navigational equipment for nighttime operations, the critical power situation simply means that Bohol is not yet ready for the big time,” he said. Basic infrastructure like power and communications should be in place to make investors seriously consider locating in Bohol. The slow internet has made business process outsourcing (BPO) for call centers similarly slow. The BPOs could have been tapped for more employment. Additionally, he said, President Pinoy should have fast-tracked the matching of power production with the projection, especially with the implementation and impending operationalization of...Aris pushes energ’n of 2nd District islands
By JUNE S. BLANCO JANUARY 7, 2017 will forever be etched in the minds of the over 700 households in the three-barangay island of Mahanay off Getafe and Talibon towns. This was when Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) powered on the ceremonial switch for the P30-million energization project for the island. Engr. Eugene Tan, manager of the Bohol II Electric Cooperative Inc. (Boheco II) assisted him. Not resting on his laurels, Aumentado recently sought updates from former Camarines Sur congressman and now Energy Undersecretary for Power, Renewable Energy, and Media Affairs Felix William “Wimpy” Fuentebella. An island will remain under-developed without the necessary basic infrastructure support. To note, in his switch-on message, Aumentado waxed sentimental as he declared the fulfillment of the promise his namesake father and immediate congressional predecessor, former Gov. Erico Boyles Aumentado, had made to the islanders. Patterned after the Leyte-Bohol Interconnection project, Mahanay taps power from mainland Bohol through submarine cables. The National Electrification Administration (NEA) through then Administrator Edita Bueno downloaded the amount to Boheco II that undertook the bidding process for the cable and installed it, along with the electric poles, power main and lateral lines. Boheco II manages the power distribution to the households as well. The elder Aumentado had broached the energization plan for the 2nd District’s 35 islands and islets to Bueno. With the technology already available, it did not take him long to convince her. However, death overtook him on Christmas Day of 2012. Aumentado, the son, picked up the pieces where his father left off. In 2015, during his own first term as congressman, he brought...DENR launches “RIVERS For Life awards”for ‘19
Consistent with the idea of shared ownership to make communities realize a better environment management and conservation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) launches in Bohol its awards Recognizing Individuals and Institutions towards Vibrant and Enhanced Rivers (RIVERS). The awards, formally called Rivers for Life would be given out to the best rehabilitated and most improved water quality from the country’s class 3 rivers, this June 2019 in time for the DER’s 32nd anniversary, authorities from the government’s environment agency shared. The program is basically to raise awareness on the need to protect and conserve the country’s rivers as the lifeblood of the earth and human civilization, and taking the cue from Manila Bay clean-up, tap concerted action to protect the country’s rivers from degradation and pollution and assure their suitability, sustainability and further improvement, explains Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Charlie Fabre at the Kapihansa PIA Thursday. Aware that the government could not lend a presence enough to cover the protection and management of the entire river systems in the country, this time it looks at communities and stakeholders to help them come up with appropriate mitigation measures and interventions to help address the continued worsening conditions of river systems nationwide, the DENR official said. Earlier, the DENR PENROs and Community ENROs submitted an inventory of all rivers in their respective areas of responsibility and from these, the DENR regional committee selected class C rivers for adoption. According to the DENR, Class C rivers are those which may not be safe for swimming owing to the presence less than 100 coliform presence in the...National News
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