By: Jonas Reyes

Philippine Coast Guard’s multi-role response vessel MRRV 4406 arrived in Subic Bay Freeport Sunday morning after picking up the stranded passengers in Cabangan Port. Photo courtesy of Coast Guard Station Subic

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Eleven passengers, including four children, were rescued Sunday morning off the coast of Cabangan, Zambales after their yacht stalled Saturday afternoon on the way back to the Subic Bay Freeport.

The passengers, who were stranded in the sea for more than nine hours, were rescued by the tugboat MT Stanford that was dispatched here by the Malayan Towage and Salvage Corporation (SALVTUG) on request of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma.

The location where the MY Fusion was stranded on Saturday night. Photo by Jojo Ng

According to the SBMA, the group left the Subic Bay Yacht Club (SBYC) at around 9:00 a.m. on Saturday on board the luxury sports motor yacht MY Fusion and arrived at the resort-island of Magalawa some 90 kilometers north of Subic by noon time.

The group left the island at 3:00 p.m., but the two engines of the yacht reportedly stalled at 6:00 p.m. about halfway en route to SBYC.

The group sent out SOS messages to relatives and friends, and soon the information reached the SBMA. This prompted Chairman Eisma to ask the help of the Subic Freeport business locator SALVTUG, which sent out two tugboats.

During happier times, the MY Fusion being used by the stranded passengers before the incident on Saturday. Photo by Jojo Ng

At around 9:40 p.m., the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) established contact with the yacht, informing the passengers that the tugboat MT Stanford was on the way to their location.

At around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, MT Stanford finally towed MY Fusion to the Cabangan Port where the passengers disembarked. Soon, the Coast Guard’s multi-role response vessel MRRV 4406 arrived to take the passengers back to Subic while the grounded yacht was towed back to SBYC.

The passengers safely arrived here at 8:00 a.m. while MT Stanford with MY Fusion in tow reached the Subic harbor at around 11:00 a.m.

The MY Fusion is owned by Wang He of Golden Fortune 101 Ltd. and is currently registered in Hong Kong. The yacht’s fuel tank reportedly leaked as fuel residue clogged the engine’s fuel lines.

Aside from seasickness and vomiting, nobody from MY Fusion was injured during the nine-hour ordeal.

Source: zambalesherald.blogspot.com

Continue Reading

Photo Credits: iorbitnews.com

MISS Fiesta Communities 2018 has officially crowned its first ever titleholder and it is no other than Olongapo lass Jerry Loi Treyes.

The 18-year-old beauty queen, a resident of the renowned property development, bested out 16 other candidates vying for the prestigious pageant hosted by Fiesta Communities, Inc., as part of its 10th anniversary celebration.

Treyes, who was also hailed as Miss Telegenic, was able to bring home P100,000 cash prize and exclusive endorsement contract, on top of the much coveted title.

During the Question and Answer portion, where each candidate was asked “If you were crowned as Miss Fiesta Communities, what program will you prioritize in order to help many ordinary workers turn their dreams of owning a home into a reality and what actions will you take to achieve this?” she replied, “Miss Fiesta Communities 2018 aims for celebrating beauty the FIESTA ways and we all know that Fiesta means Family, Investment, Environment, Shelter, Technology, and Affordability. And with that, one thing that I can contribute for them is livelihood program.”

“Livelihood programs could train and develop our fellow workers in order for them to achieve the vision of FIESTA Communities which is to uplift lives, realize hopes, and empower communities,” she added as she gained praise from audiences, who came all the way from various cities, municipalities, and provinces across Central Luzon.

Other deserving candidates who grabbed this year’s accolades include Miss Fiesta Dekada Rica Gabriene David from the City of San Fernando, Ambassadress of Family Fenzel Lapus from Mining, Ambassadress of Investment Aira Mae Diamse from Mexico, Ambassadress of Environment Mariah Nilo from Castillejos, Ambassadress of Shelter Carla Mclean from Porac II, Ambassadress of Technology Deserie Balajandia from Angeles City, and Ambassadress of Affordability Aliss Joyce Syfu from Subic.

Special and minor awards ware also given to Janeen Concepcion from Mariveles (Miss Personality), Nilo (Best in Evening Gown and Best in Talent) Diamse (Best in Ramp), Syfu (Miss Professionalism and Miss Congeniality) David (Best in Swimsuit), and McLean who was able to finish off with three other awards namely Best in Festival Costume, Best in Casual Wear, and Miss Photogenic.

Fiesta Communities, Inc. area marketing strategist June Mamangun shared that aside from the successful pageant held at Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in the City of San Fernando, they also conducted numerous activities as part of their anniversary celebration.

“We also hosted sports and cultural activities like Palarong Fiesta and Sagala which showcased our Filipino traditions and enhanced camaraderie in each of the participating Fiesta Communities,” he said.

“On top of these, we also enjoined professional photographers for a Short Film Competition, featuring entries based on the real stories of our homeowners. Another highlight of our celebration is the Poster Making and Photo Walk which we opened for young students from the region,” he concluded.

Source: sunstar.com.ph

GUM LEAVES

Continue Reading

Photo Credit: esquiremag.ph

Compostela Valley has clinched the spot as the second richest province in the Philippines in terms of assets in 2017 despite not being in the top 10 in previous years, according to the 2017 annual financial report of the Commission on Audit (COA).

The province saw its total assets rise by around 406 percent at P18.95 billion in 2017 from the previous estimate of P3.74 billion in 2016.

The COA said the increase was due to the inclusion of public infrastructure projects in the book of accounts of the province, noting the rise in property, plant, and equipment records to P17.145 billion compared to just P1.5 billion two years ago.

“The significant increase in Property, Plant, and Equipment account under General Fund is attributed to the one hundred percent transfer of province’s local road networks from registry to the books of accounts stated at current replacement cost,” the COA’s notes on the financial statement read.

Erstwhile second-placer Rizal fell to fourth place with assets around P14 billion, replacing Batangas province which improved to third place at P15.568 billion.

Negros Occidental completed the top five. It, however, declined by two ranks when its assets only increased by P1.8 billion to P12.89 billion compared to the P11 billion in 2016.

Cebu, meanwhile, retained its claim as the richest province in the Philippines with assets estimated to be worth P34.14 billion, or P1.7 billion higher compared to its 2016 haul of P32.43 billion.

Zambales (P10.46 billion) and Pampanga (P9.53 billion) also made it to the top 10 after reporting assets, ranking sixth and 10th, respectively.

The entry of Compostela Valley, Zambales, and Pampanga booted Laguna, Nueva Ecija, and Leyte out of the COA list.

Bulacan (P10.45 billion — seventh), Palawan (P10.16 billion — eighth), and Iloilo (P10 billion — ninth) complete the top 10 richest provinces. — LDF, GMA News

Source: gmanetwork.com

Continue Reading

By Ram Christian Agustin

Black Arrow Express 5150 champion Mitch Robins (third from left) is flanked by his runner-up and dethroned champ Sam Betten (second from left) and third placer Jakub Langhammer. Paul Gelario

Mitch Robins waded through a league of internationally renowned pros in triathlon and came out victorious at the Black Arrow Express 5150 on Sunday in Subic Bay as he ended the reign of a fellow Australian and reigning champion Sam Betten.

The world-class course setup with an Olympic distance of 1.5k swim followed by a 40k bike and 20k run, was traversed by a total of 627 participants from 21 countries, including eight pros.

“In any day, a win is a good day. I’m super happy to take on the Black Arrow Express 5150 here in Subic Bay,” said Robins. “I’ve been joining for 6 or 7 years in Sunrise Events. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a win here, so I’m very happy and of course I’ll be back and keep coming back for a long time.”

Robins recently placed third at the 2018 IRONMAN 70.3 Shanghai and clinched second behind champion Betten at last year’s Regent 5150 Subic Bay.

“Sam is such a tough competitor, he’s beaten me so many times here. Today, I simply managed the heat a little bit better and that just gave me an advantage at the end,” said Robins.

Betten, a three-time champion from 2015 to 2017 here, settled for second place, with Czech Jakub Langhammer coming in third in beating other pros Tim Linn and Dan Brown.

“It’s not what I hoped for, but it’s a really tough race,” said Betten. “It was a really good race and I pushed really hard and I was very happy with that, but the result was not really what I wanted in the end. But it just goes to show that in this sport, you are constantly trying to improve and stay at the top and that’s what really motivates me. Just trying to push every single day, get better every single race. I’ll be back here. I love racing in the Philippines.”

Meanwhile, Guam’s Manami Iijuma dominated the female pro division against Leanne Szeto from Hong Kong and Dimity Lee Duke from Australia.

“I think I did really good despite some hiccups in my training and in the race. I’m very happy and thankful for such an amazing event. I’m so happy to wrap up my season here,” said Iijuma.

The triathlon festival was organized by Sunrise Events Inc. in partnership with one of the top cargo movers Black Arrow and hosted by Subic Bay and ACEA Subic Bay.

“If you look at our growth for the last 10 years, it’s spectacular so I expect us to continue to grow. We’ll have more races next year in 2019. We have so many people coming into the sport and the future is really bright for triathlon, for IRONMAN, and Sunrise Events,” said Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, founder of Sunrise Events Inc.

Source: manilastandard.net

Continue Reading

By: Ralf Rivas

5G is over 20 times faster than the current 4G connectivity and opens up possibilities for solving metropolitan problems

Photo Credit: PLDT Twitter page

MANILA, Philippines – Just days before the bidding for the 3rd major telecommunications player, Smart Communications and PLDT further strengthened its hold in the telco space and launched the country’s first 5G City.

The telecommunications giant signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Clark Development Corporation (CDC) to launch Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) as the country’s first Smart 5G City.

Under the agreement, PLDT and Smart, together with technology partner Ericsson, will fire up the first 5G cell site in the city in November.

The Manny Pangilinan-led companies will also ramp-up Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G signals in key areas in CFZ and equip all of them with 5G facilities in the coming months.

“This will benefit not only Clark but the country as well by demonstrating that we are in step with the rest of the world in adopting advanced intelligent technologies,” Pangilinan said. (LOOK: Smart 5G banners, 5G-branded vehicles in Clark)

5G power

The next generation of mobile communications promise the fastest data transfer and reduced latency at a cheaper cost and consumes less energy.

5G is expected to hit the global market in 2020. (READ: China ahead of U.S. in 5G race – report)

Based on tests by global telecommunication brands like Qualcomm, browsing speeds could go as high as 1.4 gigabytes per second, over 20 times faster than 4G.

Meanwhile, download speeds can go as high as 186 megabytes per second on 5G.

The super-high speeds open possibilities for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, as well as smart applications for the transport sector, traffic management, manufacturing, airport and mall operations, logistics and warehousing, retail, customer support, and smart homes, among others.

“Through this pilot deployment, we will be able to test 5G’s capabilities using a live network and develop solutions that will serve the future needs of industries and government, such as autonomous vehicles, connected fleets, and smart buildings and factories,” said PLDT and Smart Chief Revenue Officer Ernesto Alberto.

Smart says they are now installing 5G-compatible radio equipment across its network, which now has over 2,000 5G-ready sites. The company’s fiber network is over 221,000 kilometers.

“By piloting 5G in Clark, we are making this zone even more attractive to foreign investors. Through this pilot, we are putting the possibilities of 5G closer to industries, businesses and enterprises operating in the city,” said Juan Victor Hernandez, Senior Vice President and Head of Enterprise for PLDT and Smart.

According to a report from OpenSignal, Smart’s overall download speed improved by 29% to 7.5 Mbps in 2018.

Meanwhile, Globe’s average overall download speed saw an approximate 14% increase to 5 Mbps.

However, the Philippines still lags globally, ranking 96th in the mobile speed rankings of the Ookla Speedtest Global Index.

Source: rappler.com

Continue Reading