FilipinoArt.ph, an online art gallery supporting Filipino artists, collaborates with JT’s Manukan Grille, a chicken inasal restaurant chain, via the art display titled “Colors and Flavors of Bacolod.’’ Ongoing until Oct. 15, 2023, the art display features acrylic paintings of local artists Roselle Manalastas and Jason Ray Zabat at JT’s Manukan Grille in 32 nd Ave. cor. Bonifacio Blvd. BGC. “Colors and Flavors of Bacolod” portrays Bacolod City’s cultural heritage, seizing its essence through vibrant colors and vivid emotions that showcase the city’s annual celebration of the Masskara Festival. The artists’ creations draw deep inspiration from the world-renowned street festival, which stands as a symbol of the Negrenses’ resilience, born during the sugar crisis of the 1980s.

Joel Torre, the owner of JT’s Manukan Grille, wants to use his chains of restaurants as a safe, creative space for Filipino artists. “Our original al-fresco setup wasn’t ideal for displaying traditional visual art due to dust. Nonetheless, we hosted performances and showcased films, aiming to turn the place into an arts hub. We are also transforming our branch in Boracay into an arts community, initiating storytelling, music, painting, and filmmaking workshops. This is our way of giving back to the community.”

Jason Ray Zabat, FilipinoArt.ph artist, shared his creation process of “Mr. Juan Tilaok,” an intricately layered acrylic painting inspired by Mr. Torre. Zabat said, “The chicken, embodying the restaurant and Mr. Torre, was vital in shaping the artwork. The attire reflects Mr. Torre’s artistic identity, enhanced by cultural elements like the Sarimanok-inspired tail and natural motifs of flowers and vines on the coat.” Zabat’s artwork has also incorporated Bacolod’s famous delicacies, such as inasal, piaya, and kansi, adding depth to the artwork’s narrative. Before this art display, FilipinoArt.ph also partnered with other local establishments to promote artists and expand its reach. Its initial collaboration was with Brewed
Specialty Coffee, a third-wave coffee shop in Pasig City. As part of the coffee shop’s
second-anniversary celebrations, FilipinoArt.ph hosted an art display titled “Sining at
Kape,” featuring the works by Pasigueño artists.

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About FilipinoArt.ph
FilipinoArt.ph, an online art gallery from the Philippines, connects art lovers with
diverse Filipino artworks. Since its launch in October 2019, it has supported local
artists by showcasing and marketing their works. It features independent and
established visual artists, regularly adding new pieces like paintings, drawings, digital
art, sculptures, and mixed media weekly. Representing 460+ artists, the gallery offers
a curated collection of 1,700+ art pieces spanning various styles. The UK-based
Corporate Vision-Small Business Awards named FilipinoArt.ph the “Best Online Art
Gallery in the Philippines” in 2022. The digital platform was developed and is
maintained by Chanz Global, which is also behind PropertyAsia.ph and
WaterDelivery.ph. About JT’s Manukan Grille

JT’s Manukan Grille has delighted diners with delicious Bacolod-style grilled chicken
for over two decades. Created by actor Joel Torre and his wife, Cristy, their passion
for crafting flavorful grilled chicken from cherished family recipes led to its start in 2003.

The first restaurant opened in Bacolod, focusing on the famous chicken inasal. Recognized by Spot.ph as the “Top Chicken Inasal Restaurant” since 2015, it’s a
must-visit in Mr. Torre’s hometown, with a special place in his heart due to his
family’s food catering history. With an unwavering commitment to flavorful cuisine, JT’s Manukan Grille has won patrons’ hearts across multi-locations (about 35
branches so far), fulfilling their dream of sharing delectable creations globally.

For inquiries, please contact:
Denise Concepcion
dconcepcion@chanzglobal.com
09177715904

What do social media influencers Kiray Celis, Stephan Estopia, and Pash Pacia have in common?

They all have a passion for excellence in whatever they do, the food they eat, the places they go, and the products they wear or use in their everyday lives. No, they’re not discriminating; they just want to be discerning and refined. More importantly, they want to make the smart choice in the products they buy.

Each one desires nothing less than reliable quality, going out of their way to discover excellence, and found it in Taiwan.

For actress, host, and influencer Kiray Celis (, ), she loves to travel and use products that can give her the best of what she wants. When it comes to cooking, she discovered the Tatung rice cooker from Taiwan that is best both in cooking rice and steaming her favorite veggies. And just recently, she herself went to Taiwan, one of the countries in her travel bucket list, and experienced the best places in Taiwan that she can only dream of back then ().

                                                        Just  a  chill  park  day  with  Kiray  at  Liberty  Square

Admired by many, versatile actor Arron Villaflor (, ) needs to be stylishly camera ready at all times. Keen on the latest trends in fashion and modern ingenuity, he appreciates the excellent standard Taiwan has modeled globally. For Arron, style goes the best with practicality, finding the perfect water-proof flash drive by TeamGroup and the reusable Dacian face mask. Arron looks forward to frequent Taiwan and discover more of its amazing products.

An avid gamer and certified digital junkie, Taiwan Excellence products such as noise-cancelling wireless gaming earphones from ROG, and gaming mouse from Asus, appeal to influencer Stephan Estopia (, ). This in-demand gamer and live streamer knows the demands of his passion, which is why he uses only the best digital products and accessories that can withstand intense gameplay ().

                                      On-the-go  Stephan  is  always  ready  to  be  in-game  anytime  anywhere

Finally, Pash Pacia (, ) is one who exudes body positivity. Pash is one who inspires many forms of beauty. She has a fondness for gastronomic delights, and advocates for sustainable products. That is why she loves O’Right, which she discovered when she went to Taiwan. With O’Right, Pash is not only assured of pearly white teeth, she also knows mother nature approves of her choice ().

                                                     Pash has the power to work and travel in sophisticated style

Each of these friends loved their discoveries in Taiwan, products recognized by Taiwan Excellence, an initiative of the Bureau of Foreign Trade in Taiwan for products that offer innovative value. Kiray, Arron, Stephan, and Pash hopes these products be made available in the Philippines so Pinoys can experience how these products bring excellence in their everyday life.

If you’re interested to offer Taiwan Excellence brands in the Philippines, you may fill-out this form (bit.ly/TaiwanExcellenceBrandDealership).

To learn more about Taiwan Excellence, visit  https://www.taiwanexcellence.org/en.

Manila, Philippines – Mondelēz International, a snacks company with 59 years of heritage in the Philippines, recently launched a partnership with Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) and the municipality of San Miguel in Bohol province. This partnership aims to strengthen the preparedness of the community in facing and recovering from disasters such as typhoons.  

It has often been said, Filipinos are amongst the most resilient people in the world. No matter the disaster, we can pick-up the pieces, survive, and rebuild again. However, there is only so much resilience one can withstand. Instead, communities must be like the mighty bamboo – able to face down the strongest winds without falling.  

Mondelēz International is the maker of beloved snacks such as Tang, Eden cheese, Cheez Whiz, Oreo, Tiger, Cadbury Dairy Milk, and Toblerone. Its purpose is to empower people to snack right, with the right snack, for the right moment, and made the right way. The latter means making our snacks sustainably, using less resources and lessening the impact of our operations on the environment. This focus on sustainability also extends to its community involvement programs, such as this partnership with the PBSP.  Established in 1970, PBSP is the largest business-led social development organization in the country committed to poverty reduction. PBSP has been at the forefront of advocating for stronger corporate citizenship with the aim of supporting inclusive national development.

Preparedness from Awareness

This partnership involves two areas: preparedness through early warning for typhoons, and tools for rebuilding homes that provide livelihood to skilled workers. When Typhoon Odette hit Visayas and Mindanao in late 2021, it caused so much destruction to houses, buildings, and unfortunately lives. It was seen that an important factor in lessening the impact of a disaster is the capacity of the community to prepare for such an event. After Typhoon Odette’s destruction, Mondelēz International and PBSP extended immediate relief to 600 families affected, in the areas of Ilog in Negros Occidental; Southern Cebu; Bubong in Lanao del Sur; Siargao in Surigao del Norte, and Roxas in Palawan.

San Miguel in Bohol was also affected by Typhoon Odette. To ensure that its 18 barangays are aware of incoming typhoons, the partnership will provide them with an early warning system, as well as 2-way radios for communicating to areas that are farther from the municipal center and might not have access to other media for information. These devices would help ensure that communities are aware of the incoming typhoon as well as any evacuation warnings from the government.   

Building Livelihood

In addition to being aware of incoming typhoons, the communities will also be prepared to build back homes in the event of any destruction.  The partnership will also provide 59 sets of carpentry tools which skilled workers in the community can use when making house repairs. These tools will be useful for restoring the housing units of the San Miguel constituency, and at the same time, provide and additional source of income for their skilled workers and laborers.

According to San Miguel Mayor Ian Gil G. Mendez, the partnership will provide great assistance and preparedness to their municipality. “Thank you for choosing the people of San Miguel, especially our volunteers who helped rebuild the municipality after we were struck by typhoon Odette last year,” he shared.

About Mondelēz International 

Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) empowers people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world. With 2021 net revenues of approximately $29 billion, MDLZ is leading the future of snacking with iconic global and local brands such as Oreo, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDLZ.  

About Mondelez Philippines

Mondelēz Philippines Inc. has been providing consumers with delicious snack products for the past 59 years – since 1963. Its product portfolio includes Tang powdered beverages, Eden cheese, mayonnaise and sandwich spread, Cheez Whiz spread, Oreo cookies, Tiger energy biscuits, as well as Toblerone and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates. The company employs about 450 people in the Philippines, with a manufacturing facility in Parañaque City. Visit https://ph.mondelezinternational.com/home.

About Philippine Business for Social Progress

Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) is the country’s largest business-led NGO and operates at the nexus of corporate citizenship, sustainable development, and poverty reduction. Established in 1970, PBSP remains a consultant and partner of choice of companies and donors.

PBSP scales up impact by using the Collective Impact strategy to solve large and systemic problems. Its brand of corporate citizenship taps into the core business competencies of companies and promotes inclusive business as a strategy. PBSP also creates sustainable solutions in Health, Education, Environment, and Livelihood while strategically engaging companies through social investment, responsible business practices, and philanthropy. Visit https://www.pbsp.org.ph/

There is a global call from environment advocates to urge multinational companies and leading brands of consumer goods to lessen use of plastics in their product packaging by refilling. It is yet to happen.

However, a local brand called SABON EXPRESS, has joined the global reuse and refill revolution to spur a transition to a plastic-free future. Its founder and Chairman, Mellany Zambrano, believes it is time to shift consumer behavior and habits when it comes to buying household products.

SABON EXPRESS, an innovative consumer goods brand and franchisable store chain, is paving the way for locally manufactured liquid soaps and detergents to have strong foothold in the market with its first-of-its-kind mechanized and automated ‘sabon’ refilling stations that allow consumers to have a refill of highly essential and consumable household products like dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, fabric conditioner, liquid hand soap, car shampoo, reusing their own bottles and containers – in a hygienic way.

SABON EXPRESS dubbed as The Refill Authority, is trailblazing a more appropriate way of sabon refilling – one that does not require the ‘tindera” to use “tabo” or dipper to fetch products from the drum to manually refill bottles, which is a current practice of most local sabon refilling stores in the country. Said manual process potentially contaminates products and makes refilling messy and unhygienic. Sabon Express recently launched its liquid soap dispensing unit at the ZeroWaste Bazaar in Uptown Mall BGC Taguig last July 18-21 – as the first and only automated and hygienic sabon refilling station in the country.

The Zero Waste Bazaar is in celebration of Plastic-Free July, a collaborative event of Ecowaste Coalition of the Philippines, Greenpeace Philippines, Mother Earth Foundation, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Health Care Without Harm together with Break Free from Plastic, Oceana Philippines International, and Megaworld Lifestyle Malls. It showcased a photo exhibit and bazaar featuring art and eco-friendly stores to make plastic-free Pilipinas a reality.

SABON EXPRESS strongly advocates for “a world with less plastic” by promoting the reuse of plastic containers for household products via its conceptual and innovative hygienic ‘sabon’ refill dispensing unit in all its stores which comes in both manual and automated machines – a game changer in the local ‘sabon’ refilling industry.

With a vision to serve the country’s increasingly demanding market at scale, Sabon Express is committed to continuous research and development and is being assisted by the Department of Science and Technology’s Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) for further product development, technical advancement and good manufacturing technology and processes.

“At Sabon Express, we are always looking for ways to innovate in order to serve our consumers better and to help save the environment in our own little way because our business is advocacy-driven”, says Mellany Zambrano.

Open for franchise, distribution and reselling

Among the signature products of Sabon Express are the Deesh dishwashing liquid, Lanza fabric conditioner, Hush hand soap, Savonex multipurpose cleaner, SoFresh washing machine tub cleaner, Glim glass cleaner, Switch liquid detergent, Vorox toilet care, and CarZ car care.

Sabon Express ALL-IN franchise+ package is worth P388,000 which includes Sabon refill dispensing machine, store fabrication and installation, display racks and counter table, store signages, P50,000 worth of initial product inventory, product marketing/sales training, and more.

For franchise, distribution and reselling inquiries, call Sabon Express hotlines: 0919-0967602/0970-5614670/0965-6912553 or visit their office at 1023 10thFloor, City & Land Mega Plaza, ADB Avenue, Ortigas, Pasig City.

“I really used to struggle kasi hate na hate talaga ng kids ko dati ang veggies – ayaw nila yung taste. Taste is so important for kids, so I ensure na dapat na-eenjoy nila mga sineserve ko.”

Have you sat with your kids way past mealtime just to make sure they eat their veggies on the plate? How about resorting to bargaining more gadget time for just one more bite of that carrots? Well, you’re definitely not the only momma doing that. Even celebrities like Camille Prats have to do a bit of negotiating just to get her kids to eat their veggies.

Luckily, she shares some handy hacks with Spot.ph to do the trick without the crying, the bargaining, and the unnecessary drama that fills mealtime. 

Here are 3 easy peasy ways to get your kids to eat their veggies according to Camille:

1. Oh My Gulay! May Gulay! – Instead of only serving your kids veggies, partner your kids’ meals with Tang Fruit & Veg. It comes in two flavors: Orange Carrot, which has the Vitamin C from oranges and Vitamin A from carrots, and Dalandan Malunggay, which has the Vitamin C from dalandan and the Iron of malunggay. Tang Fruit & Veg has the delicious taste of fruits AND the nutrition from veggies in a drink that kids love! Camille can vouch this – her kids love its taste so much, they actually ask her for it themselves! Yummy na, masustansya pa! 

Oh My Gulay! Shop the NEW Tang Fruit & Veg here:

2. SmartMom Recipes – No need to work hard, just work smart! Incorporate veggies in delectable recipes that you know your kids will surely love. Your kids won’t notice that veggies are actually the main ingredient because of its delicious taste! 

3. Appearance is key – Kids are very visual so it’s really all about making their plate look fun! Focus on making veggies look appetizing by using creative shapes and brightly colored bowls to increase their appetite. You can even add in their favorite animal or cartoon character for that extra wow factor! You can go as simple as making trees out of broccoli or more complex as making pirates from cucumbers– the idea stays the same: make it fun!

Oh My Gulay! Shop the NEW Tang Fruit & Veg now to get the yummy taste of fruits with the nutrition benefits of veggies!:

BPI Foundation, the social development arm of BPI, has started to reforest 170 hectares of land in Pantabangan, Carranglan Watershed Forest Reserve, Nueva Ecija through its Lakbay Luntian initiative as part of the Bank’s 170th-anniversary celebration in August.

“In previous years, we held nationwide volunteer activities as part of our anniversary celebrations. This year, we aligned with the Bank’s 170th anniversary theme and reinvented how we do volunteer work and give back to our communities as one BPI,” said BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen Cammayo.

Lakbay Luntian is the first-ever virtual tree planting initiative organized by BPI Foundation, in partnership with eco-social enterprise Bambuhay and Ayala Corporation’s Kasibulan Project, a long-term program on reforestation and forest protection. This is part of the Balik-Kalikasan program, which aims to preserve and restore rainforests across the country while equipping local communities with sustainable alternative livelihood and strengthening every Filipino’s commitment to protecting the environment through reforestation.

Through the collaborative efforts of BPI employees and BPI Foundation, a total of 68,000 bamboos and trees will be planted in Nueva Ecija. This will also help offset BPI’s total carbon emissions for the year 2020, while providing sustainable livelihood to 17 Indigenous People (IP) families in the area.

“Our BPI employees have shown that amid the pandemic, the bayanihan spirit remains very much alive in all of us,” said BPI President and CEO TG Limcaoco. “Remember that we have not survived 170 years by remaining still. It’s been 170 years of constant reinvention, progress, and thinking to do good for our friends, neighbors, clients, and colleagues.”

To know more about BPI Foundation and its initiatives, visit https://www.bpifoundation.org.