The 3rd Baby and Family Expo Philippines to Launch on September 2015

The third Baby and Family Expo Philippines (BFEP), the country's largest consumer tradeshow for Baby, KIds, Pregnancy and Parenting Products and Services, will be held from September 5-6, 2015 at the Megatrade Hall, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City.

The most anticipated Family Ultimate Day-out, BFEP 2015, is dedicated to nurture family development and childcare. The 2-day event provides best products and services for the whole family, covering the stages of family growth from maternity, newborns, toddlers and early childhood, providing seminars and talks to parents and guardians that seek essential tips and trends to improve their children's health, safety, security, education and more.

BFEP 2015 is packed with fun-filled activities for the entire family, such as the Family Fashion Show, Familympics, games and raffles. Special attractions and features like the Wonderland Playground, World of Science, Toy Museum, Arts and Crafts Studio, Star Photo Gallery, Face Painting Station, Dining Area, Breastfeeding Area, Diaper Changing Area, and Business Matchmaking Area, are prepared for everyone to enjoy!

Baby and Family Expo Philippines' World of Fun where children enjoy fun and exciting rides and games at the expo.

To top it all off, Baby and Family Expo Philippines gets bigger and better with more than 100 exhibiting brands to give away exciting prizes and exclusive discounts only available during the expo.

In 2014, the following brands participated at BFEP: Johnson & Johnson, Baby Mama, Enchanted Kingdom, Children's Dental Center, Momsie Kitty Spa and many more. It was packed with talks and seminars from industry experts such as Edward Mendez of Sexy Solutions, Relational and Life Coach Ali Gui, and Successful Career-Mom Merlee Jayme of DM9Jayme Syfu.

BFEP is a one-stop-shop and interactive expo for all babies, kids, pregnancy, parenting, and Family products and services.

Celebrities such as Thor Dulay of the Voice Philippines and Faith Cuneta entertained the visitors with the lovely voices. The whole family happily bonded together as they participated in the special program like the Bubble Show, Puppet and Magic Shows, Interactive Science Show and Mascot Showdown.

BFEP presents interactive shows for the whole family to enjoy and bond together.

BFEP 2015, now on its 3rd year triples the FUN with more Family Bonding Activities, Ultimate Shopping Experiences, and New Learning and Insights from our experts.

Be part of this star-studded family event! See you all there!

Join the community: 
https://www.facebook.com/babyexpoph and https://twitter.com/BabyExpoPH

Interested to Exhibit? 
Call: 504.4724 / 0905.475.1331 
Email: barbie@babyexpo.ph

MTRCB Imposes Strict Measures Over PBB 737 to Ensure Protection of Minor Housemates

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) imposed strict measures and closer collaboration with ABS-CBN Corp. and SkyCable Corporation as a result of the mandatory conference held Thursday. The conference meant to address various issues and concerns regarding the protection of the welfare and development of minor "housemates" in the television program "Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) 737" (and as regards other concerns about self-regulation). 

  

Such issues and concerns were covered by the Board's 03 July 2015 letter sent to said entities alleging complaints or feedback coming from some parents as well as the National Youth Commission (NYC) in regard to, among others, the cable 24/7 version of the program and its regular free TV version over Channel 2.

Earlier, the Board also sent a letter dated 29 July 2015 conference to consider measures on how best to protect minors in regard to the said program. Serious feedback coming from both the private and public sectors prompted the Board to incorporate into the mandatory conference consideration of overall theme and scenes placing minors in situations tending to compromise their naturally fragile personalities and for the entities concerned to explain their side.

The conference, handled by the Board's Hearing Committee for the purpose - chaired by Board Member (BM) / Atty. Ricardo Salomon, with members BM Ma. Carmen Musngi and BM Cecilia Nubla, was attended by ABS-CBN Corporation represented by its various program executives, namely: Mr. Laurenti M. Dyogi, Head TV Production Entertainment; Mr. Jon Moll, Director; Mr.Raymond Dizon, Business Unit Head; Mr. Marcus Vinuya, Creative Manager; Ms. Cynthia Jordan, Production Manager; Mr. Matthew Salegumba, Story Editor; Ms. Merce Gonzales, Production Manager; Ms. Marpua Engking, Head Researcher; Ms. Charmaina Estrera, Program Producer; Atty. Monalisa Manalo, Legal Counselor; Program Executives' Anna Ilida, Marcella Panaguiton, JR dela Cerna, Krystel Agnote, Kane Errol Choa, and Rae Ann Ducut; and Sky Cable Corporation, the program provider on cable television Sky Channel 85, represented by its Ms. Cora Santiago and Legal Counsel Attys. Agatha Zapanta-De Jesus and Carmi Tugday.

Also in attendance were different resource persons who also wrote to the Board their concerns over the program: Dr. Zandro G. Rapadas of the U.P. College of Mass Communication and Ms. Arlene S. Lacson.

In addition, various resource persons were also invited to share their inputs and expertise to help and guide the Board and the summoned entities to come up with appropriate and comprehensive self-regulatory and remedial measures to address concerns such as mature or adult language, huddling close in bed, and lack of adequate adult supervision, to name some: Hon. Earl P. Saavedra, Commissioner of the National Youth Commission; Hon. Delia Hernandez, Executive Director of the National Council for Children's Television; Hon. Patricia Luna, Executive Director of the Council for the Welfare of Children; Ms. Irma Valiente, Ms. Norline Jacobo, and Ms. Maribeth Casib from the Department of Labot and Employment-National Capital Region; Attys. Ryan Jeremiah Donato Quan and Jamie Ann Reyes of the Ateneo Human Rights Center; Dra. Georgina Gozo-Oliver of the Philippine Psychiatric Association; Sr. Ma. Consolata Manding, FSP of the Daughters of Saint Paul; Ms. Ma. Patricia Boton; Ms. Christine E. Gomez; Director Jose Javier Reyes; and psychlogist Fr. Filoteo Mangalubnan, S.J..

In an opening message, MTRCB Chairperson Eugenio Villareal addressed all participants, stating that the subject matter of the conference is beyond the show PBB 737 but is more importantly about the welfare and value of children and the family. Chair Toto also appealed for openness and initiative of all participants as he noted that we are all formators and educators and that we want our children to be people with character.

Different issues and concerns were addressed during the conference especially on the aspect of cultural sensitivity and how the show addresses the vulnerability of the minor housemates - which even include a 12 year old boy.

NYC Commissioner Saavedra addressed concern over the supervisory role of PBB 737's "resident psychologist," especially on the issue of sexual preference as well as the over-all psychological and moral development of the housemates. On the matter of the program's targeted young audience, and citing an NYC report, Comm. Saavedra stressed that the portrayal of modern identity of Filipino youth is important especially that media has great impact to young people and that TV is a major source of information.

Resource person from AHRC, DOLE, and CWC asked if the show has protective mechanisms in place for the minors and if there are interventions for parents.

Veteran director and academician Joey Javier Reyes raised concern over the lives of the minor housemates after PBB especially in regard to stigmas and seemingly bad reputation that may plagued some housemates as a result of social media. Director Reyes then stressed the important role of media in protecting the lives of the children, making the media the new "Babaylan."

ABS-CBN and PBB responded to all the issues and concerns raised by the resource persons and were very open to the suggestions made by the participants. ABS-CBN TV Executive Laurenti Dyogi told that they are mindful of their responsibility towards the housemates and have regular assessments of the show and that the housemates are undergoing regular sessions with the team and their psychologist.

From the long discussions and careful deliberation, MTRCB will now work closely with PBB 737 until the end of the show by imposing specific actions and guidelines to ensure that the welfare of the minor housemates are of utmost importance.

MTRCB has required both the network and the cable company to institute remedial and self-regulatory measures to ensure the protection, welfare and development of all participants of the show. This is also to make sure that housemates will not be engaged in activities and tasks which may be hazardous to their life and safety. Relevantly, the management and production team, with legal counsel, were active in contributing to the remedial measures contained in the order issued at the end of mandatory conference.

All story editors are required to undergo a Matalinong Panonood and audience-sensitivity seminar to be conducted by Chairperson Villareal on a rotational basis every Thursday at the MTRCB office.

An advisory at the beginning of each episode must be placed stating the following: "This program may contain sensitive material. Viewer discretion is advised." Further, starting July 10, the classification rating of PBB 737 Gold will now be SPG with at least descriptors pertaining to "Theme" (T), "Language" (L), and Sex (S).


And to address the needs and vulnerabilities not only of the participants but also the audience, a comprehensive "closing-out" discussion by a subject-matter expert after the completion of every task or challenge in regard to the precise lesson, learning or virtue to be imparted shall be implemented. This is actually a reiteration of a best practice of policy formulated and tested after the so-called "Nude Painting" controversy during the last PBB season.

The MTRCB thanked all participants in the mandatory conference for their initiative and cooperation.

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The Love for Arts with Craft Box

Want to know the first online craft kit subscription in the Philippines?

Then let's get to know the Craft Box.

Established in 2015, the Craft Box is your new neighborhood workshop in Manila. Composed of four young women seeking to foster a community of people with passion for handmade arts and crafts. The idea was incubated out of their growing frustration in finding affordable crafting tools and supplies, as well as personalized workshops. 

They believe that despite the ease of mass production, anything is made even more special when handcrafted. Likewise, they believe that handcrafting is for everyone. So, turn your curiosity into creativity! It is never too late to learn a new craft.

Their craft workshops will focus more on industrial products (e.g. resin, rubber molding, wood, and board model construction). With this, you can also put up your own handcrafted product business by just knowing the basics of it! Let us craft and grow together!

The Craft Box would like to invite everyone to their first event The Craft Box Party this coming September 19-20, 2015 at the Pergola Mall, BF Homes Paranaque City.

What should everyone expect in this party?

They are aiming to carefully curate individuals and groups of fashion-forward people, musicians, crafters and entrepreneurs. Shop at your favorite online store, meet and greet your favorite bloggers and celebrities. There will be more games to join too! See chic clothes, vintage finds and handmade crafts. You may also join the workshops and learn a new craft. The will be offering workshops on paper cutting, jewelry making, string art, and a lot more.

Stay tuned for upcoming promos and freebies to be given away throughout the event. It will be definitely a weekend of fun activities, shopping, eating and live music for families and friends.

For interested merchants for The Craft Box Party, inquiries or concerns, please contact the email addresses below:

emailus.craftbox@yahoo.com or thecraftboxparty@yahoo.com

*** They are offering special discounts and freebies for merchants who will confirm on or before August 15, 2015.

Get connected with them:

Instagram: @craftbox.ph | @thecraftboxparty

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CraftBoxPhilippines

Nestle Wellness Expo 2015

I was at the Megatrade Hall of SM Megamall last July 4, 2015 and joined the two day event of Nestle Wellness Expo, I was also here two years ago with a former office mate.

Due to some mommy duties that I need to prioritize, I went there after lunch.

And I salute Nestle for providing specific lines for those who registered online, for PWDs, Seniors, and walk-in registrants. And I was correct, there were a lot more people who participated in the event in the afternoon.

The journey map will be handed to you by one of the representatives of Nestle upon entering the venue. 

And of course the tag, they'll attach one on your wrist at the registration area. And this serves as your timer from visiting one booth to the other. After you had your wellness consultation, you need to visit at least three product booths in 1 hour and 30 mins. A very challenging part before you get another special give away from Nestle. Believe me, with the very loooong line that I saw for every booth, you are lucky to finish everything with the time frame they have provided.

But before that, the first stop was the introduction why the expo was held, and this time it is the importance of having breakfast everyday. And yes, I believe that breakfast is the important meal of the day. That's where we get our energy to start a brand new day.

The Nestle Coffee booth, the first and only booth I was able to visit. I wished I was there when it actually started at 10:00 AM. They are providing free coffee as well for everybody.

Lucky me, I was able to get a picture of Chuckie. Other breakfast products featured were Nestle Iced Tea, Milo, Bear Brand, Nido, and Koko Crunch (forgive me if I forgot a product or two).

The place is too crowded that I just went to take some pictures with some product photo booths. Even claiming your pic would take time.

Good thing that their ushers, usherettes, and bouncers were able to keep the lines for every booth despite of the super crowded event. And I have noticed that there were a lot of children in the event this year.

Hoping to join again next year and would be able to visit all the booths next time. 

Pardon My Nails 4: Luxe by Girl Stuff

Since I was at SM Megamall last Saturday for an event, I just can't help it but to drop by at the stall of Girl Stuff located at the fourth floor.

Their staff are really very accomodating, and would even introduce their new shades of nail polish, and Luxe Nail Lacquer was introduced to me.

Only 150.00php.

Would you believe that this is a two-toned nail polish?

Applied two coats on my toe nails.

It is initially in a shade of gold when you apply it on your nails, but when light hits the nail polish it turns into a shade of silver,due to the glittery effect of the nail polish. cool isn't it? And you don't need to apply any top coats for nail polishes from Girl Stuff, it doesn't leave a yellowish stain either after you remove it. And it really stays on your nails for two weeks! I even experienced having it for three weeks, no chips, after I decided to remove it myself.

I love it, and hoping I could apply it on my finger nails soon!

Books for Public School Should Be Monitored by DepEd

Way back in the 80's and 90's, when Google, Yahoo, or other search engines are not that popular yet, books are everyone's best source of material for any research. 

I studied in a private school during elementary and half of my high school days where we need to buy text books as our reference for every subject, books can be bought at the school or outside with local book stores as long as you know the title of the book, the author, grade level and what it looks like. And we used to buy it with one of the popular book stores in the area, since it is cheaper than buying it directly from the school. Unless the book store ran out of stock and we have no choice but to purchase it directly at the school.

After spending 7 years in a private school, I need to transfer to a public school near by. And I don't even need to buy books. Yes, for public schools they will lend you the book for the whole school year.

I love books, I can spend reading the whole day depending on what type of book that got my interest (aside from the household chores that I need to of course). I even teach my children on how to take care of their books and remind them to put it back from where they got it.

A week before the class started we got the books that Bunso will be using for the school year, and yes, I was not surprised to see that some of the books are not looking good in some condition. 

So what's in public school books that I am concern about? A lot! Based on the pictures below, who's not going to get bothered?

See the edges of the two books on top? Need to put adhesive tapes to cover it up and protect it from tearing apart.

Some of the pages already looks like this. Either at the first few pages or those at the back. For the other books, well, both.

This is the cover of the book. And the edges are staring to peel off. 

This is one of the books that my Bunso got, the cover got teared up by the previous borrower, or the borrower before us. Need to cover it up with board paper to hide it.

If you would notice the edge of this page, I covered it up with adhesive. Hoping it would protect the cover and would last long enough for like, how many borrowers in the future.

And I have not included the books that Kuya got, It breaks my heart seeing that the cover was already peeled off from the book itself. And I need to repair it too before putting a new plastic cover.

Public school books had an issue before with having wrong grammars in English text books, and this book lending thing is running for years. And every year, every parent and every student needs to check if the book that they receive is in good condition.

I know that it is the borrower's responsibility to take care of the books, but isn't it also the responsibility of DepEd to monitor if the books are still conducive to learning? Can you just imagine a book with some missing pages when it was given to you and you can not even had a swap for a better book because that's the only one left. 

What also happens is that some books were returned damaged, slight or not, the parent or student will be shouldering the payment for the damages. I would understand if they lost the book, and the said payment will be like a penalty, but for damaged books? Where does these payment goes when it was given? Is it used to produce new books? Does the damaged or lost books been audited and reported to DepEd?

How would a child be interested in reading a book if the book looks like, sorry for the word "trash"? Instead of having the children be more interested in reading books, they prefer to search information right now via the web.

Hoping that this book lending thing improves and public school students will have more better if not a good reading material in the future.