During a recent Q&A with the DENR Secretary and his team on 15 June 2017 at Makati-Shangri-la, Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC) President Isidro ‘Butch’ C. Alcantara brought into light the potential of rehabilitated open pit mines to become assets for ecotourism and waste to energy projects.
Alcantara added that since mining companies will eventually have to give up their rights on the open pit mines after rehabilitation, there are currently NO CLEAR RULES & GUIDELINES as to the handover of responsibility on the implementation of future projects once these mines have finished operations.
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) said it is working in close coordination with the Mines & Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and is reviewing these open pit mines to become sanitary landfills after mine rehabilitation.
However, Alcantara was quick to add that “… it’s not just landfill. Some of them are really good prospects for ecotourism and waste to energy (projects)”.
For the full story, refer to the video clip below:
Last Saturday evening, I was invited to this event called Pub Crawl.
A friend said it was an event where a group of people would rendezvous at a particular point and then hop from one pub to the next. Thinking that we would be pub hopping to new finds around Makati City, I agreed. Who wouldn’t want to know the newest pubs in the place where I live right? Also, knowing what a decent pub was, I figured there was a little bit of English elegance to it. Boy, was I wrong.
In my line of work, I meet a lot of people. Most, if not all, are business owners and/or are high caliber professionals in the industries I am involved in. I do not exaggerate. I attend so many events and are involved with so many groups, projects and companies, networking has become second nature to me.
Part of the success of my networking experience is that in every event, or group I get involved in, there has always been common ground. It’s either we have common friends, or is connected some way to my family, or we come from the same industry, or we’ve worked on a project together in the past — friends introduce me to their friends who they think could add value to each other’s professions and businesses. People adding value to one another.
There was nothing of value from the event I attended last Saturday night. In fact, I was so embarrassed to be around the group I refused to have my picture taken. It was that bad.
The profile of the group was young, their background – unknown. Obviously, it was not the crowd for someone who talks to so many high-caliber professionals on a day to day basis. I was so angry at myself for letting my friend talk me into it, I was seriously fuming on my way home. I have never been so humiliated and embarrassed in my life.
Upon arrival at Z Hostel (why Rommel and his team would cater to events such as this is beyond me), I immediately asked for the agenda: What pubs we were going to, etc. No one could provide me with concrete information. In fact, one of the organizers said it was a secret. A surprise.
My initial thought was: A secret? A surprise? As a paying customer, wouldn’t I want to know where I was being taken to? What if this was an organized attempt to profile and eventually kidnap their customers? (I’m exaggerating but you get the drift). As I looked around the room, I found a lot of sleazily dressed women with thick layers of make-up puffing on their cigarettes and drinking cheap beer. “What you are, you attract” couldn’t have been more true at this stage. From that point on, I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy the rest of the evening.
Second, they made us wear these awful, awful, awful yellow shirts. They didn’t even buy decent name tags to go with those shirts. To cut costs, one of the organizers wrote on my Php 500 brand new shirt with a marker. They should have written “desperate” on each of the participants forehead while they were at it! Just thinking about this particular incident makes me cringe.
The event had the feel of a school field trip except there was no principal or teacher. The event was immensely juvenile. To put it subtly, it was a hook-up joint. A twist to the usual networking-masked-as-speed-dating-events you hear about.
My gut was right from the start. I should have listened to it. But the good news was that, after my walk out, I gave my shirt to our houseboy in my building. It fit him like a glove.
A Filipino child joining the Ati-Atihan festival, just one of the many festivals celebrated in the Philippines.
The JFC (Joint Foreign Chamber of the Philippines) supports government efforts to modernize immigration services through the proposed Philippine Immigration Act and other ongoing reforms. The objective of the bill is to make immigration services more enabling to promote tourism and commerce. The JFC believes that these efforts will help make the Philippine tourism stay long and retirement industries more competitive with the rest of its ASEAN neighbors while helping the country grow twice as fast.
As international traffic continues to grow, especially with implementation of the liberal air access policy, any shortage of personnel relative to the growth of passenger traffic should be addressed with an increase in the workforce at the expense of the national government.
Gracing the cover of Power Play Philippines, Pope Francis provides a ‘fresher perspective’ on faith.
“Pope Francis is taking a different road towards the same destination. His is more people-centric, more leadership-by-example; in modern parlance, the Pope “keeps it real.” – Lester Gopela Hallig
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio aka Pope Francis graces the cover of Power Play Magazine’s issue 1, volume 2.
Also inside this issue are two of Solaire’s most-talked about developments in the leisure and luxury lifestyle industry: the Sky Tower and the Theater.
Get a glimpse of what transpired during the last quarter of 2014 and why the Philippines could be the next gaming and tourist mecca. For an excerpt of the stories, please click on the pictures below.
In line with becoming an integrated resort, Solaire Resorts and Casino invited international act and Broadway sensation Chicago to open their much anticipated Theater. For more of this story, please click on this image to direct you to the full excerpt. For any suggestions or verification of data, please get in touch with the journalist responsible for this story. http://powerplayphilippines.com/powerplay-sexy-satire/“The Sky Tower elevates Solaire yet another step higher into the very top tier of world-class integrated resorts, and is a tremendous game-changer in providing best-in-class guest experience,” Mr. Thomas Arasi, Bloomberry Resorts Corp. (BRC) President and CEO. For more of this story, please click on this image to direct you to the full excerpt. For any suggestions or verification of data, please get in touch with the journalist responsible for this story. http://powerplayphilippines.com/powerplay-reach-for-the-sky/
Now available at all leading bookstores nationwide, this issue can also be downloaded at all your favorite mobile devices: Mac iOS, Android, Amazon, Windows8 and Samsung.
In Norse Mythology, Valkyrie referred to one of the virginal women who searched the battlefields for the souls of dead men fit to become einherjar (ine-hair-ee-are), which were then taken up to Valhalla (the equivalent of heaven) and trained to fight in the battle of Ragnarok (equivalent of apocalypse). The Valkyrie also served wine and food to the einherjar in the great hall.
And so the word was out: the establishment of the colossal Palace at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and the unveiling of its first phase, Valkyrie Nightclub. Valkyrie Nightclub is just the initial stage of the massive complex that is rising in uptown Taguig.1
The brainchild of the people behind Members Only, Prive, Aracama, 71 Gramercy, 12 Monkeys, Draft Republiq, Opus, Aracama, and from the not-so-distant past, Embassy, Encore, Cuisine and Fly2 , for Manila’s party crowd, there is only one place to be seen: Valkyrie at The Palace2 . Celebrity partners include Tim Yap, Raymond Gutierrez, JM Rodriguez and Fabio Ide1 with Kim Yao, Stephen Ku, Neil Arce and Pam Solilapsi.1
Valkyrie the nightclub has two floors in a cavernous and luxurious space. It has multiple VIP seating areas and six luxury skyboxes.1 Valkyrie can accommodate almost 3,000 people1 and it’s bound to get bigger. The first step for The Palace2 soon to rise will be two restaurants, a micro brewery, a day club with pool and 12 cabanas, and a high-end lounge and bar on this sprawling space in uptown Bonifacio Global City.1 Is the cover charge consumable? “Yes, but we highly recommend reserving a table,” says GP Reyes1
“I didn’t realize how huge our club is until I decided to do the rounds. I didn’t get to see most of the people I wanted to see. It was such a fun and crazy night. I’m overwhelmed!” said JM Rodriguez, one of the partners.2
“When all the phases have been opened, The Palace will be able to accommodate 10,000 people,” said Tim Yap, another of the partners.2 “We wanted to give Manila a new nightlife home that encompasses everything in terms of scale, a paradise of sorts, from night to day,” he added.2
The Palace, located on 9th Avenue and 36th Street in Bonifacio Global City, will be the biggest nightlife destination in the country with six distinct outlets—Valkyrie Nightclub, Pool Club at The Palace, Revel Room, Brewery, Light Café, and a Japanese lounge and restaurant.1
The second phase, the Pool Club and Light Café, will be launched in February 2015, while the third and final phase, the Revel Room, Brewery and Japanese lounge, will be completed by April 2015.1
The man behind The Palace, Erik Cua started his first club, Temple, when he was only 29 years old. Always coming up with brilliant concepts for what our town is looking for, he conceptualizes nightlife on the fast track.1
“The Palace was envisioned as the biggest nightlife destination in Asia. It is poised to put the Philippines on the worldwide clubbing map with its six truly unique clubbing concepts, the first of which is Valkyrie, the nightclub, which is a bilevel space with luxurious interiors, soaring ceilings, and state-of-the-art lighting and sound system” GP Reyes adds.1
With a recent grand opening last Dec. 4, Valkyrie has had international acts spin and perform with the likes of Dutch DJ Martin Garrix and Canadian electronic dance music duo Adventure Club. To welcome the New Year, Dirty South will fly in for The Palace New Year’s Eve Ball on Dec. 31.2
Valkyrie at The Palace is at 9th Avenue corner 36th Street, Uptown Bonifacio, Bonifacio Global City. For table reservations, call 0917-6808888
