Gigs Ilonggo » News

Timezone opens in Iloilo

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:49:57 +0000

Timezone, the Ayala-managed chain of family entertainment centers has just opened a branch in Iloilo City. Co-located with SM Storyland at the Lower Ground Floor of SM City Iloilo, Timezone occupies a rather small portion of the space. SM Storyland’s Party Room and Kiddie Bump Car are still in place and operational. When you look at it, you can say, a Timezone within a SM Storyland. Nevertheless it is still great to enjoy playing with the popular arcade games offered exclusively at Timezone without going anywhere.

Built in 1999, SM City Iloilo has already reached its full occupancy level, hence the crowding of its mall locators.

(...)

Read the rest of Timezone opens in Iloilo

© 2011 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ayala Iloilo, Iloilo Amusement Centers, SM City Iloilo, Timezone, Timezone Iloilo

Starbucks Coffee Iloilo Now Open

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:03:46 +0000

After months of speculating, Starbucks Coffee finally opened its doors to the Ilonggos.

Located at the newly constructed SM City Iloilo Southpoint, Starbucks officially opened its first store in Iloilo yesterday, April 10, 2011. It is the third store in Western Visayas, after Boracay and Bacolod.

The opening of Iloilo branch is part of Rustan’s aggressive expansion to the provinces outside Luzon. Recently, few more branches were opened in Cagayan de Oro and Naga with another one opening soon in Davao.

(...)

Read the rest of Starbucks Coffee Iloilo Now Open

© 2011 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Coffee Shops and Bars, SM City Annex, SM City Iloilo, Starbucks, Starbucks Coffee Iloilo, The Southpoint

Medicus Medical Center [Proposed]

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:22:21 +0000

After years of holding back from its original plan, Medicus Philippines Inc., Iloilo’s premier laboratory services for out -patients and a condo-clinics provider is now ready to build a full-service Medical Center here.

Plans are underway to fill the empty space of its empty lot along Trenas Boulevard (Boardwalk), beside its Condo-Clinics building. A total revamp has been made from the original renderings to come up with a new, modern-looking design for the building to host the Medical Center.

Based on the new set of designs, the building will be at least 2-stories high from its existing 8-stories Condo-Clinics.

Medicus is engaged in the business of providing a comprehensive range of services for almost 20 years n Iloilo and nearby provinces. These services include: clinical laboratory, diagnostic and imaging services, out patient surgical operations, pharmaceutical products for wholesale, distribution and retail, medical clinic for general and occupational consultation, medical offices for lease and condo-clinics for sale.

Medicus Condo-Clinics and the future site of Medicus Medical Center

With its Medical Center, Medicus will definitely give an answer to Iloilo’s ailing crowded hospitals and clinics problem and the cry for more modern medical facilities. More hospitals are expected to rise in Iloilo before the year ends including expansions and upgrades of the existing facilities, both government and privately owned institutions.

© 2011 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Efrain B. Treñas Boulevard, Hospitals, Iloilo, Iloilo Hospitals, Medical Centers, Medicus, Medicus Condo-Clinics, Medicus Medical Center

Puregold eyes Iloilo expansion

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:32:00 +0000

One of the country’s biggest networks of hypermarket and supermarket chains, Puregold is set to land in Iloilo sometime soon. In its long term plans, Puregold is preparing to venture into an aggressive expansion for the next few years. Established in 1998, Puregold has already 60 stores in different cities in Luzon as of this writing.

As part of the expansion program, Puregold is expected to open 15 more branches within the first half of 2011 and a total of 35 new stores within the year.

After its successful penetration in the saturated Luzon market, Puregold is set to conquer the so called “underserved” Visayas and Mindanao markets. Plans are underway of establishing the retail brand in Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Leyte, and Cebu in the Visayas as well as in Cagayan de Oro, Davao City and General Santos City in Mindanao.

Puregold is very much welcome in Iloilo to give the Ilonggos more choices for their shopping needs. It will definitely give a tough competition among the local supermarket chains here as well as with the national players like SM, Robinsons and Gaisano.

Iloilo expansion and the rest of the Vis-Min plans are expected to commence by 2012.

Via The Philippine Star, Image courtesy: http://puregold.com.ph

© 2011 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Hypermarket, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Puregold, Supermarkets, Visayas

2010 Visayas Island Invention Contests and Exhibits

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:53:18 +0000

The Department of Science and Technology Visayas Cluster Regions (DOST VI, VII and VIII) and the Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) will hold the 2010 Visayas Island Invention Contests and Exhibits (VIICE) on August 12, 13 and 14, 2010 at the Amigo Plaza Mall, Iloilo City. The 2010 VIICE is bannered by the theme “Filipino Inventions and Innovations: The Way Forward”.

Amigo Plaza Mall in Iloilo the venue of VIICE 2010

DOST-TAPI celebrates the National Inventors’ Week (NIW) every year, which is highlighted by the National Invention Contest (NIC). The activity aims to recognize and promote Filipino Inventors’ ingenuity, innovativeness and creativity. This is also to enhance awareness on Filipino Inventions as well as knowing their influence to national development. To ensure the maximum participation of inventors nationwide and to give them the chance to display and present their inventions, regional-level contests are also being conducted every year.

This year, VIICE will be hosted by DOST Region VI headed by Director Rowen R. Gelonga. This three-day activity will formally open on August 12, 2010 and will end on August 14, 2010. Filipino inventors will compete in six (6) categories, namely: Invention (Tuklas Award); Utility Model; Industrial Design; Creative Research (Likha Award); Student Creative Research (Sibol Award) for High School and; Student Category Research (Sibol Award) for College. The entries for the Invention Category (Tuklas Award) must be covered by invention patent, still in force granted by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). However, the Utility Model entries must be covered by utility patent/registration still in force granted by the IPO. The Industrial Design entries must be covered by industrial design patent/registration, also still in force granted by the IPO. The entries for the Creative Research Category are those influenced by commercialization/dissemination. And lastly, entries for the Student Creative Research for high school and college students must be new and innovative projects/models and must possess features and characteristics that have significant contribution in the promotion of S&T innovations that are not contrary to public order, morals, public health, and welfare.

The judges will name the top three (3) regional qualifiers in each of the categories. Each regional qualifier will receive cash incentive amounting to Ten Thousand Pesos (Php 10,000.00). Regional finalists will be competing in the National Invention Contests and Exhibits (NICE) to be held in November 17-19, 2010 at the Trade Hall 1, SM City Cebu, Cebu City.

Deadline of submission of entries is on July 16, 2010 at 5:00 pm. Entries are to be submitted at the DOST Regional Office VI, Magsaysay Village, La Paz, Iloilo City.

As part of the conduct of the 2010 VIICE, the DOST Visayas Cluster Regions will have series of Technical Sessions with topics on DOST-TAPI’s Programs of Assistance to Inventors and Would-be Inventors, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Awareness and Patent Application, Patentability and Granting Procedure on August 13, 2010.

For more queries please contact Ms. Lea A. Tabligan or Ms. Paula Huelar at telephone numbers (033) 320-0093, 320-0907 and 320-0908. (Press Release)

One Visayas Conference 2010 in Capiz

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DOST 6, One Visayas, Visayas

Iloilo City 2010 Election Results

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:09:16 +0000

Here are the latest results of the 2010 Automated Elections here in Iloilo City as of this time when the City Elections Board of Canvassers (BOC) already proclaimed the winners.

(On Election Day at Calumpang Elementary School in Molo District)

REPRESENTATIVE (LONE LEGDIST)
Treñas, Jerry – 101,304
Gonzalez, Raul, Jr. – 76,478

MAYOR
Mabilog, Jed Patrick – 80,654
Gonzalez, Raul Sr. – 65,509

VICE MAYOR
Espinosa, Joe III – 63,319
Baronda, Julienne – 58,659

COUNCILORS (Top 12)
1. Tupas, Nielex – 88,816
2. Ganzon, Jeffrey – 81,896
3. Zulueta, Perla – 81,645
4. Jamora, David – 74,030
5. Yee, Edward – 73,491
6. Gonzales, Jason – 72,899
7. Alim, Joshua – 71,925
8. Acap, Lyndon – 67,880
9. Agado, Rodel – 60,614
10. Estante, Ely – 57,509
11. Gerochi, R. Leone – 57,033
12. Nava, Plaridel – 56,279

See the List of Candidates in Iloilo.

© 2010 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2010 Election, 2010 National Election, Election 2010, Iloilo Elections

2010 Iloilo Dinagyang Festival: In The Hall of Fame

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:30:58 +0000

As agreed by the triumviri of the Iloilo City Government, Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. (IDFI), and San Jose Parish – the Dinagyang will be given a new branding. The new distinction is an indicative of her recent accomplishments as adjudged by the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) to be the Best Tourism Event in the Philippines for four consecutive years since the practicing of the said recognition in 2006. And that installed Dinagyang Festival in the Hall of Fame, a grandslam champion.

With the rebranding, Dinagyang now is defined as a “celebration showcasing Ilonggo culture in honor of Senor Santo Nino, the Child Jesus”. The new definition is a compact version of the previous four-pronged description – a religious celebration of the devotion to Senor Santo Nino, a showcase of Ilonggo culture of excellence, a promotional vehicle for Iloilo, and a unifying element for the community to work together for the common good.

After a process of ideation, it has been agreed that a module on the history of the festival will be skipped to give way to a more important process of setting up the objectives for next year’s edition.

They fixed the direction for the 2010 event to make the festival a cultural menagerie and exhibitory occasion, to get global attention, to live up to being the best tourism event in the hall of fame, to maintain its religiosity, to reach out for the marginalized and less privileged sectors, to continue as an economic driver of the City and to attain financial sustainability.

The official name of next year’s event is: 2010 Iloilo Dinagyang Festival. Take note that the year precedes the title of the festival to distinctly standardize and differentiate her from the other festivities. The font used for the Year 2010 is Jokerman. The zero figures appear like wheels to represent the festival as an economic driver; on closer look the same figures are like eyes to indicate that the world is watching!

The font for the word ILOILO is Cooper BT, Dinagyang is mistral, and Festival is Algerian.

The tagline for 2010 is “intheHallofFame”; font – Cataneo BT. It describes and exemplifies Dinagyang as a model example of a premier festival. The phrase is interconnected without space between words to represent the bonded relations and partnership of people working together.

Colors for 2010 are Lavender and Gold – Lavender is a pale hue of Purple; while Gold is a deep rich Yellow.

Purple is the symbol of imperial, royal or other higher rank; as an adjective it means elaborate in style. Gold is a symbol of high quality or achievement. The two colors are visual complements which best represent Dinagyang as a highly acclaimed world-class festival.

However it came out that the above guidelines for the colors and fonts to be used in the poster and image brand of next year’s event was not strictly met. You may notice it in the actual poster above. I’m still pessimistic though, that next year’s celebration would be a bang.

Click here to see the Official Schedule of Activities of the 2010 Iloilo Dinagyang Festival.

© 2009 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dinagyang Festival, Tourism

Iloilo Hosts the Biggest University Games 2009

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:45:53 +0000

Iloilo is proud to host the Philippine’s National University Games 2009 (unigames). This will be on October 24 – 30 and will be hosted by Central Philippine University (CPU) for the first time. Unigames is the largest collegiate consortium that gathers university athletes for a friendly competition among fellow student athletes around the country every year. This year’s event is the biggest of its yearly edition for 13 years already. At least 2,500 expected athletes and officials will participate in the week-long games that includes volleyball, beach volleyball, athletics, badminton, chess, football, tennis, swimming, taekwondo, men’s sepak takraw, table tennis, and women’s softball which is debuting this year.

Among the 50 schools who confirmed their participation in this year’s grand event are; Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines-Diliman, University of St. La Salle-Bacolod, University of San Carlos-Cebu, Marawi State University, College of St. Benilde from Manila, Xavier University from Cagayan de Oro, University of Mindanao from Davao, Foundation University Dumaguete, St. Louis University from Baguio, University of San Agustin Iloilo, University of San Jose Recoletos Cebu, Emilio Aguinaldo College Manila, West Negros University Bacolod, Holy Name University Bohol and Central Philippine University.

CPU Olympic Size Swimming Pool

CPU is fully equipped enough to host such this grand competitions with various facilities sprawling all over its 24-hectare campus that can accommodate at least 1,500 athletes, delegation, and tournament officials. All of the games will be played inside the CPU campus except for athletics and badminton to held at the Iloilo Sports Complex and basketball in Pototan’s Basketball Arena. CPU will also construct a beach volleyball facility for this event.

CPU Big Field

Hosting such this big event is a great opportunity for Iloilo to showcase what it can offer to the local tourists. It is a great time to show them what we’ve got. Businesses especially in the food and accommodations industries would take advantage of this opportunity, show the true Ilonggo hospitality and we’ll let them taste our authentic cuisines that might keep them coming back.

Let’s all support this national activity here in Iloilo.

View the Complete Schedule of Games in the 14th Unigames in Iloilo

© 2009 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CPU, Schools, Tournaments and Contests

New Iloilo Airport Secondary Access Road

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:45:41 +0000

September 8, 2009 – The proposed secondary access road to the New Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan will commence construction after its groundbreaking ceremony today. The secondary access road is a 3.2 kilometer-stretch from the national highway in Barangay Tabucan to the airport. It will be a two-lane junction with 5.5 meter width asphalt concrete pavement.

The P124 million secondary access road project which is expected to bolster the regional economy will serve as an alternative road to the new Iloilo Airport Complex for passengers coming from the northern and central part of Iloilo, the provinces of Antique, Capiz and Aklan.

Accordingly, the project covers an area of 64,944 sq.m., traversing the five barangays of Cabatuan, namely, Tabucan, Tiring, Talanghauan, Ga-ub, and Duyan-duyan.

Upon completion, the new road network will help reduce traffic at the main access road during peak hours, and will likewise save at least 15 minutes travel time or kilometers for airport passengers from the north. The first access road going to the airport was from southern Iloilo traversing the municipalities of San Miguel and Oton

(with news report from PIA)

SuperCat is Back: Iloilo – Bacolod v.v.

© 2009 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Government Projects

Iloilo Hosts the Philippine International Mathematics Competitions

Eddie Mendoza Jr. — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:23:40 +0000

Iloilo will be hosting the Philippine International Mathematics Competitions (PIMC) that promises to be one of the biggest math contests in Asia. The competition is scheduled on November 2009 but has no definite date and venue yet. Philippines and 18 other countries have signed up so far for the contest, which expects to draw 1,000 contestants consisting of elementary and secondary students. This competition is organized by the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines (MTG) with the support of the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) and the Department of Education.

The competition will be divided into two categories: the 2009 Asia Inter-Cities Teenagers Mathematics Olympiad (AITMO) for the secondary level and the 2009 Philippine Elementary Mathematics International Contest (PEMIC) for the elementary level.

The countries who have signed to join the contests aside from the Philippines are China, Albania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, India, Iran, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Taiwan and Thailand. More countries has been invited to join that includes USA and Germany.

This is really a great opportunity to showcase Iloilo to the world and hosting this kind of international event is a really jubilant. It will surely boost the local tourism thinking that these student participants have coaches and guardians with them during the event. Hope that more and more events, may it be local and international, will be held here in Iloilo. And of course Iloilo must have a convention facility that could cater to thousands of participants in the upcoming events. Hope one will materialize soon!

(details from Manila Bulletin)

© 2009 Junnjun Mendoza | Gigs Ilonggo | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Schools, Tournaments and Contests