The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, compressing 10-year technology changes into one to two years, a technology business leader said in an online briefing last week. The rapid changes bring about new realities that heavily influence technology trends, said JP Palpallatoc, the data, AI, and next technologies lead of Accenture in the Philippines. Before COVID-19,…
Author: Max Limpag
Max Limpag is a journalist, blogger, and developer based in Cebu. He started as a reporter covering City Hall in 1996. He has written on technology for various print and digital publications since 1999 and twice won the Philippine Blog Awards for technology and sports. He co-founded the new media start-up InnoPub Media.
Want lomi? Try Lomi Boss in Lapu-Lapu City
The first time I tried Batangas-style lomi was when I was in that city for a work-related trip. I was surprised by how full the dish was of meat and topped with chicharon. I love lomi but, until then, have mainly tried the one with smaller servings of meat and more vegetables. I guess the…
PLDT-Smart expands capabilities to fight online sexual abuse of children
Poverty made worse by a pandemic is fueling the increase in online sexual abuse and exploitation of children or OSEAC, PLDT-Smart officials said in an online forum with journalists yesterday. The forum was held in time for today’s global celebration of Safer Internet Day. “With schools shut, the children have become dependent on the Internet,…
Google data show Metro Cebu residents slowly returning to work, going to beaches, parks
Metro Cebu residents continue to slowly return to their workplaces. They have also been heading to beaches, parks, and plazas, according to mobility data tracked by Google. But overall, data Google gathered from Metro Cebu phone users of Google Maps showed that visits to places outside the home were still way below the baseline in…
Work and leisure from the city to the mountains with the Ford EcoSport
I did get the wrong unit, I said on the quick and urgent phone call as I left the meeting room. I knew that the Ford EcoSport was assigned to me but by a mix-up, I got another unit, which I drove from the dealership in Nivel Hills to the venue of our meeting at…
Lapulapu was ready to submit to the King of Spain just not to Humabon: historian
Far from the simplistic and nationalistic recounting of the Battle of Mactan as local warriors repelling foreign invaders, what happened had more to do with local infighting over control of the Mactan channel. Historian and National Artist Resil Mojares said Lapulapu had offered to submit to the King of Spain upon Ferdinand Magellan’s demand but…
When it’s about the journey, not just the destination
I’ve always been tepid about that cliche on the journey being the destination. It is a frequent travel bromide on Instagram, often posted by the very people who ultimately share fantastic photos of their destinations. Surely the journey and the destination make for the whole travel experience. with one literally leading to the other. I…
Cebu business leaders ask government: revert Cebu City to GCQ
Business leader in Cebu released today a manifesto supporting the call by Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella for the city to revert to General Community Quarantine (GCQ). The leaders of various business groups said the decision to place Cebu City under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) was based on flawed data. It was also done “without…
Extend enhanced quarantine in Cebu City to prevent resurgence of cases: UP researchers
As Metro Cebu prepares to reopen for business by June 1, a group of researchers based at the University of the Philippines recommended that the enhanced quarantine (ECQ) in Cebu City be extended to prevent a resurgence of cases. The COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) is expected to decide this week whether to extend the…
Location data show how Pinoys stayed home, avoided public places during ECQ
Visits to public places such as groceries, pharmacies, retail outlets, transit areas, and workplaces plunged as a community quarantine was put in place in the Philippines in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, phone location data show. Stays at home dramatically increased in the same time period, according to information made available by…
Confirmed COVID-19 positive cases: an interactive map
More cases of COVID-19 infection have been detected in areas throughout the country. Cebu City is among the areas with an increasing number of confirmed cases. These infections are clustered in the city jail and communities like Barrio Luz, Barangay Suba, and Mambaling. Below is an interactive map of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cebu. It…
1918-1919 influenza pandemic: the 2nd wave was a tsunami of deaths
The second wave of the trancazo pandemic in 1918 will be less severe and only the very young and old are vulnerable, health officials said in a story on Manila Times published on October 27, 1918. They were gravely wrong. “This official announcement is interesting not only for its dismissive tone and lack of seriousness,…
Spanish Flu pandemic deaths in the Philippines: an interactive map
The 1918-1919 influenza pandemic claimed more than 80,000 lives in the Philippines. As in other parts of the world, the contagion came in three waves, with the second surge being the most virulent. Areas hit by the first wave of infections in the middle of 1918 had fewer deaths during the more virulent episode at…
Bantayan is under the patronage of St. Peter; how did St. Paul get into the picture?
Upon its turnover to secular priests at the dawn of the 17th century and for 400 years, the Bantayan parish was under the patronage of St. Peter and only under him. When the parish celebrated its 400th founding anniversary, it did so under the patronage of the fisherman held by Catholic traditions as the first…
Sinulog a spectacle for tourists, ‘not authentic’ representation of indigenous roots: historian
The Sinulog grand parade is a spectacle for tourists and locals and devotees should just stay home and let visitors enjoy it, a historian said in a forum tracing the roots of Sinulog yesterday. It is not authentic but a commercial celebration designed for outsiders, said Dr. Jose Eleazar Bersales, an anthropologist at the University…
itel offers consumers ‘good phones at low prices’
Make quality phones and sell them at low prices, that’s the business model of itel as it moves to grab a bigger share of the market in the Philippines, company officials said on Saturday. In just a year, the company sold 1 million phones, itel Country Manager Lei Zhang announced in a briefing in Cebu…
Cisco highlights disaster response, management solution
Drawing from lessons its TacOps response team learned during Typhoon Yolanda, Cisco has made available a response and management solution that taps its various technologies to innovate disaster response and management. The product is Cisco KONEKTADO, an end-to-end solution that enables easy and effective collaboration and communication before, during, and after a disaster such as…
Safe refillable LPG canisters launched in Cebu
A company has introduced in Cebu a refillable aluminum LPG canister that is government-certified as safe to use. The Gaz Lite Mate, a 230-gram version of the refillable LPG canisters of Pascal Resources Energy, Inc. (PREI), can be used with existing portable gas stoves and grillers in the market, company officials said in a press…
Jessica Sanchez returns to Cebu for 1st major concert
American Idol singing sensation Jessica Sanchez is returning to Cebu with her first major concert here on November 29 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. Sanchez rose to prominence in her stint with American Idol, which included a dramatic save by the judges after she was nearly voted off. She was just 16,…
Cebu Archdiocese, CBCP to focus on first baptism, spread of faith in 2021 celebration
The baptism of Cebuanos led by Rajah Humabon will be the focus of the Archdiocese of Cebu and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in their celebration of the 500th year of the Christianization of the Philippines On December 1, 2019, the church will start a 500-day countdown to April 14, 2021, the…