Nine North Luzon players to compete at the Jr. NBA Philippines National Training Camp

“What I’ve noticed here in Baguio is that there are a lot of good dribblers. The kids here are very competitive, very enthusiastic. They’re working hard. The three questions I always ask the kids – Did you have fun? Did you give your best? And the last one is, do you love basketball? And it’s all, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” and I think that’s our goal here, making sure that the kids are learning basketball, they’re having fun and more importantly they are giving their best.” ~Tony dela Cruz, former PBA player  from presenting partner Alaska

The seven boys and two girls from the Benguet Regional Selection Camp who will advance to the National Training Camp are (L-R): Jhulliana Francesca Pagteilah, Jusrhylle Rayne de Vera, Czarlo Lorenzo Salvador, Aethan Pagio, Nathaniel Tomeldan, Laurence Christian Batongbakal, Kenneth Gabriel Duca, Christine Nicole Venterez, and Zak Adlee Gumaya.

Over a thousand young basketball players from Baguio, Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, and other nearby provinces joined the Jr. NBA Philippines North Luzon Regional Selection Camp at Benguet State University in La Trinidad on March 23-24. 

Defense is the basis of all good basketball. The Jr. NBA program emphasizes defensive drills and mental alertness at all times.

After two days of basketball drills and exercises, seven boys and two girls exhibited outstanding oncourt skills and embodied the core values of the game and will move on to the next stage of the program—the Jr. NBA Philippines National Training Camp-- in Don Bosco Technical Institute Makati on May 17-19.  A roster of 40 boys and 40 girls will be gathered from the Jr. NBA Philippines Regional Selection Camps in Benguet, Butuan, Dumaguete, Lucena, and Metro Manila, and a select group from the Alaska Power Camp.  Players from across the archipelago will showcase their talents and vie to be named as Jr. NBA Philippines All-Stars.

A young Jr. NBA cager learns to impose his offense on the tough defense put up by taller players.

This year, Jr. NBA Philippines All-Stars—comprised of as many as five boys and five girls—will compete in the first Jr. NBA Global Championship Asia Pacific Selection Camp, a week-long camp in June that includes top youth players from North Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific region.

A young Jr. NBA participant keeps her eyes locked on the ring as she tries to escape her opponent’s pesky defense.

The Asia Pacific regional competition will provide the 2019 batch of Jr. NBA All-Stars the opportunity to represent the region in the Jr. NBA Global Championship that will be held Aug. 6-11 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida.  The international event will feature talented youth from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, China, Mexico, Africa, India, and the Asia-Pacific.

Jr. NBA Philippines presented by Alaska teaches boy and girl ballers the fundamentals of basketball, including proper defensive stance and active hands.

Boys and girls aged 10-14 years old can join the remaining Jr. NBA Philippines Regional Selection Camps in Dumaguete (March 30-31), Butuan (April 13-14) and Metro Manila (April 27-28) by registering at www.jrnba.asia/philippines. 

This Jr. NBA baller keeps his focus and intensity as he drives past his defender.

Jr. NBA Philippines 2019 is presented by Alaska, with AXA, Gatorade, Globe, Panasonic, Rexona and Vivo as official partners. ABS-CBN S+A, Basketball TV, and NBA Premium TV are the official broadcasters of Jr. NBA Philippines.

The following is a complete list of participants selected from the Jr. NBA Philippines Benguet Regional Selection Camp advancing to the Jr. NBA Philippines National Training Camp:

For all things NBA, fans can follow Jr. NBA on Facebook and the NBA at www.nba.com and on Facebook and Twitter. Fans can visit www.alaskamilk.com to learn more about the Alaska Milk Corporation, and follow Alaska Milk on Facebook for more information about Alaska Sports

About the NBA

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around four professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the NBA G League and the NBA 2K League. The NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2018-19 season featured 108 international players from 42 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 1.5 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.

About Alaska Milk

Given the growing issues on health as well as the fast-changing technological environment, which leads to the change in children’s interests and behavior or sedentary lifestyle, Alaska believes that there is a need to reinforce its thrust in leading a healthy lifestyle not just by drinking milk but also by leading an active lifestyle. Alaska seeks to engage the youth, especially younger kids, in sports.

Alaska Milk looks beyond selling milk – it sells nutrition and by doing so, the Company and brand Alaska is doing its part in nation-building.  Through youth sports development programs, Alaska is able to help nourish children for them to develop into champions in the field of interest and, in general, in life.  The overall objective of the Alaska Sports is to strengthen the brand’s equity in nutrition through sports.  To portray Alaska Fortified as a brand that helps instill the values of determination, discipline, teamwork, and hard work among the youth through sports.

SM malls nationwide celebrate Earth Hour

“SM recognizes the importance of protecting our environment since it is our source of life. Nature matters to every one of us. This is the reason why we support conservation campaigns like Earth Hour. A global event such as Earth Hour is essential to stir widespread awareness and promote solidarity in conserving our natural resources.” ~Liza Silerio, Director of SM Cares Program on the Environment and Sustainability

Participating SM malls will come up with their own creative executions and programs in raising awareness about climate change and in getting the community to participate in a collective effort to care for the environment.

In observance of Earth Hour, SM malls across the country will take part in the symbolic hour-long lights off at exactly 8:30 PM on March 30 in order to spark awareness on how to take care and take actions for a healthy planet.

Now on its 11th year with SM, Earth Hour’s worldwide theme for 2019 is #Connect2Earth, a global campaign to tell people why nature matters. The theme focuses on biodiversity. It seeks to raise awareness of climate change and get the community involved in helping care for the environment and all living species.

Since its launch in the Philippines in 2009, the Earth Hour celebration has been marked in more than a thousand cities and towns while over 15 million Filipinos have joined the global hour-long lights-off, a gesture to symbolize commitment to the well-being of the planet

Aside from Earth Hour observance, SM has several other environmental sustainability programs including:

• The Trash to Cash recycling markets in SM Malls
• Daily water recycling system, automated weather stations
• Solar rooftops
• Environmental campaigns such as the Green Film Festival

SM Cares is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Its advocacies include:

• Environment Sustainability
• Programs on Persons with Disabilities
• Children and Youth
• Women and Breastfeeding Mothers
• Senior Citizens

As a responsible mall developer, SM ensures that its corporate social responsibility programs serve as a catalyst for positive change in the communities that it supports. To know more about SM Cares, you may visit www.smcares.com.ph, www.facebook.com/OfficialSMCares or email smcares@smsupermalls.com.

Everyone is invited to come together at SM, as the malls embrace this advocacy of taking a step against the accelerating threat of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Allianz Supports Children Survivors of Heart Disease

“We at Allianz believe in paying it back in the communities we operate in. Camp Braveheart is among the causes we are privileged to contribute to. It was personally a heartwarming experience for me to be surrounded by brave and happy children cared for by loving families and doctors. Their smiles and excitement were certainly contagious. The PHA has advocacies that resonate with our corporate social responsibility aspirations in the Philippines. We are privileged to be their partner in promoting a healthy lifestyle among Filipinos.” ~Gino Riola, Senior Vice President and Head of Market Management Center of Excellence (MM COE) of Allianz Asia

Allianz Philippines, the Philippine Heart Association (PHA), and the Philippine Society of Pediatric Cardiology (PSPC) recently staged the 13th edition of Camp Braveheart at the Manila Ocean Park with the theme, “The Hero Within.”

Conceptualized in 2007, Camp Braveheart seeks to help post-surgical children with heart diseases to transition from a life of limited activity and exposure to one with vision, hope, and fruitful experience.

Dr. Maricel Regino, the chairperson of the Council on Congenital Heart Disease, said that Camp Braveheart is a program that seeks to encourage children who were born with heart disease and underwent surgery to live a normal life like other kids.

“They serve as inspiration to others who want to live a good life after surgery.” ~Dr. Maricel Regino, Chairperson of the Council on Congenital Heart Disease

For this year’s celebration of the Heart Month, Allianz Philippines has been declared the PHA’s official life insurance partner. 

Among the children who took part in Camp Braveheart were three-year-old Lilian Lucy    Espiritu, who has been diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect, and fellow three-year-old Piel Akron, who has been diagnosed with critical pulmonary stenosis.

“We are fortunate to have been invited to Camp Braveheart. I hope that they would continue activities like this for post-operation kids.” ~Lilian’s Mom, Locelyn

She added that they are already looking forward to next year’s Camp Braveheart.

Piel’s mom, MJ, is likewise thankful for the event as it introduced her to other parents with children that have been diagnosed with heart disease. They were encouraged to join Camp Braveheart by Piel’s doctor, Dr. Jose Jonas Del Rosario of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) and Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

“As parents, we have to learn how to let go for them to learn on their own.  I wish that Piel would continue to get well so he won’t undergo any more procedures.” MJ, Piel’s mom

Staying true to its theme this year, Camp Braveheart celebrated the children who, despite their young age, continue to show strength in the face of difficulties.

This year’s activities included an Oceanarium tour, Sea Lion Show, Shark & Ray Dry Encounter, Creepy Crawlies, games, and face painting, which the children all thoroughly enjoyed.

Locelyn, MJ, and their fellow parents also had a fun time participating in the financial literacy exercise conducted by Allianz Philippines volunteer employees and learning about Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), too. They also attended a lecture on the 52100 Campaign, which encourages people to lead a healthy lifestyle by having five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, having only two hours of screen time, doing an hour of physical activity, avoiding sugary and sweetened beverages, and saying no to both smoking and secondhand smoking.

PH faces health and environmental risks amid lack of landfills

The Philippines is expected to move further towards urbanization as it grows and develops. Unfortunately, its solid waste infrastructure is unable to keep pace with economic and population growth. Inadequate, over-filled dumpsites and landfills are causing various health and environmental problems.

Some of the serious environmental risks caused by waste overflow landfills are ground and surface water contamination, flooding, greenhouse gas production, air pollution, exposure to toxins and spread of disease. Many disposal sites across the country contain infectious material, threatening sanitation workers and waste pickers and, eventually the general public.

Tests of liquid runoff or leachate from Rodriguez and Payatas dump sites were found to contain high levels of contaminants. Most of the leachate seeps untreated into ground water sources of drinking water and flows to the Marikina and Pasig River systems and Manila Bay. Landfills and dump sites, despite the government’s efforts to situate them in areas far from population centers, still pose a threat to the health and the environment.

A lot of wastes, about one-third of solid waste generated in the cities, are often dumped indiscriminately and often end up clogging the drains, causing flooding and increase in the populations of rodents and other pests. The urban poor suffer most from life-threatening conditions resulting from uncollected garbage.

In this age of digitalization and technology, one of the innovative solutions for solid waste management is decentralization using pyrolysis technology. Pyrolysis is coined from the Greek terms pyro or fire and lysis or separating. It is the industrial process of breaking down large molecules of waste such as agricultural residues, scraps, tires, and non-recyclable materials into smaller molecules of gas, oil and carbon black. One of the by-products of pyrolysis technology is ash which can be mixed with aggregates for construction purposes.

Most importantly, people should realize that they play a huge role in solving the massive garbage problem in the Philippines. It should be the country’s goal to create an environment free of garbage, minimizing of waste disposal to landfill, educating the community and make them aware of their roles and responsibilities, and to involve the business community in solid waste management.

Asia’s Next Top Model runner-up joins Careline

“It is so exciting! Careline is a brand that I am very familiar with. I am so happy to be working with a very popular brand that has been helping women my age to express themselves through makeup. It was a very stressful environment. I was always nervous, so I needed to learn to discipline myself. I realized I should not rely on other people to make me look good, that it is my responsibility also. I am quite oily so I always need to have a powder, it doesn’t necessary to be colored it just need to blot the oil. And because I am really pale I like to keep a blush and a lipstick but if I have a small bag, I want something that can double up which is why the Careline Multisticks, especially the Rose Multistick, are perfect.” ~Adela Marshall, Careline ambassador 

Newest Careline ambassador Adela Marshall wears Careline Matte Liquid Lipstick in ‘In Bloom’ shade

Fresh from her stint at the Asia’s Next Top Model (ANTM) Cycle 6, where she finished in the top three, Adela Mae Marshall is set to conquer the beauty world as the newest face of Careline, the trendy and edgy cosmetics line of Ever Bilena for Filipina youth.

This fresh-faced beauty shares that she has picked a lot of lessons in joining various modeling contest. And if there is one thing she learned from joining the ANTM Cycle 6, it is that self-care and discipline must always be prioritized.

On her skin-care routine, she shares that being diligent in washing your face and removing your makeup is important in maintaining a good complexion. The young model also believes that a healthy lifestyle through exercise and drinking a lot of water is essential to having healthy, clear skin.

As for her favorite makeup products, Adela prefers products that can multi-task so she can use it in different ways. 

Although she may portray different personalities in her career, she wants to be remembered by one thing - to be yourself. Adela is lucky to have Careline by her side!

For more information, visit Careline website, www.careline.com.ph, and Facebook page, www.facebook.com/CarelineCosmetics and Instagram www.instagram.com/carelineph. 

Nurturing the gift of Worth Lodriga

“I enjoyed the experience a lot because I learned how to widen my imagination and make better art.” ~Worth Lodriga, Young Artist 

Worth Lodriga

Worth joined Promil Four’s i-Shine Talent Camp 4, formerly known as Promil Pre-School’s i-Shine Talent Camp when he was just four years old. When he was two years old, Worth’s motor skills were way advanced for his age that his art could be mistaken for a 5-year old’s. There he explored drawing details, painting, and other crafty activities. His mother noticed this innate gift when she was teaching him to read and write. She took a quick break and left him to play on his own, and when she returned, she saw her son doodling on the whiteboard. 

“I was amazed because I hadn’t seen a 2-year old boy who could draw a human being in 3D.” ~Worth Lodriga's Mother

When people talk about kids’ art, they often picture basic drawings composed of shapes and curves, with colors outside the lines. But from the beginning, young artist Worth Lodriga's work has been anything but basic.

This exposure helped pave the way for his professional career as an artist. After joining the talent camp, Worth participated in and won several international competitions, including the Frogs Are Green International Art Contest 2016 in New Jersey, where he was pitted against 1,441 entries globally; the 2017 Airtime Watertime International Flotation Suit Design Contest in Santa Barbara, California; the 7-Star Artist Award at the Junior Picasso International Art Contest in India; and the 2017 Student Mars Art (SMArt) Contest in Colorado, U.S.A., where his piece “Where No Man Has Gone Before” won first place.

His latest recognition was the 10th Ani ng Dangal Awards for the Visual Arts category in 2018 where he was honored for garnering international awards from the previous year.

Ani ng Dangal was launched in 2009 to give honor and recognition to artists whose works and achievements have placed the Philippines among the best in the world.

Worth is a shining example of how parents play an important role in nurturing their kids' talents and making sure they are exposed to learning experiences that will hone and nurture these gifts. As such, Worth is further helping moms and dads nurture their children's gifts as he appears in the newest Promil Four TVC.

Just like Worth, parents can nurture the gift by allowing their children to explore their talents, and shine brightly through experiences that will help further develop their skills. To know more about Promil Four’s i-Shine Talent Camp 7, visit www.promilnurturethegift.com.ph for more details.

Promoting a good night’s sleep at Uratex Premium Sleep Hive

The Uratex Premium Sleep Hive will feature curated pieces in a room that would promote a good night’s sleep.

In celebration of World Sleep Day, Uratex Premium, in partnership with Our Home, is set to hold a series of informative activities to promote proper sleep for healthy wellbeing, happening on March 10 to 15, 2019 at SM Mall of Asia Activity Center.

The five-day celebration will kick-off with the launch of the “Sleep Hive”—a sleep pod exhibiting the ideal space and mattress to achieve that well-deserved sleep.

Mall-goers also get a chance to take home Wink Pure Pillows by posting their best photo inside the Sleep Hive on tagging Uratex on Instagram and Facebook.

The celebration will culminate with “Healthy Slumber, Healthy You”, an afternoon of beauty, wellness, and the importance of good sleep featuring talks from Happy Skin CEO Rissa Mananquil-Trillo who will discuss how good sleep can affect aging. Meanwhile, sleep specialist Dr. Keith Aguilera will dive further into sleep and its benefits. Guests will also get a chance to win one (1) Uratex Premium Queen Mattress.

World Sleep Day is an annual event, intended to celebrate sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, social aspects and driving. As an advocate of World Sleep Day, Uratex takes part in this campaign by offering programs such as the“Sleep Hive” exhibit and“Healthy Slumber, Healthy You” event to raise awareness to its consumers, shoppers, and retailers.  

To know more about Uratex Premium visit https://www.uratex.com.ph, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/UratexPhilippines/, and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/uratexpremium/.