Daily Newsmakers

What do Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Michael Jordan and Lebron James have in common? They’re all incredibly successful, hard-working and geniuses in their field, but many people don’t know that they all practice meditation. Oprah said that meditation has made her “1,000 times better”. Michael Jordan and Lebron James, both famous athletes, practiced meditation to sharpen focus and improve concentration. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was a well-known meditation practitioner. As stated by his biographer Walter Isaacson, “Your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It's a discipline; you have to practice it.”

Stay on top of safer, more efficient electrical and data systems with attractive, industrial-grade labels Disorganized, mislabeled wires, panels, and boards can slow down an electrician, engineer, or IT professional during instances when rebooting systems as quickly as possible is critical. Creating efficient, safe, and more organized electrical and data systems is as easy as a press of a single button with the Brother P-Touch line of professional labeling machines and TZe industrial-grade tapes.

The Filipino Portrait Artists’ Guild, Inc. (FPAGI), a group of portrait artists based in Manila, will be opening their first group show on August 25, Thursday, 5 pm at Gateway Gallery.   The 21 artist-members have lined up various figurative paintings that depict the Filipino at work, during leisure, in motion and at rest. The works are indicative of the artists’ level of understanding of the human figure in relation to his or her environment, showing variety of styles, composition and influence.

From city streets to parks and malls, everyone is definitely on-the-go just to catch their next Pokémon to level up! Taking Filipino gamers by storm, here are some safety tips to remember the next time you and your friends go out to catch, drop lures and conquer gyms! Globe Prepaid customers can extend the fun by downloading the new Globe Switch app! On Globe Switch, avail of the free 1GB mobile data and 30 days free access to Pokémon Go starting August 20, 2016. Globe Switch offers the best online deals as well as over 3 GB worth of free access to over 50 of the most popular apps in the market. viva manilena

MediCard, a leading health maintenance organization (HMO) provider, has partnered with Hanjin Subic Shipyard to provide innovative, advanced and efficient quality health service to its employees. Hanjin Subic Shipyard is the 4 th largest shipyard in the world and the sole contractor of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction-Philippines (HHIC-Phil).  With this partnership, Hanjin Subic Shipyard employees now have access to MediCard’s wide network of more than 1,000 accredited hospitals and clinics and over 40,000 accredited doctors nationwide.  In photo are HHIC-Tech President Mr. Park No Joon, HHIC-Phil Managing Director Mr. Jun Woo Yoon, Subic Shipbuilder Corporation President Mr. Kim Tae Jeon, MediCard President and CEO Dr. Nicky S. Montoya, MediCard COO Atty. Juan Andres S. Montoya and MediCard AVP for Sales and Business Development Maricel L. Torres.

Judging by the amount  of coffee shops and other restaurants that serves good coffee, there really can’t be any adult in this great big world that has never tried coffee. Now, if we are to look beyond those coffee beans and grounds we see in these  coffee shops around town, and wanting to learn and appreciate more about what goes inside those mugs and cups, the Barista & Coffee Academy of Asia is the center that teaches one to look beyond the cup. Short courses are being offered by the BARISTA & COFFEE ACADEMY OF ASIA on Brewing Practice, Barista 101, Brewing Practice, Coffee Business Management, Menu Development, Caf é Operations. High Tea, and Cocktails this August.

Meralco announced that overall electricity rates this August went down by Php 0.11 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for its residential customers. Households consuming 200 kWh will experience a reduction of around Php 22 in their electricity bill. Meralco Public Information Office Head Joe Zaldarriaga (in photo) explained that the overall rate decrease was due to the downward movement in the generation charge. Meralco also reiterated safety tips with the onset of rainy season. For tips and other information, visit www.meralco.com.ph or follow its Twitter (@meralco) or Facebook (facebook.com/meralco) accounts. viva manilena

Repertory Philippines, the premier producer of thought-provoking and entertaining straight plays and musicals, is launching its Theater for Young Audiences program for 2016, with child-friendly performances of Hansel and Gretel .

In 2012, Pusod tapped Globe for the use of ICT to enhance implementation of the Taal Volcano Protected Landscape (TVPL) Management Plan designed to ensure the economic and environmental sustainability of the Taal Lake ecosystem which covers 13 municipalities and 3 cities in Batangas and Cavite. One of the key programs implemented by Globe and Pusod to address the area’s environmental issues is the promotion of ecotourism which gives a low-impact alternative to commercial tourism.  This not only helps protect the environment but also provides livelihood to communities around the lake.

One with the legions of Filipinos excited for the arrival of Pokemon GO in the country, leading mobile services provider Smart Communications has announced that it will give subscribers 7 days of free data access to Pokemon GO upon the launch of the hit game in the Philippines. This offer is available on both Android and iOS users.

Globe Telecom is ready to transmit voice calls for emergency hotline 911 and complaint hotline 8888 on August 1, as directed by the government. We are also expediting migration of our system to immediately enable transmission of SMS or text messages thru 8888 and we are confident that we will be able to achieve this target within the timeframe of 30-45 days given to us by the government. As suggested by the government to discourage prank calls, we would also like to inform our customers that those calling the hotlines will incur regular voice charges plus an additional P5/call for those calling the 911 hotline.  As a telecommunications provider, Globe recognizes the importance of such communication tool for the government to effectively carry out its initiatives for the benefit of the public. — Atty. Froilan Castelo, Globe General Counsel.

Meringue, Bars and Cookies at The Maya Kitchen   Learn how to bake, make that perfect cup of coffee and cook a great meal as The Maya Kitchen brings you a myriad of classes this month of August.             Basic Baking is on  August 2-5 , 9-12, 23-26 and  August 30-September 2 ,  Tuesday -Friday,  9am-2pm .   Learn basic baking techniques applicable to small and commercial scale production of recipes and formulations of quick breads, pies, cookies, cakes and other bread varieties. Class fee is P8,000.