First Social Media Day Cebu this June 30, 2012

Social media has grown by leaps and bounds especially here in the Philippines where many Filipinos have accounts in different social networking sites and different social media platforms. Here in Cebu, bloggers have used social media to promote advocacies, educate and give information to their social networks.

It is therefore appropriate that social media has its own day in the calendar when people celebrate its presence and its various roles.

That day initiated by Mashable is June 30.

In Cebu, its first Social Media Day celebration will be spearheaded by the Cebu Bloggers Society Incorporated (CBSi) through an event that will also serve as a general assembly for CBSi members in Mactan Isla Resort.

“Social Media Day Cebu  will be a day of fun and blogging literacy, of acquaintances and sharing stories about blogging and social media,” exclaimed Cebu Bloggers Society President Ruben Licera Jr.


It is a day where bloggers, social media practitioners, friends, acquaintances who benefited from social media meet to learn, interact, form partnerships and connect while having fun.


The event which is open to both members and nonmembers of Cebu Bloggers Society will be highlighted by a series of talks as indicated in this program. Topics include "Freelancing with Elance", "Ethics online and in the field", "Writing killer content for your blog" and "Increasing your online influence through social media networks."


You can refer here for lineup of speakers.


Registration is free for CBSi members and P500 for non-members whose registration is approved.


Interested parties can register through this link: CEBU SOCIAL MEDIA DAY Registration Form

Social Media Day Cebu  is made possible by the following organizations, sponsors and partners: Mactan Isla Resort , Cebu Tech Jobs , Pinoy Great Deals , Mozilla Philippines, Sun Cellular , Globe Tatt Awards , SMART Communications, PRWorks,Diamond Suites and Residences and  JYGonzales and Partners.

The organizers would also like to acknowledge its online media partners: TekWorx Mobile and Web Services, Third Team Media, and RLCOMM International.

Its offline media campaign is made possible through Cebu Daily News, Freeman, andSunstar Cebu.

For more information, feel free to send an email to info@cebubloggers.com.

Cancercare: The Philippines' First Cancer Survivorship Care Program Now Open in Cebu

The time period after treatment is recognized as an important time for cancer patients where a lot of concerns arise. This period is known as cancer survivorship, the process of "living with, through and beyond cancer", a time of mixed emotions due to psychological, physical, relationship, financial, spiritual and work-related challenges.

Until now, there is no facility in the Philippines which offer cancer survivorship care program.

Thank God, here in Cebu there is Cancercare or Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Center located in Robinsons Cybergate 308-A (across Chong Hua Medical Center) which has a team of board-certified experts, the best in Cebu offering 15 comprehensive clinical sessions in one fully integrated care program led by Dr. Omid Etemadi, a former student of mine and one of CIM's top medical board placers who underwent training abroad in Integrative Medicine.

In the picture below are the team members with their area of expertise.

9 in-depth consults including follow-ups will be done in the consultation rooms as shown in the pic below:

There is another room like this for consults. The in-depth consults are comprised of:

• Psychological care of the cancer patient and their families (1 hour consult).
• Personalized diet and nutrition plan for the cancer patient (one 30-minute consult and 2 follow-ups)
• Cancer co-morbidity mamnagement (one 30-minute consult and follow-up)
• Evidence-based complementary medicine (one 30-minute consult)
• Pain management and/or palliative care (one 30-minute consult and 1 follow-up).

There will be 6 comprehensive group sessions and lectures in this room:

The comprehensive group sessions and lectures are comprised of:

• Cancer nutrition lecture (1 hour) - anti-cancer diet, how to manage cancer-related weight loss, meal augmentation and meal replacement, etc.
• Chemotherapy/Radiotherapy Patient Education and Orientation (45 minutes) - understanding the different cancer treatments and how to manage side effects.
• Evidence-based complementary medicine (1 hour) - understanding the safe usage and clinical benefits of phtonutrients.
• Mind-body medicine (1 hour) - learn breathing and relaxation techniques and how to manage stress/anxiety to cancer and cancer treatment.
• Pastoral care (1 hour) - group prayer session and Life spiritual session
• Patient Navigation Service (15 minutes) - understanding Cancer Survivorship and benefits of a fully integrated cancer care program/system.

So if you know of a cancer patient in this important period of his life, why not send him to the capable hands of Cancercare? If I remember correctly, the entire package is less than eight thousand pesos (PHP 8,000).

For more information, call landline number +6332 520-8870 or visit Cancercare.

Appreciating our Past and the Little Things: Reflections on the Gabii sa Kabilin

May 25, Gabii sa Kabilin 2012.

I was running all evening as a participant of the QR Code Hunt, an "Amazing Race-like" competition. With smartphone in hand,  I took pictures of every designated heritage site and uploaded each with my tweet using the #gabiisakabilin proudly showing to the world the Cebuano's rich heritage.

It was nice and interesting to note that most of the teams were composed of young people. The youth were rediscovering the old using the new, acquainting themselves with the past, using technology.

As sweat was falling down my face during the race, it dawned on me that educating the community about their heritage was like the race I was running. We were trying to catch up with time before it was too late.

In a period where the youth seem to care more of what is trending in twitter than their heritage, it is important to act right away to reintroduce the community to their heritage and culture. The Gabii sa Kabilin (GSK) did just that thanks to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) and its partners. The GSK is a good avenue for the Cebuanos to acquaint themselves with their rich past.

Aside from museum pieces and old newspaper clippings, the event showcased Cebuano food, song and dance, art pieces, and way of life all in a single night.

In one stop, I got the chance to try for myself how a poso (hanging rice) is being made. It was difficult for me to completely weave one poso wrapper.

In another stop at the Cebu City Museum, I got to see some beautiful paintings:

My QR Code Hunt teammate with one of the featured paintings

In the Halad Museum, I got to sing lines from the famous song "Matud Nila".

On the way to Fort San Pedro, I was able to re-experience riding the tartanilla. Not everyone gets to experience riding it nowadays.

I got to taste Cebuano food -- the bibingkas, the masareals, the lechon, etc.

GSK made me appreciate our heritage as well as the little things that we often ignore but are actually important. GSK made me recall my childhood.

So yes, now with GSK, I got to appreciate the poso which costs less than 5 pesos...Who would think making it requires considerable skill?

GSK made me appreciate our predecessors. Without them where would Cebuano society be?

GSK made me appreciate groups which try to preserve our Cebuano identity and heritage.

GSK will be a bigger event next year so that each participating institution should really coordinate with RAFI and come up way ahead of the GSK, their planned schedule outlining the activities in their respective venues so that visitors will be able to plan ahead their itinerary.

Maybe RAFI should consider also making GSK a whole day event maybe converting it into an "Adlaw sa Kabilin" (ASK) because the event has become so huge already and people would like to take time visiting each site.

This is an official entry to the 2012 Gabii sa Kabilin Blogging Contest.

Bohol Wakefest 2012 on May 25 to June 25

Want to try a new sport? Why not wakeboarding?

Wakeboarding is one of the fastest growing surface water sport which is a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing and involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water. A wakeboarder can be pulled by a cable system or a boat.

You may ask, where in the Visayas can I ever do this? There's nothing of this sort here. Wrong.

There will be.

Because The Board Shop (a Singapore-based company, premium one-stop wake gear shop in Southeast Asia distributing premium brands such as O' Brien wakeboards) in cooperation with the local government unit of Pandanon Island, Bohol will bring to you, BOHOL WAKEFEST 2012!

Press conference for BOHOL WAKEFEST 2012

It's a first of its kind month-long wakeboarding event happening on May 25 to June 25, 2012 according to Michael Tan, General Mangare of the Board Shop. In addition, he mentioned that visitors will learn how to wakeboard there also. Rates will be P600 for half day use and P900 for whole day.

Wakeboarding enthusiasts and wakeboarder beginners don't need to go to Luzon, CamSur or somewhere else outside the region to experience the thrill of wakeboarding. It is because a Sesitec System 2.0 will be installed in beautiful Pandanon Island for that good combination of beach lifestyle and watersports in a magnificent white sand island. Certainly this will a boost to local tourism as foreigners and local tourists will flock to the island.

To top it off, there will be a Wake Jam wherein wakeboarders and wakeskaters from all over Asia and the Philippines will be showing off their skills with a demo. This will be on the 9th of June.

Pandanon Island by the way, is found in the northern part of Bohol and one of Getafe, Bohol's baranggays. It is 70 to 80 minutes away from Mactan Island, Cebu and 20 to 30 minutes away from Getafe, Bohol.

Organizers are still working on packages that will include boat transfers to Getafe or possibly direct to Pandanon Island from Lapulapu.

Cebu's first look at the Sony Xperia S

Cebu MD was there during the launching of Sony's latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia S (not anymore Sony Ericsson but just Sony) at the Radisson Blu hotel last April 26, 2012. It was revealed there that Sony would have a special exhibition.

The exhibit is currently at the 2/F of Cyberzone at SM Cebu until May 2, 2012. In the exhibit, visitors will be able to experience the stunning hi-defininition (HD) experience from the Xperia S, an Android smartphone with a 4.3-inch Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA engine.

Features you may be interested in:

• 12-megapixel camera with Sony Exmor R - can take pictures in just 1,5 seconds from standby mode for the fastest capture of any scene. Ensures you won't miss a moment.
• HD (120x720) resolution screen, as well as front (720p) and back (1080p) cameras for HD recording. I can imagine how clear it will be in Skype.
• Capability to play games and share content from smartphone to a Sony TV, laptop or tablet. Isn't that amazing?
• HD sharing through a WIRELESS DDLNA connection or HDMI cable to link Xperia S to the TV so you can watch right away any videos in the smartphone.
• Bravia Sync to control Xperia S with the TV remote control.
• NFC-enabled (near field communication) with 2 Xperia SmartTags. This allows consumers to load pre-set profiles or tasks for their Xperia S onto a tag which can be personalized easily. When a SmartTag is swiped, the phone switches to the pre-designated commands. For example, when you are inside your car, you can swipe your smartphone on an Xperia SmartTag to turn off the phone's WiFi, launch the GPS app or switch to silent mode.

Over the next two months, expect the release of the other Sony Xperia phones  from the Xperia NXT series. They are the Xperia U, Xperia P and the Xperia sola.

I am sure doctors will surely love these upcoming smartphones along with the Xperia S especially that many of them love photography, music and travel.

Other Xperia S exhibits all over the country include:

• April 19-24 at the SM Megamall Bldg B upper ground floor
• May 3-8 at SM Mall of Asia Main Mall (fronting Giordano)
• May 10-15 at SM North Edsa 4th Floor Cyberzone
• May 17-23 at SM Pampanga Cyberzone exhibit area.

Pfizer and CIM partner to form Philippine Clinical Mycology Network

A group of health professionals, mostly medical technologists, gathered together for the first meeting of the Philippine Clinical Mycology Network which aims to promote the best practice in the fight against fungal infections. The event which started on this evening, April 20, at the Cebu Parklane Hotel, will continue tomorrow, April 21, 2012 at the Cebu Institute of Medicine.

Welcoming the delegates (which came from various parts of the country) in behalf of Dr. Josefina Poblete, President and Chair of the Board of Cebu Institute of Medicine (CIM) was CIM's College Secretary, Dr. Corazon Meneses.

Dr. Virginia Mesola, one of the primemovers of this collaborative CME Project of CIM and Pfizer, gave the course overview. Prior to the overview, she discussed the vision of the network which was to advocate "the best management practices in invasive fungal infections especially in the resource-limited setting". She likewise shared the group's history, mission and action plan.

Dr. Mitzi Marie Montebon Chua, the other thinktank of this undertaking gave a short lecture on the Epidemiology and Early Recognition of Candida Infections.

Mr. Jimson Pantojan was the Master of Ceremonies.

The project is set to continue tomorrow with introductory lectures on fungi, identification of mold and yeast colonies as well as sensitivity testing.

Awaiting the delegates also are laboratory sessions demonstrating mold colonies and slide culture as well as the identification of Candida species and Antifungal Susceptibility Tests.

The activity will be capped tomorrow with a lecture on the management of invasive fungal infections.

The other lecturers are: Dr. Narciso Tapia and Ms. Myldred Completo, RMT.

Assisting the delegates in the laboratory sessions are RMTs Lorenzo Lozano, Reynaldo Manzanares, Rachel Yu, Regie Sayson and the CIM Laboratory Staff and Faculty.

This scientific meeting is being made possible by Pfizer, makers of Diflucan (Fluconazole), Vfend (Voriconazole) and Eraxis (Anidulafungin) and the Cebu Institute of Medicine.