Titas de Bacolod: Manila

Showing posts with label Manila. Show all posts

Friday, November 4, 2022

Friday, November 04, 2022

Roli's Napoleones : The Original Dessert Negrenses Have Loved Through The Years

Word has gotten around that a food festival showcasing Negrense food is happening at the Hidalgo Drive of the Rockwell Center in Makati, Metro Manila. Dubbed as the Namit Namit Food Festival, this gathering will perhaps be the very first time the Manila-based people of Negros Island, the sweet spot of the Philippines, will be celebrating their holiday known as Cinco de Noviembre in Metro Manila.

If there's one thing we all know Negrenses for, it's their passion for rolling out the best food for their guests to delight in. I'm sure that all the best inasals will be out, KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, Langka), Kansi and other Negrense favorites. However, for this moment, I'm zooming in on what I've always maintained as the original dessert Negrenses have loved through the years - Napoleones from Roli's!

For those who haven't come across it yet, Napoleones is basically a mille-feuille (translated to "a thousand sheets"), layers of puff pastry with custard filling and topped with sugar glaze. It has been around that in the minds of the older Negrenses, there's only one name attached to it - Roli's.

Long before Negrenses capped their meals with chocolate cake and coffee, we were doing Napoleones with coffee. In those days people didn't care at all about their blood sugar and would have Napoleones with sweetened coffee. I personally liked the idea of drinking my coffee black, and munch on sweet Roli's Napoleones as a way to temper and balance out the flavors.

That's probably what I'll be doing again today as the Namit Namit Food Festival opens at 10am. I'm going to walk my dog to Rockwell and get the first box of Roli's Napoleones. Before I even bring the box(es) back home, I'm going to have an unsweetened Americano to go along with it in the park bench and savor all the happy times we enjoyed this delicacy with the family. Just like old times.

O te', dali na kamo sa Namit Namit.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Why you missed Winnie Monsod's column this weekend on the Inquirer digital edition

Issues, Manila

In case you missed it, the last time Winnie Monsod's opinion column appeared on the digital version of the Inquirer was June 11, 2022. That was about the Alternative assessment of Duterte admin (2)

Yesterday "Get Real" no longer appeared on the digital version of the Inquirer. Surprised that I didn't find it, I had t look for the hard copy of Inquirer for June 18, 2022. Lo and behold, Winnie's column was still there. That may be the last of it though.

I'll share with you what was on her column there.

Last Saturday, I received an email from Jullet Javellana, Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) associate publisher, informing me that my column, "Get Real" would be dis continued, citing that I am a board member of Rappler, "another news organization and therefore a direct competitor of the Inquir er, and that I have encouraged my readers to read Rappler. I quote: "In light of the clear conflict of interest between your position as columnist of the Inquirer and your advocacy for Rappler and membership in its Board, we are serving notice that we shall discontinue. your column, 'Get Real' effective July 1, 2022."

This reasoning intrigues me. For when I was invited to join the Inquirer more than 20 years ago by Mrs. Marixi R. Prieto (then its publisher). I was a columnist for the Business World (BW), writing a twice-weekly column. That did not stop Mrs. Prieto, however, nor obviously Letty Magsanoc, its late editor in chief. They published my "Get Real" column on Saturdays, while my BW columns came out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This arrangement lasted more than 10 years, until late 2010 or early 2011, when, for health reasons, I had to give up writing for BW.

Then, in 2018, when I accepted an invitation to join the board of Rappler, this was public knowledge. I consider it an honor, especially since it has been under siege by the Duterte administration-just as PDI was under siege by both the Duterte and Estrada administrations. The PDI case also merited my support and unstinting loyalty, as well as the support and loyalty of all who believe in the freedom and independence of the press. Thus, I saw Rappler as a comrade in arms to PDI and not a competitor. I assumed PDI management felt the same, since at no time from 2018 to the present did PDI management take issue with my involvement with, or advocacy of, Rappler's cause.

By the way, I never wrote a column for Rappler and do not have any financial interest in it, other than one share of stock to qualify for a board membership.

So Reader, we may ask: Why the sudden volte-face by PDI? And why, after more than 20 years of working together, does PDI not think that I rate a face-to-face discussion or a Zoom chat or a telephone chat, instead of an impersonal email? This is how we handled difficulties before. To be sure, Yam, from the Opinion Desk, called to try to explain, but it was cold comfort.

Thank you for your faithful readership. Now, on to a more pressing issue: Every one seems to assume that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be the next president. Hold your horses! It may be temporary. The Supreme Court still has to decide two cases against him: one, that he is not qualified to be a candidate, and another, that he is disqualified. A third case, still undecided by the Commission on Elections en banc (disclosure my husband is a legal counsel for petitioners), also for disqualification, will end up with the high court as well. The Comelec division should have decided on this case within 45 days (by its own rules). It took more than 6o days. The en banc, in the same manner, should have given its decision by May 10. It is now June 18.

Don't for a moment think, Reader, that the Supreme Court will just wash its hands off the cases, with a "vox popull, vox dei." Why? Because in 2016, the high court reversed its previous rulings, and I quote, "Suffice it to state that NO SUCH PRESUMPTION EXISTS IN ANY STATUTE OR PROCEDURAL RULE Besides, it is contrary to human experience that the electorate would have full knowledge of a public official's misdeeds..."

What are the case arguments? Simply put, Marcos Jr. is not qualified to be president because he isn't even a qualified voter (he was convicted), and he lied in his certificate of candidacy.

Marcos Jr. is disqualified because (1) he has committed a crime of moral turpitude by not filing his income tax returns for four years in a row, (2) he has been convicted of a crime for not filing nor paying his income taxes-his defense that, as a government official, the government already withholds his taxes only holds water when that is his only source of income. But, at 24, he was also chair of the Philcomsat board, with substantial honoraria/compensation.

Will the Supreme Court uphold the rule of law?

solita monsod@yahoo.com

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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Negros : An Island of People With Super Short Memories

To see Imelda at the food court without the pomp and splendor normally attached to her wherever she goes brought up a myriad of emotions. I felt a bit sad seeing this. It reminded me of my Mama's last days. But I quickly snapped out of that sadness because I was reminded of the incident two years ago ......Read More

A Bankrupt Memory Bank

It has been 29 years since they were chased from the palace. Amid a stream of discoveries regarding the unexplained wealth, more than 70,000 imprisoned, poverty level at 42% and thousands tortured and “salvaged”. ......Read More

Meet The Man Who Helped Marcos Bring Negros Island To Its Knees

Negros Island was in a woeful state at the eve of the snap elections in 1986. Negros as a word was synonymous to "Crisis" in those days. For the longest time, the sugar industry, romanticized by the well-heeled landowners of Negros and Iloilo, was the prima donna of Philippine ......Read More

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Sunday, September 06, 2020

The Manila Files : How a Doctor boosts her family's Immune System

Blog, Manila

Dr. Giselle Mary Lazaro-Maceda

Being bombarded daily with the news about how COVID 19 infections being on the rise can be a source of stress in itself. As Metro Manila and other parts of the country have transitioned again into stricter quarantine status, it is of greater importance to those in areas where more cases are on the rise to be in the best of health.

I asked around how the doctors are keeping themselves in the best of health, and I have come across the unique way one doctor has made the effort to be in the best of health not just for herself but for her entire family.

Meet Dr. Giselle Mary Lazaro-Maceda, a Dermatologist who holds her clinic at the Makati Medical Center, and a member of the Philippine Board of Dermatology. Finding a better way of keeping vitality up is by using the mobile service for IV drips by the Reviv Wellness Van. Pinoydoctor.com caught up with her and the family doing a different type of bonding exercise which was basically spending time together while doing the Ultraviv recovery IV therapy by Reviv PH.

A first of its kind in the Philippines, the mobile Wellness Van of Reviv PH brings the various IV drips in the product line of the global IV brand Reviv. This is perfect given the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine Status (MECQ) of Metro Manila wherein the general public is encouraged to stay at home.

Thus the IV service comes to one's doorstep. With REVIV Philippines' Mobile Wellness Van, Dr. Giselle Mary Lazaro-Maceda and family opted for Ultraviv, which provides the body with a helping hand to aid recovery from ailments such as common colds, seasonal allergies.

For those wondering how this works, arrangements are made for the Wellness Van of Reviv Philippines to come over and provide the Ultraviv IV. Appointments are set beforehand with the use of a digital questionnaire. Information supplied would had to be verified first by Reviv's doctor and as soon as this is clear, the appointment is scheduled for the van to make its way to the residence.

Wellness Van arrives thirty minutes before the appointment.

Safety protocols are in place and the staff come in full PPE suits.

On the day of the appointment, the Wellness Van comes over for the IV drip. Safety protocols are very thorough with the staff (both registered nurses) administering the process. The Ultraviv is kept in a special cooler all throughout the time from compounding. And of course, a Facetime consult with Reviv's Doctor through their iPad and other vitals as blood pressure are taken.

The Wellness Van of Reviv Philippines is available to service even beyond Metro Manila

You may contact them via Mobile Phone on Globe, or message them here.

0917-567-3848
0917-887-3848

Facebook Page : Reviv Philippines

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Ego and Greed : Metrobank Incident Exemplifies How The Filipina's Moral Fiber Has Eroded

Blog, Manila

When the news broke out in the press last week about the Metrobank executive who was arrested and charged for defrauding Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) in a scandal that sent the lender’s shares tumbling on Friday, there was a mix of reactions among the public. Some were alarmed, while others were already desensitized given the string of incidents in the banking sector beginning with the RCBC money laundering scandal last year and the two latest glitches with BPI and BDO. For those who knew about it before the news hit the press, the coffee shop talk left most of the Titas shaking their heads in despondence.

When I first heard of it, my mind was brought back to 1992 when the spectacular collapse of Barings Bank, the United Kingdom's oldest merchant bank, was brought about by the rogue trader, Nick Leeson, because of his fraudulent, unauthorized speculative trading for which he was sentenced to prison. During that time, the headline of TIME Magazine stated "EGO and GREED : The inside story of a 28-year old trader who blew a billion dollars, broke a bank and stunned the world".

It is not quite difficult to explain how a 28-year old single, male, expat in Singapore, in the days following the popularity of Michael Douglas' performance in the movie, "Wall Street", as Gordon Gekko could get entangled in the collapse of Barings. Ego and Greed in operation is obvious.

What is a bit disturbing is how Ego and Greed has creeped into the moral fiber of the Filipina. Liken it to fiendish and frenzied cancer cells which attack what's healthy in one's body, Ego and Greed no longer know any gender. It also knows no race.

For a while back, we have preserved the Filipinas image as a God-fearing, selfless, caring, and motherly person who would uphold what's right and cascade such values to the next generation. Sadly, the news about individuals such as Janet Napoles, a businesswoman who is believed to have masterminded the Priority Development Assistance Fund Scam, and the former Jupiter St-Makati branch manager of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) linked to the $81-million Bangladeshi bank heist in 2016 is a big blow to obliterate that image.

In the case of the the 54-year-old Metrobank executive, Marivic Lopez, reported to own the Menage chain of salons, it is somewhat unthinkable how one could not be satisfied with a 250k monthly salary plus merely a year's run until retirement.

Here in Bacolod (and in Iloilo), the talk over this Sunday's lunch will surely be, "Sin-o ina sya ya nga Lopez?" (Which Lopez branch or clan is she from?).

As of the latest news, Ms. Lopez has kept mum on who else may be involved in defrauding Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank).

Such a sad day when Ego and Greed take over.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Related Post:

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Sunday, September 11, 2016

I'm Excited About Saravia Blue Crab at the 31st Negros Trade Fair

Food, Manila

The one time when crab mentality is good and is advocated. Saravia blue crab sells crab meat in different variants- claw meat, cocktail claw fingers, special, super lump, and jumbo! All will be available at the Silay Export booth on Sept.14-18 at the Negros Trade Fair!

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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How An Endorsement By Vicki Belo Is Easily Spoiled

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Security Bank Reaches Out Regarding Faux Pas

Blog, Business

A post last week entitled "How An Endorsement By Vicki Belo Is Spoiled" made the rounds of social media. In a nutshell, it had to do with Security Bank not matching up to what it promises in its advertising. The post talks about Tata, who entered Security Bank's main office to open an account but left in dismay because no able person was positioned strategically in the bank's Head Office Branch to entertain the query.

You can read the story by clicking, "How An Endorsement By Vicki Belo Is Spoiled".

In response to the blogpost, a comment came in by a certain Mark Bantigue, who is the E-Commerce head at SB. His reply to the post was:

Hi Titas of Bacolod,

My name is Mark Bantigue and I am the E-Commerce Head at Security Bank.
We just saw your post and are very sorry to hear your friend Tata had a mixed experience at our head office branch. We completely agree that her servicing officer should have immediately contacted our Wealth Management department and very surprised to hear that wasn’t the case.
At Security Bank, we are serious about customer service and believe it is everyone’s responsibility. Given the opportunity, I would like to learn more about her experience and hopefully make things right. Please pass on my contact details to Tata.

Best regards,

Mark Bantigue
E-Commerce Head
(02) 867 6788 x7093
mbantigue@securitybank.com.ph

Thank you, Mark Bantigue, for reaching out. Hijo, allow me to point out a few things. Tata did not have a mixed experience. She had a bad experience, period. I honestly think your group has to study the flow on how you receive walk-ins. The clients that you seek for which you spent millions on advertising to reach have a totally different mindset. One has only to walk out of your office and go to Standard Chartered to your left and HSBC to your right. Walk down Paseo to BDO and Citi. Do some research. See how it's done. Until then, maybe SB does not have any right to chase after HNWIs.

After her experience, none of us will follow for now. Unless of course you come out and say, "Yes, we have fixed the kinks and are ready to treat you better than the other banks". Go back to the drawing table. I'm sure your ad agencies will help you modify what you are touting as better service that we deserve. The heads of your ad agencies are clients of your competitor banks and they know what it really is like to be pampered by a real Relationship Manager.

Hold off your Vicki Belo ads please. We love Vicki Belo and it pains us to see her endorsing something that doesn't deliver. The ad agencies did a great job in delivering the message to us. The addition of Dra. Belo is superb. Only the product/service falls way short of what is promised in the advertising.

Lastly, thank you for providing your contact details. I don't think Tata will be contacting you though. To use your tagline and the words of Megan Young, She Deserves Better. Thus, she went down the road and took her business elsewhere.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Related Post:

How An Endorsement By Vicki Belo Is Easily Spoiled

Thursday, August 11, 2016

How An Endorsement By Vicki Belo Is Spoiled

Issues, Manila

Word has been out in the circle the EastWest bank is now taking over the retail banking business of Standard Chartered. This means saying goodbye to Priority Banking of Standard Chartered. Over at HSBC, they said that they would be closing down trust services and that clients would have to look for other banks to receive their instruments and investments. At Citi, they've also closed down their Alabang branch.

Tata said she was shopping around to look for a bank to take on what she's pulling out from Standard Chartered and HSBC. Her knee jerk reaction was try out Security Bank. She had two good reasons to try Security Bank. One of her friend's sons is a top executive there. Second, she was always an avid follower of Vicki Belo. So when all these ads started coming out two weeks ago with Vicki Belo and Megan Young endorsing Security Bank, it was just a matter of time before she would succumb to the advertising.

A few days ago, she visited the main office along Ayala Avenue. Who would not be familiar with Security Bank building when the Philippine Sugar Millers Association is perched on the upper floors of the same building.

Tata talked to one of the ladies among the desks which would be the equivalent of the new accounts counter. Lady was utterly clueless about referring a Relationship Manager. What?!!! This is what Megan Young was bragging about and she's utterly clueless. All she does is say, "Ma'am, can I get your number and I'll let the Wealth Management services call you?". Security Bank's Wealth Management is just a few floors upstairs. Least the girl could do was call for someone to come down, or escorted her upstairs.

The long and short of it, Tata left. She still believes and admires Vicki Belo. She just thinks Security Bank's offering doesn't match up to their advertising.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Related Post:

Negros : An Island of People With Super Short Memories

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Thursday, April 07, 2016

Why Is MIAA GM Honrado So Unexpendable?

#disgusting, Issues

After the black out in NAIA Terminal 3 last week, it puzzles us why MIAA General Manager Honrado can still hoodwink all of us into an assertion that he is still the best person for the job at the world's worst international airport.

The DOTC Secretary is of no help as well pinning the blame on bad luck. Bad luck?!!!...Secretary Abaya of all people should be the perfect person to understand what went wrong being a mechanical engineer. As a person adept with numbers and statistics the probability of this happening and an ensuing generator breakdown could have surely been avoided and not left to luck. Duhhh.

Back to Honrado. We are starting off with the label that NAIA is one of the worst international airports in the world. With that setback, I ask, "Why didn't we field the best there is to handle this?". In the Senate hearings on the Laglag Bala issue, it was very clear on TV that Honrado does not comprehend the impact of his role as MIAA GM and the responsibility which comes along with it. It is also evident that the job is way above Honrado's league. As a housewife, I even wonder if he can manage the frenzy I handle each day here at home. Seriously. PNoy should have gotten a woman for the job if there was fixing to be done.

So why is he still there and so unexpendable? My simple mind can only think of one thing. That he could be protecting the web of unaudited income which goes around the entire NAIA terminals. Think of concessions, all the unnecessary rituals concessionaires even have to deal with before they finally get their concessions. And where does the money trail lead back to?

I pity sobrino Mar. All of this negative flak is hurting his campaign for President. For all the travel-loving Filipinos who find joy in taking advantage of the cheap flights, they cannot take another six more years of this ineptitude which results into obvious inconvenience.

I said that because yesterday, in convincing relatives to go for Mar, I received piercing words which went into me like a hot knife into a stick of butter. "Tita, I am sorry but I cannot accept another six years of this kind of incompetent leadership".

The truth really hurts.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Meet The Man Who Helped Marcos Bring Negros Island To Its Knees

Friday, October 9, 2015

Friday, October 09, 2015

A Bankrupt Memory Bank

Manila, People

Tatler PH cover : Imee at 60

(Disclaimer: This story is just about the wayward media and not about Martial Law)

It has been 29 years since they were chased from the palace. Amid a stream of discoveries regarding the unexplained wealth, more than 70,000 imprisoned, poverty level at 42% and thousands tortured and “salvaged”.

And now, instead of justice the son would utter that there was nothing to be sorry for those days of Martial Law, even peddling the canard that if his father were not ousted, the country would now be at the level of Singapore.

The surprising thing is that almost all of them are now back in elective position with Bongbong Marcos announcing his candidacy for the position of Vice President but with no declared runningmate for President. It is just like a woman declaring she has a fiancé but does not know who the fiancé is. That is how absurd this country has become.

The Wayward Media

But wait there is more! See the cover of the latest Philippine Tatler. Imee Marcos the Eldest but has shown no signs of aging. It’s OK anyway, she has the money to spend for all the upgrades. The cover says she is 60 but yes, still oooh lalala!

But even those who know the crimes and injustices are ooohhhing and aaahhhing! That there seems a dysfunction in our values system and a national dyslexia being experienced. The victims must be turning in their unmarked graves.

In fact, this will go viral since social media will weigh in on this very fast. There will be consequences. Maybe not violent and not hardcore. There those who remember and they may get back at Philippine Tatler one way or another. The Tatler which originated in Britain would not have issued an edition with Eva Braun after 1945. They knew there would be consequences. One consequence would be that the high end advertisers would leave Philippine Tatler for Town and Country, Metro or even Lifestyle Asia just to distance them from this faux pas. I can now see the smiles of Summit Media, One Mega Group, and ABS-CBN Publishing. Even BusinessWorld's High Life stands to win.

Perhaps, there was a lapse in judgment by the E-I-C of Philippine Tatler. A concussion caused by a helicopter crash is enough reason for this absurdity. Any which way, Philippine Tatler takes a hit with this one. Maybe this is what caused for the Memory Bank to get Bankrupt.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

Related Post:

How An Endorsement By Vicki Belo Is Easily Spoiled