MEGA YOUNG DESIGNERS

                               MEGA YOUNG DESIGNERS COMPETITION WINNERS

MEGA Magazine, the Philippines’ best and pioneer fashion magazine, successfully culminated the second season of Gen M: Generation MEGA, the MEGA Young Designers Competition (YDC) 2012 and kick-started its 20-year anniversary celebration recently at NBC tent.

For the past 20 years, MEGA has endeavored to champion Philippine fashion and create a Filipino aesthetic. The YDC was created two years after the inception of the magazine and it was launched in order to discover the creative minds who will then serve as ambassadors of Philippine fashion to the runways of the world. This competition has produced a list of impressive alumni including renowned designers Rajo Laurel, Michi Calica-Sotto, Patrice Ramos-Diaz, Ivarluski Aseron, Mich Dulce and Veejay Floresca

MEGA founder and editor in chief Sari Yap, shares, “I believe in tradition. The MEGA Young Designers Competition is one such thing. When we started it in 1994, it was to create a platform to discover new talent. Back then, to break into the fashion industry was very difficult and there were very few avenues to generate buzz. Today, it’s a very different picture, there are so many fashion schools and designing has become a go-to career for a lot of young people. Although the barrier to entry is not as difficult as before, we still wanted to find these stars and teach them the right skills.”

In keeping with the 20^th anniversary of MEGA, the MEGA Young Designers Competition final six were then tasked to imagine MEGAmorphosis and the next 20 years of MEGA for their final collections. These were then showcased in a grand gala held at NBC Tent last February 16, 2012.

With an audience that included patrons of fashion, young society and the most important advertisers of MEGA magazine, there was no better place to launch young talents Mara Chua, Kirby Cruz, Ched Dalogaog, Robin Gundran, Oz Go and Renan Jay Pacson.

The glittering event is just the first in what will be a series of events to commemorate MEGA’s historic 20 years.

ECOMAX

ECOMAX

High poverty rates among rural women holding back dev’t, says UNESCO

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), rural women and girls suffer some of the highest rates of poverty globally. In particular, of the world’s 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty in developing countries, rural households headed by women are among the most vulnerable.

UNESCO is therefore devoting its observance of International Women’s Day to call attention to the plight of rural women and girls.

UNESCO estimates that about 80 percent of the 67 million children out of school live in rural areas, and that the majority of whom are girls. Young girls from poor rural households are also the least likely of any social group to be in school or to ever gain access to education. Illiteracy rates in rural areas are almost twice as high as in urban areas, and higher still among women.

According to UNESCO, this holds back progress towards development targets and hinders rural economic growth. Improving education for women and girls in rural areas is a central issue both for achieving gender equality and for poverty eradication.

“Too often marginalised, women living in rural settings face steep challenges to the exercise of their human rights, their personal development and the pursuit of their aspirations,” said UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova.

MIDORI 2012 prize for biodiversity now open for nominations

The AEON Environmental Foundation announced today the opening of norminations for the 2012 MIDORI Biodiversity Prize. This award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions towards the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Applications will be judged according to the following criteria: (1) international contribution; (2) contribution to conservation and sustainable use; (3) social contribution; (4) long-term viewpoints/continuity; (5) creativity/originality; (7) civic mindedness/broad viewpoints;  and (8) efficacy/influence.

Nominations will be accepted from 1 March - 30 June 2012. Nomination forms are available on the MIDORI Prize website: www.aeon.info/ef/midori/prize. 

MIDORI Prize is a biennial international prize established by the AEON Environmental Foundation. The foundation has made diverse efforts in planting trees, supporting environmental NGOs and NPOs, and organizing international congresses.

For more information, please visit the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) website: www.cbd.int.

"BUDOY" LALABAN HANGGAN SA WAKAS

Sa nalalapit na pagwawakas ng teleseryeng kinagiliwan ng marami, na nagpa ngiti, nagpa luha, nagbigay inspirasyon at pag-asa sa marami, mapa bata man o matanda…. ang family drama series na “Budoy” ay inaasahan na mas mga kapana-panabik at makapigil-hiningang mga eksena pa ang matutunghayan ng mga manonod.

Mula ng mapanood ng marami ang teleseryeng ito na pinagbibidahan ng tinaguriang Drama Prince of the Philippine Screen na si Gerald Anderson….namulat at naging sensitibo ang maraming manonood patungkol sa mga kalagayan ng mga bata na may kapansanan katulad ng taglay ni Budoy sa drama series na ito. Maiibilang man natin sila na hindi normal tulad ng iba sa atin, magkaganonpaman silay tao pa rin tulad ng bawat isa sa atin na may damadamin din na nasasaktan at marunong ding magmahal.

Sa huling dalawang lingo ng teleseryeng Budoy, masasaksihan ng marami ang mga ibat-ibang eksena na magaganap sa pagsagip ni Budoy sa girlfriend din nyang si Jackie (Jessy Mendiola) at kapatid na si BJ (Enrique Gil) laban sa sindikato…..Maraming katanungan ang masasagot sa pagwawakas ng istoryang ito tulad ng… Ano kaya ang mga mangyayari sa pagwawakas ng teleseryeng ito? Matagumpay kayang maisalba ni Budoy si BJ at Jackie sa kamay ng mga masasama? Mabubuo pa kaya muli ang kanyang nasirang pamilya? Ilan lamang yan sa mga katanungan na masasagot sa pagtatapos ng Budoy.

Dahil dito, inaanyayahan ang lahat na subaybayan ang huling laban ni Gerald Anderson sa “Budoy” pagkatapos ng “Walang Hanggan” sa ABS-CBN. Para sa karagdagang inpormasyon, mag log-on sa www.budoy.tv, sundan ang @budoy_tv sa Twitter at i-like ang www.facebook.com/budoy.tv.