Fabulous food festival

It was another success, the Villar SIPAG annual culinary showdown that had the best cooks in the 20 barangays of Las Piñas City showcasing their best dishes and desserts for the annual cooking competition that kicked off the festivities for the city’s 2018 Food Festival.

Sen. Cynthia A. Villar welcomed the participants as she lauded them for going the extra mile in using modern techniques to make original and sumptuous culinary creations that display the Filipinos’ imaginative minds and innovative skills.

“Filipinos are popular for their ingenuity. We are known for our ability to replicate foreign dishes and changing their tastes by introducing local ingredients to give them the unique flavors of the Philippine islands. Through this cooking competition, residents of Las Piñas City become gastronomic witnesses to the creativity of our local cooking experts,” said Villar, director of the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (Villar SIPAG).

SEN. CYNTHIA VILLAR (rightmost) hands over the trophy to the grand winner of the annual cooking competition

The senator said the cooking competition is a friendly contest that seeks to display not only the culinary skills of Las Piñas’ top 20 cooks, but likewise showcase innovative uses of local food resources. “Families can learn new ways on how to transform their regular dishes to something special and unique,” she added.

The inter-barangay cooking showdown was held at the Villar SIPAG square in C5 Extension Road, Pulang Lupa Uno in Las Piñas City. The experts were asked to prepare a dish/viand cooked Pinoy-style using native ingredients, and a dessert that would delight the sweet tooth and of Filipinos. Barangay Talon 2 made the biggest impact and brought home P20,000 and a trophy for bagging the grand prize with their entry Inadobong Lapu-Lapu sa Mantikilya and Cala-Squash Soup.

Aside from the cooking competition, the 5th Las Piñas Food Festival also showcased a food exhibit with 40 exhibitors from Las Piñas City, other cities and municipalities.

For this year’s event festivities, the Villar SIPAG partnered with Silver Swan, Apicius, ELBA, Mushroomburger, Jollibee, and Golden Oats to ensure the success of the gathering.

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Bonding with fans

Miguel Tanfelix

“Kambal, Karibal” star Miguel Tanfelix spent time with his fans recently through a summer getaway. Photos on his Instagram account show Miguel happily swimming with them.

Miguel plays the lead role along with Bianca Umali on “Kambal, Karibal.” Some of their co-stars are Marvin Agustin, Carmina Villaroel and Kyline Alcantara.

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Tidbits: Happy bday greetings today, June 2 go to Dr. Loi Ejercito, Lorna Quisumbing, Ching Utzurrum, Jenny Hernandez, Jeannie Parlan, Freddie Martinez, Wendy Valdez, Jennifer Soliman, Mar Tolentino, and Sylvia la Torre… June 3: Lorli Villanueva, Elmer Labella, Oliver Palma, and Tessie Capulong… June 4: Maribel Dario, Camille Teotico, Sonia Pajaro, Angie Liao, Vic Savellano, Darlene Bayota, Angelo Armas, Harmony Cabusao and Gretchen Fulido…

MOR stations nationwide unite for stronger MOR Philippines

MOR 101.9 remains to be the FM radio of choice for most listeners in Mega Manila, and together with 16 other MOR stations nationwide, is set to become a bigger and stronger FM radio station for kaMORkadas in different parts of the country with MOR Philippines.

According to a recent survey by Kantar Media in Q1 of 2018, MOR 101.9 Manila got the highest average audience share of 33% among all FM stations in Mega Manila. This is 12 percentage points higher than its closest competitor’s 21%.

Aside from MOR Manila, most MOR stations in the country have also conquered the radio airwaves in their respective regions. Thus, a stronger MOR network will soon go on air with MOR Philippines.

Under MOR Philippines, 17 MOR stations will unite to bring listeners from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao one vibe and one sound.

Aside from quality radio entertainment, MOR also champions original Pinoy music or OPM and honors the talents of Filipino artists and songwriters via its annual MOR Pinoy Music Awards.

Among the nominees for Song of the Year this year are “Titibo Tibo” by Moira Dela Torre, “Demonyo” by JK Labajo, “Sampu” by Jona, and “Shanawa” by Maymay Entrata.

Maymay, Moira, Alexa Ilacad, and Yeng Constantino compete in the Female Artist of the Year category, while JK, Inigo Pascual, Christian Bautista, and Noven Belleza battle it out in the Male Artist of the Year category.

For Album of the Year, the nominees are Rivermaya’s “Sa Kabila ng Lahat,” Gloc 9’s “Rotonda,” Jona’s self-titled album, and JK Labajo’s “JKL.”

Gracenote and Chito Miranda, Jona and Boyband PH, and Elisse Joson and Mccoy De Leon are all vying for the Best Collaboration of the Year award.

The popular McLisse loveteam is also nominated in the OPM Revival of the Year category for their song “Opposites Attract,” up against Moira Dela Torre’s “Sundo,” JK Labajo’s “Beautiful Girl,” and Kaye Cal’s “Why Can’t It Be.”

BoybandPH, meanwhile, makes their second appearance on the nominees list with their song “Boyfriend,” which is up for LSS Hit of the Year. The group is competing with TJ Monterde’s “Tulad Mo,” Noven Belleza’s “Tumahan Ka Na,” and Kim Chiu’s “Okay Na Ako.”

“Cebuana” by Karencitta, “Waray Love Bisaya” by Polzkee and Ai, “Yayay” by Piyaok Band, and “Davaoena” by Pao Lofranco are nominated for Regional Song of the Year, while Kisses Delavin, Maris Racal, Tony Labrusca, and Noven Belleza are competing for Best New Artist.

Last but not the least, MOR also honors digital artists with the Digital Artist of the Year Award. Among the nominees are Agsunta, Karencita, Ex Batallion, and Ben&Ben.

The MOR Pinoy Music Awards 2018 is set to happen on July 21 at the Araneta Coliseum. Watch out on MOR’s Facebook for more details on how to get tickets to the #MORPMA2018.

GMA Network maintains nationwide ratings lead in May

GMA Network’s ratings success continued well in May based on the latest data from the industry’s widely-trusted ratings service provider Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

For the full month of May (with May 27 to 31 based on overnight data), GMA remained as the viewers’ preferred channel after posting a total day people audience share average of 39.8 percent in the National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM), beating ABS-CBN’s 38.3 percent.

The Network managed to top NUTAM’s morning block with 35.9 percent people audience share versus ABS-CBN’s 33.2 percent. GMA also led in the afternoon block with 42.1 percent—ahead of competition’s 38.8 percent.

GMA likewise ruled across all day parts in the viewer-rich areas of Urban Luzon and Mega Manila, which respectively account for 72 and 59 percent of all urban viewers in the country.

The Kapuso Network again tallied a higher share point lead in Urban Luzon with an average total day people audience share of 44.4 percent against ABS-CBN’s 33.0 percent.

Similarly in Mega Manila (with official data from May 1 to 26), GMA continued its dominance with an average total day people audience share of 45.8 percent versus rival network’s 30.4 percent.

GMA maintained its stronghold in NUTAM’s list of top-rating programs with Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho still reigning as the most watched Kapuso show for the month of May followed by Kambal, Karibal.

Newly-launched Kapuso primetime series Inday Will Always Love You immediately entered the list as the third top-rating program from GMA. It was followed by consistent ratings drivers Magpakailanman, Pepito Manaloto, The One That Got Away, The Cure, 24 Oras, Lip Sync Battle Philippines, Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko, and 24 Oras Weekend.

Completing the list were The Stepdaughters, Contessa, Eat Bulaga, Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka, Bubble Gang, Saksi and Wowowin.

Kapuso programs also took the lion’s share in the Urban Luzon and Mega Manila lists, claiming 21 spots out of the top 30 shows in both areas.

Further, GMA’s flagship AM radio station Super Radyo DZBB was also hailed as the listeners’ number one choice in Mega Manila proving GMA’s dominance both in TV and radio.

Based on the most recent data from Nielsen Radio Audience Measurement. May ratings data show DZBB posting a total week average audience share of 38.9 percent, winning over DZMM’s 32 percent and DZRH’s 18 percent.

From Monday to Friday, DZBB’s ratings dominance was driven by its topnotch delivery of news and fearless commentaries through “Saksi sa Dobol B” anchored by Mike Enriquez; “Sino?” with Mike, Arnold Clavio, and Ali Sotto; “Super Balita sa Umaga Nationwide” with Mike and Joel Reyes Zobel; and “Dobol B Balitang-Balita” anchored by Melo del Prado.

Radio GMA’s flagship FM station Barangay LS 97.1 was hailed as the number one choice of listeners in Mega Manila according to the latest survey of Nielsen Radio Audience Measurement.

Barangay LS captivated the hearts of more listeners in Mega Manila for the month of April with an average audience share of 29.6 percent, which was driven by its variety of programs and wacky bunch of DJs.

Meanwhile, viewers can now enjoy a more colorful, more vibrant, and clearer viewing experience as GMA Network’s digital TV signal now covers all parts of Metro Manila as well as nearby provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, and Pampanga. GMA-7 and GMA News TV’s digital broadcast can be accessed by simply rescanning the channels through their digital TV boxes.

The sub-channels are available soon: Dobol B sa TV (News and Information), KiliTV (Airing reruns of GMA comedy shows or acquired (like John En Marsha, Iskol Bukol, etc.), airing originals and stand-ups), GMABest (reruns of GMA classics from 80s to 2010s), HOAtv (featuring asian drama shows, movies, reruns and acquired), GMAPlay (A dedicated channel for Kids and Teens; reruns of anime and cartoons), KMF (Kapuso Movie Festival) and QTV (All about lifestyle and women channel). QTV is also under CityNet Marketing and Productions, Inc.

Nielsen data is gathered through a greater number of sampled homes nationwide in comparison to Kantar Media. With approximately 900 more homes surveyed in Total Urban and Rural Philippines compared to Kantar, Nielsen data is statistically considered more representative of the total TV population.

In 2017, Nielsen TV Audience Measurement increased its client pool to a total of 41 clients/subscribers consisting of 12 local TV networks including TV5, Aksyon TV, CNN Philippines, Net 25, Solar Entertainment Corporation, and Viva Communications Inc., among others; 5 regional clients; 2 blocktimers; 21 agencies (18 media agencies, 2 consulting agencies, 1 digital agency); and 1 advertiser. —VDS, GMA News