Cebu Pacific launches special 25th anniversary credit card

Cebu Pacific surprises everyJuan on its 25th anniversary with the launch of the new Cebu Pacific Gold and Platinum Credit Cards, in partnership with Go Rewards, UnionBank of the Philippines, and Visa.

Using this card will enable everyJuan to earn Go Rewards points to fly faster as cardholders will get one point for every PHP 100 spent with Cebu Pacific. If used anywhere else, one point will be earned for every PHP 200 spent. As a valued cardholder you are eligible to be a Black Card member of Go Rewards. When flying as a Black card member, you can get the preferential earn rate of 1 Go Rewards point for every PHP20 spent (for the base fare and some ancillaries) when flying with Cebu Pacific.

Cardholders will also get early alerts for CEB promo fares, and other Go Rewards, UnionBank and Visa exclusive offers.

Platinum cardholders will also gain exclusive access to Pacific Club Lounge at NAIA Terminal 3 on top of a worry-free travel insurance of up to P10 million.

“We are very happy to announce this partnership with Go Rewards, UnionBank, and Visa. Through this, everyJuan will now have easy access to endless value-for-money deals and rewards – whether for booking those much-awaited trips, or just buying day-to-day needs,” said Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing and customer experience at Cebu Pacific.

To make it even more special, those who sign up for a card starting today, September 27, 2021 until December 31, 2021, will receive Go Rewards bonus points which can be used to book a CEB flight online conveniently. A Gold cardholder will receive 5,000 points, while a Platinum cardholder will get 10,000 points.

All these points can be redeemed not just for your dream flight, but even to purchase those essentials you’ll want to take with you. These credit cards are also accepted worldwide through the accredited merchants of Visa.

 

CEB continues to offer the lowest fares on flights across its widest domestic network. To date, it operates regular flights to 32 domestic destinations which include Boracay, Bohol, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, and Siargao.

CEB has been rated 7/7 stars by airlineratings.com for its COVID-19 compliance as it continues to implement a multi-layered approach to safety, in accordance with global aviation standards. These include daily extensive cleaning and disinfection protocols for all aircraft and facilities, antigen testing before duty for all frontliners and crew members, and contactless flight procedures. Its jet fleet are equipped with hospital grade HEPA air filters, keeping viruses at bay.

BB

Is English replacing Filipino in the Philippines?

 

Dayang C Marikit

4,006 followers

368 following

I’m a Philippine history professor and my Quora account is mainly focused on promoting and educating people about the pre-colonial period. Below are some of my articles and as well as some informative videos.

I would like to inform people that “nothing is set in stone” because we are constantly gathering information and learning about our history, somethings may change in the future, but for now the things that I publish are the things that we currently perceive to “know about.”

Be wary of bitter zeal

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          YES, we have to be most careful with our tendency to fall

into bitter zeal. It’s that zeal that was rebuked by Christ in that

gospel episode where his disciples suggested that fire rains on those

who did not welcome them while they entered a Samaritan village. (cfr.

Lk 9,51-56)

          While it’s true that we should try to be always zealous in

our life, we have to make sure that our zeal is righteous, holy and

charitable, not bitter, with a clear and proper sense of purpose, not

just aimless.

          Righteous zeal is always respectful of legal, juridical and

most importantly of moral standards, especially that of charity and

mercy. Bitter zeal wants instant results while ignoring legal and

moral requirements, let alone the requirements of charity and mercy.

It may pursue a valid cause, working for truth and justice, but

without taking care of the appropriate means.

          Bitter zeal makes a person hasty and reckless in his

assessment of things. It fails to consider all angles, to listen to

both sides, so to speak. He is prone to imprudence. In the end, it’s

animated by the evil spirit of self-righteousness.

          Inflammatory, incendiary words are its main weapons. Being

belligerent is its style. It relishes in rousing controversies and

sowing intrigues. It’s actually not as interested in looking for the

objective truth and justice as carrying out his own personal agenda.

          Especially when we engage ourselves in matters of opinion,

we have to learn to practice restraint and moderation since no one has

the exclusive ownership of what is right and fair. Opinions are views

that are hardly based on absolute truths of faith and dogmas. They are

more expressions of one’s preferences and tastes, and therefore we

should expect a wide spectrum of differences, since things depend on

people’s different temperaments, backgrounds, cultures, etc.

          Yes, we can have some exchanges and try to sort out these

different and even conflicting opinions if only to clarify things and

perhaps to eke out a most fair view with respect to a particular

issue. We can attempt to have a kind of consensus.

          But all these should be done in an atmosphere of mutual

respect and utmost charity and delicacy. We have to avoid bitter zeal,

sarcasm, irony, insults, ad hominems, mockery, vulgarity, nitpicking,

fault-finding, one-upmanship, the crab mentality and the like.

          If we are truly animated by Christian charity, there would

be zero bitterness in our exchanges of views, opinions, and even of

beliefs. True love, as St. Paul describes it, “takes no pleasure in

evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all

things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Cor 13,6-7)

          We just have to learn to be patient in handling whatever

contradicting reactions we get from all the goodness that we may be

doing. We just have to look for an alternative way in resolving issues

and situations like this.

          This was the case of Christ when his apostles suggested that

fire rain down on a Samaritan village that did not welcome them since

they were heading to Jerusalem. (cfr Lk 9,51-56) As the gospel puts

it, Christ rebuked the apostles and they journeyed instead to another

village.

          We have to make sure that we are always burning with the

zeal of love. We need to fill our mind and heart with love, and all

that love brings—goodness, patience, understanding and compassion.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Rest In Peace!

My column in Mindanao Daily News and BusinessWeek Mindanao

OPINION

By KLAUS DORING

 September 27, 2021

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Years ago, I was still a freshman, when it came to the Internet and blogging. When I started my first blog as a German expatriate living in the Philippines, a very special social network came across my path: Facebook! I started chatting with some media friends from all over the Philippines.

 

Actually I started with "Friendster". Friends from the whole globe! Facebook was introduced to me as a new site for college kids.

 

Nowadays, we're experiencing different headlines, when it comes to social media networks. Despite scandals over fake news and data privacy, one thing is for sure: the social network Facebook is unlikely to disappear any time soon.

 

Actually, during the first year, I found Facebook’s evolution and societal function both equally fascinating and disturbing.

 

The biggest question of all that gnaws at the back of my mind is whether there is any stopping Facebook in the future?  It looks increasingly like the answer is no.

 

“Friendster failed for simple reasons: the time wasn’t right,” says Bernie Hogan, senior research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute. “Not only is it about the readiness of people to participate in a social networking site, but it’s also just about the nuts and bolts.” Friendster and MySpace helped blaze the trail for Facebook's global popularity, but they failed to achieve even close to the same success as their successor.

 

The kind of engineering that allows Facebook to function every day simply wasn’t available back in the early days of the new millennium. But by 2004, internet speeds had increased and the coding that underpins websites had become more sophisticated. The technical limitations of earlier social networking sites like Friendster and Friends Reunited cleared the runway for Facebook.

 

But despite technical barriers, those other sites paved the way for Facebook at a time when people were still a little wary of putting too much of themselves out on the internet. In the 1990s, internet users were warned against even sharing their first name online, but now words like “oversharing” and “selfie” are so common they are recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary.

 

Facebook - bone or ban? Fact is, Facebook is becoming that de facto, online identity provider. I am on Twitter and LinkedIn. But bear with me, most of the time, I spend being online on Facebook.

 

Once the mid-2000s rolled around, Facebook was also able to hire a lot of talented engineers from Silicon Valley, which helped it put together the kind of website infrastructure that could scale-up with an exponentially growing user base. Your Newsfeed doesn’t curate and customise itself – its launch needed engineers to cook up algorithms that picked the most valuable updates from your friends’ updates.

 

But Hwang points to another serendipitous factor in Facebook’s global rise: mobile phones. In a lot of developing countries, people only have cheap mobiles to access the internet. In fact, a lot of these users think Facebook is the internet.

 

“We can’t discount the power of mobile,” says Hwang. It’s made “social networks much, much more pervasive. You have social media at all times in your pocket, which makes it this powerful platform for news and conversation that operated in a slower way in the desktop-only era.”

 

For starters, it has become so ingrained and intertwined in the digital ecosystem of the 21st Century that it is hard to now untangle it. Oxford’s Hogan points to a concept he calls “interoperability.” This is where a Facebook login is often required to use and operate other online services.

 

“Just today I went out to buy concert tickets,” Hogan says. “I had to log into Facebook. I don’t use Facebook, but I had to dust off my login. Facebook is becoming that de facto, online identity provider.” I am sure you experienced the same, my dear readers.

 

Facebook also taps into basic human needs, according to psychologists. Even with social media movements like #DeleteFacebook, mass privacy concerns or even just calls to leave the site on the back of pedestrian design tweaks, people just can’t stay away.

 

“Almost everybody comes back,” says Catalina Toma, associate professor of communication science at the University of Wisconsin. “Social networking sites tap into what makes us human: we like to connect with others.” Yes, we don't go out and meet friends somewhere for a chat or a beer or coffee. We are connected with them via Facebook. Especially since the pandemic didn't allow us to go out and meet people personally.

 

But there are tangible benefits beyond those that keep people hooked.

 

“Lots of studies show the more people use Facebook, the more social capital they derive – resources that we get from just being connected to other people,” says Toma. “There’s emotional support, asking for advice, asking for recommendations.”

 

For many Facebook users, the pros outweigh the cons: tracking down long-lost friends, getting leads to a job, expanding their business. They can deal with the glamorized glimpses. All this keeps people coming back for more, despite the onslaught of what Toma calls “glamorized glimpses”. These are the carefully curated peeks into the lives of everyone else, who all seem to be doing better than you. “They feel worse, but they cannot stop,” Toma says. I strongly have to agree!

 

Facebook is bound to have a grip on our lives. “Social media companies seek to exploit one’s attention for profit,” Hogan says. “It’s not even ambiguous. It’s exactly what Zuckerberg said in Congress: ‘Where do you get your money?’ ‘We get it from ads.’”

 

Right place, right time: the rise of internet-connected mobile devices in turn fueled the rise of Facebook.

 

“Facebook’s business is still going to accelerate,” says Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at New York University who wrote The Big Four, a book about how powerful a tiny handful of technology companies are becoming. “Consumers talk a big game but where is the first place they go to express their rage? Facebook and Instagram. And with 2.2 billion monthly active users, advertisers have no choice but to be on Facebook.” That could change, though, as advertising dollars follow young users who abandon the platform.

 

Still, there’s plenty of stability with older people – even among senior citizens. The site’s true future could boil down to what world governments decide to do, if anything, about Facebook’s growing influence.

 

“I don’t think the question is [what is] ‘killing Facebook’,” says Sherry Turkle, professor of the social studies of science and technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “I think the question is what would get people to an appropriate use of Facebook. To the extent that we ‘knew’ about it before, we found ways to put it out of mind. Now, we can no longer do this.” We’re now all too familiar with the dangers of data leaks and fake news.

 

Let's face it: there’s also the simple fact that Facebook has a monopoly. “Facebook’s sheer size and cash on hand means that they can either acquire or effectively shut down any competition,” says Galloway, pointing to examples like WhatsApp and Instagram, which were eventually absorbed into the Facebook behemoth.

 

For now, Facebook is still so entrenched in our daily lives, there’s not going to be an immediate escape.“What’s more likely to happen is that people start to realize the markets and economy might be better off – by stimulating innovation, creating new jobs – if we were to break it up and have multiple firms instead of just one,” Galloway says. That’s the more likely outcome than Facebook just crashing, burning and disappearing altogether, according to the experts.

 

Rest in peace, Facebook? Surely a big NO!

What Filipino culture and values are now slowly fading?

 

By: Samuel Astacaan Escabarte

 What should be done to reserve this?

Unfortunately, there are Filipino culture that are no longer practiced or have lost their significance particularly among the new generation of Filipinos.

Below are just some of them:

Pagmamano or kissing the hands and forehead of the elders: parents and grandparents parents. Only few young Filipinos observed and practiced this particular tradition or values

Paninilbihan or servitude

This is one of the courtship customs that should not have been faded. This is particular tradition that Filipinos should be proud of. But unfortunately and for still unknown reasons, this tradition is seldom practice by the new generation of Filipino suitors.

These are just some of the long-established traditions/values that are slowly fading.

How to preserve these traditions/values?

To preserve these traditions, there must be collective efforts among the Filipinos like intensified awareness campaign of these traditions to be initiated by the government.

Another way of preserving these traditions is by teaching and practicing during school and community activities.

For more about Philippine Culture, you may visit my Facebook Page: Philippine Society and Culture.

Typisch Philippinisch (XXXI) - Typical Filipino (XXXI): Haben Sie schon gegessen? Kumain ka na ba?

"For Filipinos, feeding each other is a way we demonstrate love, and this particular way of eating, [is] a literal, tactile way of connecting with what nourishes us and the land it comes from," says Katherine Prince, an activist and organizer with the Portland, Oregon, chapter of GABRIELA, an organization for Filipina (Pinay) women. "To me, using my hands and seeing the banana leaves reminds me that even how we eat can be colonized, and my participation in this ancestral tradition is revolutionary in its own right.”

A mix of fried fish, longanisa, lumpia, pancit, and nilaga served with vinegar and onions, ketchup, banana ketchup, chopped tomatoes, and fresh mango over rice.

A mix of fried fish, longanisa, lumpia, pancit, and nilaga served with vinegar and onions, ketchup, banana ketchup, chopped tomatoes, and fresh mango over rice. 

The term kamayan can be used to describe the act of eating by hand, but a traditional kamayan meal is a feast served family style, usually over banana leaves. There’s no limit to what you can eat when hosting your own kamayan, but in general, grilled and fried things with rice are easier to eat sans utensils, because they aren’t as messy as soups and stews (though that didn’t stop my mom from serving soup in bowls at our last kamayan, so anything’s fair game).

Essen ist ungemein wichig für die Gemütsverfassung eines Filipinos/einer Filipina. Es scheint, als sitze ihnen stets die Angst im Nacken, Hunger leiden zu müssen. Wohin man auch geht, wird für ausreichend Proviant gesorgt. Selbst unterwegs muß noch an einigen Läden oder Obstständen noch etwas dazugekauft werden.Es gibt kein Treffen von Filipinos , an denen nicht Essen aufgetragen wird. Es gehört zur üblichen Gastfreundschaft, Besuchern nicht nur Getränke sondern auch Speisen anzubieten. Die übliche philippinische Begrüßung lautet: "Haben Sie schon gegessen?" - "Kumanin ka na ba?"

The great value of spiritual childhood

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THE gospel of St. Luke 9,46-50, shows us how being childlike

in spirit would enable us to accept Christ as he is as well as to

accept everybody else irrespective of how they are. It’s a great

lesson we have to learn if we want to be truly Christian.

          In that gospel, Christ clarified how being simple and humble

like a little child would enable one to accept Christ. “Whoever

receives this child in my name receives me,” he said. “And whoever

receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least

among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”

          This clarification of Christ came as a consequence of the

apostles talking among themselves about who among them was the

greatest. It can be supposed that they must be feeling important since

they realized they had the fortune of knowing and being with Christ.

          But that was not enough. The gospel somehow links being

simple, humble and childlike with the capacity to be accepting and to

be able to have a good working relationship with everyone irrespective

of who and how they are, despite the unavoidable differences and

conflicts among them. This point Christ established when he said,

“Whoever is not against you is for you.”

          We have to realize that if we want to be with God always and

to know the fine points of his mysterious will and ways, we need to be

always simple and childlike. Christ may have told us also to be clever

and shrewd like serpents, but that quality which is also a necessity

in our life here on earth should never compromise our simplicity. In

fact, that cleverness should also spring from our simplicity.

          Christ is quite clear about this point. “I give praise to

you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” he said, “for although you

have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have

revealed them to the childlike.” (Mt 11,25)

          Christ reiterated this necessity of being childlike a number

of times during his preaching. “Unless you change and become like

little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt

18,3) “Let the children come to me. Do not prevent them, for the

Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mk 10,15) St. James, in his

letter, made the same affirmation. “God opposes the proud but shows

favor to the humble.” (4,6)

          We need to devise an interior mechanism, more spiritual than

material, to keep ourselves like children even as we grow in worldly

knowledge and skills, and prone to thinking that we can already live

by ourselves, independently of God.

          To be childlike would also enable us to be accepting of

everyone and to be able to work with everyone, irrespective of who and

how they are. The mere fact that everyone can be presumed to be

looking always for what is true and good, even if they are wrong in

their pursuit, can signify that we have a common bond. Those who

differ with us cannot really be against us. And so, we can always find

ways of how to deal with them in a charitable way.

          If we follow the example of Christ, we would know how to

live the truth in charity and charity in the truth. Somehow the

exclusivity of truth blends with the inclusivity of charity! How

important therefore to grow in spiritual childhood in our life!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

A ridiculous fact

My column in Mindanao Daily News and BusinessWeek Mindanao

OPINION

By KLAUS DORING

 September 24, 2021

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A mistaken belief accompanies us each and every second of our life. Incorrect decisions and wrong doings are part of our daily life.

 

It is almost a ridiculous fact that man wants to know certain truths about mundane things. But really, he seems least interested in even mundane truths as can be read many times in our daily newspapers or online for example. There seem to be too many rash judgments, and the readers absorb these and make these their own. A fatal attraction!

 

This is sometimes referred to as journalistic mentality wherein accusations are generously made without proof. Evolution started this trend, when scientists stated for example that man evolved from the apes -  without proof. The only proof they had was the missing link, and, if I am not mistaken, it's still a missing proof until now.

 

To look for proofs is a mental activity, which is no longer a common thing nowadays, because it takes really time, effort and is too serious to think about. Yet in Christian education, thinking right is very important.That's why Philosophy is important in Christian life. To avoid error in thinking, the rules of right reasoning must be studied and mastered. Is it really totally neglected in today's modern education?

 

Thinking is actually an enjoyable activity but when one is pressured to get a good job for one's sustenance, then the other more mundane becomes attractive. After all, great thinkers often do not get (good?) jobs... .

 

Spiritual writers like the British Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) noticed that mankind had stopped thinking even two centuries ago. Wow. That was during his age.

 

Man probably stopped thinking even earlier. He has ceased many times to search for the truth. It's easier to listen to gossip and believe in it. What a sign of weak minds!

 

Too often we are blind to the truth. As a consequence, we easily believe in lies; we only have to like it. Too bad, if people always like to close their eyes and ears especially while experiencing the delusion of error.