2010 05/12-05/18
Northern California's largest Filipino American newspaper in circulation since 1990, the Manila Mail is the Bay Area's most read Fil-Am weekly publication distributed free in major cities of Northern California. Community is a B Section page that contains the weekly column of Bradford Adkins 'SCENES in the city'. The column features include: the issues and events, the individuals and organizations moving the community.
US-raised Tom Mott's (now known in the Philippine showbiz as Tom Rodriguez) road to stardom is now being paved as his very first movie, "Here Comes The Bride" will be shown here in the US (it opened in Manila on May 12th) starting on May 21st. He is now being co-managed by Super Power Agent, Boy Abunda (who sold most of his properties to help friendKris Aquino fund the campaign of now leading Presidential candidate, Noynoy Aquino).
San Francisco Socialites, Sylvia Ford (right) and Glenda Kennedy, among others, dined with the Fallorina couple (Gary & Love) when they introduced to family and friends their one andonly child, Sandro Fallorina, last Mother's Day at the Hilton in Burlingame, CA.
Happy couple last Mother's Day was Gary and Love Fallorina who welcomed first and only child, Rodolfo Allesandro 'Sandro' Fallorina (born March 18, 2010 around 7:58 am at 7 pounds, 9 ounces, 21 inches), after 10 years of waiting.
Belated Happy Birthday (May 9th) to Dino Enriquez, right, of San Ramon, shown here with wife, Mitos
Alma Bernabe-Roxas (left) and Bradley M. Roxas attended the Knights of Columbus Saint Francis and San Jose Chapters Testimonial Dinner at Moose Lodge Daly City last Saturday, May 8, 2010.
Knights of Columbus Saint Francis Chapter Officers (L-R) Steve Banez, Ruben Sy, Bradley M. Roxas Eddie Santamaria.
Anna Francesca Villanueva Noriega will be graduating on May 29, 2010 from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree, Major in Kinesiology. Anna graduated from Moreau Catholic High School (Hayward) in 2005 and Holy Spirit School (Fremont) in 2001. Anna is the daughter of Rosanna & Sonny Noriega
Changing times for Outsourcing to the Philippines
As survival becomes intense for companies hit hard by the global economic downturn, more and more medium and large organizations are seeking to save money by outsourcing to the Philippines. The reasons companies are looking to the Philippines include: to take advantage of labor arbitrage, better serve their customers; and to be more profitable by focusing on their core business. But past efforts to woo clients to the Philippines are no longer applicable. During the early days of outsourcing, sales models included sending executives from Philippine firms on monthly/quarterly forays overseas to drum up business. This slash and burn approach worked in the infancy days of Philippine outsourcing. The adage,”build it (a call center) and they will come” actually proved to be true and business was booming despite the lack of sales, marketing and support processes. But today that model doesn’t work as U.S. and European based companies demand a domestic presence and personal touch before committing mission critical business processes to a partner. Global firms expect professional, ethical and enterprise-strength assurances that they can “bet their business” on the Philippines. As such, many Philippine firms are desperately seeking sales, marketing onshore first level support assistance.
Georeliant (www.georeliant.com), the BPO Company is a leading Business Process Outsourcing and Call Center sales, marketing and client management company based in San Francisco, is uniquely positioned to bring significant business to the Philippines. According to Bill Draper, Vice President of Sales/Marketing and a cofounder of georeliant, “We are seeing immediate acceptance of our sales model because fundamentally, outsourcing to the Philippines is all about trust. And it’s hard to trust someone 10,000 miles away. You really need your feet on the ground where the decisions are being made.” Headquartered in the Philippine Embassy Building in San Francisco, georeliant brings sales and marketing expertise from leading-edge Global Silicon Valley companies to the forefront but acting as a sales, marketing and first line support vehicle for outsourcing companies in the Philippines. Georeliant brings years of executive sales, marketing, and client management experience serving the enterprise as well as small and medium size (SMB) companies. Their base in the Silicon Valley is key to helping Philippine outsourcing companies leverage the U.S. and international markets.
Georeliant will be hosting a meet-and-greet coffee roundtable with the Philippine Trade Commissioner and Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Chairman Mr. Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III on May 18th from 9-11 AM in Silicon Valley. In attendance will be top executives from companies around the Bay Area. This exclusive roundtable discussion will provide a rare opportunity to meet with Mr. Roxas-Chua, the BPO leader of the Philippine government. He will provide an inside track look at the Philippine BPO industry and it will also be a great opportunity for executives to network with other Silicon Valler Executives. Mr. Roxas-Chua was appointed as the Outsourcing Czar by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for his work in developing the BPO industry in the Philippines. He is a strong proponent of the BPO Industry in a Philippine Government which highly supports the Outsourcing industry. This is an invitation-only event. If you are interested in attending, you can email bill@georeliant.com.
The market for outsourcing continues to grow. In fact over the past 10 years the Philippines has become the center of excellence in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) offshoring for not only voice BPO but back office and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) functions. The Philippines robust technical infrastructure, abundant college educated workforce, and cultural affinity to Western Culture has catapulted it to one of the most sought after places for companies to do business. In addition, revenue and headcount for Philippine call center services surpassed India’s as of end 2008. The Philippine BPO industry employs over 450,000 people and is a key economic driver for the country.
Photo caption:
Bill Draper, the co-founder and VP of Sales & Marketing of Georeliant.
Here Comes Tom Rodriguez
(in ABS-CBN International’s Starry Starry Store’s “Here Comes The Bride”)
TO-BE SEEN IN THE CITY
I love writing about this guy’s story because he is from here. And because he is just like most of us with almost nothing but talent, ambition and burning desire to fulfill our own dreams. He used borrowed funds (to purchase hotel and airfare) from his sister to follow his dreams, wearing a size smaller shoes that looked great for the auditions, but hurts his feet tremendously (this he confided to this columnist during the audition breaks). He literally walked his way to the nearest hamburger joint (for dinner, alone) to his hotel the night before the Bay-Area’s grueling auditions. He was using his brother’s cellphone (he can’t afford his own) to communicate back home then. Discovered from last year’s CA Great America Theme Park’s ‘One Kapamilya, Go’ auditions, Tom Rodriguez (the former Tom Mott, who flew for the auditions all the way from AZ on the same day he was supposed to sign a government contract to be with the Navy Seals) shares comedic limelight with Angelica Panganiban and Eugene Domingo as they go for big laughs in “Here Comes the Bride”. Starry Starry Store brings this soul-swapping comedy riot for summer to 7 U.S. cities starting May 21st.
Riding high on the recent box-office success of the Sam Milby-Anne Curtis light romantic comedy, Babe, I Love You, ABS-CBN International’s Starry Starry Store goes full throttle with the laughs via the hilarious new film, Here Comes the Bride, a joint summer offering from Star Cinema, Octoarts and Quantum Films. The film will screen in San Francisco , Milpitas , Vallejo , San Diego , Los Angeles-Buena Park, Los Angeles-Chino and New Jersey-Bergenfield.
Here Comes the Bride is Tom Rodriguez’s very first movie (he shared with me the information that he is now being co-managed by Super Agent, Boy Abunda together with the mega-giant of a station that is ABS-CBN) and it also stars the versatile and sexy Angelica Panganiban and the eternally wacky Eugene Domingo. Angelica has already scored a winner this year in the U.S. with the mature drama I Love You, Goodbye back in January. Eugene proved she can carry a movie by playing the title role in Kimmy Dora: Kambal Sa Kiyeme which was a major hit in the Philippines last year. Joining them in this new film is a very able supporting cast with Tuesday Vargas, Cherry Pie Picache, Jaime Fabregas, John Lapus, Kim Atienza and a host of unknown good-looking creatures in skimpy clothing.
The plot is delightfully original and incredible, merrily mixing cultural superstitions and pseudoscience to generate humorous situations of the metaphysical kind. Gentleman Harold (Tom) and the virginal Stefanie (Angelica) are set to have a romantic beach wedding. They did not factor in that their wedding day coincides with a solar eclipse. As their guests - which include their spinster godmother Precy (Eugene), the ring-bearer’s harassed nanny Medelyn (Tuesday), the bored groom’s grandfather Bien (Jaime) and flamboyant make-up artist Toffee (John) – head for the wedding site, they pass a high magnetic field spot. Showing shades of the Bermuda Triangle mystery on ground, a freak accident occurs where everyone loses consciousness. The result? An absolutely chaotic soul exchange that threatens to mess up the lives of the entire bridal entourage forever! Will the wedding ever push through for Harold and Stefanie?
“It’s a pandemonium of a movie but it’s a lot of fun,” laughed Kerwin Du, ABS-CBN International’s head of theatricals. “That’s the kind of mood that we want to create this summer – we want to bring in a barrel of laughter, have families go to the theater, enjoy watching a Filipino film and have a real good time.”
Written and directed by award-winning producer-screenwriter-book author-director Chris Martinez (who penned Caregiver and Sukob), Here Comes the Bride will be shown in the following cities:
May 21-27
SAN FRANCISCO
UA Stonestown Twin
501 Buckingham Way
San Francisco, CA 94132
MILPITAS
Century Great Mall
1010 Great Mall Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035
VALLEJO
Century Vallejo
109 Plaza Drive
Vallejo, CA 94591
SAN DIEGO
UA Horton Plaza
475 Horton Plaza
San Diego, CA 92101
LOS ANGELES-BUENA PARK
Krikorian Premier Theatres
8290 La Palma Avenue
Buena Park, CA 90620
LOS ANGELES-CHINO
Cinemark Movies
5546 Philadelphia Street
Chino, CA 91710
May 21-June 3
NEW JERSEY-BERGENFIELD
Clearview Bergenfield Cinemas
58 South Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
For more information, please visit www.abs-cbnglobalmovies.com. Catch the trailer also at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwOuNsclEpI
SEEN IN THE CITY
“Babe, I Love You” – Extended!
Yes, Jocelyn, your wish was finally granted (she missed the last day showing of this movie at the Milpitas’ Great Mall Theaters last week for all remaining runs were sold-out). Due to insistent public demand, ABS-CBN International’s Starry Starry Store added one more city to the already successful U.S. theatrical run of Star Cinema’s Babe, I Love You. Beginning Friday, May 7th, the Sam Milby-Anne Curtis romantic comedy will also be shown in Vallejo , California .
This certified box-office hit in the Philippines has already made over 95 million pesos in the Philippines in five weeks. Here in the U.S. , it made a well-received theater run in San Francisco and San Diego , California , Las Vegas , Nevada , Seattle , Washington , Los Angeles-Cerritos, California , Honolulu , Hawaii , New Jersey-Bergenfield, Milpitas , California and Chicago , Illinois .
The schedule for the last leg of Babe, I Love You is as follows:
May 7-13
VALLEJO
Century Vallejo
109 Plaza Drive
Vallejo, CA 94591
It is also currently showing in New Jersey-Bergenfield up to May 13th .
NEW JERSEY-BERGENFIELD
Clearview Bergenfield Cinemas
58 South Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
For more information, please visit www.abs-cbnglobalmovies.com.
PERSONAL NOTES
Congratulations to happy couple, Gary and Love Fallorina who held a ‘Mother’s Day’ dinner party last Sunday night at the Hilton SFO in Burlingame, CA in celebration for the birth of their first child, Rodolfo Allesandro Fallorina (‘Sandro’ for short, born March 18th, 2010). The venue’s long table was peppered with this town’s socialites, which included Sandro’s beauteous grandma, Liberty Ilagan, Sylvia Ford, Glenda Kennedy, among others.
Belated Happy Birthday to San Ramon’s Dino Enriquez, (husband of my very best BFF in the whole wide world, Mitos Cunanan) who celebrated with family and friends last Sunday night.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action." by Anthony Robbins as quoted by Teresita "Thez" Santos, your neighborhood Power Real Estate Broker (she has over 22+ years of xperience, assisting families with care and commitment in buying their dream homes). You can reach her at:
362 Gellert Blvd. Daly City CA 94015
Direct (650) 520 7770
Fax (650) 745 8232
Email: Thez@ThezSantos.com
This column also appears online at www.FilipinoVillage.com and http://sites.google.com/site/adkinsmmcevents/Home/ with readership in 72 countries now, according to the latest Google Analytics report.
Do you have any personal or community events you want announced or published? Just email them to bradford_adkins@yahoo.com