Running in Cebu is finally back!

And it's for a worthy cause.  

Buoyed by its ardent desire to help breathe life back into the Cebu economy, RC Goldline will be staging a Half Marathon 2022 Recovery Run on April 24 at the Cebu Business Park.

Official Media Launch: (L-R) Teresa Dela Cruz, Philippine Retailers Association (Cebu Chapter) Secretary, Christian Paro-an, RC Goldline President, Joel Juarez, Race Director and Nevin Bigornia, Director for Business for JCI Metro Cebu Uptown

Held in partnership with the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA)-Cebu Chapter, it's the first actual run in the province in over two years with lots of exciting prizes up for grabs.

"As we all know, we're now in Alert Level 1 status wherein government restrictions have been eased out already. The situation is slowly getting back to normal and I believe this is one effective way to encourage people to go out," said RC Goldline President Christian Paro-an, who is also the incoming president of the PRA-Cebu Chapter.

Composed of all the major players in the local retail industry, the PRA establishes various programs to help retailers become globally competitive and make the Philippines the new shopping destination in Asia.

"We actually have two purpose here, to run for our health and for the economy of Cebu. Business has not been good the past years. Like everyone else, we have been badly hit by the pandemic plus the devastation of typhoon Odette. It's high time for us to recover and this is our own little way of pushing for the economic recovery of Cebu," Paro-an continued.

The Recovery Run, which is also supported by the Metro Cebu Uptown Jaycees, features the 3K, 6K, 12K and 21K distances.

Over P30,000 in cash prize will be given away to the winners, although in the 12K and 21K categories only. The top three male and female finishers in the 12K will pocket P1,500, P1,200 and P1,000, respectively, while the top three in the 21K will take home P3,000, P2,500 and P2,000.

"I'm inviting all organizations and sectoral groups to support this event regardless of their affiliations. Everybody is welcome to join. What's important is that they are running to support the economy of Cebu," said Paro-an. "The more the merrier. So let's run for our health. Let's run for our recovery. Let's run forward as one people."

The organizers are making sure that all health and safety protocols will be strictly followed including the implementation of the "no vaccine, no run" policy.

Registration fee is pegged at P350 for the 3K, P500 for the 6K, P600 for the 12K, and P700 for the 21K inclusive of a souvenir shirt, race bib, finisher's medal and certificate, post-race refreshments and a chance to win exciting prizes in the raffle draw.

For registration and further information, one may visit RUNNR at Ayala Center Cebu.

With so much entry level and budget smartphones to choose from in the market today, you just have to look for that Wow factor and have a keen eye which from them stands out. Parents wanting to buy gadgets for their kids for educational purposes or Newly hired folks that is looking for reliable gadget that they can use to make their daily task complete with ease, SAMSUG Galaxy A03 might be the gadget partner that you're looking for.

Samsung Galaxy A03 Unboxing

The box comes with the contents: one Samsung Galaxy A03 unit, ~8W Autovolt Travel Adapter Charger, Micro USB cable, SIM/Storage tray pin, Quick Start Guide/Manual and Samsung Care+ booklet. I have the unboxing video uploaded on our new YouTube channel that you may watch, see below video:

Samsung Galaxy A03 Unboxing: Travel charge adaptor and Micro USB cable

Samsung Galaxy A03 Unboxing: Charger with start guides

Samsung A03 Selfie camera and waterdrop notch

Samsung A03 bottom bezel where the 3.5mm audio jack, micro usb port and Dolby atmos speaker output is located.

Sim and storage tray at the right side of Galaxy A03

Back of Samsung A03 black color with plastic matte finish and crisscross pattern.

Battery Longevity

First to consider. With the advent of mobility, battery life is a factor for someone who with a goal to complete daily task with ease. Even if you say you have the best power bank in your bag, still a phone battery that can accompany you throughout your class schedule or full office day is a must. The Galaxy A03 has a 5,000mAh battery life, which in normal usage of checking messages on social media could last you the whole day. I have not tried performing content creation on this one but I'm with this battery capacity it can at least cope up until you delivery the content that you plan.

Storage expandable upto 1TB

There are three internal storage variants available: 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB, and they are all expandable up to 1TB, providing more space for important files and even videos, games, and personal apps.

Camera

The dual-camera combo composed of the 48MP main camera and 2MP depth lenses enable users to create content, fulfill home-study or work from home tasks. The depth camera can adjusts the background and foreground focus for that artistic blur. Selfies can be descent when using the the 5MP front camera whic has the bokeh effect.

Samsung A03 Camera has modes that you can use when in different situations or purpose such as: 

• Portrait - with Blur levels up to 7points
• Photo - with 3:4,  9:16, 1:1 and Full resolutions plus the 48 Megapixel 3:4
• Video - with 9:16, Full and 1:1 resolutions and two options of video format FHD 30 Frames per Second (fps) and HD 30 fps, it's zoom capability can be up to 10x
• Pro Mode - with ISO, White Balance and Aperture settings.
• Panorama - landscape mode
• Food - with 3:4,  9:16, 1:1 and Full resolutions, a blur and Tint controls.
• Night - with 3:4,  9:16, 1:1 and Full resolutions, timer options and zoom up to 10x
• Hyperlapse - a non-stationary timelapse with 4x, 8x, 16x and 32x options

Also options on Deco Pic of pre downloaded Masks and Stamp to use on your photo.

Here are samples of the Pictures that I have taken using the Samsung Galaxy A03. I didn't took technical pictures that tested all the modes and features of the Samsung Galaxy A03. I have the following Straight-Out-of-Camera (SOOC) pictures taken in Auto Mode:

I also tried Samsung Galaxy A03 48 Megapixels Photo Mode, the file that it created is around 16Megabytes (16MB):

Pocessor

Galaxy A03 sports the UNISOC T606 Octa-Core (2xA75 1.6 GHz + 6xA55 1.6 GHz) chipset enabling performance expected for entry level smartphones. For Study at home students, it can give justice on data processing apps essential to satisfy your schooling requirements. For Work from home new hires, I haven't tested it at full multi-tasking multiple windows on how it would respond to the resource hungry tasks, if you happen to perform at that level, please let us know in the comments below.

Price

The Galaxy A03 price depends on RAM and storage capacity, here's the price list:

• Galaxy A03 (3+32GB) - PHP 5,490 SRP
• Galaxy A03 (4+64GB) - PHP 6,490 SRP
• Galaxy A03 (4+128GB) - PHP 7,490 SRP

Conclusion

I agree that this phone is for the Students and fresh graduates, a bang for their buck. With its SRP 5,490-7,490 pesos it is packed with features that they can use for school, work, and even their downtime. The Samsung Galaxy A03 remains to be the top choice in the budget category because of its must wanted features at prices within reach. What do you think?

If you're into hard news with a bit of anti-corruption efforts of the outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, chances are you will be hearing the name 'Greco Belgica'. The name resounds due to his efforts as Chairman of Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC). Belgica’s achievements as he leads PACC is the exposure of anomalous spending on the Yolanda housing, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), filed cases against corrupt government officials before the Ombudsman and Department of Justice.

Belgica is able to act on at least 13,000 complaints and concerns and 9,000 complaints and concerns on the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

To quote the Preseident “Siya ay nilagay ko sa anti-corruption commission at marami ang trabaho niya. Hindi ito mayabang, hindi ito mahangin. Marami ‘yang alam kaya nilagay ko siya sa posisyon na delikado, delikadong mabili, delikadong matakot. Hindi ‘yon, hindi siya,” “Ito si Belgica ay marunong, matapang, at kung magtrabaho sa gobyerno ay ganon nalang ang dedikasyon. Botohin ninyo kasi kailangan niyo si Belgica.”

War on Drugs

Greco Belgica dialogue with Cebu based bloggers and different sectors cited his programs and plans when given the chance to have a seat at Senate. The war on drugs is not something new for him and a deviation on the anti-corruption tasks that he handled while his with PACC.

Belgica appreciated the President’s trust and vows to continue his fight against corruption. To quote “Ipagpapatuloy ko ang sinimulan niyo sa laban kontra korapsyon.”

Cordova town and Cebu 6th Legislative District Support

Danilo Sinugbuhan and Martin Adelino Sitoy of Cordova town and CEBU'S 6TH Congressional District shows support and vowed to bring Greco Belgica in their respective campaigns and promotions as a show of support and riding on the same boat in running the country against Illegal drugs and corruption.

The Cebu media and bloggers are supposed to meet senatoriable Herbert Bistek Bautista on Sunday, April 10 but didn't pushed through due to unprecedented weather conditions brought by Typhoon Agaton affecting parts of the Eastern and Central Visayas. A virtual presscon is conducted instead via Zoom enabling Q&A on some of the senatorial bet's programs and platforms if he is given the chance to served the Filipino people as Senator.

Here's the video footage live on Facebook on Herbert Bistek Bautista virtual Cebu Media and Bloggers presscon:

The Department of Tourism – Central Visayas (DOT7) and the Archdiocese of Cebu have designed a pilgrimage to Jubilee churches in the scenic southern countryside of Cebu province.

The Southern Cebu Jubilee Churches Tour, a two-day itinerary, is recommended for the upcoming Holy Week observance.

The Southern Cebu Jubilee Churches Pilgrimage takes pilgrims: Boljoon’s Patrocinio de Maria Church.

Entering through the Holy Door at five (5) of the seven (7) churches in the itinerary is a key feature of the pilgrimage. Plenary indulgence, a special blessing for the total removal of one’s sins, is granted with the performance of a prescribed act such passage through the Holy Door at any of 500 Jubilee Churches in the Philippines within the Jubilee Year 2021-2022, together with confession, receiving communion and praying for the Pope.

The pilgrimage takes guests to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, churches in Carcar City, Argao, Dalaguete, Boljoon and Barili, as well as to the St. Gregory the Great Parish Church in Ginatilan, where San Pedro Calungsod, the teenage second Filipino saint, is said to have his roots. Pilgrims, together with their chaplain, will pray at the Holy Doors before entering the churches.

The tour takes off from the historic Basilica Minore, center of the celebration of the 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines. The church is the oldest in the country and the only basilica in the Visayas and Mindanao. The group joins the Mass at the Basilica and tour the Sto. Niño Pilgrim Center and its museum.

The Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Carcar City is one of the best-preserved heritage churches in the province and stands out for its byzantine-influenced architecture with Moorish onion-shaped domes crowning twin belltowers. The city itself is a heritage zone showcasing Spanish and American period structures. 

Stops will also be done in Argao, at the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Michael, an imposing structure that houses one of a few pipe organs still being played for Masses, and Dalaguete, at the San Guillermo de Aquitania Church, another prized heritage site renowned for its distinct artistic quality and serene atmosphere.

The climax of the pilgrimage happens in Boljoon. The town’s Patrocinio de Maria Church is a National Cultural Treasure and National Historical Landmark in the tentative list of sites for nomination as a World Heritage Site. The baroque structure hosts a pseudo baroque-rococo retablo. The church complex includes an expansive plaza and a two-storey convent with a museum on the ground floor.

The Southern Cebu Jubilee Churches Pilgrimage takes pilgrims: San Guillermo de Aquitania Parish Church in Dalaguete (top) and Sta. Ana Parish in Barili.

The pilgrimage is punctuated with a stop at the Sta. Ana Church in Barili, also a Jubilee Church. This is the only parish in Cebu dedicated to the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was the first to be run by secular priests.

Aside from immersing in guided, faith-based activities, pilgrims will experience the culture and savor the culinary offerings of Cebu’s southern towns in the pilgrimage. Integrated in the itinerary are stops at a torta maker’s shop and canyoneering in Badian.

Visitors are advised to contact DOT-accredited tour operators.