SBMA Inks Accord with Asian Aviation Group to Develop Subic Airport

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma (left) concludes an agreement with AsBAA Chairperson Jennyn Lao for the development and operation of the Subic Bay International Airport.

NEWS RELEASE:

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) to further develop the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) for business aviation.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the agreement was signed during the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition 2018 on April 17 in Shanghai, China.

Under the MOU, AsBAA will help develop infrastructures at the SBIA, as well as assist in operations at the airport, while offering business aviation services in the Philippines through Subic.

AsBAA Philippine Chapter chairman Benjamin Lopez said that AsBAA “will support and advise on the initial design and ongoing operation of the SBIA to bring about an immediate and reliable facility that regional business aviation and general aviation operators can access as another option to operate from in the Philippines.”

Lopez, who is also the president of Inaec Aviation Corp., said that the country’s focus on infrastructure development to help decongest Manila in the aviation sector is most welcome.

“Plans have long been discussed and now is the time for action. We are delighted to assist the authorities in advising on these vital enhancements to Philippine aviation infrastructure,” he added.

The AsBAA Philippine chapter was launched in September 2017 and is the newest addition to AsBAA’s regional committees. The chapter started 2018 by leading a delegation of its members on a site visit and investment trip to Manila, Clark and Subic Airports to meet with regulators, airport operators, and aviation stakeholders.

On January 27, AsBAA president Max Motschmann led an ocular inspection of the SBIA to determine the business potential of the area.

The MOU for SBIA was the second agreement that the association signed this year to help develop airport infrastructures in Southeast Asia. The first agreement was with the Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB).


Eisma said that she wants to make SBIA a business aviation airport and to prepare it as well for general aviation; maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services; and charter flights. She added that passenger aviation should be focused in Clark Airport and not here in Subic.

“We can get spillover from neighboring airports like Clark, but I would rather court general aviation and business aviation heavily and have a niche for them to attract tourists with curated experiences,” Eisma added.

SBMA to open 112 summer-job slots to deserving poor students

Let's end the school year with this awesome news for the students who will benefit from Summer Hire Program of the freeport. Thank you for helping out underpriviledged students to go further by helping them to spend their summer worthwhile. Read more below.

News Release-

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — A total of 112 deserving poor students stand to benefit from the Summer Hire Program of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) during this summer break, as business locators in the Subic Bay Freeport extended their support to provide employment.

SBMA Chairperson and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said that 15 Subic-registered companies have already joined the program to accommodate students from junior and senior high school, as well as college level, who are scheduled to be deployed in various job assignments starting April.

Eisma added that a total of 112 slots will be given to students who pass the qualification requirements under the program being implemented by the SBMA Labor Department in line with the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) of the Department of Labor and Employment.

“These applicants are poor but deserving students who excel in their classes. And as part of our community engagement, it is our task to guarantee that they will be able to enroll the next school year,” Eisma explained.

“These talented and brilliant students deserve our malasakit,” she added.

She noted that more business locators and investors are now expressing their intention to join the program. “I really hope that more students will be hired,” Eisma said.

SPES was created under Republic Act 7323, a law which aims to help poor but deserving students pursue their education by encouraging their employment during summer and/or Christmas vacations. The law was later amended by RA 9547.

SBMA Labor Department manager Severo Pastor Jr. explained that under the law, summer hires are to be employed from 20 to 50 working days and shall receive regular wages equivalent to those received by regular employees.

“Of this, 60% shall be paid by the employer-company, while the remaining 40% shall be paid by the DOLE through educational vouchers,” Pastor said.

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Under the SPES program, the work period accumulated by summer hires may also be counted as their probationary period should they apply for a job in the same company or agency after graduation, and should earn academic credits as may be determined by the appropriate government agencies.

Among the companies participating in the SBMA’s Summer Hire program are fast-food restaurants, gasoline stations, utilities, and manufacturing firms where the students will perform work related to their respective courses.

Amazing First Day- Global Creative Icons kick off DIY Your ROI Movement at Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018

Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 (ASP 2018), organized by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines, is starting a movement of customizing return on investments, one that can be measured beyond monetary gain.

Themed “DIY Your ROI,” ASP 2018, which is happening until March 10 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center, focused on measuring metrics by way of customizing it to the intended goals and targets of a campaign. It may be a return on impact, return on ideas, intelligence, and inspiration, among others.

The first day kicked off with a talk by the multi-awarded Chief Creative Officer of David, Anselmo Ramos, who talked about Return on Ideas. Ramos came packed with nine tips about "The Art of Getting ROI by Trusting Your Gut."

With unusual tips—ranging from "Become an ad nerd" to "If you don't have to talk to your lawyer, then it's probably not gutsy enough"—Ramos showed, alongside clips of his winning projects for Heinz, Burger King, and Dove, that in order to come up with great ideas, it was important to know, more than the data that tend to drive corporate strategy nowadays, the values of the brand itself, and to look at life through the lens of the brand.


Through his efforts, he shared valuable lessons such as trusting in uncertainty, which he learned from the Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign to promote the practice of writing one-line briefs—a practice he regularly does with his current clients, as an exercise in distilling brand identity. He also encouraged the delegates the value of dreaming big, which lifted him and his agency David to prominence in just a few years.

He ended with some advice, which practically summarized his active stance on life and career, and his near-irrational faith in his ideas: "Nobody knows anything. But your gut has a pretty good idea."

For a talk on Return on Interest, Amit Chaubey, Marketing Science Lead for Global Accounts of Facebook APAC, said, “The pace of content creation is surpassing our ability to consume it. It’s a battle of attention.”

To address this, Chaubey highlighted new rules of capturing interest and attention, citing these three components namely:


1. Match how people watch by capturing different levels of interest and attention with Facebook video; using different placements to meet different marketing objectives; and complimenting other media.

2. Make Creative that connects by building mobile-first creative for better performance.

3. Measure what works by focusing on business outcomes not proxies like “view duration”; choosing the right tools to measure success; and testing, learning, and adapting to make the ROI of your content improve.


For his part, Global Pinoy Lionel Carreon, who is R/GA’s Global Director of Creative Recruiting, gave an empowering talk on Return on Identity. He defined identity by saying “My identity is what you know about me. Your identity is what I know about you.”

During his talk, Carreon shared some talents he was able to discover who were able to produce powerful examples of how advertising campaigns can start a movement to create awareness on issues that matter, by showing clips of ads like Love Over Bias, Ask for a Raise, Like a Girl, Love has no Labels, and Black Lives Matter, to name a few.

He ended his session with a moving quote, “The ability to change the world is our Return on Identity.”


Representing women power in the industry is Mara Binudin Lecocq, Founder of Secret Code, who focused on the topic, Return on Independence. She cataloged her journeys within the industry, using this as a background for her main message: find purpose in this world.

She recommends starting by doing stuff that speaks to your soul, stuff that you can “nerd over”, as it is by doing things you are passionate about where you will find that fulfillment which can lead you to your next promotion, job, or raise.

“Don’t overthink it. Google it until you make it. Stalk your idols. Get exposure. The times we live in today, we have access to so many things. Get on Behance, apply for grants, pitch to PR, and get influencers to repost your content. Find a sense of purpose, follow your passion,” Lecocq said.


For Day 2 of ASP 2018 (March 9), speakers include Katryna Mojica, chief executive officer of Ogilvy and Mather Hong Kong, to discuss "Return on Initiative"; Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO India, for a talk on "Return on Inspiration"; Girish Menon, who is currently aiming to make digital service suite [m]PLATFORM operate in a relevant and accessible way for the APAC region, to emphasize a "Return on Impact"; Francis Flores, the global brand chief marketing officer for Jollibee Foods Corporation, to discuss ways to make a "Return on Intuition"; and Wil Dasovich, vlogger/ YouTube content creator, for a talk on Return on Influence.


“We hope with the Day One sessions, we were able to start the #DIYyourROI movement by opening the minds of the delegates to the endless possibilities of customizing returns. More to come in the next days,” said ASP 2018 overall chair Norman Agatep.

‘Costa Atlantica’ cruise ship arriving in Subic this Saturday

February 10, 2018.
An update on the arrival of Costa Atlantica this morning. 
Above are the photos of the amazing cruise ship docked in Subic Bay Freeport Zone. 

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Something fun and exciting will be happening here in Subic Bay. This will boost tourism and showcase the amazing Freeport, along with the neighboring towns and city. Read more...

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The cruise ships are coming to Subic Bay!

On Saturday, the Italian-flagged cruise ship Costa Atlantica will be arriving here at 7:00 in the morning and will dock at the Alava Pier, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) announced yesterday.

“Subic’s time to become the next cruise ship playground of Asia has already begun, not in June as we initially announced, but this Saturday,” said SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma, as she briefed members of the recently-formed technical working group for SubiCruise campaign.

The SBMA CEO announced that the 85,619-ton ship with a capacity of 2,114 passengers will be arriving from a port call in Manila.

“We are already very excited,” Eisma said. “I hope that this will spark our dream of making Subic a part of the inter-island itinerary of international cruise ships.”

The arrival of Costa Atlantica is expected to be a litmus test for Subic, which is raring to draw foreign tourists to the various attractions on its shores.

Eisma had earlier announced the arrival in Subic of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship MS Ovation of the Seas in June, to be followed by the Voyager of the Seas in August.

Eisma said the Subic Bay Freeport promises to offer the best tourism facilities and services for tourists from the arriving ships, with memorable and tailored-tourism experiences to meet the expectation of visitors.

The visiting Costa Atlantica is an 85,619-ton, 292.56-meter Spirit-class cruise ship owned and operated by Costa Crociere (Costa Cruises), an Italian cruise line based in Genoa, Italy and owned by Carnival Corporation & Plc.

The Costa Cruises brand currently operates 15 cruise ships that provide cruise holidays in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South America.

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Costa Atlantica is renowned for having all of its decks named after the movies of Italian movie director Federico Fellini. Each deck is said to be elegantly adorned with Italian-inspired decors of arts and furniture that brings its passengers to the admiration of wonderful arts, lights and scenery day and night.

The ship is described to be full of large, open spaces offering all kinds of entertainment, from the Caruso Theatre to the Disco Dante, to the fashionable shops in Via della Spiga.

IRONMAN Philippines in Subic Bay for June 2018!

The sports capital of the world Subic Bay! Subic Bay caters the majority of the sports happening from local to international; water and land competitions. The favorable waters of the bay to the perfect streets for bike racing and marathon, Subic Bay is well-known for it!

I've witnessed and covered some major and local races and still, no one can beat the beautiful place of Subic. Ironman Asia announces the Ironman Philippines race for next year and again the venue will be here in my hometown Subic!

Registration opens on Tuesday, 1st of August save the date! Check out the link here. Make sure you can book your hotel as early as now, there are lots to choose from within and outside the Freeport. 

See you all here for the Ironman 2018! 

The photo was taken last weekend during my weekend bike ride around the bay.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Celebrates 23rd Year this November

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, SBFZ- Olongapo will be celebrating it's 23rd year and alongside is the month-long activites. Plus, one of the highlights of the event is the Ceremonial Lighting of the SBMA Christmas Tree at Waterfront Boardwalk. 

There will be music bands from Manila and also trade and food bazaar for the public. The November celebration will end with a Subic Color Run on November 29. You are invited to witness and participate in our various events this November as we celebrate SBMA's 23rd Anniversary! 

For more details, please call the Tourism Office at 047.252.4197/ 4154. 

Schedule of Activities for SBMA Ceremonial Lighting of the Christmas Tree

November 20,2016 / Friday- 5:00pm

Waterfront Boardwalk

Emcee : Ms.Armie Belleza Llamas 

Drop by Subic Bay and enjoy a weekend of fun, music and let's start the merriment season. 

Malawaan Street Party- National Tourism Week 2015

Malawaan Street Party kicks off along with the National Tourism Week 2015 happening this September 25, 2015. A whole day celebration at Malawaan Park, they will showcase entertainment, arts and environmental advocacy. 

2015 National Tourism Week will starts September 21-27,2015 with the cooperation of various private and non-government organizations.

The event will offer FREE shuttle service from Park 'n Shop to Malawaan from 5:00pm onwards. 

Let's join and promote culture and local tourism.

*** click on the photo for more info about the event.