AQUA PLANET TEACHES KIDS TO SWIM, ATTEMPTS TO BREAK A WORLD RECORD

CLARK, PAMPANGA – A total number of 1, 819 participants joined one of the biggest and most modern water theme parks in Asia, Aqua Planet, as it hosted the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL) on Thursday, June 20, 2019. It also aims to attempt to break the current Guinness World Record set by Florida, USA with 1,308 participants last 2014.

WLSL is a global campaign with 49 countries actively participating as a member of the World Waterpark Association (WWA) that helps the global aquatic industry to work together in providing basic swimming skills to children to prevent drowning.
World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drowning is one of the major public health problems worldwide and third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death.

With the advocacy “Swimming Lessons Save Lives”, Aqua Planet, in partnership with Bert Lozada Swim School (BLSS), is committed to saving lives by spreading awareness and educating people, especially children, on how to be safer in and around water, and that learning proper and basic swimming techniques is not only for competitive sport but it can also save a life from drowning.
During his welcome speech, Dr. Irineo “Bong” Alvaro Jr., President of BB International Leisure and Resort Development, is exalted that a big number of children are willing to learn how to swim.

“This event does not only focus on breaking the Guinness World Record, but most importantly we focus on teaching the community, especially the children, on how to swim in a fun and exciting way,” he said.
Alvaro also emphasized that “learning how to swim can save not only your life, but you can save the life of others as well.”

As a staunch advocate of swimming as an essential survival skill, BLSS headed simultaneous swimming lessons highlighting the five basics of swimming, which includes breathing, floating, paddling or kicking, and proper swimming strokes to the children from Pampanga from elementary students from public schools, children from orphanages, indigenous communities, local government units, to children with special needs.
Filipino actor and swimmer Enchong Dee was also present in the event to give inspiration and to empower the children to swim.

“When I was a kid, I always pay attention to the swimming lessons taught to me because I know, when the need arises, it will all be beneficial to me and in helping others,” he said.
Aside from learning the survival skills on swimming, the children were also given some guidelines and safety reminders on what to do during an earthquake especially if they happened to be inside a water park.

This is the second year Aqua Planet has successfully held the event, exceeding its last year’s record of 1,273 participants, in underlining the importance of international water safety standards, and making it the first and only establishment in the Philippines to participate in this worthy cause.
Also partaking in this endeavor are Bert Lozada Foundation, Pocari Sweat, Salonpas, and The Gaming Beat Charity.

The other 48 countries that took part in the campaign are: Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Falkland Islands, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Thailand, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe.

Enjoy upgraded #WatermazingExperience with family, friends, and company at Aqua Planet. Weekend rate at 1180php for adults and 980php for kids (4ft. and below). Weekday rates at 950php for adults and 750php for kids (4ft and below). To learn more, like and follow Aqua Planet on Facebook and Instagram (@aquaplanetph), visit www.aquaplanet.ph, and/or contact 045-499-8277.

Honorio Banario Will Not Waste His Second Chance In Lightweight Tournament

Team Lakay’s Honorio “The Rock” Banario will return to the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila on August 2 to face Timofey Nastyukhin in the semi-finals of the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix at ONE: DAWN OF HEROES.

Banario was eliminated from the tournament when he failed to overcome Lowen Tynanes’ superior wrestling and groundwork at ONE: HERO’S ASCENT. Banario ended up getting knocked out in the first round when he got caught in a mounted crucifix and Tynanes went on to advance to the semi-final round.

Due to unfortunate events, however, Tynanes has suffered another back injury amidst his preparations for Nastyukhin and was forced to withdraw from the tournament. This paved the way for the former world champion to get back into the mix of the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix.

Tynanes is the second to fall to injury in the tournament after Ariel Sexton was also sidelined on the other bracket.

“I’m truly grateful to be given this second chance at the Grand Prix by ONE Championship,” Banario said.

“Opportunities like these in the world of martial arts are diamonds in the rough and this is definitely something that I will not allow to pass me by. It’s truly unfortunate about what happened to Ariel [Sexton] and Lowen [Tynanes] and I wish for their fast recovery.”

Nastyukhin has proven to be a formidable striker in his ONE Championship stint to date, including a recent performance at ONE: A NEW ERA where he knocked out four-time lightweight world champion Eddie Alvarez in the first round. 

Banario on the other hand has also had his fair share of highlight reel knockouts during his time in the ONE Circle. It will be difficult to distinguish who among the two powerful strikers will prevail, although Banario says he and Nastyukhin are quite different.

“I think Timofey and I have different striking skills,” Banario said.

“He is more explosive and aggressive while I prefer to be accurate and bide my time with my attacks. He is a very dangerous striker and I respect his skills as a martial artist but I will not allow myself to lose just yet.”

Banario has a lot to be thankful for lately and he wants to show his gratitude with the best performance of his entire career.

“I am not one to give a prediction but you can expect me to give everything I have and more until the very end,” Banario concluded.

“I want to show my appreciation to ONE Championship by giving them a performance worthy of a world champion as well as give my fellow Filipinos something to cheer about.”

GCash Forest Eyes 365 Thousand Trees Planted In 365 Days

Filipinos who want to contribute to environmental preservation can now conveniently use an innovative mobile phone app to help plant trees and increase the Philippines’ forest cover. Leading mobile wallet, GCash, Is introducing an exciting ”green” feature on the app called GCash Forest, which lets subscribers plant virtual trees that will have real-Iife counterparts. By the end of 365 days, GCash Forest aims to plant 365 thousand trees with the help of GCash subscribers. According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Forest Management Bureau (FMB), the Philippines is losing 47,000 hectares of forest cover every year. The FMB also reported the need to rehabilitate 1.2 million hectares of forest lands by 2022 to prevent landslides, ensure water availability, and preserve biodiversity. “GCash Forest is about making it easier, more convenient, and even rewarding for everyone to take care of our environment for the benefit of future generations,” said Mynt CEO Anthony Thomas. ”GCash is no longer just providing an excellent platform for accessible financial products and services but also enabling Filipinos to be more active in responding to real-life issues, such as climate change mitigation through reforestation. " GCash considers GCash Forest as a last mile initiative that fully recognizes the emergence of an all-digital Filipino lifestyle. To implement its tree-planting initiatives, GCash Forest partnered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN). The DENR will provide land resources in lpo Watershed, an essential component of the Angat-Umiray-Ipo watersheds system supplying 98 percent of Metro Manila's water. WWF will be providing trees and manpower while BIOFIN will provide expertise on monitoring. Thomas added that recent findings on the Philippines’ vulnerability to climate-related hazards call for greater collective action. Results of the Global Peace Index 2019 identified the Philippines as the most susceptible country to the adverse effects of climate change. By leveraging the GCash platform and scale, GCash Forest aims to rally a coalition of individuals, non-government organizations, and international organizations to meet its 2020 targets.

To plant trees through GCash Forest, GCash users need to collect ”green energy" by frequently using the app. Users who get enough green energy can choose which species of trees they want to plant in a selected area at the lpo watershed. Once the trees are physically planted, users get to receive a certificate of ownership with a serial number, fun facts and updates on the growth of their trees on their GCash apps. ”Many Filipinos, especially the younger ones, care about the environment but a lot of them don’t know how they can actively take part in environmental protection. This is a barrier that GCash Forest addresses because they only need to use their smartphones-an already integral part of their daily lives-to make a difference,” concluded Thomas. The new featureis inspired by Alipay Ant Forest, a product operates by Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate n e parent company of the world’s leading payments and lifestyle platform, Alipay. Via the mobile platform, more than 500 million users have planted 100 million real trees and advanced a shared vision of sustainable and inclusive development. “The GCash Forest shows digital technology holds a huge power to mobilize people in support of sustainable development and the fight against climate change. And this power goes beyond border and is at our fingertips through our mobile devices,” said Yan Meng, Ant Financial’s Global Head of International Partnerships. “We’re more than happy to open up our technology and expertise to current and potential partners to make the world a better place.”