DTI-12 Capacitates Local Sewers of Cotabato City in PPE Suit Making

KORONADAL CITY, SOUTH COTABATO—A skills training on Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) Production was conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry 12 (DTI-12) through its Cotabato Satellite Office to capacitate the local sewers of Cotabato City.

Participants to the one-day skills training on August 27, 2020 are members of the Moving Forward for Quality Life Association, operator of DTI’s Shared Service Facility (SSF) on T-shirt Manufacturing, were trained in producing suits and face masks.

The training is a response of DTI-12 to the call of DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez to encourage local manufacturers to re-purpose some of their manufacturing capacity into producing PPEs and masks in order to address the need for local producers who will supply the needs of healthcare workers.

It was also noted in a meeting of Sec. Lopez with some officials of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases last August 19, he mentioned that when the COVID-19 started in February, the Philippines had no local manufacturer of PPE.

“With the covid outbreak, the demand for PPE is greatly increased for everyday use of healthcare personnel. As such, DTI, being one of the line agencies who is mandated to provide service to help in providing PPEs through our SSF cooperators, we have thought of conducting training to this effect to assure that production of PPEs by our SSF Cooperators are sown according to the desired standard,” said Ma. Theresa T. Chua, the OIC Division Chief of DTI-12 CSO.

“We continue to support local micro, small and medium enterprises especially here in Cotabato City as they adjust to the ‘new normal’ and make them more resilient by providing alternative business ventures,” added Chua.

Supporting the initiative is the Local Government Unit of Cotabato City through its Office of the City Mayor-Investment Promotion Division.

Here’s How We Can Create an HIV-Free World in the Next Normal

Inevitably, there are numerous issues of importance that have taken a backseat because of the ongoing pandemic. One of them is HIV, which has not only been a cause for concern for those in the LGBTQIA+ community, but the entire human race as well. And while the DOH recently announced that HIV cases have gone down by an astounding 68% in the 2nd quarter of 2020, they also note that it is no cause for celebration.

Whether the number of cases has truly gone down or is simply unreported due to lockdowns across the country, the fact remains that there are still new cases daily. In fact, before the pandemic, DOH statistics revealed that the country averaged 35 cases on a daily basis.

While we have movements and events like Pride Month that promote HIV-awareness alongside gender equality, bringing awareness to this cause, even while on lockdown, should not stop. There are actually some ways to raise the alarm and bring the issue of HIV to the fore. Here are a few:

Accept

A good first step—especially for those who are still on the fence and have reservations on the matter—would be to acknowledge and accept that people are free to identify themselves as they wish and that there is no one way to express one’s self and one’s love—not to mention that HIV exists. With this first step, individuals will have a much easier time trying to understand and empathize with each other and possibly help each other overcome challenges such as HIV, gender inequality, and other similar issues.

Educate

One of the many benefits of this fast-paced, digital world we live in today is that seemingly-unlimited information is readily available within our fingertips. This is key because part of creating an HIV-free world also entails learning more about it, the groups of people who usually contract it, and ways in which the virus can be eradicated.

Advocate

With a clear understanding on HIV, creating a world without it would mean spreading the word, engaging in discourse, and spreading your knowledge to uninformed people. In advocating, one can also learn more through likeminded people looking to express themselves as well.

Heed

Lastly, in order to disseminate information and knowledge further while building a sense of community, it would be good to take action and support calls and campaigns such as Durex’s “No One Way Love All Ways” Campaign that supports and promotes all ways of living and expressing.

“A big challenge in the fight against HIV has always been the lack of acknowledgement and proper education on the matter.” Said Dr. Rica Cruz, Licensed Psychologist, Sex Therapist and Educator. “While our current situation presents difficulties as physical events cannot be staged, the opportunity to use available technologies such as social media and online webinars can also be utilized to our advantage. These are excellent tools for spreading the word to a wider audience from the comforts of our home while still being safe in more ways than one.”

Canva Unveils a Raft of New Social Media Features

Global online design platform Canva is leading the charge into emerging social networks, it announces a raft of new social media features including the ability to plan and schedule content directly from Canva as well as new templates and publishing options for TikTok and Instagram Reels.ith much of Canva’s early success and exponential growth stemming from the overwhelming need for a quick and easy way to create eye-catching social media content, the design tool is now used by more than 30 million people from 190 countries creating everything from t-shirts to presentations, videos, posters and more.

As Canva continues to double down on its rapidly growing marketing suite, the company is looking back to its roots, today announcing a raft of new features to further empower content creators and small businesses using social media to connect with their communities.

Available from today to Canva Pro subscribers and more than 60,000 nonprofit organizations as part of Canva’s Nonprofit program, Canva’s new Content Planner now makes it possible to schedule upcoming social media content directly from the Canva Editor to a range of social networking platforms, solving the need for manually downloading individual Canva designs or paying for standalone social media scheduling tools.

“There has never been a more critical time for sharing messages on social media, particularly amid the ongoing pandemic as small businesses work to keep their customers informed, millions of people look to kickstart their own side-hustle and community groups work to stay connected despite being apart. While these product updates will add even more value to Canva’s growing repertoire of marketing capabilities, we hope they’ll also go a long way in keeping people connected, creative, and together,” said Head of Canva Pro, David Burson.

Canva’s regularly updated library of social media templates provides a wide variety of fresh content ideas with everything from sales announcements to TikTok challenges, and for those looking to publish to multiple platforms at once, Canva’s Magic Resize feature takes time-saving and productivity even further. Gone are the days of creating multiple designs with unique dimensions for each platform. With only a few clicks, Canva can automatically resize and schedule your designs optimized for a variety of social platforms.

With 80% of Canva Pro users using the platform in a marketing capacity, Canva Pro also includes access to an additional 170,000 premium templates and tools such as Canva’s Background Remover, Brand Kit, and the ability to export designs with Transparent Backgrounds.

“Canva's new Content Planner will empower anyone to amplify their social media strategy, engage their online communities and save valuable time and money. We’re excited to be rolling out this new set of marketing tools for Filipino small to medium business owners who can now plan, design, and schedule captivating social media content directly from the Canva Editor,” said Yani Hornilla-Donato, Canva Philippines Country Lead.

In addition to the new Content Planner, Canva has also launched a variety of templates to help content creators capitalize on the mass adoption of both TikTok and Instagram Reels. The new templates are available to all users along with the ability to publish from Canva’s video editor directly to TikTok.

“The emergence of these new social networking platforms presents a unique opportunity for content creators to engage with new audiences in ways that weren’t previously possible. We’re thrilled to be rolling out these new templates and publishing options as we double down on our mission of empowering our community to design anything and publish anywhere,” explained Burson.

Canva’s Content Planner and scheduling currently supports Facebook pages and groups as well as Twitter, LinkedIn, Slack, Pinterest, Weibo and Tumblr with more platforms coming soon.

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About Canva

Valued at $6B USD, Canva is an online graphic design platform used by more than 30 million people from 190 countries. Canva users have created more than 3 billion designs ranging from social media posts to infographics, t-shirts, posters, flyers, invitations, and presentations, with 80 designs created every second.