TEAM PAWPAW Wins 2025 PANDA LEGENDS Ride and Conquer Grand Finals

foodpanda just concluded their 2025 PANDA LEGENDS Ride and Conquer Grand Finals at the Luxent Hotel in Quezon City. After grueling months of eliminations in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila, they only have 2 teams left to vie for the coveted trophy. 

Team Pawpaw from Manila

Team MTS from Davao

Team PAWPAW and Team MTS had to survive a best of 5 series, which is not going to be easy. They had to go through several skirmishes to get here, and the finals match proved to be super difficult because they haven't had a chance to face each other prior to the finals match, they had no clue about their play styles and resorted to banning their MVP characters early on.

Much of their picks are assassins, marksmen, support and mages. Tanks are not meta?

Just to give you a picture, in Manila alone, they had 7K registrants, which they had to screen and arrange them all for eliminations. Today they held several rounds to pick the final 2 in the morning, so they're pretty much the best of the best riders for the Panda Legends tournament. Overall, they had 224 teams from 6 regions, with one goal, to win this all!

Team Pawpaw is from Manila, while Team MTS from Davao. 

I also heard some of the other teams were there at the venue: 

Pandamay from Cebu

South Riders from South Manila

Panda Warriors

The winner will get 240,000 pesos. That's definitely going to change lives if they win!

When the dust settled, TEAM PAWPAW from Metro Manila won the championship. They got to take home their cash prize and the trophy. Second place winner Team MTS didn't go empty handed because they also got huge home Bluetooth speakers and cash prizes too because they are basically winners of their own regions.

Congratulations to Team Pawpaw! How I wish I could join the games next year! 

Gogoro Philippines Launch New Experience Store in Makati

It's a nice morning to celebrate new things as Gogoro Philippines just launched their new Gogoro Experience Store at the Greenbelt 3 in Makati City. The event was held at Ayala Museum with executives coming from the Ayala Corporation, Globe, GCash, 917 Ventures, Gogoro Taiwan, Gogoro Philippines, the Taiwanese Embassy in Manila and various stakeholders were in attendance to take a first glimpse of what will be launched and supposed to be sold next month. This is quite nice that they thought of making sure you experience riding, looking at the actual Electronic Vehicle first before they release it to the market.

Bernie Llamzon the President and CEO of GOGOGRO Philippines "It's a testament to urban mobility. Why are we opening the experience center? It's all about connection, and who stands to benefit from it, YOU. It's a bridge, we are opening our doors today so you can touch, feel and understand Gogoro. We are cultivating a community and it is an invitation for you to become part of the story. Your engagement and feedback will be part of our commercial launch next month. Welcome to the future of mobility, welcome to the new Gogoro Experience Center."

This is one of Ayala's projects in order to move to electric vehicles. Cesar Consing the CEO and President of the Ayala Corporation says "We do it across our companies, and this initiative of going green is something we take seriously. Gogoro is just an extension of that, we are going to lead the charge to EV's. That's what we are doing here, and this partnership of Gogoro and Globe, brought this EV brand in the Philippines. It's green, ecosystem and partnership that we are offering. We hope you like what you'll see."

Horace Luke the founder and CEO of Gogoro says "I've dreamed of this in 2011, we are now extending to outside Taiwan. Thank you to Ernest Cu of Globe who believes in me, and we know the world is going to two wheel and three wheel vehicles now. Thank you to the Gogoro Philippines team and the Taiwan team who worked tirelessly these past few years to bring this product to the PH. The electricity is sustainable, and recyclable parts are being used to make the footprint lower. We look forward to see what we built enable this vision in this country."

Ernest Cu the CEO of Globe says "When I saw this in Taiwan years ago, it was super nice. I didn't like bikes back then, EV was also too far from the Philippines. We timed our entry to the country, like GCash, no one was solving the problem and we only scaled it 6 years ago. The smartphone penetration was not as good, and when the pandemic hit we began working on it even more to become financially inclusive. Majority of Filipinos don't have plugs, the one minute swap is like prepaid... And we are the prepaid kings in the country. Now it is all paid electronically through GCash. It's different, and seamless now as it goes through the backbone of Globe and it's partners. Let us see the new Gogoro Experience Center, we want this to be perfect and hope you become our first customer."

You may also ask for a test drive as arrangements can be made, they also will explain to you the battery swapping mechanics so you could conveniently do it via their Gogoro Network power stations. The Smartscooters we saw on display was the Gogoro SuperSport, Gogoro VIVA and the Gogoro S1. Though they will make sure that the Gogoro 2 Premium and the Gogoro Delight will also be available in the Philippines.

You may visit the new Gogoro Experience Store at the 2nd level of Greenbelt 3, turn right when you enter through the bridge from Landmark (location of former Globe store).

AutoDeal Releases 13th Insights Report

Getting a car these days are doubly hard and with the war happening in Ukraine, oil prices have skyrocketed in the past few weeks. This shouldn't be the case especially when purchasing a car, wether for business or family use. It should be seamless, and be adept to conditions like this pandemic - as everything should be personalized, so customers get what they need when they need it most.

Top online automotive market place AutoDeal has been in the business since 2014 and has been the go to place to buy, compare cars, and get offers on the latest models on the web. Daniel Scott, AutoDeal CEO and Co-Founder says "As car sales go through digital channels, AutoDeal is getting tons of inquiries per day gearing more sales for our partners even during these times. AutoDeal transactions amount to Php 28 Billion last 2021 from 24,835 transactions, and that's amazing."

They also released consumer reports and insights on the industry from the platform which gives valuable data that can helo it grow on a business and market standpoint. They've been doing it every year and has been analyzed by experts. The 13th edition includes performance metrics as the industry recovers from the troubles of the pandemic. This includes leads that specify location, brand, buying trends which would be helpful for car companies and consumers. This also includes the motorcycle market which has become a pretty significant market. You may visit bit.ly/2021ADInsights and download AutoDeal Insights Volume 8 for it. AutoDeal is currently partnered with 16 car/motorcycle brands and currently holds top spot as far as market sales volume is concerned in the country. You may visit autodeal.com.ph for your car and bike needs and visit their social channels for more information.

ANGKAS Does Rider Re-Training, Pilot Run

DOTR gave them a go signal for pilot run/ operations in Metro Manila and Cebu. Now they are doing a lot of things for the operation of Angkas in Manila.

David Medrano the Angkas Head of Operations “One of the causes of danger in this system is that the rider often doesn’t hold on to the driver. Now the vest has the driver’s ID, two helmets and improvement on the biker app. Both the rider and passenger are given these paraphernalia as if they are new passengers. We share the cost for it, and very easy to pay for, technically subsidized by Angkas. There will be no change in the fare either, it will stay the same even with the additional expenses. We accept high end non modified motorcycles, it will be only for 7 years, we don’t encourage riders to take a trip while it’s raining because it is very dangerous. We really discourage that. There is no denying too that we have riders are getting harassed, by other sectors, we cannot worry about them as much because we prioritize passengers. There are only a few instances, we won’t let that slide if it needs to be addressed.”

George Royeca the Angkas Head of Regulatory and Public Affairs says “Thank you to everyone who came here, we are very happy to tell you that we are retraining our force to make sure all the conditions have been met. They will also be given paraphernalia for passengers, a new vest with a new design for the safety of our riders. It is the duty of rider and driver to always make sure they are safe on the road. If there are new safety measures, it will go to the manufacturers and the law. There will be no modifications, will have bike tests to make sure they are safe on the road. Insurance will be given to the driver and passenger, for death and dismemberment and also claims. Suspension and banning of the platform will be given to erring drivers dependent on the gravity of offense. Our current rider accident rate is 0.003% which came from the number of rides over the accidents met on the road. We wish to bring that down still. The pilot is 27,000 and we had very nice congress support, hopefully we get laws passed including rules and regulation.”

Robert Bolaños Chairman of Motorcycle Rights Organization says “This is the reason why the rider organization is supporting Angkas, because of safety. We also see how they got into the advocacy of safety, training the riders and even the passengers information. Angkas has resources to promote road safety, to share the road, and t doesn’t stop there and perhaps have delivery, messengers to also do this to protect them and the riding public. It is how they think and how they act, we are involved and make people aware that there are strict standards. What they fail to realize is that they will get the same if Angkas passes the standards, for the entire motorcycle industry. These standards puts us on top again, that is the goal.”

Now make sure your Angkas experience would be a good one and see they get trained first before you, the passenger would actually ride one. They are conducting retraining now and equipping their drivers with new vests with new designs and even new helmets. This is part of the TWG, the ones who will make decisions. Hopefully they get less than 5% during this pilot run, so they have bullets to fill their case in congress. Shower caps and face masks can now also be demanded from riders, so if you ride on please do ask for it for hygienic purposes.

Unity Ride Launched Against Double Plate Law

It looks like they had to resort to a show of force today and by the looks of it, they’re a couple thousand people strong. Riders from across Luzon, their leaders and even Angkas rode from EDSA People Power Monument to the Philippine Senate this morning to show their outrage against the Double Plate Law authored by Senator Richard Gordon and Vicente Sotto. This is the senate solution against the riding in tandem crime problem via RA11235. It mandates the Land Transportation Office to issue bigger reflectorized plates for two wheeled vehicles enough to be seen 12-15 meters away from the naked eye. Riders deem this anti poor, and pose a safety risk for the rider, the passenger and even other road users.

They also claim no consultation was made before or after the enactment of the law as it was signed by Duterte already last week. It makes sense because not all motorcycles are created the same way, not all models have places to put the front plates modifications done on bikes would pose more risk to accidents. Criminals simply could change plates, use fake ones to mislead authorities.

They also issued a strong joint statement.

Present at the occasion were various rider groups including Robert Perillo the President of Bulacan Motorcycle Rider Federation, Eric Lazarte Head of Philippine Advocates for Road Safety, Rod Cruz Chairman of Arangkada Riders Alliance, Felipe Rabulan Head of Bull Riders Club, Jobert Bolanos Chairman of Motorcycle Rights Organization, Christopher Cristobal Chairman of Road Guardians of the Philippines, Shaun Roberts President of KRG, Manny Capiral of Cavite Eagle Riders and ANGKAS Head of Regulatory and Public Affairs George Royeca.

They are hoping for a resolution, they have valid arguments and we all hope this becomes a start of an amicable one, not just for Angkas riders but the whole motorcycle community.

ANGKAS Spearheads Unity Ride in Manila

Woke up to news that throngs of Angkas riders had a unity ride in Manila this morning so we headed to their press conference in White Plains in Quezon City. It’s a Sunday, pretty early, but I have noticed these guys who were speaking were all passionate, some angry, some are sad, definitely, they have some reasons to be like that now that there is a TRO pointed at their operations to cease and got all their riders, the riding public annoyed because among all the days they chose the busiest one in the year to do it.

Romeo Maglunsod the Chairman of Solid Manila Riders says “We earn and eat our daily meals through work provided for by this ride app and it is the government that is stopping or becoming a hindrance rather than help us. I hope it won’t be until the time where we have to explain to our kids that they will not eat today, I don’t know how to explain this to our kids and I hope you see how we both have benefited from this especially the professional riders.”

Jobert Bolano of MRO “We have been here since the rise of popularity of motorcycles. We have been in contact with riders that service far flung areas that this has been beneficial with, motor taxis are using technological advancements and safety is prioritized. To help mobilize people, motor taxis are screened, documentation, exams, skills assessments, even higher than usual international standards. On top of that, even seminars are being given and not just asking random strangers like what Habal habals do that are not regulated at all by government agencies. We have asked the government, we are not against the system but the system is against us. We have asked the congress already to act upon this model so we an answer to their call of moving people safer in our vehicles. Erring riders are rated and reported by the actual customers, higher level of progress but it always have been overlooked.”

Rod Cruz of Arangkada says “If you are an ordinary rider and you ride Habals who do not have formal training, who did you wrong, and is out of the app entirely, how can you be sure of your safety? How can you be sure of that person? Why does the government close their eyes on illegal habals and not allow safer ones out on the streets? Any form of ride can have accidents, we have been called criminals, yet we only wanted to help ease traffic in Manila.”

Ryan Rillera the President of Taguig Spartans says “What will we do with our customers who only want to get home early? What do we do with riders affected by this all? I have been working here for 2 years, to help people, especially those in a hurry, what will we do with them? We do not want illegal drivers out there to drive them home instead. We do not want them to met an accident and not be liable for anything, we are willing to be regulated, we are willing to undergo whatever the government asks us to do.”

George Royeca the Head of Regulatory and Public Affairs of Angkas days “This is the largest community ride in the country showing how safe, affordable, reliable riding a motorcycle is. We need education and we are not here to be a hindrance to anyone, we are just fighting for the rights of motorcycle riders. We will comply with the government, we will respect them, but I hope they would be sensitive to the call of these people, these families, to support an industry that has helped them, become their livelihood even if the government chooses not to. Yes there are laws that need to be passed, we are lucky to have several of them supporting our cause, we need Senators and Congressmen to have certain provisions or laws passed to the motor taxi would be back in operations and we will appeal to the Supreme Court and hope they will listen to our call. Right now we are continuously training motorcycle riders and we want to further train the whole country of riders even if they are not part of our system. That is our promise to the government and we hope together with agencies, we will have a solution to better help our riders, their families and the riding public. We hope people stop criminalizing motorcycle riding and help us support our riders.”

David Medrana Head of Operations for Angkas adds “Our current projects like the Angkas Buhay will still be implemented soon but we will prioritize what we need to do now since we have to help our riders for that cause. We are really proud of that project too.”

I guess there are still a lot of hurdles in order to make these all legal. Though I don’t ride Angkas because my head is too big for their helmets (big brain eh!), those who do benefit from this need their voices to be heard as well. We hope they become regulated, professionalized and be something of help to ease traffic in Manila, I hope you noticed it bas been hell already especially during the holidays and the brightest thing the government does is remove this transport alternative.

That bothers me. I am hopeful though they have a solution to that because if this is already helping a lot of people, they need to do their homework.

KUMAGCOW

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ANGKAS Starts Saving Lives

Have you ever ridden a motorcycle service like ANGKAS? I haven’t because one, I do not have a helmet that would fit my huge head and two, I really fear for my life. Now this service has professionalized and made riding a motorcycle better, made strides to make their partners be trained well, to get them to also be better drivers. They now have been downloaded 1 Million times, and had benefited a lot of Filipinos.

Angeline Tham the CEO of ANGKAS says “I am here to reveal the first ever motorcycle ambulance service, we call it ANGKAS BUHAY. In Cebu PO1 Ricafort was patrolling, going to an incident he got injured and bled profusely. An ANGKAS member named Francis Belecario stopped and helped this police officer to go to a hospital and he survived. His bravery is lauded, this is why we thought we had one mission to beat the traffic. From bringing customers from one point to another, we plan now to have ANGKAS members to join ANGKAS BUHAY an Motorcycle ambulance service which people can now use when in dire need so they can respond as first aid or EMT service so they can rush as fast as their motorcycle can go, get them to save lives too.”

People die every year because of failure to get the victims of accidents to hospitals on time (to get medical attention), and going to streets of Manila is not easy. Every minute counts, so we have to go and seek volunteers to be paramedics. ANGKAS BUHAY the Motorcycle Ambulance Service is going to help. This is their call to make riding two wheelers a safe service, they are partnering with VRP Medical Center (their partner) so they can train people and become an alternate first line of responders when they need to.

This is a completely FREE service and will be strictly voluntary. The plan is to cover Metro Manila first, with a reasonable response time and get all the drivers certified with all the trainer they need. If they are waiting for an ambulance to come. The ambu motorcycle is a little expensive, they are looking for more partners, aiming to do around 1,000 volunteers as much as they can.

This is a good step especially in our situation where EDSA is hell. They are planning to start mid year of 2019, if they can help, wouldn’t that be a great thing?

KUMAGCOW

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Old Spice Giving Out A Dream Ducati

Had the chance to attend an event in Makati this evening (yesterday that is). I heard the brand Old Spice and immediately said yes to the invite. I’ve been using it since high school as my Dad always leaves it on the table and obviously it smells good, so I never felt so good those days. Now they’ve got a lot, and also giving away something huge this year. Boys, Gents, Men, our dream bike, a limited edition Old Spice Ducati.

If you buy an Old Spice product from July 15-October 31, 2018 and keep the receipt as proof of purchase. Go to oldspiceph.net and register the product you bought. After getting the email confirmation, keep all details and wait for the raffle draw. The more products you buy, the more chances of winning. So if you buy 50 pcs of deodorant, aftershave, shower gels or any of their products, that’s also the number of entries you can get.

On November 5, they will do the official draw. On November 17, they will be doing the public awarding of the Old Spice Ducati Bike. They will be telling you the venue as soon as they confirm it. They are also doing a bike roadshow, have individual brand ambassadors soon to tell you about the great news.

Cage Tiongson of Old Spice says “Old Spice is the manliest grooming product in the planet, it expresses individuality, we thought of bringing that message across and if we didn’t have a car to give out, we thought of DUCATI. Old Spice is red and this is red, it’s freedom, here’s the chance to get a bike of your own through SPICE UP YOU RIDE.”

I want it for myself but it’s everyones game!

KUMAGCOWFresh Blogs Fast!

Discovery Suites Ortigas this Fathers Day

Hi there! Glad to see you reading this article today! You see, Fathers Day is just around the corner, June 21st to be exact.  If you're like me and you haven't made plans yet, be happy that at least you're not alone. You call him Dad, Papa, Itay or Tatay, and he's practically the most important man in your life. He's provided a lot for you, worked countless hours just so he could put food on the table and send you to school. I guess just like me, you're trying to at least see how you can repay him for what he's done for your family. It's also a way to tell him how much you love him for just being who he is. Now that you're thinking about what I'm thinking, maybe you should treat him out for lunch, or maybe for dinner. Looking for a place? Have you been to Discovery Suites in Ortigas? If not, this might be the opportune time to book it. Why? Check out what we had for lunch this weekend at 22 Prime, Discovery Suites Ortigas' premier restaurant!

Amuse Bouche, French term for mouth teaser this likely Oyster dish is creamy, crunchy and fresh like the sea. It reminds us of Oyster Rockefeller without obviously going there. This is just the start.

Dyna Prime's Seafood Gumbo, made from Roux which is a base for most Cajun and Creole dishes plus tons of seafood pieces like lobster, shrimp and oysters. They wanted us to have something that came from New Orleans, Louisiana because it's hearty, spicy and would be something that Dads would love.

Grilled Road King Prawns is just another addition to the creole spicy food they wanted to serve. It's got the right amount of kick, spice and served with a side of cornmeal, roasted asparagus spears, salsa and cherry tomatoes . It's fresh, spicy, dreamy to actually have a bite of. Really good!

This is the Street Glide NY Strip Loin Steak served with Baked Broccoli topped with cheese (Broccoli Gratin), and a side of twice baked potatoes. Do you remember the time 22 Prime served me the best slice of beef I had in my entire life? (Photo here) I haven't had anything come close to that yet, but since this comes from their restaurant, I think we know now why they make it so good in this side of town. People should know, and your Dad might be a good judge of that.

To finish it off, here's their Molten Chocolate Rum Cake. Oozing out the cake's center is chocolate ganache that's not too sweet. Lovely chocolate syrup, slivers of strawberry, a shard of wafer and a dash of confectioner's sugar spiked with rum. It was a perfect way to end lunch that afternoon but they've got something up their sleeves, I knew it!

Oh yes, how can machismo and these super creole, cajun and road trip kind of concept make sense without connecting them to an iconic muscled vehicle brand such as Harley Davidson. Discovery Suites Ortigas is happy to have your Dad at their hotel and pose with these monstrous machines at the lobby. If you own a Harley Davidson motorbike,  you also get free parking space at Discovery Suites from June 20 to 21 if you plan to celebrate Father’s Day at this place. Promo rates for this Father’s Day menu costs Php 1,500 and is available on June 20-21 for lunch and dinner. You can also get the Junior Serendipity Suite for only Php 5,500 or the one bedroom suite at Php 6,500 if you want to spend a staycation there. It also includes buffet breakfast (at Restaurant 5) and FREE movie passes at SM Cinemas for two. You see, it shouldn't be complicated. Just make Dad have the best meal he could every have plus a relaxing stay at Discovery Suites Ortigas. Isn't that love?

Call them for reservations at 719-8888 or simply email them at rsvn@discovery.com.ph. Hurry before the place becomes fully booked!

For more information about their hotel:

Discovery Suites Ortigas

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http://www.discoveryhotels-resorts.com/

Honda Philippines Launches The New Click 125i

Vroom! Vroom! It's here! It's finally here! Honda Philippines just unveiled their very best motorcycle model yet and dubbed it as the "future of scooters". 

The Honda CLICK 125i is a 125cc scooter equipped with new generation intelligent engine designed for environmentally safe sports functions, high specs and futuristic designs. They also addressing the Philippine market's hunger for sleek and innovative designs so they can roam around the city looking good with features like automatic side stand switches, brake locks, bigger tubeless tires, more traction. They even did it in style at Trinoma Mall's Activity Center! 

This is the machine made by the spirit of Honda. When you get one in authorized dealers nationwide, you might also get freebies like helmets, tpl insurance and discounts. It's not only the hip thing to get now, it's also going to make your dreams come true to have a more futuristic modeled motorcycle. 

It's also got advanced motors that stop when you're idle and saves you gas unlike other motorcycles that only stop consuming when you stop your bike. That's real good motorcycle efficiency!

Check out their newest line on their official website http://www.hondaph.com/ or their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hondaph. 

For more information about their products:

Honda Philippines

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Visit their official website

http://www.hondaph.com/