Universal Sports, officially Universal Sports Network, is an Philippine digital cable television channel that airs various sports, primarily those contested in the Olympic Games.
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
TVB Sports Network
TVBSN, previously known as TVB Sports Network, is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the TVB Sports Group division of Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB).
In an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer, president of programming Linggit Tan detailed that TVB Sports Network would be "radically different" from Versus in many ways. His goal was for TVB Sports Network to become a credible "full-service sports network", with a new lineup of sports news and talk programs, and live event coverage. The channel began an initiative to begin producing new original programming during the transition as well.
In June 2013, the network began to reduce the use of its full name on-air, in favor of its initials, TVBSN. The change is intended to help streamline its branding in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
In an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer, president of programming Linggit Tan detailed that TVB Sports Network would be "radically different" from Versus in many ways. His goal was for TVB Sports Network to become a credible "full-service sports network", with a new lineup of sports news and talk programs, and live event coverage. The channel began an initiative to begin producing new original programming during the transition as well.
In June 2013, the network began to reduce the use of its full name on-air, in favor of its initials, TVBSN. The change is intended to help streamline its branding in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
MMDA to field 1,100 personnel to ensure orderly Black Nazarene procession
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is going all out to ensure a peaceful and orderly anniversary celebration of Jesus is Lord Church on October 25, 2013
Starting Friday, October 25, a total of 1,100 MMDA personnel will be fielded around Quiapo Church and along the procession routes to help in traffic management, public safety, and emergency response operations of the city government and other government agencies.
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the agency will also be deploying ambulances and other road emergency vehicles, traffic mobile patrol cars, tugboats, AGILA surveillance and communications units, and all other necessary equipment and vehicles.
"We will not risk the safety of the public, not only the JIL members, but also the motorists and pedestrians. We will deploy everything we got to help in any way we can," the MMDA chief said.
Aside from the Traffic Discipline Office (TDO), other MMDA units to be put on alert and deployed in Manila include Task Force Kalasag, Road Emergency Group, Public Safety Division, Parking Discipline Group, and the agency's towing units. Several of the Mmda officials and personnel who will be deployed are also devotees of the Black Nazarene.
The Metro Parkway Clearing Group (MPCG), meanwhile, will conduct a massive cleanup after the procession, Tolentino added.
Tolentino said the agency will also put up several portalets along the procession route.
Expecting a huge crowd of devotees to join the procession, Tolentino advised the motoring public to avoid Manila as much as possible because several roads will have to be temporarily closed to traffic.
The procession will begin at the Quirino Grandstand at the Luneta, turn right at Katigbak Drive and pass through P. Burgos, turn left at Taft Ave. and cross McArthur Bridge, turn right at Palanca and pass under Quezon Bridge, turn left at Quezon Blvd., right at Fraternal, right at Vergara, left at Duque de Alba, left at Castillejos, left at Farnecio, right at Arlegui, left at Nepomuceno, left at Aguila, right at Carcer, right Hidalgo through Plaza Del Carmen, left Bilibid Viejo through Puyat, left Guzman, right at Hidalgo, left at Barbosa, right at Globo de Oro and under Quezon Bridge, right at Palanca, right at Villalobos and finally go through Plaza Miranda to Quiapo Church.
"We're also asking the devotees not to bring their children to the procession. Those who cannot avoid going to Manila should at least plan their trips and check the procession routes and alternate routes that we have uploaded in our website (mmda.gov.ph)," Tolentino said.
Starting Tuesday, Katigbak Drive and South Drive will be closed to traffic from 8 am, while the southbound lane of Quezon Blvd. in Quiapo, from Andalucia-Fugoso to Plaza Miranda, and España-P.Campa-Lerma will be closed to public utility vehicles from 4 am. on January 9.
But from 5 am on Wednesday, total closure for all types of vehicles will implemented, Tolentino announced.
The following roads will be closed to traffic:
North Area: P. Campa/España; Nicanor Reyes/España; Andalucia/Fugoso; Recto/Isetann (Service Road) and Raon/Evangelista.
South Area: Ma. Orosa/P. Burgos; Lagusnilad/P. Burgos; Taft/Finance/Westbound; A. Villegas/Taft Ave. (LRT); 25th Street/Bonifacio Drive; N.A. Lopez/A. Villegas; Anda Circle/Bonifacio Drive; Gen. Luna/P. Burgos; Roxas Blvd. T.M. Kalaw; and Katigbak/Roxas Blvd.
Starting Friday, October 25, a total of 1,100 MMDA personnel will be fielded around Quiapo Church and along the procession routes to help in traffic management, public safety, and emergency response operations of the city government and other government agencies.
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the agency will also be deploying ambulances and other road emergency vehicles, traffic mobile patrol cars, tugboats, AGILA surveillance and communications units, and all other necessary equipment and vehicles.
"We will not risk the safety of the public, not only the JIL members, but also the motorists and pedestrians. We will deploy everything we got to help in any way we can," the MMDA chief said.
Aside from the Traffic Discipline Office (TDO), other MMDA units to be put on alert and deployed in Manila include Task Force Kalasag, Road Emergency Group, Public Safety Division, Parking Discipline Group, and the agency's towing units. Several of the Mmda officials and personnel who will be deployed are also devotees of the Black Nazarene.
The Metro Parkway Clearing Group (MPCG), meanwhile, will conduct a massive cleanup after the procession, Tolentino added.
Tolentino said the agency will also put up several portalets along the procession route.
Expecting a huge crowd of devotees to join the procession, Tolentino advised the motoring public to avoid Manila as much as possible because several roads will have to be temporarily closed to traffic.
The procession will begin at the Quirino Grandstand at the Luneta, turn right at Katigbak Drive and pass through P. Burgos, turn left at Taft Ave. and cross McArthur Bridge, turn right at Palanca and pass under Quezon Bridge, turn left at Quezon Blvd., right at Fraternal, right at Vergara, left at Duque de Alba, left at Castillejos, left at Farnecio, right at Arlegui, left at Nepomuceno, left at Aguila, right at Carcer, right Hidalgo through Plaza Del Carmen, left Bilibid Viejo through Puyat, left Guzman, right at Hidalgo, left at Barbosa, right at Globo de Oro and under Quezon Bridge, right at Palanca, right at Villalobos and finally go through Plaza Miranda to Quiapo Church.
"We're also asking the devotees not to bring their children to the procession. Those who cannot avoid going to Manila should at least plan their trips and check the procession routes and alternate routes that we have uploaded in our website (mmda.gov.ph)," Tolentino said.
Starting Tuesday, Katigbak Drive and South Drive will be closed to traffic from 8 am, while the southbound lane of Quezon Blvd. in Quiapo, from Andalucia-Fugoso to Plaza Miranda, and España-P.Campa-Lerma will be closed to public utility vehicles from 4 am. on January 9.
But from 5 am on Wednesday, total closure for all types of vehicles will implemented, Tolentino announced.
The following roads will be closed to traffic:
North Area: P. Campa/España; Nicanor Reyes/España; Andalucia/Fugoso; Recto/Isetann (Service Road) and Raon/Evangelista.
South Area: Ma. Orosa/P. Burgos; Lagusnilad/P. Burgos; Taft/Finance/Westbound; A. Villegas/Taft Ave. (LRT); 25th Street/Bonifacio Drive; N.A. Lopez/A. Villegas; Anda Circle/Bonifacio Drive; Gen. Luna/P. Burgos; Roxas Blvd. T.M. Kalaw; and Katigbak/Roxas Blvd.
Monday, January 06, 2014
Metro work hits hard rock
Work on Namma Metro Phase 1 will get delayed at least by about two months as tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have to burrow through hard rock between Krishna Flour Mills, off Sampige Road Metro Station, and Majestic on the underground (UG) section of Namma Metro’s North-South corridor. The corridor connects Nagasandra in the North and Puttenahalli Cross in the South.
Godavari, an earth pressure balancing mechanism (EPBM) TBM has encountered hard rock after burrowing about 300 m from Krishna Flour Mills. It has to cut through about 75 m of hard rock before getting normal soil for the next 540 m even as burrowing of another tunnel from this direction is yet to start.
A TBM would burrow an average of 6 m a day under normal circumstances while through hard rock it could burrow just about 1.5 m, said BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola. Burrowing gets delayed as the disks on the cutter head [the front portion of the TBM which excavates the earth] have to be replaced constantly. For every 1.5 m [to fit one concrete ring] at least 8 disks are to be changed while the cutter head has a total of 45 disks.
On the other hand, two EPBM TBMs — Kaveri and Krishna — are moving towards Chickpet UG station from K.R Market. They have already completed burrowing between Prof. P. Shivashankar Circle on K.R. Road and K.R. Market. While Kaveri has fixed about 185 rings, Krishna has installed about 150 rings.
The K.R. Market-Chickpet stretch too has some rocky strata allowing fixing an average 2.5 rings a day as against 4 rings thereby delaying the burrowing process.
Another 45 and 75 days respectively are required for these machines to fix 300 rings in total on this stretch. Both these machines would then proceed from Chickpet UG station towards Majestic to fix another 450 rings [700 mts]. This would take another 6 months, Mr. Kharola said.
BMRCL is now planning to ask the contractor to introduce another TBM from Krishna Flour Mill side towards Majestic since only one machine is on the job at present. Another TBM would hasten the tunnelling process, the Managing Director said.
Godavari, an earth pressure balancing mechanism (EPBM) TBM has encountered hard rock after burrowing about 300 m from Krishna Flour Mills. It has to cut through about 75 m of hard rock before getting normal soil for the next 540 m even as burrowing of another tunnel from this direction is yet to start.
A TBM would burrow an average of 6 m a day under normal circumstances while through hard rock it could burrow just about 1.5 m, said BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola. Burrowing gets delayed as the disks on the cutter head [the front portion of the TBM which excavates the earth] have to be replaced constantly. For every 1.5 m [to fit one concrete ring] at least 8 disks are to be changed while the cutter head has a total of 45 disks.
On the other hand, two EPBM TBMs — Kaveri and Krishna — are moving towards Chickpet UG station from K.R Market. They have already completed burrowing between Prof. P. Shivashankar Circle on K.R. Road and K.R. Market. While Kaveri has fixed about 185 rings, Krishna has installed about 150 rings.
The K.R. Market-Chickpet stretch too has some rocky strata allowing fixing an average 2.5 rings a day as against 4 rings thereby delaying the burrowing process.
Another 45 and 75 days respectively are required for these machines to fix 300 rings in total on this stretch. Both these machines would then proceed from Chickpet UG station towards Majestic to fix another 450 rings [700 mts]. This would take another 6 months, Mr. Kharola said.
BMRCL is now planning to ask the contractor to introduce another TBM from Krishna Flour Mill side towards Majestic since only one machine is on the job at present. Another TBM would hasten the tunnelling process, the Managing Director said.
DOTC confident NEDA to approve rail expansion projects this year
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is confident that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) will greenlight two ambitious railway projects this year.
Over the weekend, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya revealed that the feasibility studies for two major railway projects in Luzon—the 900-kilometer Integrated Luzon Railway (ILR) and the 90-km commuter rail link (also known as the airport express rail)—are set to be completed early this year.
The projects will then be submitted to NEDA for approval.
“If we get NEDA clearance on both integrated Luzon railway and the north-south commuter railway, we can bid that out early this year,” Abaya said.
Abaya also cited the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in determining if the projects could potentially be placed under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
“We are about to finish the feasibility study and JICA is helping us on this. We will present to NEDA Board within the first semester to get the procurement on this much-awaited project under way,” he said.
Should it be approved, the proposed ILR would cover the entire north and south networks of the state-run Philippine National Railway (PNR). PNR’s north network runs from Manila to La Union as well as a branch line from Tarlac to San Jose, Nueva Ecija, with a possible extension to Cagayan.
Meanwhile, the south network runs from Manila to Legaspi City, including the branch line from Calamba to Batangas City.
Another option for the ILR, Abaya added, is to put up a connecting rail to Clark International Airport.
"Instead of building a high-speed rail, you use the same rail to have an airport link. But at least you have a decent rail system that could serve the airport,” the DOTC chief said.
Abaya said CPCS Transcom Ltd. of Canada is set to complete the feasibility study for the ILR that would run from Cagayan in Isabela down to Sorsogon in Bicol.
Commuter rail
The proposed elevated commuter rail, to be built above the PNR's existing rails, has an initial price tag of $5 billion and would run from Malolos, Bulacan to Calamba, Laguna.
It would take five to six years to complete both projects, should they be approved, Abaya said.
“So at least from our end, we will get this going and hopefully the people who would replace us at DOTC will find this as a viable project that will serve the people,” he said.
Better rails for less traffic
Meanwhile, an economics professor from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) has urged President Aquino to transfer the much-needed railway and mass transport functions to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from the DOTC.
“We need seamless inter-modal land transportation system. These have to not only to be designed and built on a parallel basis but on an efficient seamless transfer from one mode to another,” Dr. Vic Abola stressed.
Making the transfer would help address the worsening traffic situation in the country and in the Metro, he said.
A separate study by the JICA earlier stressed the need to put up at least 200 kilometers of railroad and over 100,000 kilometers in road networks to address the needs of the congested metropolis. — BM, GMA News
Over the weekend, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya revealed that the feasibility studies for two major railway projects in Luzon—the 900-kilometer Integrated Luzon Railway (ILR) and the 90-km commuter rail link (also known as the airport express rail)—are set to be completed early this year.
The projects will then be submitted to NEDA for approval.
“If we get NEDA clearance on both integrated Luzon railway and the north-south commuter railway, we can bid that out early this year,” Abaya said.
Abaya also cited the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in determining if the projects could potentially be placed under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
“We are about to finish the feasibility study and JICA is helping us on this. We will present to NEDA Board within the first semester to get the procurement on this much-awaited project under way,” he said.
Should it be approved, the proposed ILR would cover the entire north and south networks of the state-run Philippine National Railway (PNR). PNR’s north network runs from Manila to La Union as well as a branch line from Tarlac to San Jose, Nueva Ecija, with a possible extension to Cagayan.
Meanwhile, the south network runs from Manila to Legaspi City, including the branch line from Calamba to Batangas City.
Another option for the ILR, Abaya added, is to put up a connecting rail to Clark International Airport.
"Instead of building a high-speed rail, you use the same rail to have an airport link. But at least you have a decent rail system that could serve the airport,” the DOTC chief said.
Abaya said CPCS Transcom Ltd. of Canada is set to complete the feasibility study for the ILR that would run from Cagayan in Isabela down to Sorsogon in Bicol.
Commuter rail
The proposed elevated commuter rail, to be built above the PNR's existing rails, has an initial price tag of $5 billion and would run from Malolos, Bulacan to Calamba, Laguna.
It would take five to six years to complete both projects, should they be approved, Abaya said.
“So at least from our end, we will get this going and hopefully the people who would replace us at DOTC will find this as a viable project that will serve the people,” he said.
Better rails for less traffic
Meanwhile, an economics professor from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) has urged President Aquino to transfer the much-needed railway and mass transport functions to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from the DOTC.
“We need seamless inter-modal land transportation system. These have to not only to be designed and built on a parallel basis but on an efficient seamless transfer from one mode to another,” Dr. Vic Abola stressed.
Making the transfer would help address the worsening traffic situation in the country and in the Metro, he said.
A separate study by the JICA earlier stressed the need to put up at least 200 kilometers of railroad and over 100,000 kilometers in road networks to address the needs of the congested metropolis. — BM, GMA News
A successful and memorable 2013 McHappy Day Fun Run!
On December 14, more than 2,000 participants went out to play at the 2013 McHappy Day Fun Run at the SM Mall of Asia Grounds. Kids, families and professional runners put on their running shoes and enjoyed a day outdoors in support of children’s well-being by promoting active play. It was truly a fun-filled day for everyone!
After a quick warm-up, runners positioned themselves at the starting line for the 5K Early Birdie run and the 9K Ronald McDonald Challenge. Shortly after, both kids and adults alike ran in the 3K Run Grimace Run race category. Families of four joined the 3K McDonald’s Family Dash, and parents and guardians cheered on their kids during the 1K Catch Hamburglar race. The Top 3 finishers of each category all received special prizes, but everyone came out as winners, as all participants received a baller ID and loot bags.
After the fun run, participants enjoyed the Family Fair, with amusement park entertainment, games and carnival booths, and Ultimate Frisbee, Football and Basketball sports camps facilitated by Ping Bautista, Simon Greatwich and Charles Tiu.
It was surely a star-studded McHappy Day! Fitness expert Jackie Lou Blanco and fun run enthusiast DJ Tom Alvarez kept everyone up with their lively hosting. Celebrities in attendance included McDonald’s ambassadors Xian Lim and Jessy Mendiola, and athletic brothers Jeron and Jeric Teng. Even Team Kramer’s Chesca Garcia-Kramer and daughters Kendra and Scarlett joined the fun! Others spotted were Dimples Romana and daughter Callie, football players and brothers Anton and Armand del Rosario, and McDonald’s talents Paulo “Kuya Pao” Pingol, Kenneth Cruz, and Vince Ferraren.
Over 1-million pesos was raised for McDo Bigay Tulong, McDonald’s disaster relief and rehabilitation program via the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda. The 2013 McHappy Day Fun Run was truly a success!
The 2013 McHappy Day Fun Run was brought to you by McDonald’s, Coca Cola and SM Mall of Asia, in partnership with Genosi, Creative Gateway, Inc., GMA, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Skechers, Smart and Sony, and with special thanks to ABS-CBN, Cloud 9 Chocolate Milk Drink, Del Monte, Double Mint, Goldilocks, Jack n’ Jill Knots, Juicy Fruit Gum, Leo Burnett, Lights Enterprise, Magellan Commodities, Inc., Nickelodeon, Refresh Big Sip, Right Med, R.O.X., SCM Creatives Summit Media, TV5, Vitol and Yamaha.
For the complete list of winners, go to www.mcdonalds.com.ph. To check out photos from McHappy Day, like the official McDonald’s Facebook fan page, www.facebook.com/McDo.ph or follow us on Twitter, @McDo_PH.
After a quick warm-up, runners positioned themselves at the starting line for the 5K Early Birdie run and the 9K Ronald McDonald Challenge. Shortly after, both kids and adults alike ran in the 3K Run Grimace Run race category. Families of four joined the 3K McDonald’s Family Dash, and parents and guardians cheered on their kids during the 1K Catch Hamburglar race. The Top 3 finishers of each category all received special prizes, but everyone came out as winners, as all participants received a baller ID and loot bags.
After the fun run, participants enjoyed the Family Fair, with amusement park entertainment, games and carnival booths, and Ultimate Frisbee, Football and Basketball sports camps facilitated by Ping Bautista, Simon Greatwich and Charles Tiu.
It was surely a star-studded McHappy Day! Fitness expert Jackie Lou Blanco and fun run enthusiast DJ Tom Alvarez kept everyone up with their lively hosting. Celebrities in attendance included McDonald’s ambassadors Xian Lim and Jessy Mendiola, and athletic brothers Jeron and Jeric Teng. Even Team Kramer’s Chesca Garcia-Kramer and daughters Kendra and Scarlett joined the fun! Others spotted were Dimples Romana and daughter Callie, football players and brothers Anton and Armand del Rosario, and McDonald’s talents Paulo “Kuya Pao” Pingol, Kenneth Cruz, and Vince Ferraren.
Over 1-million pesos was raised for McDo Bigay Tulong, McDonald’s disaster relief and rehabilitation program via the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda. The 2013 McHappy Day Fun Run was truly a success!
The 2013 McHappy Day Fun Run was brought to you by McDonald’s, Coca Cola and SM Mall of Asia, in partnership with Genosi, Creative Gateway, Inc., GMA, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Skechers, Smart and Sony, and with special thanks to ABS-CBN, Cloud 9 Chocolate Milk Drink, Del Monte, Double Mint, Goldilocks, Jack n’ Jill Knots, Juicy Fruit Gum, Leo Burnett, Lights Enterprise, Magellan Commodities, Inc., Nickelodeon, Refresh Big Sip, Right Med, R.O.X., SCM Creatives Summit Media, TV5, Vitol and Yamaha.
For the complete list of winners, go to www.mcdonalds.com.ph. To check out photos from McHappy Day, like the official McDonald’s Facebook fan page, www.facebook.com/McDo.ph or follow us on Twitter, @McDo_PH.
As seen on Umagang Kay Ganda, Good Morning Club, Unang Hirit, Eat Bulaga, TV Patrol, Aksyon, 24 Oras, Bandila, Pilipnas News, Saksi, Startalk, Showbiz Police: Intriga Under Arrest, Buzz ng Bayan and ASAP.
Sunday, January 05, 2014
Remembering Uncle Bob Stewart
UPON coming home from my Holy Week break in Singapore, I was met by the sad news that Robert “Uncle Bob” Stewart, an icon and a pioneer of Philippine television who founded the Republic Broadcasting System (which is now the industry leader GMA Network Inc. and a parent company of INQ7.net) had passed away in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 6, 2006.
To us baby boomers of the 1960s, Bob Stewart was everybody’s “Uncle” who hosted the daytime kiddies show “Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club” over Channel 7. Bob Stewart also brought to local TV screens such foreign hit series as “Combat”, “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and “Mission Impossible.” We’d religiously watch “Combat” at 8:00 p.m. every Friday. There was hardly a kid in school then who could not hum the “Combat” intro tune.
Bob Stewart, a former American war correspondent, opened a static-marred radio station on March 1, 1950 on Escolta, then the prime shopping avenue of the then-capital city Manila. That marked the birth of Republic Broadcasting System (RBS).
Formerly connected with the Mutual Broadcasting Company in the U.S., Bob Stewart was assigned in Manila in 1943 during World War II as a United Press (UP) war correspondent. Uncle Bob fell in love with the country and its people, resigned from UP in 1945 and opted to call the Philippines his home.
A Filipina caught Uncle Bob’s heart. He met in 1948 Loreto Feliciano-de Hertedes, a Pampagueña widow with three kids and they got married the year after. It was for Loreto that he put up the DZBB radio station, as a legacy. That was followed by the establishment of DZXX-AM 1000, the first music station in the country and later, in 1957, its sister stations DYSS Cebu and DYOO Iloilo.
A consummate entrepreneur, Uncle Bob started RBS TV operations with a cheap, used transmitter and two old cameras. With a motley group of employees, RBS competed against networks that employed over 200 personnel.
Thousands of children who grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s are all-too familiar with Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club and would watch the show every Saturday morning. And on his late night show, Maestro and Uncle Bob, it was the parents and grandparents who he entertained.
When Diosdado Macapagal became president in 1961, he attempted to persecute Bob Stewart for the alleged support that RBS gave Macapagal’s rival, former president Carlos P. Garcia, in the 1960 presidential election. Threatened with deportation, the thousands of kids who followed Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club and their parents rallied behind Stewart and that forced Macapagal to back down.
We can thus account for the pettiness and vindictiveness of the present Malacañang occupant.
I met Bob Stewart when I was helping promote the shell handicraft products of a man who would eventually become my brother-in-law, Mike Moreno. Bob Stewart had expanded to retail store operations with the opening of Panacraft in 1968 and we approached him in his Channel 7 office to sell him our shell craft products. The experience was like that of two rank, wet-behind-the-ears amateurs taking on the grizzled, eagle-eyed businessman.
We could see that Bob was impressed by our craftsmanship but getting him to buy our products at the prices that we wanted was something else. He used every allowable trick in the book to get his price -- from tantalizing us with the lure of a big order to checking on the phone with an associate what the market price was for what we were selling, all the while making us hear the price that he was willing to pay and not what the associate on the other end of the line was quoting.
During the haggling, Bob said something that I kept in my memory bank. This is the business reality that it is no longer the creation of a fantastic product (as was the case during the Industrial Revolution) that accounts for successful business ventures but the creation of something that will sell. This was the main point that Bob used to try to get us to come closer to the price that he wanted. He did not dispute that we had a superior product. Rather, he raised the point if our product will sell and allow him to make a profit in the process.
In the end, we got a price that was closer to what we wanted. But I sensed that was more the result of Bob’s being impressed by our bravado rather than our ability to haggle for the price that we wanted. In that encounter, I benefited from a first hand demonstration of what a good entrepreneur was like -- fair in his dealings, sharp eyed for closing the best deal that he can get and possessing a solid grasp of market realities so that he knows if what he is buying can be resold with a profit.
Eventually, I got to develop a lifetime friendship with the family of the lady who managed Panacraft for Bob Stewart, Carrie Limjap. Carrie and her late husband Eddie were members of the original dance troupe of Chito Feliciano on the Channel 7 show “Dancetime with Chito.” The friendship with the Limjaps also led to many more close encounters with Bob Stewart.
In December of 1968, Bob decided to hold a children’s party in his Angeles City hotel, Marisol Manor. If Bob was a hard bargainer, Loreto Stewart was even tougher. I found myself agreeing to her proposal to play the role of Santa Claus for the Marisol Manor children’s Christmas Party! Save for the ridiculous red attire and white beard, it was not exactly a bad deal. I was compensated fairly.
Bob and Loreto brought me to Marisol Manor on board their Jet Ranger helicopter. Bob had opened a local distributorship of Jet Ranger helicopters, then the top of the line among rotor blade aircraft. It was the next best thing to arriving via reindeer powered sled. Bob flew the Jet Ranger himself to and fro Marisol Manor but we did not return to Metro Manila until he treated me to the biggest porterhouse steak prepared by his hotel. Bob always knew how to get on your good (weak) side.
From that time on, Bob would call me “Santa” whenever he saw me. A couple of years later, when I was already an advertising professional, we did a commercial over Channel 7 using Bob as our product presenter. Not knowing the background, my clients from Johnson and Johnson were surprised when Bob addressed me as Santa.
Bob Stewart popularized the live presenter-type of commercial which was in fashion during the early days of television in the US. I remember how my father would be enraged every time Bob would cut into a program to do a series of live product presentations because that could take longer than the time provided for the program itself. You may be contracting for just a 30-second commercial with Bob but the commercial could well run into three minutes.
The advertiser of course did not mind the overtime but the viewers hated the long commercial break, especially if it is interrupting a favorite program like “Combat.”
Uncle Bob’s ashes will be brought home on Tuesday, April 25. He will rejoin his beloved Loreto who passed away some years back and whose remains were also brought home for internment here. To me and my baby boomer contemporaries, Uncle Bob will always have a place in our fondest memories of better times in our country.
To us baby boomers of the 1960s, Bob Stewart was everybody’s “Uncle” who hosted the daytime kiddies show “Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club” over Channel 7. Bob Stewart also brought to local TV screens such foreign hit series as “Combat”, “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and “Mission Impossible.” We’d religiously watch “Combat” at 8:00 p.m. every Friday. There was hardly a kid in school then who could not hum the “Combat” intro tune.
Bob Stewart, a former American war correspondent, opened a static-marred radio station on March 1, 1950 on Escolta, then the prime shopping avenue of the then-capital city Manila. That marked the birth of Republic Broadcasting System (RBS).
Formerly connected with the Mutual Broadcasting Company in the U.S., Bob Stewart was assigned in Manila in 1943 during World War II as a United Press (UP) war correspondent. Uncle Bob fell in love with the country and its people, resigned from UP in 1945 and opted to call the Philippines his home.
A Filipina caught Uncle Bob’s heart. He met in 1948 Loreto Feliciano-de Hertedes, a Pampagueña widow with three kids and they got married the year after. It was for Loreto that he put up the DZBB radio station, as a legacy. That was followed by the establishment of DZXX-AM 1000, the first music station in the country and later, in 1957, its sister stations DYSS Cebu and DYOO Iloilo.
A consummate entrepreneur, Uncle Bob started RBS TV operations with a cheap, used transmitter and two old cameras. With a motley group of employees, RBS competed against networks that employed over 200 personnel.
Thousands of children who grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s are all-too familiar with Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club and would watch the show every Saturday morning. And on his late night show, Maestro and Uncle Bob, it was the parents and grandparents who he entertained.
When Diosdado Macapagal became president in 1961, he attempted to persecute Bob Stewart for the alleged support that RBS gave Macapagal’s rival, former president Carlos P. Garcia, in the 1960 presidential election. Threatened with deportation, the thousands of kids who followed Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club and their parents rallied behind Stewart and that forced Macapagal to back down.
We can thus account for the pettiness and vindictiveness of the present Malacañang occupant.
I met Bob Stewart when I was helping promote the shell handicraft products of a man who would eventually become my brother-in-law, Mike Moreno. Bob Stewart had expanded to retail store operations with the opening of Panacraft in 1968 and we approached him in his Channel 7 office to sell him our shell craft products. The experience was like that of two rank, wet-behind-the-ears amateurs taking on the grizzled, eagle-eyed businessman.
We could see that Bob was impressed by our craftsmanship but getting him to buy our products at the prices that we wanted was something else. He used every allowable trick in the book to get his price -- from tantalizing us with the lure of a big order to checking on the phone with an associate what the market price was for what we were selling, all the while making us hear the price that he was willing to pay and not what the associate on the other end of the line was quoting.
During the haggling, Bob said something that I kept in my memory bank. This is the business reality that it is no longer the creation of a fantastic product (as was the case during the Industrial Revolution) that accounts for successful business ventures but the creation of something that will sell. This was the main point that Bob used to try to get us to come closer to the price that he wanted. He did not dispute that we had a superior product. Rather, he raised the point if our product will sell and allow him to make a profit in the process.
In the end, we got a price that was closer to what we wanted. But I sensed that was more the result of Bob’s being impressed by our bravado rather than our ability to haggle for the price that we wanted. In that encounter, I benefited from a first hand demonstration of what a good entrepreneur was like -- fair in his dealings, sharp eyed for closing the best deal that he can get and possessing a solid grasp of market realities so that he knows if what he is buying can be resold with a profit.
Eventually, I got to develop a lifetime friendship with the family of the lady who managed Panacraft for Bob Stewart, Carrie Limjap. Carrie and her late husband Eddie were members of the original dance troupe of Chito Feliciano on the Channel 7 show “Dancetime with Chito.” The friendship with the Limjaps also led to many more close encounters with Bob Stewart.
In December of 1968, Bob decided to hold a children’s party in his Angeles City hotel, Marisol Manor. If Bob was a hard bargainer, Loreto Stewart was even tougher. I found myself agreeing to her proposal to play the role of Santa Claus for the Marisol Manor children’s Christmas Party! Save for the ridiculous red attire and white beard, it was not exactly a bad deal. I was compensated fairly.
Bob and Loreto brought me to Marisol Manor on board their Jet Ranger helicopter. Bob had opened a local distributorship of Jet Ranger helicopters, then the top of the line among rotor blade aircraft. It was the next best thing to arriving via reindeer powered sled. Bob flew the Jet Ranger himself to and fro Marisol Manor but we did not return to Metro Manila until he treated me to the biggest porterhouse steak prepared by his hotel. Bob always knew how to get on your good (weak) side.
From that time on, Bob would call me “Santa” whenever he saw me. A couple of years later, when I was already an advertising professional, we did a commercial over Channel 7 using Bob as our product presenter. Not knowing the background, my clients from Johnson and Johnson were surprised when Bob addressed me as Santa.
Bob Stewart popularized the live presenter-type of commercial which was in fashion during the early days of television in the US. I remember how my father would be enraged every time Bob would cut into a program to do a series of live product presentations because that could take longer than the time provided for the program itself. You may be contracting for just a 30-second commercial with Bob but the commercial could well run into three minutes.
The advertiser of course did not mind the overtime but the viewers hated the long commercial break, especially if it is interrupting a favorite program like “Combat.”
Uncle Bob’s ashes will be brought home on Tuesday, April 25. He will rejoin his beloved Loreto who passed away some years back and whose remains were also brought home for internment here. To me and my baby boomer contemporaries, Uncle Bob will always have a place in our fondest memories of better times in our country.
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