UP Ibalon Bicol: SM City Naga

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UP Ibalon to Assist in Launch of 31st National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Month

6/18/2009 | Posted by gimpayamd@gmail.com | Edit Post

The whole month of July, the Philippines celebrates the 31st National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Month. Launching activities shall be held in various venues in Naga City on July 1, 2009-- the first time that NDPR launching events are held outside the National Capital Region.

Dr. Josephine Robredo-Bundoc, in-country Director at the Philippines Walking Free clinic and consultant at the UP-PGH Department of Rehabilitation Medicine is this year's Coordinator of the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Month. Dr. Bundoc is a native of Naga City and the younger sister of city mayor Jesse Robredo.

The day starts off at Plaza Quezon in downtowm Naga at 7:30 in the morning with "Disability Walk…. towards Independence." Two hundred persons with disabilities from the 14 municipalities of Metro Naga will be “ walking hand in hand “ with their able-bodied fellow Bicolanos as a manifestation of unity and support towards activities, programs and issues towards upliftment, independence and empowerment of the disabled.

The walk ends at SM City Naga lobby in Barangay Triangulo where another activity, “ Talents…. Enabled!,“ shall be held. Amputees who have regained their mobility with use of limb prostheses shall showcase their dancing skills;the hearing-impaired shall sing on key; and the the wheelchair-borne will gracefully sashay in tempo.

Medical and Rehabilitation Services, themed, "From Objects to Subjects :Towards Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Society" follow. Free medical services will be provided to the disabled while lay fora pertaining to wellness and disability prevention will be conducted to their caregivers and health providers.

The day culminates at the Naga City Civic Center with a lecture from a deaf-blind lawyer from Finland, Atty. TRiku Virtanen, who will talk on the legal, academic and socioeconomic issues of Independent Living ,Human Rights and full Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.

Members of UP Ibalon Bicol, Dr. Bundoc's co-alumni at the University of the Philippines, assist her in this momentous event.

Labels: 31st National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Month, Dr. Josephine Robredo-Bundoc, Naga City, NDPR, Philippines, SM City Naga, Triku Virtanen, University of the Philippines, up ibalon bicol

SM City Naga Opens

5/02/2009 | Posted by andygimpaya | Edit Post

Last night, I had to buy a phone gadget in a hurry. It was eight in the evening and I had to look for a store to buy it. And look what I found---SM City Naga City! The gadget I needed was right there at SM Appliances---all options and various models available at Manila prices.

The unusually heavy traffic along Panganiban avenue on a very rainy, almost stormy night courtesy of three weather disturbances around Luzon, suddenly reminded me that this was the day the much hyped grand opening of SM took place. All parking spaces outside the mall were occupied. We were guided by guards on raincoat to a third-level parking area.

It was past nine in the evening when I, together with my youngest son who is on post-graduation vacation, had a chance to look around. Every new SM mall seems to have a new look. SM Mega Mall looks old and retro compared to SM City Naga. To me, the ambiance is more like that of Tri-noma or Eastwood Mall. My son pointed to the hundreds of light bulbs at the ceiling of the SM Department Store and explained that it takes almost microscopic precision to position each of those bulbs to produce the "cool effect." That's a job for lighting engineers. The right color scheme that blends with the lights and soothes the mind is another aspect that artists whack their brains over. Indeed, it felt good to be inside the department store.

What makes SM Naga distinct from the other SM Malls is the prominent presence of popular local eateries that decided to establish niches in the mall. Outright, I noted stalls of Geewan and IceBlink in the foodcourt. Other local restaurants you find, but with refurbished five-star look, are Molino Grill, Bean Bag and Graceland.

As previously feared, the arrival of SM Naga comes as shock and awe for local businesses. SM management doesn't seem to think of Naga as a provincial city in the second-most depressed region in the Philippines. Looking around and seeing the almost limitless variety of products on sale---from the dangit of Cebu, exotic vegetables that I rarely see, all species of of fish including my favorite blue marlin, cheap pork from Davao to giant flat-screen TVs and the latest Ford Ranger pick-up truck, I almost felt that every aspect of SM City Naga is an overkill.

All sections from the department stores, appliance center, food court, grocery and fruits, vegetables, meat and fish sections, including the multi-level parking areas, even the main lobby, are first-class. And, yes, National Bookstore even slips quietly into the local scene with SM.

SM's lessons in attention to details, ambiance, product presentation, marketing, automation and customer service---and, yes, lots of good taste, class and quality--- might just make local businessmen see the subtle aspects of enterprises that they have ignored for long.

The grand opening took place earlier in the day while Naga was under typhoon signal no. 1. There were no costly fireworks and blinding lights. Some observers even say the SM opening was not grand at all.

There were no celebrity guests and movie stars at the opening. And nobody seems to mind. In Naga City, no local celebrity could draw bigger crowd than an SM Mall itself.

And it is an attraction that will be a fixture of Naga---a provincial city that will never be the same again.