The Curious Mom

Hotel Sogo, the country’s largest Filipino-owned hotel chain company with over 45 branches nationwide, has been crowned as the “Best Choice Philippines Leading Hotel Chain” and won the “Philippines Guest Choice Awards” by the acclaimed Netizens Best Choice Awards 2022. 

The Netizens Best Choice Awards for Business Excellence play a vital role in promoting responsible use of the internet since it conducts online research and surveys to promote the best brands, products, and services that distinguish themselves from their competitors by earning the Netizen’s Trust Seal.

Awardees are chosen through an online nomination and multi-criteria evaluation in a variety of categories such as Product/Brand/Service Quality & Innovativeness, Image/Value Proposition & Pricing, Strong Brand Online Market Influence, and Proper & Responsible means of using the internet.

Remarking on the impressive win, Ms. Sue Geminiano, Marketing Director of Hotel Sogo, says, “This award is for the management, (as well as) the operations people [who are also considered as frontliners]. They worked so hard for this in a good and very respectful way. If not for them, Hotel Sogo will not be this big, well known, and will have many branches nationwide”.

As of writing, Hotel Sogo has 46 branches nationwide located in key cities in the metro and provinces. Further plans for expansion in other areas are still expected and the hotel looks forward to many more wins in the future. For more details, visit www.hotelsogo.com or like and follow Hotel Sogo on Facebook (facebook.com/hotelsogo), Twitter (@hotelsogo), and Instagram (@hotelsogo).

When we talk about financial stability, many people were skeptical if they are financially stable. How much money you're able to save in a single day? or in a month? Do you actually save anything? Whenever we aren't in need, we have a tendency to neglect to save for the future, which is not a good thing. Aside from saving, we can invest, which is prudent thinking when considering the future. There will come a time when you will have enough money to wait in emergency situations.

Everything has changed since the Pandemic, and we are all affected. It will take years for all of us to recover. So many realizations for me, that everything we have will be gone in a short period of time. Having considered saving and investing in things that will be important in the future. Now, our lives are gradually returning to normal, but the world has changed and this is our normal way of life.

When it comes to financial stability, many of us are uncertain if they are stable. Financial stability provides us with peace of mind.

I personally struggle with budgeting, and I believe that most people do as well. The household's daily budget is difficult to manage. When you become a parent, budgeting becomes more difficult than when you are single and providing becomes more difficult because members of the family may incur unexpected expenses. Because I try to save the majority of the time, everything becomes costly for me. I even tried saving money on my clothing; yes, we can do that as long as the clothes are comfortable to put on.

I want everything calculated as much as possible; trying to keep track of our expenses helps to ensure that I did not overspend. I use https://www.savingscalculator.org/ to keep track of the flow in and out and with this, I managed to follow my simple plan, my budget plan for our household. Not only that basic computation, but it can automatically calculate everything for you. Simply enter the required data numbers, and viola, all the necessary information, such as your savings after tax, will be provided. I also like to set goals because it motivates me to work harder financially. 

It’s a pleasure to be part of @makukuph First Intimate PR & Bloggers Event held last November 29 at Seda Residences, Makati City with friends from media, blogger influencers, and VIP Moms. The event aims to educate the market on the unique features of MAKUKU diapers, as well as learn about stress-free parenting tips from clinical Psychologist, Alodia Cueno-Mercado, and exciting surprises for guests.

Ten outstanding local governance programs were recognized in the 2022 Galing Pook Awards held at the Ceremonial Hall of Malacanang Palace last Tuesday, November 22, 2022.

Galing Pook Foundation with its co-presenters SM Prime Holdings Inc., and the DILG-Local Government Academy, and sponsors Cebu Pacific and Airspeed-named local government units from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao that promote innovation and excellence.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. commended the Galing Pook Foundation for recognizing and incentivizing top-performing LGUs. He stressed how strong collaboration between the public and private sectors can lead to more meaningful and successful programs that truly benefit the Filipino people.

“The recognition you give to cities and municipalities inspires them to accelerate their drive towards improvement and encourages LGUs to adopt practices that make us paragons of excellence in public service. It is necessary for us to underscore the importance of strengthening partnerships between the government and private organizations, such as the Galing Pook Foundation, especially as we bring about meaningful progress in the country.”

Galing Pook Chairperson Mel Sarmiento expressed his gratitude to all the local executives and LGU teams that participated this year: “It’s truly inspiring to see the impact of the work that you do, and I’m sure you’ve brought value to many Filipinos all over the country. Our collaborations bring us closer to realizing our shared vision, na ang bawat pamilyang Pilipino, may simple pero kumportableng buhay.”

The winners of the 2022 Galing Pook Awards were: The Green Wall of Alcala (Alcala, Cagayan); Advancing and Sustaining Good Governance and Community Actions towards Resiliency and Empowerment (Basilan Province); Bataan Public-Private Partnership Programs (Bataan Province);

Balik-Biñan Project: Tourism Development through Heritage Conservation (Biñan City, Laguna); From Black to Green: Fishponds, Eco-Tourism and Full Employment (Brgy. Cayabu, Tanay, Rizal); Trekking to Unlock Community Ailments and Difficulties (TUCAD) (Goa, Camarines Sur); “I-BIKE” A Program Promoting the Development of the Iloilo City Bike Culture (Iloilo City); Yaru: A Whole-of-Community Approach Towards Disaster Management (Itbayat, Batanes); Libertad Fish Forever Savings Club (Libertad, Antique); and Basta Piddigueño, AgriHenyo: Consolidated Farm Production System (Piddig, Ilocos Norte).

The 10 winners were chosen from 18 finalists and a record field of 196 applications from different LGUs in the country.

Launched on October 21, 1993, the Galing Pook Awards has recognized 329 LGU programs from 200 LGUs in the country that has been promoted for replication to benefit more communities.