Sarah Geronimo may be booked and busy, but that doesn’t stop her from doing housework whenever she has the time. For her, cooking and cleaning are not just chores but activities that help her de-stress. 

“Kapag may oras ako sa mga gawaing bahay, ginagawa ko talaga, tulad ng pagluluto o paglilinis. Salamat sa Hanabishi, mas madali ko silang nagagawa (When I have time to do housework, I do it like cooking or cleaning. Thanks to Hanabishi, they’re easier to do),” said Sarah.

Sarah’s Top Appliance Suggestions for Busy Women

Sarah finds time to cook and experiment with new recipes using her trustworthy Hanabishi appliances to help her create different dishes with ease.

For women like her who love to prepare meals for their loved ones but have limited time to do so, she suggested using the Hanabishi Digital Pressure Cooker (HDIGPC10in1) and Digital Transparent Air Fryer (HAFRYER42GLDIGSTMR).

The former has a 5.7-liter capacity and a 10-program cooking selection that includes rice, multigrain, soup, meat/stew, poultry, fish, steam, beans/chili, yogurt, and porridge. The latter, meanwhile, has a 4.2-liter capacity, steam function for more nutrients retention and oil-free food, and six pre-set menus. Both are attractive additions to the kitchen with their sleek design and, most importantly, can help prepare meals without fuss.

Sarah’s other kitchen must-haves are the rice cooker and microwave oven, and she recommended having a Hanabishi Low Sugar Multi-Function Rice Cooker HDESUGAR18MFRC and digital microwave oven (HMOMSSD) in one’s home. They are available in different sizes to fit one’s style and price preference.

“Hanabishi makes it easier and more enjoyable for people like me who love to cook. Subok na din ang tibay at tagal ng Hanabishi appliances (Hanabishi appliances are proven to be durable and long-lasting),” Sarah said.

When it comes to making coffee, Sarah has the Hanabishi 2IN1 Grinder and Coffee Maker (HGRCM2IN1), which has a smart and compact design and can be used with coffee beans and ground coffee.

Sarah further shared that apart from cooking, she also loves doing the laundry and whenever she has the time to do it, she relies on her Hanabishi washing machine.

The trusted appliance brand offers a selection of washing machines, among them the  Hanabishi Fully Automatic Washing Machine Eco-Inverter 9.5kg Capacity (HAWMD195INV), a quiet and stable machine that saves up to 35% electricity consumption. It is easy to use with its one-touch wash, fast clean system, and triple punching flow.

“Hindi madali ang work-life balance, pero pwede itong ma-achieve sa tulong ng Hanabishi (Having work-life balance isn’t easy, but you can achieve this with the help of Hanabishi),” Sarah said.

“It has always been Hanabishi’s goal to make housework easier for homemakers. Our appliances are not complicated to operate and can easily get a cooking or cleaning job done. We also made sure that we offer a wide selection to cater to the taste and budget of different customers,” said Cherish Ong-Chua, Hanabishi Appliances VP for Finance and Marketing.

To learn more about the Hanabishi products that Sarah recommended, visit www.myhanabishi.com.

OPPO unveils two IoT devices that complement an ecosystem of innovative, user-friendly, and high–quality technology. The OPPO Pad Neo and Enco Buds 2 Pro are crafted to cater to consumers’ everyday needs and are now available to purchase nationwide.

Pair the latest Reno11 Series 5G smartphones with these two devices and enhance the way you experience media, work on-the-go, or stay connected with your friends and loved ones.

Pad Neo: Improved Screen, More Immersive sound, Longer Battery Life

The OPPO Pad Neo boasts an 11.4-inch 2.4K ReadFit screen with Dolby Atmos and quad-speakers that allow you to have an immersive audio-visual experience with stunning clarity and vibrancy. Its 7:5 aspect ratio provides enhanced comfort and versatility, while still protecting your eyesight with its hardware-level low blue light technology that can filter out and reduce the proportion of harmful blue light under 40% right from the source. Compared to ordinary LCD screens, the Pad Neo reduces potential blue light damage by as much as half, so that you can continue binging and streaming or pull an all-nighter while doing your work without any eye strain.

This is complemented with a massive 8,000 mAh battery with a 33W SUPERVOOC fast charging feature that allows you non-stop and all-day entertainment. You can spend 14.5 hours streaming and watching or just doing your regular tasks.

Seamlessly integrating work and entertainment, the OPPO Pad Neo features smart cross-device connectivity, allowing effortless sharing of content and tasks between compatible devices. It is also powered by the MediaTek Helio G99 processor and equipped with dual 8MP cameras, allowing it to deliver a smooth performance and versatile functionality for all-day usage.

Enco Buds 2 Pro: Better Bass and Overall Sound, Clearer Calls, and More Durable Build

The OPPO Enco Buds 2 Pro offers an exceptional blend of premium sound quality, durability, and sleek design. It is designed with 12.4mm Extra Large Drivers that will deliver a superior bass quality. It also has the Enco Master Equalizer that allows the earbuds to deliver superb sound immersion and clarity. Not only that, the OPPO Enco Buds 2 allows the users to customize their listening experience with three sound profiles – Balanced, Bass, and Bold. This ensures an audio experience that is tailored to their preferences.

The OPPO Enco Buds 2 Pro is also Equipped with Dual Mics and AI Clear Call Algorithm that ensures crystal-clear conversations and audio listening by eliminating background noise and enhancing voice clarity.

Its fresh and lightweight design along with its IP55 dust and water resistance make it the perfect companion for any activity whether you are outdoors or not. Furthermore, its extended battery life of up to 38 hours ensures uninterrupted enjoyment throughout the day, or even jam non-stop listening to your favorite tunes on Spotify. 

Enjoy the smooth and seamless connectivity of the OPPO ecosystem today!

OPPO’s new IoT devices shine because of their key improvements that prove why they’re worth the upgrade or why they should be your top-of-mind next purchase. They’re made even better when connected to the latest from OPPO’s line of Portrait Experts, the Reno11 Series 5G. Find the right OPPO device for you and make the most of its features and innovations today.

The OPPO Pad Neo sells for PHP 15,999 while the OPPO Enco Buds 2 Pro is priced at PHP 2,499. Get yours at all OPPO authorized stores nationwide and on OPPO’s official Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop pages.

For more information about the OPPO Pad Neo and OPPO Enco Buds 2 Pro, visit OPPO Philippines’ official website at www.oppo.com.ph/ and Facebook page.

Driven to push through. Amizah had humble beginnings at Jollibee, failing the application twice for an operations management trainee position before finally passing the screening. But once taken in, she resolved to make it to the top, from part-time service crew to becoming a training manager in only a year to managing seven Jollibee stores in Davao today.

MANILA, Philippines. – Amizah Jobaina Catubig holds the distinction of being the first female manager of Jollibee Basilan. On top of that, she has led the store to receive its first Gold Award from the company’s Food, Safety, and Cleanliness (FSC) Standards audit within the first year of becoming its manager.

Amizah started as a part-time service crew and now oversees seven Jollibee stores in Davao as an Area Manager (AM).

Today, among all the milestones in her 20-year career in Jollibee Group, she counts how she started her career at the Jollibee Climaco branch in Zamboanga City on January 5, 2003, as one of the most memorable.

A colorful career in Mindanao

It took Amizah, or Jov to her colleagues, three tries before landing a job in Jollibee in 2003.

“Out of the 18 applicants at that time, I was blessed to become one of the three who passed and got hired,” she said.

In 2004, she became the cluster’s training manager and led staff training and deployment for new stores in the Zamboanga City area. Three years later, she became an Assistant Manager.

Amizah remained in the Mindanao region for the next eight years, taking on both exciting and challenging stores. She served as Officer-in-Charge of the Jollibee Zamboanga Tumaga kiosk, a branch struggling with sales then. She became the first female Restaurant Manager from Zamboanga at Jollibee Basilan, Jollibee’s 500^th store. After this, she had supervisory stints in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay; Vamenta and Kasuwagan, Cagayan de Oro; and Pershing, Zamboanga.

She continued her stint in downtown Zamboanga by handling clusters in Pagadian and Ozamis in 2017 and those in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat in 2021 at the height of the pandemic.

A challenge matched with resolve

Of all these stints, Amizah considers the one at Jollibee Basilan in 2010 as the most challenging because of a bombing incident at the park in front of the store, which claimed the lives of ten individuals and sowed fear within the community.

“Nasa news parati ang Basilan during this time. There were bombings and threats in [the] town. Rizal Park, which is just in front of the store, was bombed,” Amizah recalled. (“Basilan was always in the news during this time.”)

 Alagang Jollibee. With a 20-year career in Jollibee, Amizah is grateful to be part of a company like the Jollibee Group that genuinely looks after its employees’ careers and well-being. Jollibee Group has long committed to providing its employees a nourishing professional workplace culture while sustaining its growth. The company continues to reinforce its global standing after receiving TIME Magazine’s World’s Best Companies award and its second Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award in 2023. 

“We felt the impact in the store. We witnessed [how] the customers panicked,” she added.

As a result, store sales suffered. To overcome this, their team beefed up the store’s security workforce and requested police visibility within store premises.

“We posted merchandising materials strategically for awareness. We strengthened store Food Service Cleanliness (FSC) Standards and implemented cost-saving initiatives. Our frontliners communicated to our customers in the local dialect for them to feel at home,” she added.

A year after the incident, Jollibee Basilan achieved its first Gold Award in FSC, the prestigious Presidential Awards for Performance Excellence (PAPE). Apart from that, they also achieved a double 100% rating in the corporate audit, another first for the branch, which covers auditing of internal processes.

FSC is Jollibee’s trademark of service: Food (F) served to the public must meet the company’s excellence standards, or it will not be served at all; the Service (S) must be fast and courteous; Cleanliness (C), from kitchen to utensils, must always be maintained.

PAPE, meanwhile, signifies the highest level of accomplishment in Jollibee, characterized by the store team’s achievement of the target sales, profit, FSC rating, and operations team performance requirements.

“We were able to turn a negative store into a profitable one,” Amizah happily noted.

Embracing cultures and ensuring standards

Amizah ensured that she embraced diversity and inclusivity in the Jollibee branches she handled.

“I am in the position to influence others to embrace the differences, [to] respect the person’s culture and religion. Inaaral ko ‘yung dialect saan man ako ma-assign to really blend in with the team.” (“I learned their dialect wherever I was assigned to really blend in with the team.”) “Pinapakita ko sa gawa. At pinaparamdam ko that we are fair to all,” she said. (“I show by doing. And I make them feel that we are fair to all.”)

All seven Davao stores she currently supervises have received valuable feedback from customers in the Muslim community, particularly for their pork-free offerings that are labeled accordingly on the menu.

Pride in Alagang Jollibee

Jollibee’s unique brand of care extends not only to its customers, but even so to its employees.

“Gumanda ang buhay namin because of Jollibee,” she revealed. (We have a better life today because of Jollibee.”)

The eldest in the family, Amizah supported the college education of her three younger siblings, who are now all gainfully employed. She was also able to build her family’s home.

Facing the challenge. Around a year after she took over the Jollibee Basilan branch, Amizah, and the team worked on their goals and eventually earned a double 100% rating in the corporate audit and bagged its first Gold Award in FSC in 2011.

Since her promotion to Area Manager in 2016, she has been extending help to the community where she lives. “I personally pay the utilities of our mosque monthly,” she said.

Born to OFW parents—her mother as a house helper and her father as a family driver in the Middle East—Amizah was raised by her grandparents. She grew up knowing how difficult life could be.

“Natuto kaming makisalamuha at the age of 5. Nakitira kami, palipat-lipat sa bahay ng lola at tita namin,” she said. (“We had to learn how to deal with people at age 5. We lived with our grandmother and aunt and would move between their houses.”)

Alagang Jollibee is how she refers to the way the company cares for its employees.

“Ang Alagang Jollibee ay madadama mo,” she said. (“You can feel the Alagang Jollibee,” she said). “It fosters a culture that values respect and fairness.”

Amizah is proud to be part of Jollibee. “I take [that] pride where I go, that I work in a company that values its people and promotes Filipino values,” she said.

Tech meets fashion as realme and local lifestyle brand, Straightforward, collaborate to showcase how the performance and design of the realme 12 Series 5G complement the boundless style of Straightforward in a series of engaging activities poised to set new trends.

During a collaborative fashion shoot, realme and Straightforward worked together to create masterful portraits where the realme 12 Pro+ 5G and the realme 12+ 5G accentuated the effortlessly chic outfits curated by Straightforward.

Set against the dynamic cityscape as backdrop, every detail of the outfits was perfectly captured by the crystal clear 64MP Periscope Portrait Camera and 50MP Sony LYT600 OIS Camera of the realme 12 Pro+ 5G and realme 12+ 5G, respectively. Stay tuned on March 31 at 6PM on realme official Facebook and YouTube pages to get a glimpse of the photoshoot outtakes.

The Art of Portraits powered by realme 12 Series 5G

In a separate experiential activity, realme key opinion leaders gathered for a one-of-a-kind art session called the Art of Portraits led by visual artist Joyce Ignacio as art mentor. Using art kits and the Straightforward DVL Portrait Tote Bag as canvas, the guests painted a portrait inspired by the premium vegan leather and luxury watch design of the realme 12 Series 5G. Everyone was encouraged to be expressive with their artwork in order to create masterpieces that truly reflect their personality.

The afternoon was filled with fun and camaraderie perfectly captured in photos and videos by the realme 12 Series 5G, ensuring that every smile and brush stroke was documented in stunning clarity, allowing everyone to #BeThePortraitMaster.

realme x Straightforward giveaway

realme Philippines is making it even easier for the Squad to hop on the realme x Straightforward hype. To recreate the signature Straightforward look, the Squad can join the What’s in Your Bag? Top 5 Essentials Facebook giveaway to win a coveted Straightforward DVL Valore Bag. realme is choosing 12 lucky winners and to join, they must enumerate their five bag essentials in the comments section of the giveaway post from March 22 to April 12.

That’s not all because the Squad can also cop a brand new realme 12 Pro+ 5G by joining the Portrait Master Challenge on TikTok. For the mechanics, all they have to do is film a selfie video and create 12 stunning poses using the official Portrait Master Magazine template on TikTok. The deadline for submission of entries is on March 31, and the official announcement of the winner is on April 1.

Ready to Be The Portrait Master?

The realme 12 Series 5G is the flagship offering of realme’s popular Number Series, known for its cutting-edge smartphone camera technology. Meanwhile, Straightforward has carved a niche for itself with its collection of timeless fashion pieces. Together, they form an unbeatable duo, blending state-of-the-art tech with effortless style fit for every young Filipino.

It’s not too late to #BeThePortraitMaster because the realme 12 Series 5G is still available on realme’s Lazada Flagship Store, Shopee Official Store, and official TikTok Shop.

The realme 12 Pro+ 5G retails for P25,999 and comes in the highest 12GB+512GB storage variant available in two colorways: Submarine Blue and Navigator Beige.

On the other hand, the realme 12+ 5G is available in two storage variants: 12GB+256GB for P19,999 and 8GB+256GB priced at P17,999. It also comes in two colorways: Pioneer Green and Navigator Beige.

For offline buyers, they can visit any realme Store or authorized dealers nationwide to avail of the realme 12 Series 5G through easy installments at 0% interest via Home Credit.

Make sure to be updated with realme’s announcements and new releases by visiting its official Facebook page or website.