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Friday, 20th May 2022



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‘Bahay-bahayan’ on a global scale

Published on Tuesday, 01 September 2015 09:38 | Hits: 21560
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Maricel Pangilinan-Arenas, president of Play Innovations Inc. and state governor of KidZania PhilippinesMaricel Pangilinan-Arenas, president of Play Innovations Inc. and state governor of KidZania PhilippinesWhen Maricel Pangilinan-Arenas, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Play Innovations Inc., told her dad, engineer-entrepreneur Donato Pangilinan, about the opportunity she was given to head and build the first KidZania franchise in the Philippines, her dad “fell in love with it.”

Pangilinan-Arenas says, “I shared the concept with him and he immediately got it. He said it was a ‘play city’ just like bahay-bahayan (playing house) but on a bigger scale.” This, and her younger brother Kiko’s (former Senator Francis Pangilinan’s) insight that this endeavor would honor their father and mother’s parenting legacy, convinced her to accept the challenge posed by ABSCBN Corporation chairman Eugenio Lopez III (EL3) and ABS-CBN CEO Charo Santos-Concio(CSC) to lead the start-up company. ABS-CBN owns 73% of Play Innovations, with the remainder owned by a Singaporean company.

Employee number

00001

Thus, Pangilinan-Arenas signed up as employee number 00001 on October 1, 2012. By her fifth day in office, she was en route to Mexico, the headquarters of KidZania, an educational, experiential playground for kids aged four to 14. What followed was a long and thorough study of the potential of such an innovative concept in the Philippines.

“It was a totally new business for ABS-CBN. There was no template within the organization to follow. This has been a very complicated project logistically, from the viewpoint of project management, architecture, engineering, child safety and security; it was not simply taking in everything the franchise offered but making sure each section of KidZania in Manila would be relevant to Filipino children, their parents and educators,” says Pangilinan-Arenas.

Igniting hearts and minds

A former advertising executive, she touched base with many former clients to engage them with the vision of “igniting the hearts and minds of Filipino children, empowering and inspiring them to create a better world” using their Godgiven talents. This resulted in 50 individual partners, each eager to present a unique experience for each child who enters and plays a role in the global play city that KidZania is.

These days, she gets to practice many Lopez Values at work, foremost of which is a pioneering entrepreneurial spirit, especially considering the scale of the project entrusted to her.

“I grew up on the smell of concrete, gravel and sand, and form lumber. My dad always brought me to construction sites even as a child, but I’ve never encountered anything on this scale (KidZania) in my life,” she recalls.

Noble vision

Nationalism comes to the fore not only in the use of local trees such as narra, balete and bitaog encompassing the structural posts, but also in the general theme of KidZania where children are given the opportunity to play responsible roles in society whether as farmer, pilot, fireman, doctor, cable technician, delivery person, ice cream maker, cookie baker, radio announcer, singer, actor, banker and urban gardener, among other constructive and productive assignments.

“The noble vision behind KidZania is what drove me. We want to plant seeds of what it takes to make a good community. We are giving children the opportunity to see beyond themselves, to care for and see what they can do together for their community,” she says.

Full power of play

KidZania also practices social justice, giving underprivileged children the chance to play in the city through corporate sponsorships, with a designated percentage of entrance tickets reserved for the purpose. Corporations willing to sponsor public school students may avail of discounted rates.

Pangilinan-Arenas sees her involvement in the KidZania venture as way to thank her parents, who allowed her to experience the full power of play while she was growing up with eight younger siblings. The older Pangilinan children would create a pretend haunted house in their bedroom and sell “tickets” to the younger ones.

She also attributes her sense of mission to her family.

“My parents are very patriotic and civic-oriented. My dad, in particular, is a dreamer and an optimist. He was always involved in leadership, working to drive change in the communities and villages where we lived as we grew up. He helped set up and then ran workshops on entrepreneurship at the UP (University of the Philippines) Institute of Small-Scale Industries. He taught us to make the most of every circumstance. To our parents, it was always God, country and family in that order and then work, work, work. That is how I learned to be accountable, to be responsible.”

Service to the Filipino child

Her message to fellow members of the Lopez Group: “I appreciate the boldness of (EL3 and CSC) to go into a totally new direction with KidZania. Direct engagement with the child is a huge responsibility. KidZania Manila will be a real service to the Filipino child; it will be a living laboratory where we, the adults, will be the biggest students as we watch the children play daily. This is a real investment in the future.

“I want to shout out a big thank you to the many Lopez companies that are supporting KidZania, namely ABS-CBN TV and Radio, Star Cinema, Star Magic, ABS-CBNmobile, SKYcable, SKYbroadband and First Gen Corporation, and of course, all the other industry partners who dared to believe in this bold vision that, ultimately, honors the Filipino child. Together, we will help children discover their talents and equip them with the confidence to dare and to dream big.” (Story/Photo by: Carla Paras-Sison)

More Filipinos receive Kapamilya love from ‘Pantawid ng Pag-ibig’

Published on Thursday, 20 August 2020 | Hits:345

More Filipinos receive Kapamilya love from ‘Pantawid ng Pag-ibig’

Kapamilya love reached more Filipinos as ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.’s (AFI) “Pantawid ng Pag-ibig: Isang Daan, Isang Pamilya” campaign distributed food packs and ligtas bags outside Metro Manila for those greatly

Mayors express gratitude wellness. to ABS-CBN, AFI

Published on Thursday, 18 June 2020 | Hits:362

Local government units (LGUs) found it challenging to quickly provide relief to families affected by the quarantine. That is why several mayors in Metro Manila and nearby provinces have expressed

‘Pantawid ng Pag-ibig’ gears up for 2nd phase

Published on Thursday, 18 June 2020 | Hits:317

‘Pantawid ng Pag-ibig’ gears up for 2nd phase

As Filipino families continue to struggle with the loss of jobs, ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. (AFI) moves to the second phase of the “Pantawid ng Pagibig” campaign with the aim of

Over 600,000 families to benefit as ‘Pantawid ng Pag-ibig’ raises P350M

Published on Tuesday, 19 May 2020 | Hits:386

Over 600,000 families to benefit as ‘Pantawid ng Pag-ibig’ raises P350M

The “Pantawid ng Pag-ibig” campaign of ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. (AFI) has raised P350 million in cash donations and pledges for the benefit of over 600,000 families in Metro

ABS-CBN reaches out to evacuees via ‘Tulong-Tulong sa Taal’

Published on Thursday, 06 February 2020 | Hits:331

ABS-CBN reaches out to evacuees via ‘Tulong-Tulong sa Taal’

NO evacuee will be left behind. This is the promise of ABSCBN as it launches the “Tulong-Tulong sa Taal” campaign, which aims to unite the nation in helping Filipinos affected

ABS-CBN Foundation Europe to hold telethon for London Grenfell Tower fire victims

Published on Friday, 23 June 2017 | Hits:3916

ABS-CBN Foundation Europe to hold telethon for London Grenfell Tower fire victims

ABS-CBN Foundation Europe CIO joins public and private support for the victims of the massive fire that hit the 24-storey residential London Grenfell Tower in West London on June 14

Donate to Operation Sagip Surigao to help earthquake victims

Published on Friday, 17 February 2017 | Hits:4258

Donate to Operation Sagip Surigao to help earthquake victims

A state of calamity has been declared by the Mayor of Surigao City. Relief and rescue operations are underway for the barangays that have been affected.

Bulusan workers turn to backyard farming for steady food supply

Published on Tuesday, 19 May 2020 | Hits:967

Bulusan workers turn to backyard farming for steady food supply

The Rural Workers Association of San Rafael (RWASR) based in Bulusan, Sorsogon, which runs Nasipit Eco-Agri Farm, has a simple message for their fellow Filipinos: “There is no problem we

‘Ligtas Pilipinas’ helps educate Filipinos on COVID-19

Published on Thursday, 16 April 2020 | Hits:895

‘Ligtas Pilipinas’ helps educate Filipinos on COVID-19

ABS-CBN helps arm Filipinos with relevant information to stop the spread of disease through its “Ligtas Pilipinas sa COVID-19” campaign on radio, TV and online.

ABS-CBN delivers protective gear, food to health workers

Published on Thursday, 16 April 2020 | Hits:1063

ABS-CBN delivers protective gear, food to health workers

HELP came through for health workers in East Avenue Medical Center after ABS-CBN delivered masks and other protective gear and snacks to show support and Kapamilya love to those leading

‘G Diaries’ bags academic excellence awards

Published on Monday, 09 March 2020 | Hits:746

‘G Diaries’ bags academic excellence awards

“Maraming, maraming salamat po sa award na ipinagkaloob ninyo sa amin. Alay namin ito sa kapatid kong si Gina Lopez,” said “G Diaries” host and Bantay Bata 163 executive director

Finally home

Published on Monday, 09 March 2020 | Hits:762

Finally home

She could hardly contain her joy and excitement when she saw her son walking towards her. She welcomed him with tight hugs and happy tears as a loving mother would

ALKFI renames building in honor of Gina Lopez

Published on Monday, 09 March 2020 | Hits:570

ALKFI renames building in honor of Gina Lopez

ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc. (ALKFI) renamed its building Gina Lopez Building in honor of its late chairperson and founder of ALKFI programs Bantay Bata 163 and Bantay Kalikasan.

Fighting child malnutrition with Alaska Milk

Published on Thursday, 06 February 2020 | Hits:748

Fighting child malnutrition with Alaska Milk

ACCORDING to UNICEF, 95 children in the Philippines die every day because of malnutrition. This is one of the reasons Alaska Milk Corporation supports the advocacy of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya

Bantay Bata, Globe activate #163 helpline for free

Published on Monday, 16 December 2019 | Hits:1223

Bantay Bata, Globe activate #163 helpline for free

IN 2015, Unicef and the Council for the Welfare of Children conducted the National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children in the Philippines, which indicated that eight out of 10

For the Love of Children

Published on Friday, 05 January 2018 | Hits:1245

For the Love of Children

  For the Love of Children For the Love of Children   These children live everyday making ends meet without losing hope that a better future awaits them. Together, let’s keep their hopes alive

New World Hotels & Resorts Hold Run & Raise 2018

Published on Wednesday, 20 December 2017 | Hits:1567

New World Hotels & Resorts Hold Run & Raise 2018

New World Hotels and Resorts gears up for another exciting edition of Run & Raise in 2018. Now on its fourth year, Run & Raise 4 will be held at

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Bayan Academy Calendar

BAYAN Academy offers the following certificate training courses this month:

June 18-19: Market Research

June 25-26: Human Resource Management For rates, call Carol Arcaya at 426-3140. Bayan Academy reserves the right to change course dates.

 

June 18-19:

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