Major Field Trip

University of Southeastern Philippines

Bo. Obrero Campus, Davao City

FIELD TRIP

AND

SEMINARS

TRAVEL REPORT

Submitted By:

Gervie Monsour S. Abelgas

Submitted To:

Randy S. Gamboa

FTS Facilitator

Seminar Overview

            As part of the curriculum of the Institute of Computing, the students who are having a third year standing may enroll to the subject FTS with a description of Field Trip and Seminars. The students who are enrolled in this subject started to plan what would be the model type of the subject that should be performed. There are three model types that the students choose from, model A is composed of one major field trip that will be held outside Mindanao, one minor field trip that will be held in Mindanao, one national seminar, and a 2 hour – Interpersonal skills seminar; model B is composed of one major field trip that will be held outside Mindanao, two minor field trips here in Mindanao, two seminars here in Mindanao with a total of 8 hours, and a 2 hour – Interpersonal skills seminar; and model C is composed of three minor field trips that will be held here in Mindanao, four seminars here in Mindanao with a total of 16 hours, and a 2 hour – Interpersonal skills seminar. As the planning go on, the students decided to go for the model A, which is the major field will be held in Manila, the national seminar will be held in Manila as well, the minor field will be held in Davao City, and the Interpersonal skills seminar will be held in the University of Southeastern Philippines Social Hall.

            When all the preparations for the Field Trip and Seminars are all set up, the students of the University of Southeastern Philippines – Institute of Computing, go to Manila, last September 16, 2013 to have their company visits and attend the biggest gathering for IT enthusiasts the “Y4It”. It was a five – day trip that prepared by the travel agency that was chosen by the students which is the Maynilad Tours and Educational Services, Inc. The travel agency prepared a bus with a maximum capacity of 60 passengers, the bus is equipped with an entertainment package which the students can watch movies or even sing a song that they want. The travel agency also provided a tour guide that will answer all the questions that the students will ask along the way to their destination, they also provided distilled and purified waters in the bus for the students to drink when they are thirsty.

            The field trip covers from Pasay City to Tagatay City, and as for the night the students are staying in Kabayan Hotel, which is located in front of the MRT Station at Pasay City. The students are divided into 6 members per group for the assignment of the hotel room, and the room has three double-deck bed with a bathroom/comfort room in it.

            Overall, the students visited five companies (Social Security System, PLDT, IBM Philippines, Toshiba Storage Device, and MMDA), attended one seminar (Y4iT), with five side trips (SM Mall of Asia, Tutuban Shopping, Trinoma Mall, People’s Park in Tagaytay, and Enchanted Kingdom).

Day 1

Today I went to a seminar to

            The Social Security System Main Office located at East Avenue, Quezon City, Manila. This company is very known all over the Philippines because of they have millions of beneficiaries in the private sectors in the country.

What I learned?

            I learned that the Social Security System (SSS) has many benefits that are offering for their beneficiaries such as, sickness benefits, maternity benefits, disability benefits, retirement benefits, death benefits, and funeral benefits. Sickness benefit is a daily cash allowance paid for the number of days a member is unable to work due to sickness or injury, a qualified member must have these following conditions: the member is unable to work due to sickness or injury and is confines at a hospital or at home for at least four days, the member has paid at least three months of contributions within the 12month period, the member has used up all the company sick leave with pay for the current year and has duly notified his/her employer and the member must notify the SSS directly by filling a sickness benefit application if he/she is separated from employment or self-employed. Maternity benefit is a daily cash allowance granted to a female member who is unable to work due to childbirth or miscarriage, a qualified member must have these following conditions: the member has paid at least three months of contribution within the 12-month period immediately before the semester of her childbirth or miscarriage, if employed, she must has given notification of her pregnancy through her employer, and she must directly notify the SSS if she is separated from employment or self-employed member. Disability benefit is a cash benefit granted – either as a monthly pension or a lumpsum amount – to a member who becomes permanently disabled, either partially or totally, the qualified member must have the following conditions, the member has paid at least one month contribution before the semester of disability, to qualify for a disability pension, the member must have paid at least 36 monthly contributions prior to the semester of disability, and if with less than 36 monthly contributions, he/she is granted a lumpsum amount.

            Retirement benefit is a cash benefit granted – either as a  monthly pension or a lumpsum amount – to a member who can no longer work due to old age, the qualified member must have the following: the member is at least 60 years old, separated from employment or has ceased to be self-employed; and had paid at least 120 monthly contributions prior to the semester of retirement, or the member is 65 years old, whether employed or not employed, and has  paid at least 120 monthly contributions prior to the semester of retirement, to qualify for a retirement pension, the member must have paid at least 120 monthly contributions prior to the semester of retirement, and if less than 120 monthly contributions, the member is granted a lumpsum amount. Funeral benefit is a funeral grant of P20,000 to whoever paid for the burial expenses of the deceased member. Death benefit is a cash benefit granted – either as a monthly pension or a lumpsum amount – to the beneficiaries of a deceased member, to be given by this grant the beneficiaries must have: a monthly death pension is granted to the member’s primary beneficiary (legitimate spouse until he/she remarries, and dependent legitimate, legitimated or legally adopted, and illegitimate children) if the member has paid at least 36 monthly contributions prior to the semester of death, a lumpsum amount is granted to the primary beneficiary if the deceased member has less than 36 monthly contributions, if there are no primary beneficiaries, the member’s secondary beneficiaries (dependent parents) shall be given a lumpsum amount, and in their absence, any other person designated by the member as beneficiary in the member’s record.

            The SSS also have loans like salary loan, it is a cash loan granted to an employed, currently-paying self-employed or voluntary member. It is intended to meet the member’s short-term credit needs, to qualify the member must be: an employed, currently-paying self-employed or voluntary member who has six posted monthly contributions in the last 12 months prior to the month of filling of loan application, for one-month loan, the member must have 36 posted monthly contributions prior to the month of filling of loan application, for two-month loan, the member must have 72 posted monthly contributions prior to the month of filling of loan application, and if employed, the member’s employer must be updated in contribution and loan remittances. The member must also be updated in the payment of other loans with SSS.

What I liked?

            What I liked for SSS is that they have many branches all over the country they have a centralized system so that they can have access in the other branches of SSS. I liked that they have many benefits for their members and they can help many people in times of their problems and they can make their members breathe easier. I also liked their so-called “SSS Museum and Library” where the history of the company will be seen and the photos of their different activities that they have done for the Filipino citizens. I also liked their so-called “The Gallery” where the memorabilia of Gat Andres Bonifacio is located, they built it when they are celebrating their 56^th anniversary to commemorate the Hero of Filipino workers who no other than Andres Bonifacio.

            Because it is my first time to go in Manila particularly in SM Mall of Asia, I enjoyed seeing the very large vicinity the mall is located, it is very nice to see the bronze globe when it is night because the LEDs attach in the globe will light and display just like the LED tv.

What I didn’t like?

            When we are about to visit our first company which is the Fluor Daniels, we didn’t make to visit the company because of the heavy traffic from the airport along the way to EDSA. And I am very disappointed of that we did not make it to see how beautiful their company is and how do they make their operations every day.

            Because there is a heavy rain at the time when we are visiting the Social Security System Main Office we didn’t have the opportunity to go to the biggest printer in the Philippines because it is located at the other building of the SSS.

Day 2

Today I went to a seminar to

            Attend the 11^th Philippine Youth Congress on Information Technology or also known as Y4iT, it is the biggest gathering of IT experts and professionals, students and educators to share their knowledge about the fields of their expertise. The event invited many foreign delegates to talk about their ideas and share their success being a technopreneurs. This event is a 3-day conference which covers many topics to be discussed and has different speakers per day. It also inspires many IT students who are attending the said event because of the inspirational messages given by the speakers on how they achieve the success that they are experiencing now.

What I learned?

            Because we have a scheduled visitations to the other companies in the rest of the week we only attended the day one of the conference which the opening of the program proper but even though it is the opening day the speakers of the conference are very inspirational. First we are welcomed by the vice president for external affairs of the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators (PSITE), John Peter Abraham Ruero, he discussed about the history of the event which is started by UP System Information Technology Foundation, Inc. (UP SITF) way back 2003. He was very proud that the conference has inspired many IT enthusiasts for the first decade of its existence and now the Y4iT is a very well-known event throughout the country and even outside the country drawing hundreds of thousands attending the seminar every year. The next speaker discusses the Y-Combinator and Entrepreneurship and it was Paul Rivera the founder and CEO of Kalibirr which is the world’s first Massive Open Assessment & Training Platform that gets people jobs and delivers pre-qualified talent at scale to companies. The next speaker discussed IT for the Blind: The Key to a Brighter Future, and this speaker was actually a blind person, she is Rhea Althea Guntalilib works as a Software Development Analyst in Smart Communications, Inc. she also develops an application which blind people can read the messages or access the files in their computer through a voice which guides them to wherever they go in the computer. The next speaker talks about the Internet of Things, he is Kevin Leversee the Co-Founder and CEO of the StartupDragons. Next speaker discusses about who runs the internet, he is Winthrop Yu the President of the Internet Society (Philippine Chapter). Next is Sheryl Hermoso who discusses about the IPv6, she explained that the internet now a days are slowing down because of many users around the globe and this IPv6 will help to make the internet faster because only few internet subscribers uses IPv6 around the world. I also learned that we can make more money in making android applications for educational purposes that’s what Aurelio Vilbar and Kim Bondoc shared during their talk about Apps for Learning Empowerment.

What I liked?

            During the event proper I am very inspired during the talk of Ms. Rhea Althea Guntalilib because even though she is blind, she even graduated to college with an honor which is Suma Cum Laude. She even develop an application which can help herself and other blind person like her. I am also inspired by the young technopreneurs who win lately in a competition and they are now the CEOs of their own company, they are Gian Scottie Javelona who is the Founder and CEO of OrangeApps, Inc. and Chino Philip Adrian Atilano who is the Co-Founder and CEO of TimeFree Innovations Inc.

            I also liked when we go to Tutuban Shopping Center because many cheap products can bought in there. It is just in Divisoria where you can bargain for smaller price for the product that you like.

What I didn’t liked?

            What I didn’t liked was the Traffic Congestion that happened along the way to Tutuban Shopping Center. Because after the seminar, we immediately go to Tutuban but we arrived in Tutuban two hours after we departed in the Y4iT seminar at SMX Convention, Pasay. And that’s why we only have few times for buying things that we want.

Day 3

Today I went to a seminar to

            The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) located at Mandaluyong City, specifically at the PLDT Innolab or Innovation Laboratory and Telecommunications Education Center of PLDT in the morning. We are greeted by Ms. Annie Ferrer and she explained the history of PLDT, after she finished her talk, we are directed in their Business Solutions Center and Mr. Gino Francisco became our tour facilitator, and last we go back to the conference room and greeted by Mr. Edmond Mamboyo.

            And at the afternoon, we go to the Internation Business Machine Inc. (IBM) located at Ayala Techno Hub, Commonwealth, Quezon City. We are greeted by their technical manager Mr. Alexis V. Pantola.

What I learned?

            That PLDT was established on November 28, 1938 with 28, 579 lines, but on 1939 – 1948 faced a massive fall down on its resources and manpower due to the World War II and they called it as the age of destruction because of this stage the company only have 315 employees. After the company’s age of destruction, in the year 1949 – 1958 becomes the company’s age of hope, hoping that the company will rise again from its massive destruction from the war. As the years go by, the company increases its resources into 60, 066 lines with a manpower of 1, 304 employees. And as the end of 1958 a new age for company awaits, and it is the age of change and it was along the year 1959 – 1968 they evolved having modern technologies serving their consumers and between this age they increased their resources and manpower three times more as for the age of hope. They had established 184, 782 lines with 3, 208 employees working for the company by the time of the age of change. The year 1968 becomes the end of the age of chance and in the year 1969 becomes the age of control between the year 1969 – 1978 they already established 496, 266 telephone lines around the country with 6, 716 employees working for the company. In 1978 the age of control ended and the age of revolution was started in 1979, between year 1979 and 1988 became the company’s age of revolution. In this age the company became the major key for the communication as the revolution was happening in the time of reign of the Marcos Regime. Between these years the company’s resources and manpower had increase with 926, 006 telephone lines and 14, 856 employees working for the company. As 1988 ended the age of revolution also ended by the start of 1989 a new age of the company was born it was the age of gatekeeper, along this age the company established 1, 596, 856 telephone lines for its resources and 14, 023 employees working for the company. On 1998, the age of gatekeeper of the company ended and the start of the age of transformation on 1999, in this stage the company introduces modern devices that can be used for communication, they transformed their telephones into a much modern and portable gadget. They introduced the wireless telephones on their consumers, and in the year 2000 the PLDT merged with Smart Communications for a much reliable and fast communication. And in this age of transformation the company increased their resources with 1, 782, 356 telephone lines established around the country and having 14, 023 employees working in the company. And on 2008, the age of transformation ended and in the start of the year 2009 the age of fast forward was born and until now the company was on the age of fast forward.

            After Ms. Annie Ferrer explained the background of the company, we go to the Business Solutions Center of the Company and that time, Mr. Gino Francisco was our company’s tour facilitator. In general, the Business Solutions Center is comprised of four divisions: the Home Solution, Enterprise Solution, IT Technology Center, and the Solutions Laboratory. The Home Solution is the division that incubates the technologies that are introduced in the home, like the one that was being presented into us, the Automatic Power System, it is a technology that controls all the power supplies of the appliances in the home. It is a web – based monitoring system that automatically power off the appliances once the owner turned off the specific appliance in the Automatic Power System through internet. The Enterprise Solution is the division that incubates the technologies that are being introduced in the industry such as: Warehouses, Call Centers, Manufacturing Companies, Companies that are related to Retailing, off – shore Offices, Head Offices, and Banks. The IT Technology Center is the division that showcases all the products of a company that partners the PLDT. In this division, we have seen many devices such as: touched screen monitors, they also have a computer that do not have a monitor but only a projector that displays the outputs and it is good for board room. The Solutions Laboratory is the division that simulates the projects of the company, as we look inside, we had seen a group of innovators that simulating their project. Their project is an application that can track a vehicle with a real time feedback to the user. The Project Noah was also simulated in this division during its testing period.

            After we finish touring the Business Solutions Center, we went back to the conference room and meted Mr. Edmund Mamboyo. He explained how PLDT do transmits data to their consumers, and he also explained the different backbones that are being used by the company for transmitting data from the sender to the receiver. He also showed us the structure of the telephone lines that are being established all over the country. He also tells us that their company is planning of making the whole transmission line of the PLDT to become fast by using fiber optic wires.

            In our company visit on IBM Philippines Techno hub, the facilitator for our company visit was Mr. Alexis V. Pantola, he is the technical manager of the IBM Philippines Techno hub. He, introduced to us how do IBM help people in innovating technologies, he also explains the advocacy of their company and this is all about the Smarter planet: Smarter Food Systems, Smarter Retail Systems, Smarter Energy, Smarter Cities, he also explain how they manage their services.He toured us around the server room of the techno hub where their different servers can be found such as: the blade servers and other group of servers that stores different data from different clients and mostly their servers are Intel based machines. He explained to us what will happen if the hard disk will have insufficient memory and what will happen to the servers if there will be no maintaining temperature that will cool the running servers all day, he said that you should place the servers into a room with a cool temperature because servers will easily heat itself. He also gave us an amazing fact that there are almost 2.5 quintillion (2.5 million trillion) bytes of data that are being processed per day in the whole world. He also taught us how the data passes to one another, and also how the data are being saved as well as retrieved from the database. He also explained to us what are the kinds of data and give examples for that kind. He also taught us how to make flowchart for databases to make the analysis easier. The most interesting part for me in his presentation is when he talked about the Smarter Analytics. He taught us what the types of analytics are, how to do prescriptive, descriptive and predictive analytics and when to use those types of analytics.

            The IBM Techno hub also accepts clients that want to use their servers for free of charges; the clients can come any time to store and host the system that they are innovating. But there is a limit in hosting from the server of the IBM, it only limits one month so that others can use it.

What I liked?

            I liked how PLDT preserved their memorabilia as the time goes by, and they put all the important things that symbolize the age of their company. I also like their Business Solutions Center because there are few things that are very new to me and I didn’t thought that those things are already developed by them.

            I also like the facilities inside the IBM Techno Hub, because they many servers that are mostly Intel based machine and can store larger files. I also like IBM because they help many people that do not servers on their own, because they can provide them servers to store their files for at least one month.

What I didn’t like?

            I enjoyed very much all the company that we visited in this day, the only that I didn’t like was when we visited PLDT and they do not allow us to bring cameras because of their security purposes.

Day 4

Today I went to a seminar to

            The Toshiba Storage Device Philippines Inc. located at Canlubang, Laguna City. In this company visit we observed how Toshiba do manufactures the hard disk drive that they installed in Toshiba laptops.

What I learned?

            In our company visit on Toshiba Storage Device, I learned that Toshiba is a merged from the companies that are based on Japan. These companies are the Tokyo Electric Company and the Shibaura Engineering Works Co. Ltd. which results to become a bigger company that known as Tokyo Shibaura Electric Company Ltd. and 1984 it was finally named as TOSHIBA. The Toshiba Information Equipment Philippines (TIP) was established on July 7, 1995 and inaugurated by the former President Fidel V. Ramos on October 1, 1996. I have learned that Toshiba Storage Device here in the Philippines are the one who manufactures the hard disks that are being installed on the laptops of the Toshiba. They also the one who exports the hard disks to the other countries around the globe. The company practices cleanliness so when we arrived there we have to put off our shoes and wear the prescribe shoes that are allowed to be entered in the company. They also practice to become a good employee so when you pass a co-worker you greet him especially to the Japanese managers at the company.

            The Toshiba Information Equipment Philippines only manufactures storage devices specifically hard disk drives that are being installed on the laptops since the other products of the company are being manufactured in the branches for example in China, the Toshiba company manufactures the laptops. The company always value their products so they always check their products with a high secure manner. The hard disk drive are being assembled by the machines and assisted by the workers of the company. As I observed during the tour there are many divisions that comprises the company, the logistics division where all the parts of the hard disk drives are located and I think like the other manufactured products by the other companies they have specific number of part to be installed in the product, another division is the assembly division where the hard disk drives are being made, I am amazed by the room where the hard disk drive are being assembled because it is an oxidized room but I am not really sure about the term that I used to name the room but it is quite amazing because the room is a dust-free room and the employees that are being assigned there are wearing a suit just like in the chemical laboratories and they are very well trained. Another is the testing area where the hard disk drives are being tested for almost five weeks and inside the testing area there are robotic arms that automatically get the hard disk drives and put into where the hard disk drive will be tested, during the test they will examine the performance of the hard disk drives on different room temperature because they said that the performance of the hard disk drive can be determined based on the temperature that is being place. Another division is the investigative division, when the hard disk drive fails from the testing area it will be delivered to the investigative division where it will be examined by the workers that are assigned in the division. When the hard disk drive fails they will check if there are minute objects that are mixed in the parts of the hard disk drive when they are being assembled, they also check if the parts of the hard disk drives are properly installed and if they do not find a problem within the naked eye, they use a microscope that can see a nano – sized object.

What I liked?

            As we go to Toshiba Storage Device, at Canlubang, Laguna City, I liked how they value cleanliness in their premises, even our shoes were taken off and changed into their prescribed shoes that allowed to enter in their building. I also liked the values that are being practiced by the employees to greet whoever the person they pass by. I also liked how they value and quality of their products.

            And after the company visit in Toshiba, we departed to Tagaytay City. I liked the beautiful scenic view of the Taal Volcano from the People’s Park in the Sky of Tagaytay. After the sightseeing in Tagatay City we go down to Laguna where the Enchanted Kingdom is located, it is memorable day because it is very memorable to ride the extreme rides in the Enchanted Kingdom. First, we took a ride on the Space Shuttle, and then we took a ride on the Anchors Away, after that we took a ride on the Ground Zero, and then we took a ride on the Roller Coaster, and then we took a ride on the Disc O Magic, and then we took a ride on the Swing, after that we get wet as we ride on the Rio Grande and lastly we ride the Log Jump.

What I didn’t like?

            The company visit in Toshiba Storage Device was very good after all. What I didn’t like was when we arrived in Enchanted Kingdom at 5 in the afternoon because of heavy traffic.

Day 5

Today I went to a seminar to

            The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) located at Madaluyongspecifically in Flood Control Information and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operation Center.

What I learned?

            In our company visit on Metropolitan Manila Development Authority or also known as MMDA, I learned that they are monitoring the traffic events and weather events in Metro Manila. They have CCTV cameras that are being installed all around the street of Metro Manila so that they can monitor the traffic in the different places in Metro Manila, their CCTV cameras can turn 360 degrees to view if there are traffic accidents that are happening in the roads. They can also see if there are metropolitans that are violating the traffic rules such as jaywalking. They can also zoom in the camera view so that they can see the plate numbers of the vehicle that is violating the traffic rules in the highway.

            They also have an ambulance so that they can rescue immediately the person that is caught in the camera who is currently in accident. They have many computer monitors that are being install in the walls of their Command Center to have a better view of the traffics in the roads of Metro Manila and also they can suggest motorists if there will be a heavy traffic to detour and go to a specific road so that they can minimize time of delay in the traffic. And they can store the video files for at least a month because they a huge memory to store all the files in there. Aside of monitoring traffic violations they also monitors the weather conditions in Metro Manila because they are coordinating with PAGASA so that they can inform immediately the people to evacuate their houses if there will be a flash flood that will happen. They also monitor the rivers of Metro Manila if there will be a heavy rain because they can control the dams and they can open the gate of the dam or close it to minimize the possibility of having a flood in the vicinity.

            We also go to their Shake, Rattle and Learn House which simulates how earthquakes affect the house. And I also learned the difference between the intensity and magnitude, where intensity describes the degree of shaking caused by an earthquake at a given place and decreases with distance from the epicenter while the magnitude is a measure of earthquake size and remains unchanged with distance from the earthquake. The earthquake is also graded according to the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS) intensity scale, 1 is an earthquake that is not felt, 2 is scarcely perceptible, 3 is a weak earthquake and felt by few, 4 is largely observed earthquake, 5 is a strong earthquake, 6 is a slightly damaging earthquake, 7 is a damaging earthquake, 8 is a heavily damaging earthquake, 9 is a destructive earthquake, 10 is a very destructive earthquake, 11 is devastating earthquake, and 12 is a completely devastating earthquake.

What I liked?

            What I liked in this company visit is that the speakers are very approachable, they answered all the questions that are raised into them easily that proves that they mastered all processes that they are doing inside the MMDA. I also liked how they manage to rescue if there is an accident happened in the street. I also liked their Shake, Rattle and Learn House that simulates the different level of intensity of an earthquake.

What I didn’t like?

            Overall, our company visit in MMDA is very amazing. But their video feedbacks are quite delayed for at least a second.

APPENDIX

What can I recommend for the improvement of the advance seminar program of USEP?

            I recommend for the improvement of the advance seminar program of USEP is that they pick companies that are very suitable or can discuss topics that they are studying in their present semester. They could also pick companies that studies or focusing in the environment like PAGASA or PHIVOLCS so that they can be aware the various kind of devices that are being used for the improvement of information technology in the environment.

My advice to those who will take their advance seminar program in the near future.

            My advice to those who will take their advance seminar program in the near future is that cooperate to your FTS officers so that your advance seminar program will be planned very well. And when you are in the seminar you should listen to the speakers so that your money will not become a waste.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Documents