Procedures for PRC License Renewal at SM Business Center

PRC license renewal is already available at selected Shoe Mart (SM) malls nationwide. As I had mentioned in an earlier blog post, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) satellite offices are present in nine (9) SM Malls in Metro Manila and four (4) SM mall in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas.

But a more good news is that you can also have your PRC license renewed by going to any SM business center. This is good news because professionals can renew their license without going to any PRC office. Renewal can even be done before or after shopping.

Professionals who want to renew their PRC license at SM Business Center should follow these general procedures:

1. Fill out the PRC license renewal form at the Business Center of any SM Mall.

2. Pay at the SM Business Center the following fees: assessed fee for PRC license renewal, photo fee, and convenience fee. Additional courier service fee should be paid if the professional want his/her PRC (professional) license delivered to his/her address indicated in the renewal form.

3. If you paid the courier service fee then you just need to wait for your PRC license to be delivered at your address.

Those who did not pay the courier service fee must claim the PRC license on the date indicated in the claim stub.

Here are some reminders for PRC license renewal at SM business Center:

Representatives claiming the PRC license must present the official receipt, the claim stub, the ID of the representative, and a letter of authority or Special Power of Attorney (SPA) from the professional.

The photo fee, convenience fee, and courier fee are collected by SM Mart. Only the assessed renewal fee form part of PRC's fees.

To know more about PRC license renewal, please read these blog posts:

Tips on Renewing Your Professional License at PRC
How to Change Your Name on PRC ID due to Marriage
How to Apply for PRC Express ID
Authorization for PRC License Renewal

---

Information in this blog post was obtained from the PRC official website.

Cooking with Hanabishi Induction Cooker

We received plenty of wedding gifts and most of them are appliances. One of the useful appliances that we received is the Hanabishi Induction Cooker. This electric-powered cooker was given by my sisters because they believe that it will save us a lot of money. It is very thoughtful of them and yeah, we really need to save money because our savings were wiped out after the wedding.

(Source: Hanabishi website)

What’s Good with Hanabishi Induction Cooker

Induction cookers are getting popular because of MERALCO’s TV commercial promoting its use. According to MERALCO, cooking with induction cooker save 645 pesos as compared to cooking with gas stove.

(Source: MERALCO)

More savings is one of the advantage in using Hanabishi induction cooker.


Another advantage is cooking can be done by pressing buttons. There are buttons for frying, hot pot, boiling, braise, and making soup. Temperature can be adjusted by pressing buttons. The buttons that we usually use are the ones for hot pot, boiling and frying.

Hanabishi Induction Cooker in action.

Cooking is done quickly with Hanabishi Induction Cooker. Soupy meals can be boiled from few seconds to a minute (depending on the amount of water in the pot). Thus, we can finish cooking in no time. This is perfect for us, especially in the morning when we need to make breakfast quickly.

The Not-So-Bad Things with Hanabishi Induction Cooker

One problem with our Hanabishi Induction Cooker is that we have to put plenty of oil when frying because it tends to make the oil evaporate very quickly. The trick, of course, is to reduce the temperature.

Also, the pan will go red hot if you leave it without water or oil. I saw this happened and it scared me. I thought that the pan will melt.


One thing that some of you may not like is that the pan darkens once you use it with Hanabishi Induction Cooker. I think that this phenomenon is common with induction cookers. Another blogger, Melloyello, had the same observation.

Finally, what I didn’t like with induction cooker in general is that the pots or pans compatible with them are very expensive compared to regular pots or pans.

My Final Say

Despite the not-so-bad things that I said about Hanabishi Induction Cooker, I still give it a thumbs up. It is good that we save money when using Hanabishi Induction Cooker. The not-sobad things can be tolerated, anyway.

BPIExpress Online Advisory for MERALCO Subscribers

BPIExpress Online, website of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), has a new announcement for BPI clients who use the BPIExpress Online to pay their MERALCO bills.

Here is the announcement shown on the BPIExpress Online website:

(Source: BPIExpress Online website)

According to the announcement, “MERALCO subscribers will now be issued a new reference number which will be reflected in the revised billing statement format.”

BPI prepared a step by step procedure on how to enrol the new MERALCO reference number. The step by step procedure can be read at this BPIExpress Online page.

Users of BPIExpress Online should take note of this advisory. BPI did not mention of any effect if you used the old MERALCO bill reference number in paying your electric bill. One possibility is that your payment may not be received by MERALCO.

So, if you are using BPIExpress Online to pay your MERALCO monthly bills, then I suggest that you urgently follow the step by step procedures by BPIExpress Online. It is better to be safe than sorry.

If you have a BPI account but you have not enrolled account to BPIExpress Online, then you should read this blog post: “How to Enroll Your Account in BPIExpress Online”.

Also read my post on how to enrol your bills in BPIExpress Online.