ParaHERO drivers take part in SM Supermalls Program

This National Heroes’ Day, SM Supermalls salutes the ParaHERO tricycle and school bus drivers under SM’s Shop For Me program in the south metro area. Servicing residents in communities around SM City BF Paranaque, SM City Sucat, SM Center Las Pinas, SM City Bicutan and SM Hypermarket Sucat-Lopez, these everyday heroes deliver everything from essential items such as groceries and medicines, food from our favorite restaurants, to appliances and furniture, so we can stay home and be safe during the pandemic.
Initially launched as a tricycle ride-hailing platform for residents in Paranaque’s villages and barangays, during the pandemic ParaHERO has pivoted to an innovative mobile shopping and delivery service called Shop For Me, in partnership with SM City BF Paranaque. More than that, the service has since grown to serve more shoppers, while providing a means of livelihood for tricycle and school bus drivers.
“We thank SM Supermalls for their trust in us and for joining us in helping out our displaced drivers in the community who are out of work and public who need to safely purchase their needs,” says ParaHERO President & CEO Nino Duque.
School bus drivers have also benefited from the program.
With Shop For Me, customers can shop at SM from the comfort of their homes through an online form. ParaHERO connects this request to a driver to fulfill the shopping errand at the mall and deliver it straight to the customer’s door.
Shop For Me is one of SM’s programs aimed at providing convenience and safety for its customers, while supporting communities whose livelihoods and employment have been impacted by the pandemic.
PrimeBMD names De Dios as new CEO
Prime Metro BMD Corp. (PrimeBMD), a joint venture between Prime Infra, the infrastructure arm of the Razon Group, and Australia’s BMD Group, one of the largest family owned civil contractors in Australia, has appointed J.V. Emmanuel A. “Jocot” De Dios as the company’s new chief executive officer (CEO).
De Dios joins PrimeBMD with a wealth of experience having been CEO of GE Philippines for eight years, and formerly undersecretary of the Department of Energy. He will assume the position by September 1 while current CEO Jeff Gallus will remain onboard as director of operations and will provide continued support to the business during the transitional phase.
Since the incorporation of PrimeBMD in April 2017, the business has gone from strength to strength and has established itself as among the Philippines’ premier general contractors.
PrimeBMD specializes in the construction of major transport and urban development infrastructure for private and government clients in the Philippines. Its expertise includes the construction of roads and bridges, marine infrastructure and dredging services, airport infrastructure, building works, water and wastewater infrastructure, rail infrastructure, and commercial / residential land subdivision projects.
Kia Fairview dealership opens
Kia Philippines has opened the first of its planned additional four dealerships for 2020.
Owned and operated by the ANC+ Group of Companies, the Kia Fairview dealership is the second Kia facility under the automotive group, which touts a track record that spans two decades. The new sales and after-sales dealer located in North Fairview Subdivision along Commonwealth avenue in Quezon City is set to cater to residents of the area, as well as those from nearby communities.
Kia Fairview features a vehicle showcase lobby and service bays for aftersales requirements, as well as a lounge where clients can wait while their Kia vehicle is being serviced.
With more than 20 years of experience under its belt, ANC+ Group of Companies assures its customers that in Kia Fairview, their vehicles will be in excellent hands.
“The opening of Kia Fairview signals the further expansion of the Kia brand at strategic locations nationwide,” said Kia Philippines president Manny Aligada. “It is a clear testament that Kia is here to serve more Filipinos and surprise continuously with our stylish and quality products and aftersales initiatives,” he adds.
Shopee powers growth for Filipino brands and sellers
Shopee is stepping up its logistics preparations to help brands and sellers meet the increased online demand in the peak year-end shopping season.
“Shopee has built a robust logistics ecosystem designed for quality, reliable and scalable deliveries. We want to simplify logistics for brands and sellers by providing them with solutions that support their business needs. The initiative helps them attract more customers, increase sales, and grow their e-commerce business in the long-term,” said Martin Yu, associate director at Shopee Philippines.
Shopee’s purpose-built Warehouse Management System (WMS) uses data to make smart recommendations to trained warehouse teams, allowing increased efficiency from product picking to dispatching. It also uses data to forecast demand ahead of peak shopping periods so that brands and sellers can better allocate their resources.
Shopee has its own Shopee Xpress fleet that specializes in e-commerce deliveries. It provides additional capacity and flexibility for Shopee to scale delivery operations during busy periods, allowing sellers and brands to ship quickly and reliably out parcels during peak shopping seasons.
In the Philippines, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the online demand for home and living, food and beverages and fashion categories. Sellers and brands offering these items on Shopee were able to ship more parcels during this time, meeting their customers’ needs.
3 PH teams finalists at Alibaba challenge
Alibaba Business School, in partnership with The Royal Beijing Language and Culture
Center, has named the Top 3 Finalists for Global Ecommerce Talent (GET) Programme in the Philippines.
The competition simultaneously takes place in over a dozen other countries such as the African Region, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Colombia, France, Serbia, Russia, and Mexico.
This year’s Alibaba GET Global Challenge 2020 theme is “Digital Solutions During and
Beyond COVID-19.” The “GET Global Challenge 2020” event aims to discover solutions that can be used during this pandemic and beyond. The challenge wants to identify innovative digital solutions that pass criteria and will be of help to many people, businesses and institutions as everyone needs to adapt to the new normal.
The vision of this global challenge is “To inspire, inform, and enable.” Students and
universities have been encouraged to join and present ideas that will hopefully
reduce day-to-day struggles, combat the virus, and improve work efficiency and quality of life.
Three teams have been chosen
These three have been selected out of the 12 teams that showed their creativity and
initiatives and response to social responsibilities. The top three shortlisted teams are as follows: Neighbourly, Checkmade (Las Chicas), and Symlify.
Gabay Guro ties up with PayMaya
Teachers all around the country will soon have easier access to a financial account and learning resources in one app as Gabay Guro, the flagship advocacy program for teachers of the PLDT-Smart Foundation, partners with PayMaya for its super app for teachers.
Through the Gabay Guro app, teachers can soon sign up for a PayMaya account which they can use for various digital financial transactions such as paying for online and in-store purchases, sending money, paying bills, buying load, and paying government fees, among others.
This will complement the existing features of the app, which access to research materials, community-wide articles, rewards, as well as online lessons to help improve their teaching skills in the new normal.
The app will also enable account holders the ability to receive badges that can be converted into MVP Rewards, avail of promos and training sessions from Gabay Guro partners and mentors, and access to livelihood programs.
Soon, they can also receive cash assistance, incentives, and loans designed for educators and even get additional livelihood opportunities in the e-commerce space through their PayMaya account within the Gabay Guro app.
To date, PayMaya has enabled over 50 educational institutions all over the country with safe cashless payments acceptance, allowing schools to conveniently accept tuition payments from parents at the comfort of their homes.
PayMaya has also rolled out cashless payment ecosystems starting with the PayMaya-powered student ID card in schools including University of the Philippines-Diliman, LPU-Batangas, La Salle Green Hills, and STI, among many others. Students can easily link the PayMaya-powered student ID card to their PayMaya account and maximize for payment transactions even outside the campus at Bancnet-powered payment terminals and ATMs nationwide.
PCCI names Mangio as 46th PBC & E chair
The national leaders of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) named Korean Sangyupsal owner Enunina Mangio as chair of the 46th Philippine Business Conference and Expo (PBC&E), making her only the second woman to steer the biggest gathering of businessmen, policymakers and thought leaders in the country.
A licensed engineer by profession, Mangio is chairman of the board and president of Choosers Choice Food & Development Corp., Mawell Chemical Corp. and Servcare International Corp., an international corporate organization engaged in mining, resorts, hotels and casinos and property management with subsidiaries in the US and Asia.
The PBC&E is a venue for policymakers and business and industry captains to meet and exchange ideas on current and pressing issues, as well as on potential business opportunities. One of the significant highlights of the PBC&E is an audience with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte where the business community will present a set of policy resolutions that resulted from national and regional consultations.
This year’s conference will have innovation@ph as its theme. It will look closely into the country’s innovation ecosystem and deep dive into how executives in government and across industries are leading digital transformation across different aspects of government and business operations.
A series of innovation webinars was launched last week to officially kick off the 46th PBC leading to the actual conference on October 7 and 8.
Mangio has been an active member of PCCI serving as chair of the Philippines-Korea Business Council and Phil. USA Business Council. She is an honorary consul of the Republic of Liberia in Manila and charter president of Rotary Club of Fort Bonifacio West.