SMC starts P1B vaccination for employees
San Miguel Corp. (SMC) launched its first vaccination site at the La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) in Mandaluyong on June 16 to officially start its P1-billion COVID-19 vaccine rollout for its 70,000 employees, extended workforce and their families.
Once fully operational by August, the La Salle Green Hills site will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 persons per day. SMC has purchased vaccines from Astra Zeneca and Moderna for its nationwide vaccination effort. The vaccines are set to arrive by next month.
Aside from the LSGH and JRU sites in Mandaluyong, SMC is eyeing 14 other vaccination sites in Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Albay, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Isabela, Bataan, Cebu, Mandaue, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro.
To mark the event, some 500 essential workers from SMC received their initial doses of the Sinovac vaccine at LSGH, through the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the City of Mandaluyong.
Another vaccination site, Jose Rizal University in Mandaluyong, which is jointly-managed by SMC and the city government, will also continue to accept individuals under the A4 category.
URC weathers hard times
Universal Robina Corp. (URC) has weathered a very difficult year by putting its employees on top of its priorities. It has made adjustments to ensure all workers are safe and productive, whether they are working from home or on site.
This has allowed URC to overcome headwinds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It reported a 15 percent growth in net income to P11.6 billion last year from 2019.
URC already had guidelines in place on employee safety and health as early as February last year, a full month before the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic.
These measures included working from home. Some URC staff were allowed to work flexibly anywhere, at any time, for one day a week, which became a 5-day work from home arrangement after government announced a lockdown in March last year.
URC gave temporary lodging for some 600 employees working on site, including machine operators, technicians and other skilled workers. For those who had to travel daily, URC provided around 100 free shuttle services.
Each employee received a hygiene kit containing face masks, a face shield, alcohol and packs of Vitamin C.
Mondelez PH supports Pride Month
Mondelez Philippines has recently signed on to become a member of the Philippine Financial and Inter-Industry Pride (PFIP), an organization which is a collaborative, voluntary, and non-profit community composed of dedicated representatives from LGBT+ Employee Resource Groups, Human Resource, and Diversity teams of the corporate industry, aiming for a safe and inclusive industry for members of the LGBT+ community.
At a recent Pride Month forum Mondelez hosted, best practices for creating a diverse and inclusive workplace were tackled. It was the first forum of its kind for the company locally and even in Southeast Asia.
Locally Mondelez Philippines has implemented several policies which support members of the LGBT+ community including HMO benefits for domestic partners, primary caregiver leaves, single parent leaves, and remote working policy for employees whose partners are working abroad. Mondelez Philippines has also launched an aggressive internal campaign against unconscious bias.
ACCIONA to vaccinate employees In PH
ACCIONA has procured a total of 2,400 doses from Moderna to vaccinate all of its employees in the Philippines and their immediate family members to ensure their welfare and safety.
The first batch of its Moderna vaccines is set to arrive in the country at the end of June.
ACCIONA’s plans include vaccinating its main subcontractors and their construction workers.
The company is currently carrying out various transport infrastructure and water projects in the country, such as the construction of the 650-meter cable-stayed Cebu-Cordova bridge, which will provide a new connection between the city of Cebu and Mactan International Airport; two sections of the railway line that will connect Malolos with Clark International Airport, and the Laguna Lake Water Treatment Plant.
GCG marks 10th anniversary
The Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), the central monitoring and oversight body of government-owned or-controlled corporations (GOCCs), celebrated the anniversary of Republic Act No. 10149, otherwise known as the GOCC Governance Act of 2011 , marking GCG’s 10th year of policy-making, performance evaluation, and promotion of corporate governance that enable GOCCs to become significant tools for economic growth and development.
Senator FranklinDrilon, the principal author of the GOCC Governance Act, in a written message to the GCG commended the contribution of GOCCs in raising funds for the government’s COVID-19 response.
The agency noted there is much more to do regarding rationalizing the GOCC Sector and enhancing competitive neutrality, implementing the CPCS (Compensation and Position Classification System), promoting participatory governance in the Sector, and raising corporate governance to international standards, among others.
SM MOA granted Safety Seal
SM Mall of Asia was recently granted the Safety Seal by the local government of Pasay, the first mall to receive the recognition in the city under the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force’s safety program.
The awarding ceremony was held June 11, at the SM Mall of Asia Level 2 Atrium. This brings to 33 the number of SM Malls awarded the Safety Seal by the IATF and their respective LGUs.
The Safety Seal Certification is a voluntary certification scheme that affirms compliance with the minimum public health standards set by the government and uses or integrates its contact tracing with StaySafe.ph.
To date, all three SM Supermalls along EDSA and 30 other malls in Luzon have received their Safety Seals, while the malls in Visayas and Mindanao are currently being reviewed by their respective LGUs.
Best incubators at startup awards
The country’s best technology business incubators (TBIs) were recently recognized at the PH Startup Incubator Awards (PHSIA) as part of the TBI 4.0 Program, an initiative forged through the partnership between QBO Innovation Hub and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Some of the promising startups being incubated in the TBIs include BINHI from SIBOL Labs of the University of the Philippines-Los Banos, this year’s Best Incubator Community Program Awardee; Xperto of UPSCALE Innovation Hub; and Eskwelabs from QBO Innovation Hub.
BINHI is a plant tissue culture laboratory, specializing in plant propagation and breeding. They produce superior disease-free planting materials using tissue culture technology and is the only private laboratory offering such service in the Philippines. Xperto aims to create an online events management platform for professional learning programs, while Eskwelabs helps Filipinos be better prepared for the future of work through data education courses.
With the Philippine Startup Incubator Awards and the DOST’s recent announcement of the 14 startups receiving funding through the Startup Grant Fund Program, it has become clear that both public and private sector leaders are increasingly recognizing the role that the startup ecosystem plays in the country’s growth and development.
Shopee Thursdays with DTI
Shopee has partnered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to offer in-depth discussions about online selling to support the growth of online businesses through Shopee Thursdays.
These masterclass sessions aim to equip existing and aspiring online entrepreneurs with the right tools and information on how to use data to operate effectively in the e-commerce space.
Martin Yu, director at Shopee Philippines, said the sessions will enable MSMEs to maximize the e-commerce space to its full potential.
Sellers can learn essential tips on how they can expand their businesses on Shopee in the upcoming sessions.. On June 24, the masterclass session will focus on the potential of data and how entrepreneurs can use it to improve their shop’s performance.
Paspas Permit campaign cited
The Havas Ortega Group was the only agency to bring home a metal in this year’s Festival of Media Global Awards.
Together with the City of Valenzuela, they received the Bronze Prize for their “Paspas Permit – Predictive Print Ads” campaign.
“Paspas Permit Predictive Print Ads” is a collaboration that aimed to encourage more entrepreneurs in Valenzuela to use the city’s online business registration platform through the help of print publications.
The predictive ads were customized to align with the news that the reader would be seeing on the day’s paper, emphasizing that by the time they finish reading the news, they would have completed registering their business.
Through the Paspas Permit ad campaign, which highlighted Valenzuela’s 10-second business registration process, the city’s business registrations and transactions grew significantly in 2020. After running the ads last year, business transactions in Valenzuela went up from 22 to 2,621 corresponding to over p232 million pesos in the city’s income.
SEEK Asia appointment
SEEK Asia, which combines two leading brands JobStreet and JobsDB, today announced the appointment of Michele Manigart as chief strategy officer
In her new role, Manigart will be responsible for defining and driving locally responsive, and group-aligned strategic priorities, while building and leading a team of world-class strategists.
Manigart brings 18 years of experience, including various leadership positions in management consulting, which provided her with deep experience in strategic and analytical thinking, core business operations, and people management.
