Ayala Group former employees help farmers get fair price
Ayala Corp. President & CEO Fernando Zobel de Ayala recently led #BrigadangAyalaKaakay’s food distribution at Sto. Rosario de Pasig Parish in Pasig City together with Senior Managing Director and Public Affairs Group Head Rene Almendras.
Zobel distributed Noche Buena packs to 600 heads of families, who are part of the 500,000 beneficiaries of Kaakay.
“I am delighted to hear the stories of former Ayala colleagues Mike Carlos and William Coloma, and how they are helping farmers who have been struggling to sell their produce at a fair market price,” Zobel said.
Former sales agents Carlos and Coloma, with four decades of combined experience at Honda Cars Makati, Inc., a business unit under Ayala-led AC Industrials, started their own business by sourcing vegetables directly from farmers, eliminating the need for middlemen and enabling them to buy the produce at fair market price. According to Carlos, it was their frequent visits to farming communities in Benguet, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan that brought them to a lightbulb moment.
#BrigadangAyala serves as the banner under which social development and corporate social responsibility initiatives across the Ayala Group of Companies are implemented. The initiatives covered under #BrigadangAyala range from disaster relief and response, assistance for public education, championing of social enterprises, and public health advocacy, among others.
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ICTSI 90% vaccinated
International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) said it had vaccinated 90 percent of its employees.
More than 9,700 employees of the ICTSI Group have either been partially or fully vaccinated as of Oct. 31, reflecting the company’s successful information campaign and the employees’ strong team spirit when fighting for a common cause and looking out for one another, the company said.
With stringent health and safety protocols in all its terminals, ICTSI recorded less than 2,000 cases, equivalent to 18 percent of its workforce, from July 2020 to October 2021. Of these cases, 98 percent have fully recovered. With the 90 percent vaccination rate, the Group only recorded 30 new cases and 25 active cases last October.
Since the start of the pandemic, ICTSI’s business units around the world have been supporting their host communities’ and partner governments’ pandemic efforts. In the Philippines, ICTSI led the private sector effort to support the national government’s vaccine procurement and built a P250-million mega vaccination facility capable of inoculating 15,000 individuals every day.
To date, ICTSI and the Razon Group have spent a total of P1.5 billion in social investments to aid the Philippine Government’s pandemic recovery efforts, including the administration of over 300,000 doses of vaccines at Philippine ICTSI-supported vaccination centers as of November 19.
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RCBC puts a stop to mañana banking
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) understands the drawbacks ofthemañanaor procrastination habit. Within the industry, RCBC has constantly observed many customers putting up with inefficient and traditional services despite the better options simply because it’s what they’ve been used to.
No More Mañanais a character-driven campaign that focuses on the personification of everyday banking procrastination.
In essentially encouraging people to switch from their current bank to RCBC, CBR, Inc. Associate Creative Director Cedric Cammayo explains that, “Since the market is tired of your typical serious or lifestyle bank ads, we envisioned this campaign to really stand out by addressing the truth about procrastination and marry that message with humor. Out comes a campaign that not only entertains but also actually motivates you to do your banking ASAP.”
In the two months since the campaign was launched, RCBC achieved more than 50% of their annual target of newly opened accounts. With this tremendous response, the group is expected to further increase and generate new applications before the year ends.
RCBC is holding a limited-time offer for new clients. Open an RCBC account ALL ONLINE and get up to P500 cash gift, with an initial deposit of as low as P1,000. Download the RCBC Online Banking app to get started. Visit rcbc.com/nowto learn more.
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Shakey’s expands vegan line
Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. is expanding its vegan food product line with the introduction of its 100 percent plant-based the Goood Taco Shakey’s.
Made with 100 percent plant-based ground meat and dairy-free cheese, the vegan taco joins the Goood Burger and the Goood Nuggets earlier introduced by Shakey’s.
Vicente Gregorio, president and chief executive officer of Shakey’s, said thecompany partnered with unMEAT, the Philippines’ pioneer large-scale meat alternatives brand by affiliate company Century Pacific Food Inc. For the patties, nuggets, and meat toppings, Shakey’s utilizes unMEAT’s plant-based burgers and nuggets, all made with non-GMO soy proteins.
unMEAT created a dairy-free cheese alternative called ‘unCHEESE’ made with potato starches blended with natural flavors and oils. The product looks, tastes, and feels like dairy cheese, making it the perfect topping for Shakey’s new vegan Shakey’s.
Gregorio said the demand for healthier, better-for-you, and better-for-the-planet food choices has been on the rise, prompting the growth of the plant-based alternatives category.
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InnoGen 2.0 to help in rebuilding the country
Over 355 college students, grouped into 78 teams, from 29 universities and colleges nationwide, joined the second season of the Smart Prepaid Innovation Generation (InnoGen) — an innovation grant program for the youth.
Aligned with Smart’s and parent company PLDT’s core value of malasakit (compassion), InnoGen poses the challenge “How can the youth help the Philippines recover from the pandemic?”
The participating teams will present innovative solutions to the challenge using wireless or digital technology, to create opportunities for community development in the areas of disaster preparedness, education, environment, governance, inclusion, livelihood, sports, and tourism.
At stake for the teams who will reach InnoGen’s Phases 2 and 3, and the Demo Day, are connectivity and cash grants of up to P60,000. This includes cash and connectivity needed to scale up the winning team’s project. Participants also get the chance to learn from experts and advocates, through a series of exclusive online lectures, helping them gain knowledge and skills to enhance their projects.
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Netbank, Investree to serve SMEs across the country in 2022
Investree has strengthened its commitment to support the development of SMEs across the Philippines by collaborating with Netbank, a low-cost, high-quality banking services platform in the country.
Netbank allocated funds for Investree clients to support the initiatives that will be carried out in 2022 to contribute towards economic growth by providing new jobs, and paving the way for scaling up businesses. Investree is awaiting the SEC permit to extend its operations to Visayas and Mindanao and, provide convenient access to funds and marketplace platforms connecting SMEs and institutional investors.
Investree and Netbank are collaborating to expand the loans to the critical sector. Providing account opening services and investing in crowdfunding services will allow Investree clients to finance their trade receivables, giving SMEs vital cash to accelerate their growth. This partnership also allows Investree to accelerate its growth and ultimately serve the underserved SME market.
The collaboration between Investree and Netbank can also contribute to accelerating financial inclusion within the country.
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New PHA president & CEO
Premiere Horizon AllianceCorp. (PHA) has announced the appointment of current director Roberto B. Ortiz as the new president & CEOof the Company following the retirement of Augusto Antonio C. Serafica, Jr.
Mr. Ortiz is a well-respected financial and management advisor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who has over 40years’ experience in corporate finance and strategic financial management and investments. He serves as a directorand consultant for several multinational, domestic, and public companies in the sectors of telecommunications,industrial gases, food, renewable energy, construction, and retail. He was also elected as the chairmanof the board of PT&T.
Succeeding Mr. Ortiz as the Group CFO is Adrian F. Luzuriaga. Mr. Luzuriagais a finance and audit executivewith over 30 years of experience in international business, corporate finance, internal and external audit, risk andcompliance, and internal control functions. Prior to his appointment in PHA, he was the VP of Internal Audit of NissanMotor Asia Pacific, the Regional Audit Director of Delphi Asia Pacific, the Audit Manager of General Motors, and a senior auditor of SGV & Co.
Mr. Serafica will continue to serve as a non-executive director of PHA.
Premiere Horizon is an investment holding company with a vision of countryside development through pioneeringtechnologies and innovative business models. PHA holds investments in contract mining through its subsidiary,Premiere Georesources and Development Inc. (PGDI); real estate development through its subsidiary, Goshen LandCapital, Inc.; and tourism estate development through its subsidiary, West Palawan Premiere Development Corp(WPP). At present, PHA remains keen in investing in technology and innovations.
