CEB transports over 50M vaccine doses
Cebu Pacific (CEB), has transported more than 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses across the country to date.
CEB has safely airlifted life-saving vaccines to 28 provinces since March 2021, namely: Bacolod, Boracay, Bohol, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cauayan, Cebu, Cotabato, Davao, Dipolog, Dumaguete, General Santos, Iloilo, Legazpi, Kalibo, Masbate, Naga, Ozamiz, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, Roxas, San Jose, Siargao, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, Tawi-Tawi, Virac, and Zamboanga.
Among the provinces, Cagayan de Oro received the highest number of vaccine shipments, totaling 711,520 doses over the past two months. It was followed by Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban, and Legazpi.
CEB has attained 100-percent vaccination rate for its active flying crew through its very own employee vaccination program, JG Summit COVID Protect, and various partnerships with local government units in the country. It has started its booster program to ensure the continued safety of its employees and passengers.
AIM uses data science, AI to help make Baguio City a smart city
Through Project MINERVA – Monitoring INdicators for Efficient Redevelopment and Value Assessment – researchers from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) through the Analytics, Computing, and Complex Systems Laboratory of the Asian Institute of Management (ACCeSs@AIM) are harnessing the power of data science and artificial intelligence in monitoring and building predictive models for various environmental factors in Baguio City, to help it become a smart city.
Project MINERVA was launched on 15 February 2022 at a kick-off meeting via Zoom conference organized by ACCeSs@AIM. MINERVA is a partnership between ACCeSs@AIM, the University of the Philippines — Baguio, and the Local Government Unit of the City of Baguio. The project’s ultimate goal is to have a data hub driving prediction and monitoring models for air quality, water supply, urban mobility, and tourism integrated into a Smart City Index and visualization platform.
With MINERVA, ACCeSs@AIM is building upon the foundations set by Project PATURO (Platform for Assessment and Tracking of Urbanization — Related Opportunities), its first smart city project. The project aims to complement the City of Baguio’s urban renewal and smart city initiatives through data science and artificial intelligence, leveraging existing local government datasets and technologies and deploying new sensors and publicly available data. Baguio City is a pioneer in providing digital governance in the Philippines and will be the testbed for the project.
Globe, partners highlight need for stronger, resilient infra vs disasters
As parts of Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao continue to reel from Odette’s impact, the Liveable Cities Lab found it timely to hold the webinar “Road to Resilience: Preparing Our Communities for Natural Disasters,” where humanitarian and utility experts addressed short-term and long-term measures for building basic service resilience in badly-hit areas.
Rofil Sheldon Magto, Globe communications manager for Visayas and Mindanao, said the company is pursuing a three-pronged strategy: continuous network investment in more resilient infrastructure to ensure seamless connectivity, digital transformation, and stakeholder engagement.
In cases when facilities are severely-damaged, Globe has additional network and logistics support such as Cell Site on Wheels (COW), Tower on Wheels (TOW), Genset on a Truck, Mobile Communications Command, satellite phones, and radios.
To avoid a repeat of the Odette experience, Aboitiz Power is willing to explore mechanisms that would make underground distribution systems commercially viable, like underground utility lines in the cities of Cebu and Davao.
Meanwhile, though Maynilad immediately extended assistance to affected areas by providing mobile treatment facilities to convert available water resources into potable water.
On the other hand, Veronica Gabaldon, executive director of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), made recommendations for different stakeholders, including agreements at the regional and city levels on better distribution of resources other than in Metro Manila.
Toyota supplies PCSO’s PTV donations
Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) released an initial 50 of 300 units of Hiace Commuter Deluxe Patient Transport Vehicle (PTV) to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in a turnover ceremony and deed of donation signing between PCSO and PTV beneficiaries last February 4 at the Toyota Otis dealership.
Guaranteed with the Toyota Sure Advantage of quality, durability and reliability, the Hiace units have been converted to meet the requirements of PCSO’s Patient Transport Vehicle Distribution Program which provides medical transport vehicles to LGUs nationwide. Designed and built to navigate even to far-flung areas while also providing sense of comfort during travel, the country’s top-selling utility van surely delivers quality performance to safely, reliably, and comfortably transport patients needing mobility assistance, and health care workers while they save lives on-the-go.
Delivery made easy
LBC has introduced before the pandemic LBC Pick Up is a free of charge service that lets customers avail of LBC services without the stress of having to go outside, travel and cue up.
To avail of the service, one can arrange a pick up location and set a schedule at lbconline.lbcexpress.com. Same day pick-up is also offered.
For those with multiple deliveries, LBC Pick Up can also easily accommodate bulk shipments owing to its air and freight capabilities.
An added feature of the service is the Push Hotline at (02) 8-8585999.
The service is available in Metro Manila, Northern and Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. LBC has also added more barangays in their serviceable areas- spanning all three regions to help more Filipinos affected by the pandemic.
P&G US a ‘Great Place to Work’
Procter & Gamble’s employee-focused efforts have enabled the multinational company’s headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States to earn the certification from Great Place to Work (GPTW) – a global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and effective leadership behaviors.
While the certification was awarded to its US workplace, the recognition reflects how P&G gives importance to its employees and workplace culture globally. Everywhere in the world, employees are P&G’s #1 priority.
P&G received the Great Place to Work recognition based on a random sampling of 5,000 of its current US employees. In the survey, which explored the participants’ experience working at the company, 71 percent of employees said P&G was “a great place to work.” This is significantly above the 59 percent average score of other US companies.
The results of the GPTW survey align well with P&G’s own internal global employee survey, which assesses how the company is doing and where else it can improve.
Aboitiz CEO: Strengthen innovation in services
Sabin Aboitiz, Aboitiz Group president and chief executive officer, joined Asia-Pacific business leaders at the APEC Business Advisory Council I (ABAC I) meetings held in Singapore to discuss the region’s agenda on accelerating COVID-19 pandemic recovery, boosting inclusive and equitable growth, and strengthening relations with dialogue partners.
Speaking in his new role as the co-chair of the Regional Economic Integration Working Group (REIWG) on Strengthening Services Trade and Investment, Aboitiz backed the services space as an engine for regional growth and recovery amidst the economic downturn, and underlined the need for closer cooperation between the private and public sectors in the development of an innovation ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific.
“Growth in services will primarily come from innovation. We need to focus on the ‘Next Big Thing’ by building economies and policies for the future, building ecosystems and environments that foster innovation and disruption to the fullest, and strengthening collaboration between the public and private sectors,” he said.
Aboitiz noted that as services begin to innovate and move up the value chain, priority must also be given towards upskilling workers and investing in education, R&D, technology, and data science in order to ensure a future-ready workforce that can be absorbed by the sector.
As the Services Trade co-chair, Aboitiz pointed to the Services Work Plan for 2022 which urges APEC economies to champion policies that support, incubate, and institutionalize an enabling environment for innovation and other emerging trends to thrive.
PT&T bags tech awards
PT&T Corp. remains committed to bringing cutting-edge technology solution to its customers, its president and chief executive officer James Velasquez said.
The company bagged two prestigious titles under the technology awards category at the highly coveted The Global Economics awards 2021.
The company was recognized by The Global Economics Ltd. for its ongoing commitment to innovation, as well as its drive for customer-centricity while being agile in responding to the pandemic.
PT&T has been adjudged the most innovative telecom services provider-Philippines and the Best CSR Initiatives (Telecom)-Philippines.
The Global Economics is a renowned UK-based print and online publication and a bi-annual business magazine giving thoughtful insights into the financial sectors on various industries across the world.
