COMELEC, SM Supermalls launch Let’s Vote PINAS!
Let’s Vote PINAS, a vote counting machine (VCM) demo and experience offered to the public by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and SM Supermalls, was launched on April 18 at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.
In attendance were COMELEC Chairman Hon. Saidamen B. Pangarungan, COMELEC Commissioners Hon. Socorro B. Inting, Hon. Marlon S. Casquejo, Hon. Aimee P. Ferolino, Hon. Rey E. Bulay, Hon. George Erwin M. Garcia, and Hon. Aimee Torrefranca-Neri, SM Supermalls President Steven T. Tan, and SM Supermalls Sr. Vice President for Operations Bien C. Mateo.
The Let’s Vote PINAS initiative is part of COMELEC’s Voter Education program, with the goal of increasing public confidence in the usage of the VCM, and providing a hands-on, educational experience in preparation for the Philippine National Elections on May 9, 2022.
This initiative is not exclusive to registered voters, as the COMELEC intends to encourage Filipinos of all ages to educate themselves on the voting process.
Let’s Vote PINAS will be supported by all 78 SM Supermalls by providing a venue, physical setup, and strong WiFi connection to mimic the election day on May 9. COMELEC will offer 800 mock ballots per mall every day, for a total of 500,000 mock ballots to be used across 78 SM Supermalls nationwide. The local COMELEC offices will oversee running the demonstrations within the SM Malls — the COMELEC’s sole partner in the Let’s Vote PINAS initiative.
Converge CEO bags ‘People of the Year’ award
Converge co-founders Dennis and Grace Uy graced the red carpet awards ceremony of Stargate’s PeopleAsia People of the Year 2022.
Converge ICT Solutions Inc. CEO and co-founder Dennis Anthony Uy joins the list of movers and shakers in the country who are making a difference in the lives of Filipinos as he was recently recognized among the “People of the Year” for 2022 by PeopleAsia.
In a ceremony held recently, Uy received the coveted award for his instrumental role in the digitization of the economy amid the pandemic.
“With this recognition, we hope that we will continue to inspire others as we hopefully move out of the pandemic. We have built our national digital highway and we will continue to reach more Filipinos to give them world-class broadband connectivity. This is our lifelong promise and our mission,” said Uy in his acceptance speech.
For the first time since the pandemic, PeopleAsia organized an intimate and memorable event to recognize its “People of the Year” where icons in business, government, sports, and society gathered at the Conrad Manila Hotel.
PLDT group joins hands to help Olango Island
PLDT’s wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) and its social action arm PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) have donated over 40 solar lamps and generator sets to Olangohanons still reeling from the devastation of Super Typhoon Odette three months on.
Smart and PSF’s provisioned solar lamps and gensets aim to help restart livelihood for affected residents in Cebu’s island of Olango, where life has yet to return to normal in the final weeks of restoration of toppled electric poles and repair of severed wires.
Going the extra mile through these efforts form part of PLDT and Smart’s #SafeandSmart advocacy, which promotes preparedness and immediate response through network resilience, continuous availability of communication services, and relief assistance to help communities mitigate disaster risks. It is also guided by the PLDT group’s core value of malasakit, or compassion.
Smart and PSF have been working together to help bring relief and assistance to Odette-hit areas in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. Over 50 areas severely impacted by the super typhoon have also been reached by PLDT and Smart’s communications aid via set up of Free Call, Charging and Wifi stations.
Clark remains a non-partisan zone
Clark Development Corporation (CDC) reminds the public that any partisan and political activity within Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) is strictly prohibited.
CDC President-CEO Manuel R. Gaerlan said that the CFZ, including the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) and all other government properties/areas, are non-partisan/apolitical areas based on the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) issuances.
The restriction includes motorcades, vehicles with public address system (showboats), playing of political jingles on loudspeakers whether stationary or mobile, house to house campaigns or stage gatherings in residential, leased, and public areas, rallies, ‘miting de avance’ or any other form of gathering that may promote the election or defeat a candidate.
CDC is also banning the entry of any motorcade or a group of motor vehicles that promotes a candidate/candidates. Posters and political ads in cars are considered campaigning and is a partisan activity.
However, singular vehicles, not forming part of a motorcade, entering Clark for business or tourism purposes, bearing one or two stickers (not the poster size) may be allowed, provided the purpose of the passenger/s must be stated upon entering the zone and is not part of the prohibited activities above.
The following partisan political activities are likewise prohibited within the CFZ/CSEZ:
· Distributing campaign literature or materials, paraphernalia, pamphlets, leaflets or similar materials designed to support or oppose the election of any candidate.
· Posting or publishing of campaign materials, tarpaulins, banners and similar materials designed to support or to oppose the election of any candidate.
· No CDC buildings and/or facilities shall be used as a campaign headquarters or assembly area for election and/or campaign purposes.
In the same light, all government employees and officials are reminded to refrain from actively campaigning for any political candidate.
Astrotel brand ambassador
Astrotel, the fast-growing hotel chain in Metro Manila, recently renewed its contract with model/influencer Linda Jan as the hotel’s official brand ambassador.
Present during the signing were Ms. Linda Jean, Astrotel’s Senior Manager Mitch Ocampo, Operations Head Malou Reyes, and Marketing Manager Sue Geminiano. The Management took this event as an opportunity to relay their appreciation for Linda Jean for her dedication and hard work in representing Astrotel.
“First of all, we are ecstatic to have Ms. Linda Jean will remain a member of the Astrotel family in the coming years. We believe in her work and her effectiveness in promoting our hotel brand. We commend her for her enthusiasm and positive attitude work attitude especially during activities and promotional events”, Ms. Malou shared.
This contract renewal with Linda Jean signifies many exciting things happening in Astrotel.
She is introduced as Astrotel’s official “Astro Girl” to coincide with the launching of the new icon-themed room designs such as Space Room, Iron Man and Captain America in Divisoria Branch. The hotel also launched new promos and discounts customized for couples, families, and groups. Most importantly, the hotel heightened its cleaning protocols and improved its 24/7 room service.
BPI Foundation, Entrego empower Sinag
BPI Foundation recently sealed a partnership with Entrego Express Corp. to provide logistic solutions to the top social enterprises who will emerge from this year’s implementation of the BPI Sinag business challenge.
BPI Sinag, a flagship program of BPI Foundation, aims to empower social entrepreneurs (SEs) in scaling up their businesses and boosting their impact on communities.
For this year’s BPI Sinag business challenge, Entrego is committed to providing service discounts to the Top 25 Sinag finalists. The top 11 to 25 SEs will receive a one-time discount of 25 percent or a maximum of P600 off, while the yop 10 awardees will receive a 30 percent discount or a maximum of P1,000 off for their first four billings.
Entrego will also provide a cash prize of P30,000 for the best performing SE with excellent responsiveness and quality of customer service via the “Entrego Bizkarte Award.”
Mastercard installments
Mastercard and Pine Labs offer Filipino consumers more flexibility with cashless payment options.
Consumers can shop and enjoy purchases with interest-free monthly installments across a wide network of merchants, anywhere Pay Later is seen.
Mastercard and Pine Labs have partnered to launch Mastercard Installments with Pine Labs which will offer Filipino credit cardholders the flexibility to pay in interest-free monthly installments with their enrolled bank’s credit card anywhere they see the Pay Later identifier.
Cardholders are not required to sign-up, and the program is available at local in-store merchants, and will subsequently expand to include online and cross-border merchants.
Security Bank Corp. was the first issuer to pilot the program, and in the pipeline are Asia United Bank, China Banking Corp. , Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co, Philippine National Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
DigiBanker for ITR season
Security Bank supports the goal of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to collect more than P250 billion in taxes in April, citing that taxes are crucial in keeping both the government and the economy going.
Security Bank remitted over P149 billion to the BIR in 2021 through its DigiBanker Cash Management service.
DigiBanker enables medium to large businesses to make frictionless and convenient online tax payments.
Security Bank recommends users to pay taxes at the comfort of their homes or offices through the DigiBanker online platform.
Security Bank’s DigiBanker is a multi-awarded cash management and payments platform being used by enterprises. It handles collections, fund transfers, vendor payments, and even eGov remittances, among others.
