DBP lends P500-M for pioneering hospital in Cavite town
State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has granted P500-million in funding support to a Cavite-based healthcare institution for the construction of a hospital facility to meet the growing demand for healthcare services in Cavite and nearby towns, a top official said.
DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa said the credit assistance to Ridgeview Hospital and Medical Center, Inc. (RHMCI) under the Bank’s Strategic Healthcare Investments for Enhanced Lending & Development (SHIELD) program would be used to finance the construction for the first level 2 hospital in Alfonso, Cavite.
DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy — infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; environment; social services and community development.
RHMCI is a start-up private corporation owned by practicing medical professionals and business experts in Cavite. The new facility will be strategically located in the Metro Tagaytay area and shall be accessible to nearly 500,000 residents of the district and nearby municipalities such as Emilio Aguinaldo, Magallanes, Maragondon, Mendez, Naic, Ternate, Amadeo, Indang, Trece Martires, Silang, Tagaytay, and Nasugbu, Batangas.
Herbosa said under the agreement, P395-million will be utilized to partially finance the construction of a five- storey, level 2 hospital while the remaining P105-million will cover the acquisition of medical equipment and machineries.
Outstanding projects recognized
BPI Foundation in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) — Science Education Institute recently recognized the top 3 best innovation projects that aim to help solve prevalent societal issues, leveraging on innovation, science, and technology.
The BPI-DOST Innovation Awards program provides an opportunity for college students of basic and applied sciences to work on projects that aim to solve prevailing challenges that we currently face.
The following, in no particular order, won the 2022 BPI-DOST Innovation Awards and received P100,000 each: St. Louis University’s “TaniKalusugan-BlockVax: A Digitized Immunization Records System using Blockchain Technology” ; University of the Philippines — Visayas’ “Carbon Quantum Dots as Innovative Materials for Detection and Removal of Selected Aquatic Pollutants,” and; University of Santo Tomas’ “Artificial Intelligence-Based Prediction of Colorectal Cancer using miRNA Expression.
R.O.X – 15 Years of Gearing You Up
R.O.X. or Recreational Outdoor eXchange is one of the biggest outdoor superstores in Southeast Asia, showcasing superior outdoor sports products from the best brands in the industry. This year marks the 15th year of R.O.X., and is celebrating it all month long by giving away prizes and launching new brands and services.
One of the biggest categories is glamping, “GLAMorous” and “camPING”, which is camping with amenities. R.O.X. specifically focused on mobile camping with no less than established premium brands Maserati and Dometic.
To officially launch their glamping section, R.O.X. will feature the Maserati Levante GT Hybrid 2022, which combines a 4-cylinder, 2-liter engine with a 48V motor delivering a total of 330hp to help you blaze new trails and take your adventure to new heights.
Dometic, the global leader in RV/Camper climate control, sanitation, kitchen appliance, awnings, and windows to name a few, offers Dometic Outdoor which covers all camping necessities and equipment- from drinkware to camping chairs, tables, tents, coolers to portable freezers.
Customers will also be able to see the collaboration of a streetwear and car lifestyle brand ILLEST with Medicom Toy’s BE@RBRICK.
Kindness Kitchen to serve Paeng victims
McDonald’s Philippines — through its charity of choice, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Philippines and its Kindness Kitchen program — will be serving over 5,000 meals to affected families in the wake of Typhoon Paeng, as part of its continued commitment to helping Filipino communities in need.
Volunteers from McDonald’s restaurants and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Cebu will be delivering meals to the following affected areas: Kalibo, Aklan, Zamboanga City, Legazpi City, Albay, Naga City, Camarines Sur, Kawit and Bacoor, Cavite, Biñan, San Pablo, and San Pedro, Laguna, and Gumaca and Tayabas, Quezon.
The Kindness Kitchen program continues to serve meals and provide relief operations to far-flung communities and affected communities by natural disasters such as the recent Typhoon Karding. With its network of volunteers including some of its employees and partners, the Kindness Kitchen is able to reach marginalized sectors without access to food.
SmarTrade at 5
Since its foundation in 2017, SmarTrade has been steadfast in providing world-class financial education to Filipinos willing to learn about online trading as an investment opportunity and a way to create another income stream.
In the past five years, SmarTrade has trained thousands of Filipinos by offering free learning sessions and one-on-one coaching, as well as holding roadshows in cities across the country including Cebu, Davao, and La Union. Even with the pandemic, SmarTrade found a way to continue servicing its clients by rolling out online learning sessions when everything was in lockdown.
To date, SmarTrade’s learning sessions have reached 36,332 participants from 566 locations nationwide. The company has conducted 1,069 in-person learning sessions and 547 webinars.
Taiwan disaster relief donation
On behalf of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Representative Peiyung Hsu of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines (TECO) donated $400,000 to the Republic of the Philippines as a disaster relief fund at a hand-over ceremony in TECO on November 11, to assist the people affected by the recent storm Paeng.
Silvestre Bello III, chairman and Resident Representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, accepted the donation on behalf of the government of the Philippines.
The government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has donated $1.1 million to the government of the Philippines for disaster relief in the past one year. Taiwan will continue to collaborate with the Philippines on disaster prevention and climate resilience, and strengthen bilateral ties, including areas on agriculture, education, and tourism etc., to further enhance the well-being of both peoples.
First QR-operated teller machine
COOPNET rolls out its Cooperation Network (COOPNET) teller machines (CTMs) — the first-ever cardless teller machine that will work with a QR code — to cater for the underserved and less digitized cooperatives and financial institutions.
The announcement was during the 2022 C-Tech Summit on November 11 at the Green Sun Hotel in Makati City.
COOPNET is poised to be a network solution made specifically for financial entities to connect with banks, bancnet, e-wallets, and remittance centers to facilitate customers’ payment collection and disbursement. Its QR technology is powered by QRPh, the National QR Code standard in the country regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas .
The 24/7 “easy access” design of CTMs revolutionizes the traditional automated teller machines (ATMs) that generally use a card to withdraw cash and for other banking transactions, as it operates using QRPh codes generated from the COOPNET Mobile App.
Startup Week
The country’s largest startup conference is happening this November 14 to 18, with the first in-person event—the first in two years—happening on the first day at The Blue Leaf Pavilion, Taguig, Metro Manila.
Now on its fourth year, the Philippine Startup Week (PHSW22) is working under the theme “Homegrown Heroes: Cultivating Future Tech Giants”, where it aims to focus on bringing together the local startup community as well as the various sectors, groups, and home-grown high-potential startups contributing to the growing Philippine startup ecosystem during this event.
As a blended conference – a first after two years – the conference will have an in-person meet-and-greet on the opening day at the Blue Leaf Pavilion, with the succeeding days to be held on a virtual platform.
HONOR at SM
HONOR fans can finally purchase their favorite HONOR gadgets in select SM malls starting November 15.
After its HONOR 70 5G, HONOR Pad 8, and HONOR X6 Grand Launch last October and its first exhibit kiosk in SM Megamall last Oct. 28 to Nov. 2, the leading global provider of smart devices, will now be finally present at SM Rosales, Pangasinan; SM Baliuag, Bulacan; SM Center Dagupan, Pangasinan; and, SM Butuan, Agusan del Norte.
“Since we started reestablishing the brand again last September, we are very happy to share that we’ve already reached 80 percent of our target in opening stores nationwide for Q4. This expansion will continue in 2023 as we also grow the brand and business,” said Stephen Cheng, VP of HONOR Philippines.
In the next coming months, HONOR will be visible to more SM stores in Metro Manila, other parts of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
