Energy efficient dealership
The Toyota Oben Group — which owns and operates Toyota Balintawak, Toyota Otis, Toyota North EDSA, Toyota Marilao, Bulacan, and Toyota San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan –through a long-running partnership with Meralco Biz, generated more than P100,000 in monthly savings through energy efficiency measures from Meralco.
These measures ultimately enabled the group to offset incremental operational costs brought on by the pandemic.
The savings were then reinvested into projects that reduced their carbon footprint. According to the dealership’s International Standards Organization report, the business enjoys a monthly carbon footprint reduction of about 32 kilos.
“Our partnership with the Toyota Oben Group proves how Meralco Biz remains committed to empowering businesses despite the uncertain times. With reliable and future-ready energy solutions that will support the ever-changing requirements of businesses, we ensure that our partners maximize their business’s profitability, operational efficiency, and resilience,” said Joy Mendoza, AVP & Head of Meralco Biz.
New milestones for Zalora
Zalora is celebrating its 11th year with new milestones set to revolutionize the digital ecosystem under the new leadership of Philippines CEO, Aashish Midha.
Midha, who previously held the position of revenue director, brought in new milestones for Zalora such as the overall growth for the MCX Warehouse, as well as capitalizing on the Fulfilled by ZALORA (FBZ) and One Stock Solution (1SS) marketplace models.
Through FBZ, brands can avail of Zalora’s enhanced end-to-end e-commerce solution to enjoy a simplified operating process.
Available to a limited number of brand partners, 1SS allows brands to enjoy the benefits of Zalora’s warehousing and logistics infrastructure not only for their brand stores within Zalora.
To celebrate Zalora’s 11th birthday running from March 17 to 26, customers will get to enjoy discounts of up to 90 percent off on their favorite fashion, sports, beauty, home, and luxury brands. Its mobile pop-up concept store Z-Train will make its second stop at Greenbelt 3 from March 18 to April 18.
Advocacy marks 15th year
More than 825 educational grantees have been awarded by the Philippine National Police and the PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) since 2008.
Now on its 15th year, the social outreach arm of PLDT and Smart Communications Inc. continues to deliver its commitment to the PNP to support qualified dependents nationwide with quality education.
PSF has turned over another batch of financial assistance amounting to P500,000 to support PNP in their mission to push for quality education among qualified dependents nationwide. The educational grants have also reached PNP dependents whose parents perished or were injured and became incapacitated in the line of duty.
25 years of successful CSR partnerships
Pfizer Philippines Foundation volunteers gather for a two-day meal packing activity in partnership with Rise Against Hunger Philippines in celebration of its 25th anniversary.
For the last 25 years, Pfizer Philippines Foundation Inc. (PPFI) has provided opportunities for numerous Filipinos to thrive through its CSR partnerships and advocacies.
A non-profit organization, PPFI is the corporate social responsibility arm of Pfizer Philippines, one of the country’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
Headed by its executive director, Geof Garcia, PPFI has founded programs that respond to the needs and enhance the lives of Filipino communities.
“Over the past two-and-a-half decades, PPFI has engaged in various efforts to uplift the lives of Filipinos. PPFI has supported the country’s national development through successful partnerships with non-government organizations, institutions, national agencies and LGUs,” Garcia said.
The last 25 years has enabled PPFI to build strong partnerships over time. Some of the most notable organizations that PPFI has partnered with include the Kythe Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, ICANSERVE Foundation, Zuellig Family Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, PHAPCares Foundation and various academic institutions such as Philippine Science High School Western Visayas and the National Institute for Health.
Cebu Pacific starts Clark-Taiwan flights
Cebu Pacific continues to strengthen its Clark hub by adding flights to Taiwan.
Starting April 29, CEB will fly directly from Clark to Taipei four times weekly — every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Return flights from Taiwan will begin on April 30 and will operate four times a week — every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
Previously, the airline announced that it would start operating direct flights from Clark to Incheon, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Macau, Narita, and Singapore, and to seven destinations across the Philippines.
To support the expansion, CEB will lease and base three aircraft at Clark International Airport. These are on top of the 10 new Airbus NEO aircraft that will be delivered in 2023 to expand the airline’s entire fleet.
CEB now flies to 34 domestic and 25 international destinations, spanning across Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.
Young global leader
Isabelle Gotianun Yap, executive director and vice president at East West Banking Corp., has been chosen as a member of the Young Global Leaders (YGL) class of 2023 by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Yap, one of only two Filipinos chosen for the Class of 2023, has been instrumental in driving the digital transformation of the bank and enhancing its customer experience. East West Banking Corp is a subsidiary of the Filinvest Development Corp. Isabelle has also been a key figure in establishing Filinvest’s innovation arm, FDEV.
Among many other projects, Isabelle dedicated her time and expertise into leading the development of Komo, one of the first fully-digital banking services in the country.
Prior to EastWest, Yap was formerly a Consultant at McKinsey & Company and was part of the Management Associate Program with SingTel.
Yap earned her bachelor’s degree in business management, Double Major Finance and Marketing from Singapore Management University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Most reliable, most sustainability-driven
Globe has been named the Philippines’ Most Reliable Mobile Network by Ookla, as well as Most Sustainability-Driven Network Operator and Best Network Reliability in 2023 by Standard Insights.
Globe earned these awards for its unwavering commitment to delivering network consistency, accessibility, and reliability to customers, including its efforts in climate action as it integrates sustainability into its business operations.
Ookla, the global leader in network intelligence and connectivity insights, cited Globe as the country’s “Most Reliable Mobile Network” for retaining its top position over three consecutive quarters in 2022.
With only a select few providers globally achieving this much sought-after recognition, Globe has set itself apart by consistently obtaining the highest scores in All Technology Consistency and All Technology Availability.
For the fourth quarter, Globe maintained its dominance by receiving an All Technology Consistency Score of 83.13, beating its competitors’ scores of 80.83 and 72.59. The consistency score is determined by the percentage of a provider’s data samples that meet the minimum threshold of 5 Mbps for mobile download and 1 Mbps for upload.
Globe led All Technology Availability with a score of 92.38 in the fourth quarter versus its competitors’ 91.03 and 90.71.
Standard Insights acknowledged Globe for its network reliability and unrelenting efforts to protect the environment as it operationalizes climate action within its network operations.
In a survey that the independent market research firm conducted among major telco brands in the Philippines for the 2023 Consumer Awards, Globe received 37.5 percent of votes for having “the strongest and most reliable signal in the country” without worry of connectivity loss.
Globe also received 43.3 percent of the total votes among 1,215 survey respondents, edging out its competitors.
Gabay Guro, MPIF back scholars
Gabay Guro through Metro Pacific Investments Foundation Inc. (MPIF) has signed on to support 50 deserving high school students under the Department of Education (DepEd) Rizal’s Direct Financial Assistance Program.
Gabay Guro is a long-running education advocacy for teachers and students, in support of DepEd.
The Alay sa Batang Rizal scholarship program was founded in honor of Benito Pangilinan, former DepEd director of Public Schools and grandfather of MPIC chairman, president and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan. It is funded by the Gabay Guro program and the Pangilinan family, and will focus on mentoring for college-entry level readiness of the students.
The qualified Grade 12 learners, referred to as the “grantees”, are students from Laiban Integrated School, Sto. Niño Integrated School, Rizal Sports Academy, Talim Point National High School, Janosa National High School, and Daraetan National High School. Through DepEd Rizal’s Direct Financial Assistance Program, the partnership will provide a monthly monetary allowance from January to June 2023.
Also, during the event, one set each of mWell On-the-Go bags were awarded to the two schools from Rizal namely: Mamuyao Elementary School and Nayon Elementary School.
The Alay sa Batang Rizal Scholarship Program, the support for DepEd Rizal’s Direct Financial Assistance Program and provisioning of mobile clinics to the two Rizal schools under the flagship of Gabay Guro are aligned with Gabay Karunungan and Gabay Kalusugan, two of the MVP Group’s Gabay Advocacies for a Sustainable Philippines.
Road to 10M
Home Credit Philippines (HCPH) kicks off its 10th anniversary celebration with the goals of providing more Filipinos access to credit and reaching 10 million customers this year.
In 2022, Home Credit ended the year strong with a customer base of 9.3 million attributed to the expansion of its services to different lifestyle segments.
Home Credit has expanded to a robust 15,000 partner stores across 75 provinces in the country and has aggressively grown its online presence through the My Home Credit App.
The company has also forged partnerships over 300 lifestyle commodities ranging from gadgets and smartphones, appliances and furniture, to bicycles and motorcycle accessories, sports equipment.
The company also offers existing customers with good payment histories the opportunity to avail themselves of Cash Loan, which helps them to be more financially capable.
To date, Home Credit has disbursed over 1.8 million Cash Loans to its customers, in which 90 percent of the contracts were signed digitally and 20 percent of the applications were processed through the My Home Credit App.
Home Credit boasts of having the fastest cash loan approval and disbursement in a minute. Customers can enjoy the flexibility of the Cash Loan offers ranging from P3,000 to P150,000 and repayment terms from six to 48 months.
