LIMA Water expands services
Committed to accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis, LIMA Water, Aboitiz InfraCapital’s water unit that oversees the water and wastewater services operations of LIMA Estate in Batangas, is set to launch its septage treatment services for neighboring cities and municipalities in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon.
LIMA Water’s initiative to offer septage treatment services would help improve sanitation, ensure the long-term viability of groundwater sources, and safeguard public health in Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon.
To ensure that LIMA Water provides efficient and quality septage treatment services, it uses a wastewater treatment plant that is compliant with the latest effluent standards and has its own DENR-accredited laboratory. With LIMA Water’s commitment to sustainability, this facility is also set to operate on solar energy.
LIMA Water provides water services and wastewater treatment to more than 140 locators with over 65,000 employees in LIMA Estate. In 2022, it employed a SMART Water Network technology in its water operations, transforming all its water facilities into interconnected and intelligent systems and increasing the efficiency of its water services. It operates two wastewater treatment facilities with a combined treatment capacity of 26 million liters of wastewater daily. LIMA Water was able to treat more than 2 billion liters of wastewater last year.
Accountancy excellence
Four SM executives led the charge among 100 notable Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in the country as they were conferred the Centenary Awards of Excellence for their outstanding contributions in the advancement of the accountancy profession.
The Centenary Awards of Excellence were presented to Jose Sio, chairman of the Board, SM Investments Corp.; Jeffrey Lim, president, SM Prime Holdings Inc; Nestor Tan, president and CEO, BDO Unibank Inc.; and Roque Lim, director, SM Retail, Inc.
The Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (PRBOA) noted that “these are the Filipino CPAs who demonstrated unquestionable integrity, contributed immensely to the advancement of the accountancy profession and participated remarkably in national development.”
The award marks the culmination of the 100th year anniversary celebration of the Accountancy Profession in the Philippines. A celebration was held on March 17 at the Grand Ballroom of the Manila Hotel by the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy
Partner of the Year
Yondu Inc., Globe’s managed ICT services partner, was honored with the SEATH MSP Partner of the Year for 2022 award at the annual HPE Channel Partner award for the South-East Asia Taiwan and Hong Kong/Macau (SEATH) region.
This award recognizes Globe Business’ pursuit of developing new and innovative products or services that have made a significant difference for businesses.
By leveraging the Aruba Central platform and Aruba’s EdgeConnect Branch solution, Globe Business played a key role in enabling businesses in the region to achieve improved network performance, increased security, and cost savings through the implementation of SD-WAN.
Globe Business’ expertise in Managed WiFi and SD-WAN services positions the company as a leader in the industry. Their impeccable drive to deliver reliable and secure connectivity solutions, along with their ability to simplify the IT management process, makes Globe Business a valuable partner for enterprises looking to optimize their IT infrastructure.
“We are delighted with being awarded as the SEATH MSP Partner of the Year for HPE Aruba Networking. This strengthens our position as one of the top managed service providers not only in the Philippines but also across Southeast Asia,” said Chris Cheng, vice president for Connectivity and Digital Products of Globe Business, Enterprise Group.
Financial inclusion mission
Cebuana Lhuillier, in partnership with Advance, the country’s leading provider of on-demand credit for employees, launched Cebuana Lhuillier Advance to enable employers to provide on-demand financial assistance to their employees.
It is very convenient on the part of the employers, especially the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as it comes without cost or liability to them. It also simplifies the salary deduction process and allows them to provide salary loans to their employees without disrupting the cash flow used to manage and grow their business. Companies may use the product to increase and improve employee productivity, engagement, and retention.
Through its mobile app, Cebuana Lhuillier Advance provides employees with 24/7 instant access to much-needed cash that will come in handy for emergencies and daily needs. Once their company gets enrolled in the program, employees receive a revolving line of credit that is automatically replenished upon repayment. Users have three convenient short-term repayment periods to choose from, ensuring that transactions are not heavy on the pocket come payday.
BDO wins Platinum Award
BDO Unibank Inc. received a Platinum Award for Excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) for the 13th straight year at The Asset 2022 Awards in Hong Kong. The Asset ESG Corporate Awards through leading research house Asset Benchmark Research is the longest-running ESG awards in Asia.
The Asset Awards judges use a highly stringent criteria which include financial performance, corporate governance, environmental and social responsibility, and investor relations.
BDO also won the Best Sustainability Bond for Financial Institution in the Philippines at The Asset Triple A Country Awards 2022 for Sustainable Finance. This award was for the P52.7 billion ASEAN sustainability bond, the largest ESG-related bond offering from a non-sovereign Philippine issuer.
PlantSmart kits cross 8k milestone
As part of the group’s initiatives for International Women’s Month, PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. turned over PlantSmart kits to the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW), Marillac Hills, and Haven for Women.
PLDT and Smart partnered with the organizations in maintaining vegetable gardens in the premises to help provide women residents and those deprived of liberty access to affordable and nutritious food.
“To date, we have distributed over 8,000 PlantSmart kits to 281 urban and rural communities nationwide. We will continue this movement to reach more beneficiaries all over the country,” said Cathy Yang, FVP and group head of Corporate Communications at PLDT and Smart.
A hundred PlantSmart kits were donated to CIW to support the institution’s reform initiatives for persons deprived of liberty (PDLs). Marillac Hills and Haven for Women, which provide safe refuge to girls and women victims of abuse, each received 50 planting kits, to encourage residents to start growing their own food in their backyards.
Produce to be harvested from the planting kits also aim to help augment the costs of meals of women detainees in CIW and those living in the female care facility.
5.8M Filipinos receive aid
International Care Ministries (ICM), a Philippine-based non-profit organization, has delivered over 20 million meals and relief goods to 5.8 million Filipino family members since the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns through its Rapid Emergencies and Disaster Intervention (REDI) help hotline.
REDI is powered by Infocast, a web-based text-broadcasting solution provided by Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart).
Since 2017, ICM has been using Smart’s Infocast for REDI to send and receive important updates across 27 provinces across the country. It proved to be an invaluable tool during both natural and man-made crises, especially during the pandemic lockdowns. ICM gets urgent information from its network of pastors, community leaders, staff, and volunteers who are registered on the platform, then gathers the details to immediately execute relief distribution and other disaster mitigation plans.
To date, Smart Infocast has enabled ICM to make 16,000 deliveries of food and relief goods from REDI reports. Infocast is part of a broader program of the PLDT Group to support United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #11 of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
Best workplace
For the second year running, Teleperformance has just been awarded as one of Philippines Best Workplaces in 2023.
This was announced during the Great Place to Work® Philippines first in-person recognition gala at Hilton Manila.
Teleperformance, along with 35 workplaces in the Philippines, were recognized for being trailblazers in the art of connecting, leading, and inspiring employees.
Great Place to Work Philippines assessed participating employees’ experiences across five dimensions — credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie. Using this standard, qualified workplaces should have a high level of trust among employees, a sense of pride in the workplace, and the general sentiment of joy and togetherness among coworkers.
“Over the years, our Teleperformance Philippines family has shown true passion for care, integrity, and innovation — reflecting the core values we uphold as an organization,” Teleperformance Philippines Chief Executive Officer Francisco Lara said.
Honda enables young Filipino innovators
Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) joins the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) in an innovation competition for young Filipinos in Senior High School.
The program imake.wemake:create.innovate.collaborate fosters creative and innovative thinking among students by enabling them to solve problems of their respective communities or achieve a particular purpose using critical thinking, experimentation, risk analysis, engineering, and technical skills.
This year’s contest gathered a total of 89 project proposals from public and private high schools all over the Philippines, the biggest number of proposals received since the program started in 2017.
The MOA signing between DOST-SEI, HCPI and fellow program partners C&E Publishing, Inc. and Gokongwei Brothers Foundation took place at the Sequoia Hotel, Manila Bay, Paranaque on March 13. On the same day, finalists composed of 20 school teams also began their five-day Technical Training, Workshop, and Mentoring.
The imake.wemake innovation competition empowers schools and universities to build communities of learners who also value resource and knowledge sharing, as well as a dynamic and collaborative approach towards creating solutions. Through the partnership, three schools, to be selected by a distinguished Board of Judges, will each receive a Youth Innovation cash grant of P200,000. This would be after a build period of about 90 days allotted for finalists to design, build, and complete their working prototype, including test deployment in their chosen community.
