ICTSI South Pacific bolsters maritime safety
South Pacific International Container Terminal (SPICT) and Motukea International Terminal (MIT), International Container Terminal Services Inc.’s (ICTSI) Papua New Guinea subsidiaries continue to demonstrate its commitment to upholding a safe and secure working environment for its employees and customers by participating in a recent seminar on the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS).
Organized by the Papuan Department of Transport and the US Coast Guard, the seminar enhanced the skills of SPICT’s and MIT’s HSSE departments to meet international standards of maritime safety.
This, in turn, ensures that port safety and security remain key in both terminals’ operations.
Celebrating growth
The Ascott Limited (Ascott), a globally renowned lodging owner-operator, is proud to announce its significant expansion plans for 2023, which will include the opening of eight new properties, along with several elevated brand experiences and a strong focus on sustainability. This growth reflects Ascott’s commitment to offering world-class hospitality experiences to its guests.
Philip Barnes, the country general manager, expressed his enthusiasm about the company’s expansion. “We are thrilled to announce the unprecedented growth of The Ascott Limited Philippines, which is a testament to our commitment to providing guests with exceptional hospitality experiences across all our brands,” he said.”
The Ascott Limited is excited to introduce its new brand, lyf (“live your freedom”), along with the launch of its official social media pages.
Ascott’s growing portfolio across the Philippines includes: lyf Malate Manila, The Suites at Torre Lorenzo Malate, Citadines Benavidez, lyf Cebu City, Citadines Bacolod City, Somerset Valero, Citadines Roces Quezon City and Somerset Gorordo Cebu.
Globe Business, Snowflake strengthen partnership
Globe Business announced last February 21 the expansion of its partnership with Snowflake, the data cloud company, to help customers in the Philippines maximize their data and future-proof their operations.
Organizations can use the Snowflake Data Cloud to unite siloed data, discover and securely share data, and execute diverse analytic workloads. Wherever data or users live, Snowflake delivers a single data experience that spans multiple clouds and geographies.
Customers throughout Southeast Asia are increasingly turning to Snowflake’s Data Cloud platform as they realize that data is the biggest value driver for their business. Snowflake Data Cloud helps customers unlock the true value of their data by breaking down data silos, making it easy to access and use data within an organization, and enabling innovation through Data Collaboration.
The partnership between Globe Business and Snowflake leverages Globe’s extensive network and expertise and the innovation of Snowflake’s Data Cloud to provide solutions that will help customers embrace digital transformation.
Thailand Week back in Manila
Thailand Week is coming back again for those who miss the high-quality products and the culture of the land of smiles.
Organized by the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), Ministry of Commerce in Thailand by the Thai Trade Center in Manila, “Thailand Week” has been the largest Thai product tradeshow in the Philippines for more than a decade. This year, Thailand Week 2023 will gather around eighty (80) Thai and Philippine companies to exhibit high-quality products at affordable prices. The tradeshow will be held from March 30 — April 2, at Hall 4, SMX Convention Center Manila, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City, with the theme, “Discover Excellence, Trade with Thailand”.
The trade show will showcase excellent products from Thailand, ranging from food and beverage, health & beauty products, household products, fashion & lifestyles, gem & jewellery, and many more.
The show will also allow attendees to indulge in the Thai cultural experience, especially the exotic cuisine from the most renowned restaurants in Metro Manila, as they will have cooking demonstration activities from “Thai SELECT” restaurants, the accredited restaurants by DITP.
This tradeshow is an opportunity for importers and distributors to connect with exhibitors who want to establish trade relationships and are looking for agents or distributors.
For more information, contact the Thai Trade Center in Manila, at tel nos. 88940406; 88940403, email at thaicommnl@ymail.com or fax at 88160698.
100th DAISY Nursing Award
Health Carousel, a leading healthcare staffing and workforce solutions company, celebrated a milestone of 100 DAISY Award recipients.
These awards recognize nurses, nursing school faculty, and nursing students for demonstrating an above-and-beyond commitment to care for patients and their families.
In 2018, Health Carousel began its relationship with The DAISY Foundation and started collecting patient nominations for the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. A corporate committee meets quarterly to review the nominations and selects one nurse from Health Carousel Philippines and each US corporate division who exemplifies the DAISY Award’s focus on above-and-beyond compassionate care.
The 100th award celebration took place on February 21, in Cebu. Angyl Fayth Ababat, a student nurse saved the life of an elderly vendor out on the streets of Cebu who suffered a knife wound to her neck. Health Carousel Philippines awarded her The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students in front of 749 nursing students, nursing faculty, parents, and guests attending her nurse capping ceremony.
Best Employer Brand
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) was recognized as the Best Employer Brand on LinkedIn for successfully engaging with its talents through meaningful and relevant content.
This further cemented the bank’s position as an employer of choice, with the aim of contributing to a better Philippines.
BPI won the award for companies with over 10,000 employees who follow and engage in its LinkedIn account. The awardees were selected by LinkedIn Philippines based on data analysis that examined each company’s utilization and engagement data to determine their ability to leverage LinkedIn Talent Solutions and make a significant impact within the organization.
Maria Virginia Eala, BPI chief human resources officer, said the award is a testament of the Bank’s consistent efforts to create more relevant programs for the employees’ career growth and development.
The award was given by LinkedIn Philippines, the largest business and employment-focused social media platform, in the recently held LinkedIn Talent Awards at Shangri-La BGC in Taguig City. ,
BPI was also selected as a finalist for the Diversity Champion Award for initiating and inspiring meaningful conversations around diversity, inclusion, belonging and equity.
Comm&Sense wins 8 Anvil honors
Public relations agency Comm&Sense emerged as one of the big winners in the year’s Anvil Awards, taking home seven trophies and its first nomination for Agency of the Year from what is considered the Oscars of the Philippine PR industry.
Receiving the highest honor is Bayer which got the Gold Anvil under the PR Programs on Sustainable Basis: Community Development category.
Bagging Silver Anvils were PhilCare, Unilab, Conti’s Bakeshop and Restaurant, and Power Philippines.
PhilCare won for its PhilCare Wellness Index: The Philippine Roadmap to the Next Normal nationwide study on health and wellness among the Filipino workforce.
Unilab received a trophy each for its #HindiBastaHeavy campaign for Hemostan and its kidney stone awareness campaign called Bato Bato Picks! for Tascit.
Conti’s Bakeshop and Restaurant took home their first Anvils for its sustainability project called One Bag At A Time and its Mango Farmers program.
Online publication Power Philippines received honors for The Power of Explainer and Nostalgia to Educate the Public on the Energy Sector.
PayMongo 4th anniversary
Filipino payment gateway PayMongo celebrated its fourth anniversary, at its headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, alongside their partners, merchants, stakeholders, employees and friends from various industries.
Launched in 2019, PayMongo is a financial technology company that helps Filipino businesses accept online payments from their customers and facilitate multiple modes of money movement online. PayMongo currently offers its services to more than 12,000 businesses in the country.
With the company’s newly issued electronic money issuer license, PayMongo is set to drive significant impact in the digital financial services sector for small and medium enterprises.
Diversity, gender balance
Globe is setting a new trend with women outnumbering their male counterparts in leadership positions.
Some 52 percent of Globe’s executive roster are women, with 49 holding the top two ranks in the corporate hierarchy, compared to 45 men as of end 2022. This marks the first time in at least five years that there were more female executives in Globe’s core business.
Women ranked managers and directors have also been increasing in the last five years, rising from 958 in 2018 to 1,193 as of end 2022. Even while there are still more men in middle management, the female population is catching up.
At Globe, an increasing number of women are taking charge, among them chief commercial officer Issa Guevarra-Cabreira, chief finance officer Rizza Maniego-Eala, chief customer experience officer Rebecca Eclipse, chief sustainability and corporate communications officer Yoly Crisanto, and chief compliance officer Marisalve Co.
GCash, the country’s top mobile wallet, is led by president and CEO Martha Sazon. Globe’s corporate venture builder Kickstart has been supporting global startups with Minette Navarrete as president, while Rush, the loyalty and e-commerce enabler of Globe’s 917Ventures, has been making waves in e-commerce under the leadership of CEO Stephanie Kubota.
IT solutions provider Yondu has been scoring wins with president and CEO Joan Peñaflorida on the saddle, while shared services provider Asticom Group of Companies has seen staggering growth with its president and CEO Mharicar Castillo-Reyes at the helm.
Prana Indian cuisine brings ife-Giving Force To The Palates
Last March 15, Novotel Manila Araneta City launched Prana Indian Cuisine. Prana is the Sanskrit word for “breath” or “life force”. Prana targets those who keep coming back for Indian food as the hotel wishes to promote Indian cuisine for people to discover the flavors of Indian food, rather than just the heat.
The launching of Prana started with a graceful inauguration and official ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by The Ambassador of India to the Philippines, His Excellency Shambhu Kumaran, the chief guest, alongside general manager Maria Manlulu-Garcia and ACI senior consultant Mr. Rowell Recinto.
“It is with great honor to showcase the rich heritage of Indian cuisine here in the City of Firsts. Every mouthful of our Indian specialties brings awakening energy to your palate. I hope you enjoy this flavorful journey with us, “ shared by Indian masterchef Rajan Veeranan.
