UST-FMS book wins Gold Quill Award
The UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery concluded its 50th anniversary celebrations with a highlight finish, bagging a gold in the prestigious IABC Gold Quill Awards for 2023 with Honora Medicum: 150 Years of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery University of Santo Tomas, a coffee-table book produced in cooperation with the publishing powerhouse Media Wise Communications/MUSE Books.
The golden win, announced this April by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), puts the UST-FMS among just a handful of Philippine organizations to have earned the distinction from IABC. The IABC Gold Quill Awards recognizes and awards excellence in strategic communication, with hundreds of entries from around the world vying for the international awards every year.
The 380-plus page Honora Medicum celebrates UST-FMS’s 150-year history and elaborates on the institution’s pivotal roles in medical education and in public health in the Philippines, highlighted by UST-FMS’s major contribution to the country’s response to the Covid epidemic.
That historic journey is told through the unique prism of the institution’s integration of faith and science in its academic programs, with UST-FMS harnessing the collective expertise and experiences of its graduates and faculty– 45 interviewees/contributors and 23 writers in all, including UST-FMS Dean Ma. Lourdes P. Domingo-Maglinao, UST-FMS regent Fr. Angel A. Aparicio, O.P., end erstwhile DOH secretary Francisco T. Duque III.
Honora Medicum garnered high praises from the international panel of IABC judges, with one saying that it is a “fascinating and moving body of work, with both the visual and writing. . .Marking any historical moment is not an easy feat, and this work sample comes together nicely in publication form to honor the impact and legacy of the institution in a lasting way.”
UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery Assistant Dean Dr. Remedios Dee-Chan, M.D. will receive the award on behalf of the UST-FMS on June 6, in Toronto, Canada, at the IABC World Conference together with all the other winners.
NGCP calls for holistic solution, better coordination within energy supply chain
NGCP clarifies that the system disturbance and the widespread outages in Panay Island between April 27 and 29, and the red alert raised in the Luzon grid resulted from a confluence of events that supports its call for better and proper power system planning across all 3 members of the energy supply chain: generation, transmission and distribution.
NGCP further explained that while there were grid incidents monitored in both the Luzon Red Alert on May 8, as well as the Panay Island outages, these incidents by themselves, ought not to have caused the effects seen.
“The resulting undervoltage and underfrequency was severe and unrecoverable, and was the direct cause of the tripping of other power plants connected to the system, and ultimately, the Panay sub-grid collapse,” NGCP said.
The subsequent trippings that occurred on 28 and 29 April 2023 were a direct result of the avoidable events of April 27.
With regard to the Luzon red alert, NGCP’s initial investigation on the sequence of events last May 8, shows the tripping of Bolo-Masinloc 230kV Line 2. This line is N-1, or operates with redundancy.
NGCP notes that prior to the occurrence of the faults, unplanned outages of plants and the deration of other plants contributed to the situation. These unplanned outages are outside of the Grid Operating and Maintenance Program planned well ahead and coordinated by NGCP with the power plants and approved by the Department of Energy.
On its part, NGCP commits to complete several large transmission projects within the next few months to help strengthen the transmission system and better support the power system.
Cebuana Lhuillier Advance launched
Cebuana Lhuillier has partnered with fintech company Advance to launch and introduce its latest service- Cebuana Lhuillier Advance.
Cebuana Lhuillier Advance enables employees to access a portion of their salaries as a revolving line of credit whenever they need to, 24/7.
Aside from round-the-clock access to credit, it also boasts of instant disbursement, fast approval and paperless transaction. It also provides account management, customer support, and flexibility on value added services at very fair charges.
Cebuana Lhuillier Advance allows businesses to gain insights on usage, such as loan utilization and the reasons for availing advances. Employers can get access to data analytics, including anonymized usage reports and insights from models.
IABC APAC awardees bared
The CEO of one of the biggest banks in the Philippines and a cross-cultural communication strategist from Australia clinched the top honors at the 2023 Communicator of the Year Awards.
Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, president and CEO of the Bank of the Philippine Islands won in the Executive Leader category, while Maryanne Kepui, whose 20-year career spans government, corporate enterprise, and the not-for-profit sector, won in the Senior Communication Professional category.
The award winners will be honored in person at the 2023 Communicator of the Year Awards ceremony during the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators Asia Pacific regional conference “Fusion 2023: Making Waves Together” in Bali, Indonesia on September 4 to 5.
IABC APAC chair Jyoti Khan said this year’s winners have demonstrated integrity and excellence in their long careers as leaders who can communicate with impact.
IABC APAC vice chair and awards director Kane Errol Choa said the winners have set an example for enduring success through communication.
“Through the varied experiences of the winners and how they wielded the power of communication in their careers, we revalidate the importance of recognizing and celebrating the transformative impact of communication. Effective communication is a critical component of any successful organization and our winners have demonstrated how communication can be a powerful tool to achieve organizational goals. Thanks to our awardees, we now have new leaders to emulate and learn from,” said Choa.
GCash workshop
GCash recently held the second part of GCash for the Nation workshop series titled “Building Capabilities: Harnessing the Power of Digital Technology” which discussed how the industry can be more effective in utilizing digital technology and push for more innovations in the fintech space.
The event also expounded how the fintech sector can empower communities, especially the unbanked sector, through constant innovations.
Martha Sazon president and CEO of GCash, said they are constantly innovating to democratize finance for all Filipinos.
The program was attended by key GCash partners and industry leaders namely David Balamon, e-government specialist at the Department of Information and Communications Technology, San Fernando City treasurer Mary Ann Bautista, MyEG Philippines, Inc. CEO Ann Margaret Saldana, GCash local government unit team lead JR Marfoni, data tech enterprise team lead Faye Guanlao, and GLife sales manager Allyza Jimenez.
The succeeding workshops will further deep dive into important discussions and relevant issues in the Fintech industry, and how these can help bring the benefits of th digital economy to more Filipinos.
PRURide PH 2023 raffle
Existing and eligible customers of Pru Life UK can join PRURide Philippines 2023 raffle for a chance to win an all-expense-paid trip to London.
Existing customers with select in-force Pru Life UK products who register for PRURide Philippines 2023 Gran Fondo categories will earn double raffle tickets and be included in the promo.
This year’s PRURide Philippines is part of Prudential’s 175th-anniversary celebration, including its 100 years in Asia.
Last April 30 and May 7, Pru Life UK held its Virtual PRURide pre-qualifying rounds in SM Seaside Cebu and SM City Clark respectively.
The top six finalists with the fastest cycling time in Clark and Cebu will move to the Virtual PRURide Grand Finals, taking place on May 21 and May 28.
Call for entries
PANAta Awards 2023 is calling for entries for the annual industry event organized by the brand builders in recognition of their peers’ innovative, creative and insightful contributions in marketing and advertising.
Prestigious local and international Industry luminaries compose the jury.
Deadline of entries is on May 26.
A separate category has been allocated for SMEs via the Brand Effectiveness through Business Growth.
Latest addition of awards are in recognition of the brand’s significant partners in accomplishing its communication plans. These include Creative Agency of the Year, Media Agency of the Year and the Media Network of the Year.
Early Bird submission gets a discounted rate until May 19.
Anti-illicit trade summit
Economist Impact will host the seventh Global Anti-Illicit Trade Summit, supported by Japan Tobacco International, on May 18 at Shangri-La The Fort, Taguig City.
This global initiative, already held across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, now brings these important conversations to Southeast Asia for insights and discussions on counterfeit production, the shadow economy and how evolving technology contributes to the ongoing struggle against illicit trade.
The Global Anti-Illicit Trade Summit, South-East Asia attendance is free. Register at the website illicit-trade-summit.economist.com
DLP empowers Bulacan learners
PLDT and Smart-supported Central Visayan Institute Foundation Dynamic Learning Program (CVIF DLP) has enabled Sophia School in the town of Meycauayan in Bulacan to quickly navigate the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The CVIF Dynamic Learning Program is designed to complement the teaching strategy of the Department of Education. This learning delivery method helps develop independent learners,” said Stephanie Orlino, AVP and head of Stakeholder Management at PLDT and Smart.
Sophia School started implementing the pandemic tested teaching pedagogy back in 2010 for Grades 7 and 10. In 2020, when the global health crisis forced schools to switch to alternative methods of teaching, Sophia School had an existing platform that students and teachers were already familiar with.
“CVIF DLP helped teachers to multi-task since our students can study independently or with little teacher-intervention which gave me more time to improve my CVIF DLP Learning Activity Sheets and prepare the next lesson. I was able to teach two classes simultaneously,” said Lorna Darilag, a teacher of 26 years at Sophia School.
“Our students say they’re more focused on their lessons because of CVIF DLP. They also credit the program for helping them develop time management skills,” added Eleonor Dela Vega, CVIF DLP Lead Coordinator at Sophia School.
CVIF DLP has reached more than 1,000 schools around the nation through workshops and has trained over 15,000 teachers since PLDT and Smart started supporting the crisis-resilient program in 2010.
