Kindness Kitchen joins Typhoon Karding relief operations
QSR giant McDonald’s Philippines through its charity of choice, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), extended a helping hand to areas affected by the Super Typhoon Karding.
Through the McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen, volunteers from both the private and public sectors distributed over 3,000 meals to communities in Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija.
The Kindness Kitchen is a program of RMHC which aims to serve meals to those in need. Since it began operations in 2020, McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen has served over 570,000 meals.
Best credit card product
Security Bank’s innovative card offering, the Security Bank Complete Cashback Platinum Mastercard has been named the Best Credit Card Product in the Philippines by Singapore-based market intelligence company The Asian Banker, at the 2022 The Asian Banker Excellence Awards.
According to the Asian Banker, “Security Bank introduced a credit card product that demonstrated the ability to convert its base into sticky and active users with low delinquency, supported by a highly relevant rewards program.”
The Complete Cashback Platinum Credit Card gives instant rebates across everyday spend categories, including 5% on groceries, 4% on gas, 3% on utilities, 2% on dining and 1% on shopping. Apart from the instant cashback, travelers also gain access to the Marhaba Lounge for a nominal fee of USD$17 for cardholders and USD$19 for companions at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminals 1 and 3.
Philips-Shinagawa Ph tie-up
Royal Philips partnered with Shinagawa Healthcare Solutions Corp. to provide multimodalities of imaging technologies starting from the first quarter of 2023. Under the partnership, Philips will provide advanced precision diagnostics solutions to be installed for Shinagawa’s new Diagnostic and Preventive Care center.
The integrated solutions include the Philips Ultrasound System 3300, the Philips MR 5300 and IntelliSpace Portal (ISP) solution. The Philips MR 5300 will be the first helium-free MRI Technology installed in the Philippines.
The Philips 3300 Ultrasound System is an imaging platform with an award-winning design set to enhance patient and staff experience. The helium-free Philips MR 5300 is built around the breakthrough BlueSeal magnet and integrates AI technologies to automate clinical and operational tasks.
Metaversity launched
Propel Manila pioneers Metaversity in the Philippines, a program in collaboration with Meta giving space for brands, creators, and even peers in the industry, to play and explore the Metaverse.
Metaversity will create exclusive programs, hackathons, and in the future, certification courses for Meta’s forthcoming Horizon Worlds — one of the platforms Propel is betting on to ensure the first-hand experience of its teams and clients in getting creative in the metaverse to deliver ideas that matter to people, our brands, and our communities.
Propel expects development in talent upskilling and improvement in creating real-time briefs, point-new solutions, and more innovation, to co-exist in the metaverse.
Dale Lopez, creative strategist at Meta Creative Shop, said through Metaversity, “we aim to build for the metaverse and make it an everyday reality for Filipinos.”
Metaverse innovations at Web3 Hackathon
UBX, the leading open finance platform in the Philippines, has collaborated with globally renowned Filipino-led web3 companies Yield Guild Games (YGG) and Xave Finance, to organize the Web3 Hackathon, an official side event of the first ever Philippine Web3 Festival on November 12 to 13 in Makati City.
The festival is a week-long premier event showcasing everything that the Philippines has to offer in the metaverse. Powered by the biggest players in the metaverse, the festival bringstogether the brightest minds and leaders in the industry. Co-presenters of the Hackathon are GCash, Globe, and MetaverseGo, it’s also supported by Archipelago Labs and BreederDAO.
Web3 Hackathon is set to be the premier platform to drive Web3 concepts and innovations further, and to engage the builders of the Web3 community.
P&G Ph recognized
The Board of Investments (BOI) has honored Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines with the Pandemic Heroes Award during the Appreciation Ceremony held at the P&G Philippines office in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig on October 5.
BOI’s Pandemic Heroes Award recognizes partner stakeholders who have responded to the pressing needs of the country during the early days and throughout the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
P&G provided their unwavering support in ensuring the health and safety of frontliners in hospitals through their medical-grade facemasks, health and hygiene products manufactured in their Cabuyao plant, and through PPEs sourced from local manufacturers donated to protect several frontliners in hospitals and government. The company also provided support for vulnerable families in COVID-19 hotspots and continued investments in the country despite the pandemic.
TELUS volunteers support Brigada Eskwela
TELUS International Philippines (TIP) recently held its 15th annual TELUS Days of Giving (TDOG) supporting the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Brigada Eskwela program, where volunteers renovate and clean public schools for the upcoming school year.
This is the eighth consecutive year TIP has supported the program.
More than 1,250 volunteers, including TIP employees from the six TIP sites in Metro Manila and their family members, helped transform 52 classrooms at Tondo High School in Metro Manila in support of DepEd’s Brigada Eskwela program. Volunteers also built four temporary classrooms to address the school’s classroom shortage.
AG&P aids Odette-struck communities
AGP International Holdings Inc. (AG&P) continues its partnership with NGO Balay Mindanaw Foundation Inc. (BMFI) to help rebuild communities struck by Typhoon “Odette” in December last year.
AG&P donated 30 solar-powered generator sets across 12 barangays in Dinagat Islands to reinstate power and communication lines to 1,500 families.
The barangays of Columbos, Coring, Kanihan, Poblacion, Imee, Roxas, Carmen, Catadman, Dinagat Province, Laguna, Sta. Rita and BMFI Disaster Risk-Reduction, Resiliency-building, and Emergency Assistance Mission (DREAM) hub received the generator sets, providing residents with the electricity needed to power critical infrastructure, including hospitals, health centers, and domestic households.
Grow you US dollars
As a financially responsible adult, you should only put your money into sound investments. Not only for safekeeping but also to let it grow over time. During these economically challenging times, it’s good to find more ways to save, earn, and invest. Aside from putting money into savings, emergency funds, and insurance, you should also put it in familiar but profitable investments such as time deposits.
If you have US dollar deposits or receive US dollar remittances, put your hard-earned US dollars to good use. Invest in a US dollar time deposit and earn higher interest than a regular peso time deposit. Itis risk-free and highly secured. What’s more, you can avail of it starting with just $300 initial investment.
RCBC Online FX exclusively available under RCBC Digital, is a 90-day US time deposit facility under the bank’s online foreign exchange product for investors who want to exchange their Philippine peso holdings for US dollars as an investment. Online FX offers a new lower minimum investment amount of just $300 for a regular 90-day US time deposit.
Compared with the regular US dollar time deposits, where the minimum investment is $1,000, one can enjoy the same accessibility and convenient online banking at just a fraction of the cost. It comes with exclusive and competitive rates that start at 0.75% interest rate per annum.
Caltex helps victims of Typhoon Odette
Chevron Philippines Inc. (CPI) recently held a series of relief efforts in six provinces in Visayas and Mindanao where residents are still reeling from the destruction caused by Super Typhoon Odette.
CPI, together with the American Chamber Foundation Philippines, JL Distribution System Inc., which is a Caltex Branded Marketer in Bohol, and their retailers, donated construction materials to 80 families in Bohol whose homes were severely damaged by the super typhoon. The building supplies were distributed to various families in the outlying communities of Buenavista, San Miguel, Loboc, Corella, Maribojoc, Dauis, Tubigon, and Tagbilaran.
Typhoon-affected families in Surigao City, Dinagat Island, Negros Occidental and Southern Leyte also received roofing materials from Caltex and AmCham. Materials such as GI sheets and roofing nails were donated to 141 families in Surigao and 10 families on Dinagat Island with the assistance of Holistic Community Development and Initiatives, Inc. (HCDI). In Negros Occidental, 227 families who were still living in their badly-damaged homes after Odette hit their area, also received roofing materials from CPI and AMCHAM with the assistance of Quidan Kaisahan.
Aside from donations of construction materials, Caltex in partnership with Landers and the assistance of the Philippine Army in Cebu donated a total of 1,009 relief packs for the affected families in Barangay Apas, Inayawan, Kibasang-an, Catarman, and Hilontungan Island.
PCPPI joins BrigadaEskwela
Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) has joined the Department of Education (DepEd) in its annual Brigada Eskwela program.
Led by its volunteerism arm, Bukluran Council, PCPPI adopted more schools this year, which 37 beneficiaries from last year’s 24. The beneficiary schools belong to communities across the country that host its various manufacturing plants and offices. These include Manila, Muntinlupa, Mandaluyong, Batangas, Pampanga, La Union, Cagayan Valley, Bicol, Leyte, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cebu, Zamboanga, Cagayan De Oro, and Davao.
PCPPI mobilized more than 150 Braveheart volunteers. They donated hydration drinks, school supplies, health and safety supplies, and other school materials
UnionBank unveils Patent Wall
Union Bank of the Philippines recently unveiled a “Patent Wall” highlighting all the patent registrations issued by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines to the Bank from May 2020 to present.
UnionBank unveiled the wall last September 8 during its Innovation Festival at the UnionBank Innovation Campus in San Pedro, Laguna.
The UnionBank Patent Wall features a total of 16 patent registrations, involving advanced and new technologies in the banking and financial services industry such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and data analytics, just to name a few, which has been helping the Bank provide the best digital banking experience for its customers.
Some of UnionBank’s trailblazing products, services, and facilities that utilize these technologies are the UnionBank Mobile App, The Portal, The Ark, akin, XLOG, Project i2i, PHX Stablecoin, Financial Supply Chain, and GC Blockchain.
The Bank also has more than 40 patents ongoing.
