Relief assistance
After the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in December 2021, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) immediately rolled out its relief efforts for severely affected communities.
The company provided P27.5 million worth of assistance in the form of relief packs, hot meals, sacks of rice, bottles of water, shirts, blankets, as well as roofing materials to local government units in Visayas and Mindanao, for distribution to affected families.
Top-selling dimsum
DECS has become SM Markets’ most popular dimsum brand with its signature dimsum like pork siomai, hakaw, siopao, and other dumplings available frozen and ready to heat.
Diao Eng Chay , one of the first to sell traditional Chinese delicacies in the Philippines, opened in Binondo in the early 1930s, and has rebounded into DECS in 1990s.
Its partnership with SM started in n November of 2015 when it opened their first stall in SM Supermarket Makati and expanded to other branches.
Since partnering with SM, DECS dimsum sales tripled. DECS sales exceed its targets by about 30 percent.
DECS then rolled out frozen and ready-to-heat versions months before the pandemic in 2020. Frozen dimsum eventually overtook the sales of DECS’ ready-to-eat offerings, growing 88 percent from 2020 to 2021.
DECS’ bestselling frozen dimsums are being sold in 84 locations of SM Markets nationwide.
#MakeITSafePH
In a webinar marking World Safer Internet Day, Globe Telecoms vowed to continue efforts to provide a platform for collaboration among key stakeholders to fight Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC).
Together with UNICEF Philippines and the SaferKidsPH Consortium, Internet Watch Foundation, CitizenWatch, and Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada, Kuryente, Globe highlighted the importance of holistic cooperation among the public and private sectors, international and civil society organizations, and digital citizens in fighting online abuse and child sexual exploitation.
Globe said has invested more than $2.7 million for content filtering systems that block websites and online imagery that promote child pornography and piracy.
In a 2020 report, IWF found a dramatic 77 percent increase in the amount of “self-generated” abuse material as more children, and more criminals, spend longer online.
The event was made open to the public via live streaming on Globe’s Bridging Communities Facebook page and was anchored on the digital solutions group’s #MakeITSafePH campaign, geared towards online safety and protection.
Security Bank gives back
Security Bank Corp. donated its 2021 holiday fund allocation to support disaster relief and home rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette.
The bank partnered with non-government organization (NGO) International Care Ministries (ICM) to rebuild homes for families in Bohol. Security Bank Foundation (SBFI) is working with the Department of Education to rebuild classrooms in various municipalities across Visayas and Mindanao.
Security Bank’s Kabankalan Branch in Negros Occidental also donated a portion of the bank’s calamity fund financed by its employees will be utilized to provide financial assistance for employees of the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative who were heavily affected by Typhoon Odette.
Unbreakable commitment
The University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), designated as a COVID-19 referral hospital, through their partnership with PLDT Enterprise, at the start of the pandemic immediately deployed a hotline system to communicate efficiently to the public and attend to their immediate health care needs.
The hospital was also able to expand its health care hotline services from an avenue to respond to queries and donations to a helpline for assisting outpatients who need to book a consultation.
Through the hotline #155-200, patients are able to do an online consultation request an appointment with one of the clinics at PGH. PLDT Enterprise has been enabling organizations all over the country including hospitals and healthcare companies through products and solutions suited to empower their business operations despite the challenges of the next normal.
EWS VeggiEskwela program
East-West Seed Philippines (EWS), one of the biggest vegetable seed companies in Asia, is leading the VeggiEskwela program, which aims to create awareness among Filipino families of the importance of eating nutritious food, encourage them to plant their own vegetables, and to make vegetables part of their daily meals by learning to enjoy eating them.
The program offers various learning sessions and training programs that equip more Filipinos – from community members, teachers and students – to plant vegetables the right way.
Launched in 2012 and formerly known as “Oh My Gulay- Tanim sa Kinabukasan”, the VeggiEskwela program has trained 27,508 student beneficiaries, 2,849 teachers, and has established partnerships with 242 barangays and 1,323 schools nationwide.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, VeggiEskwela shifted to an online learning initiative to reach more people while ensuring the safety of its participants. This led to the introduction of the VeggiEskwela Home Gardening Webinar series that offers 15 webinar topics on vegetable production, all designed to provide participants with knowledge and skills to successfully build their own vegetable home garden.
Financial literacy program
The Quezon City government partnered with fintech company, First Circle, to launch a business-focused financial literacy program for QC’s 75,000 plus small and medium enterprises.
The program offers free quarterly webinars to educate business owners on money management and business loans, as well as other tools and resources to help SMEs in their economic recovery.
This is the first partnership of its kind for both Quezon City and First Circle, marking a milestone for both parties in their shared mission to support SMEs in the Philippines.
The importance of testing
New World Diagnostics Inc. (NWDI) is one of the country’s leading diagnostics laboratories, providing comprehensive and automated COVID-19 testing services, such as the RT-PCR Swab test and the Antigen test.
It is also one of the few molecular laboratories certified by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to conduct RT-PCR Saliva testing.
Aside from in-clinic services, NWDI also offers home services, making it possible for individuals who may be constrained to stay home to get tested, too.
NWDI’s Molecular Laboratory has continuously strived to deliver the best service and timely turnaround time of results to all our patients.
The Oropharyngeal and Nasopharyngeal Swab are the recommended collection methods of the RT-PCR test, since it gives more reliable results. Patient preparations for this are fairly simple.
Beko parent company ranked among world’s most sustainable
Beko’s parent company, Arí§elik A.Åž., the global leading consumer durables and electronics manufacturer, has for the second year in a row ranked on the Corporate Knights’ 2022 Global 100 Index, coming in at 57th place.
Corporate Knights Inc (CK) is a media and research company focused on quantifying and animating sustainable economy drivers for decision makers. Its best-known rankings include the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada and the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. CK is also proud to be the first print business magazine and research firm in the world to be a Certified B Corp.
The list of awardees has been published annually by Corporate Knights since 2005 in recognition of companies that deliver superior financial performance and lead the race to zero emissions. Their methodology is based on up to 24 key performance indicators covering resource management, employee management, financial management, clean revenue and clean investment and supplier performance.
As part of Arí§elik’s commitment to sustainability, Beko unveiled seven sustainable products including a washing machine/washer dryer, oven, tumble dryer, refrigerator, espresso coffee maker and dishwasher to help consumers reduce their impact on the environment. The innovative products use recycled materials such as PET bottles, fishing nets; bio-composites such as coffee residue and eggshells; as well as detergent saving technologies for sustainable living.
As Europe’s leading appliance brand, Beko is always looking for new technologies that help preserve nature and allow people to live a healthy lifestyle.
Shell LiveWIRE empowers startups
The first leg of the Shell LiveWIRE Virtual Homeroom has equipped startup founders, entrepreneurs, and owners of micro, small, medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with the Lean Startup Methodologies which can help them accelerate business growth and reduce waste in their operational processes.
Established industry mentors Cindy Burdette, CEO and co-founder of ALLCARE, and Robi Del Rosario, founder and chief urban farmer of UPROOT Urban Farms, shared their knowledge, experience, and other learnings to assist business owners achieve higher levels of success.
Shell LiveWIRE is Shell’s global enterprise development program offered across 15 countries to specifically chosen startup businesses in order to further improve their systems, hone their capabilities, and give them opportunities to be part of the Shell Value Chain. Shell LiveWIRE Homeroom Sessions open doors to a wider range of audience and are offered beyond the Shell LiveWIRE program which focuses on the categories of Energy, Environment, Circular Economy, and Local Prosperity.
The mentors lead companies that provide solutions to critical sectors of society. ALLCARE is a digital benefits platform that helps SMEs and freelancers plan ahead for their own financial security, while UPROOT Urban Farms is a provider of affordable produce to local communities.
The module on the Lean Startup Methodology enables companies to shorten development cycles while testing their viability. Its core principle holds that companies that invest their time into building products or services in this smart, systematic way can reduce market risks, expensive product launches, and financial failures.
