European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Luc Véron and SM Engineering Design and Development President Hans Sy Jr. led the exhibition opening, together with EU’s humanitarian aid partners.
The Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines (EU) and its humanitarian aid partners, together with SM, brought a message of hope and solidarity in the face of disasters with theThe Last Mile photo exhibitionat S Maison. The exhibition offers snapshots of the different phases of the EU’s relief and early recovery operations following the passage of Typhoon Odette over Surigao Del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Bohol, Southern Leyte, Cebu, Negros Occidental and Palawan on December 16, 2021.
The “last mile” is the final stage of the humanitarian relief chain in which they make sure to reach the most vulnerable, wherever they are.
EU’s humanitarian partner organizations that implemented the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (EU-ECHO) emergency response included: ACCORD, Action Against Hunger, Care Philippines, Humanity & Inclusion, Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS) Inc., National Rural Women’s Coalition, Oxfam Pilipinas, Plan International, Save the Children Philippines, Sentro para sa Ikauunlad ng Katutubong Agham at Teknolohiya (SIKAT) Inc, Community Organizers Multiversity, and United Youth of the Philippines-Women.
MPIC lauded at 12th Asian Excellence Awards
From far left, Cabal Revilla, Pangilinan, Aldover-Ysmael.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) recently earned six coveted recognitions for corporate governance, investor relations, and corporate social responsibility at the 12th Asian Excellence Awards 2022 of Corporate Governance Asia.
Accolades included Asia’s Best CEO (Investor Relations) for Manuel V. Pangilinan, Asia’s Best CFO (Investor Relations) forChaye Cabal-Revilla, Best Investors Relations Professional for MPIC VP for Investor Relations Maricris Aldover-Ysmael, Best Investor Relations Company (Philippines), Best Environmental Responsibility, and Asia’s Best CSR.
Moving forward into the new normal, MPIC remained unwavering in fulfilling its purpose of service continuity for the benefit of all its stakeholders, primarily its employees, investors, beneficiary communities, and ultimately, the environment. The Corporation’s contribution to reigniting Asia in a post-pandemic economy was to fulfill the role of a dependable government partner towards national development and to work hand-in-hand with them to serve the interests of the Filipino people.
“MPIC was established with the goal of achieving synthesis between global governance standards and Asian values and practices. We regard this award as a responsibility to set a higher standard for here in the Philippines, as well as in Asia,” said Pangilinan, MPIC chairman, president and CEO.
Christmas at Shangri-La Plaza
Shangri-La Plaza puts shoppers into the festive Holidazemood through music, food, and Santa.
Symphonies of Joy featuring Shang musicians and Harmonies of Joy perform on December 19-23 and December 26-30.
JNA Dance and Fitness Center is holding its year-end dance showcase titled Reverence on December 21, 6 6 p.m.
ChubbyCon, the annual food convention by the “Masarap Ba? Community,” is also returning to Shang on December 15-18 at the Grand Atrium for “It’s A Christmasarap Parteh!”food event.
Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus grace Level 1 on December 17 and 23 at 3 p.m.
Mental healthcare
Aboitiz Power Corp.’s kAPit program, launched in 2020, offers life coaching sessions, individual and group counseling, and 24/7 crisis hotlines to help address the employees’ mental well-being.
In partnership with mental health services provider, PowerVision EAP, kAPit reinforces the company’s priority of fostering a safe and connected community by normalizing conversations around mental health struggles and addressing the stigma.
kAPit is one of AboitizPower’s many initiatives and benefits that the company extends to its employees and even their family members.
For its employee welfare programs and initiatives, AboitizPower was recognized as a regional exemplar of the People Management Association of the Philippines 2022 Employer of the Year.
Upskilling Asia Pacific to Stay Competitive in the Digital Economy
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has trained over 5 million people across Asia-Pacific with cloud skills since 2017.
Andrew Szlar, director of AWS Training and Certification in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), said as more organizations move their IT infrastructure to the cloud to become more productive, “we expect the adoption of cloud computing, machine learning, data analytics, and cybersecurity across every industry will fuel a vast number of new jobs and contribute to economies of all sizes.”
For organizations looking to accelerate cloud transformation to become more productive, AWS Skill Builder Team subscriptions build on the existing Skill Builder platform of 500+ free, self-paced, digital courses.
AWS Industry Quest uses interactive, game-based learning to help learners and organizations build industry solutions on AWS.
AWS Skills Guild is a comprehensive cloud skills training program tailor made for an organization’s unique skilling needs.
AWS re/Start is a free 12-week program that helps unemployed and underemployed individuals with little to no tech experience build entry-level cloud computing skills and get connected with employers. AWS Academy provides higher education institutions with free, ready-to-teach cloud computing curricula .
AWS Educate provides individuals as young as 13 free, self-paced training resources to build cloud skills on demand.
BDO starts mentorship of out-of-school youth in cloud services
BDO Unibank welcomed the first batch of on-the-job trainees on cloud-related work as part of its support to the collaboration of YouthWorks PH and Philippine Business Education (PBEd) with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which aims to give free cloud computing skills training for 600 unemployed and out-of-school youths across the Philippines via AWS re/Start.
The bank has committed the expertise of its experienced IT professionals to train 100 youths on cloud services, infrastructure and network monitoring, system administration, low-risk security operation activities, SIT/UAT testing, and automation scripting.
This December, the first batch will undergo a three-month mentorship and afterward, be eligible for employment opportunities in BDO. But before starting their onsite training with the Bank, the trainees completed remote mentoring, and employability skills and technical-vocational training with AWS re/Start in Quezon City last month.
“BDO is committed to delivering products and services that exceed customer expectations. As we take our financial services to the next level with the use of cloud technologies, it is vital that we have the right people for the job. Cloud talents trained by AWS re/Start through YouthWorks PH will play a critical role toward this big step towards the future,” said BDO Unibank president and CEO Nestor Tan during the contract-signing event.
A call to scale up ‘F1KD’ program
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Republic of Korea through Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) announced the closure of the successful partnership program Integrated Nutrition and Health Actions for the First 1,000 Days (F1KD).
The four-year program aimed to address malnutrition in the three provinces of Samar, Northern Samar, and Zamboanga del Norte (ZdN)–areas with the highest indicators of child malnutrition and those prone to natural disasters.
Across the three project provinces, there was a remarkable improvement in child health and nutrition, and maternal health.
All 19 target municipalities have increased their budget allocation on integrated nutrition and first 1,000 days interventions as noted in their Local Nutrition Action Plans.
UNICEF and KOICA urged the national government to utilize the lessons learned from the F1KD program to scale-up countrywide, and for the local government units to bolster implementation to all municipalities in the province.
Best retail bank
Union Bank of the Philippines received two major awards at The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services and Technology Innovation Awards 2022, at its first in-person event held at the Ballroom of Fairmont Makati.
For demonstrating a long-term, sustainable, profitable franchise with customers as its core proposition, The Asian Banker awarded UnionBank as the Best Retail Bank in the Philippines for the third consecutive year.
Based on The Asian Banker’s research, UnionBank ‘sustained above-industry performance despite setbacks brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Asian Banker also awarded UnionBank as the Best Digital Banking Services in the Philippines for providing a unified and seamless customer experience.
LBC signs up with RIA
LBC Express Inc. recently signed up with a new global remittance partner, RIA.
The partnership establishes: “Payout”, where inbound money remittances are sent via RIA’s global payment network abroad and cash out (cash pickup) is done through LBC branches in the Philippines.
The partnership was formalized in a contract signing ceremony held at RIA’s head office at Philamlife Tower in Makati City last October 18, 2022.
Tech careers
TELUS International Digital Solutions Philippines – the technology division of TELUS International Philippines–announced ramped-up hiring for qualified local talents from experienced tech professionals to information tech graduates.
Over a hundred opportunities are available for Filipino tech talents. Vacancies include Applications Developers, Java Developers, Software Quality Assurance Specialist, Systems Administrator, Full Stack Developers, Cloud Developers and other roles that are in IT infrastructure, and other emerging technologies.
Successful applicants will join over 3,000 team members in the Philippines.
SB Finance partners with KServico
SB Finance has inked a partnership with KServico to offer payment installment options through its Pay Hooloogan service.
KServico offers a wide array of electronic equipment, furniture, motorcycle accessories and three-wheeled vehicles in Luzon. Under the partnership, customers who use Pay Hooloogan can avail of financing options with no down payment required.
Hooloogan offers a credit line of up to P200,000 and can be availed through the zuki mobile app. Customers can purchase appliances, furniture, laptops, smartphones at Hooloogan partner establishments through the Pay Hooloogan facility in easy installment terms.
