Over 300K children assisted
World Vision in the Philippines recently released its Year 2021 impact report highlighting milestones of directly assisting thousands of children and reaching millions of children through its various child-focused and community-based programs and advocacies implemented in over 30 provinces across the country, which directly served over 300,000 children according to national director Rommel Fuerte.
With the Philippine Development Plan and with the gracious support of donors, World Vision’s Health and Nutrition Program helped nourish 209,182 children aged below 17 years old, while its Education Program helped over 116,926 children, aged 5 to 17 years old, improve their learning outcomes.
In 2021, World Vision also relaunched its brand new child sponsorship campaign Chosenâ„¢, which aims to empower children to decide on their own and choose their child sponsors.
Ayala new board members
Ayala Corp. welcomes former finance secretary Cesar Purisima and former Singtel Group CEO Chua Sock Koong to its board of directors following their election at the company’s annual stockholders meeting recently.
Purisima and Chua take the seats of outgoing directors Keiichi Matsunaga and Antonio Jose Periquet, who had been part of the Ayala board since April 2017 and September 2010, respectively.
In his message to the stockholders, Ayala chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said, “We always strive to achieve sufficient diversity of thinking across our board representation and have worked to create a proper combination of knowledge, experience, and expertise to guide management.
Sustaining growth momentum
Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) reports a strong start for its soft drinks and non-carbonated brands versus the previous year.
PCPPI continues to introduce new products that address the lifestyle needs of active individuals.
In January, it launched the Gatorade No Sugar, highlighted by a new TV commercial featuring Gatorade endorser, Kathryn Bernardo. It is the healthier option to its well-loved brand, Gatorade.
PCPPI noted consumption of its energy drink, Sting, continue to enjoy an uptick and remains one of our more in-demand products to date. Sting is also enjoying visibility across social media platforms, with new brand endorsers Alden Richards and Andrea Brillantes.
“As the government continues to ease pandemic restrictions, we are seeing a recovery in consumer spending. Social and economic activities are slowly restarting normal operations. This has helped boost our sales in the first quarter of 2022,” said PCPPI president and CEO Frederick Ong.
InLife cited
Among 31 life insurers in the country, Insular Life (InLife) is the only one made it to LinkedIn’s Top Companies 2022: The 15 best workplaces to grow your career in the Philippines.
LinkedIn used seven pillars to score each of the companies in the network. These are: ability to advance, skills growth, company stability, external opportunity, company affinity, educational background, and gender diversity.
InLife’s 111 years of uninterrupted service attests to the company’s stability. As the largest Filipino life insurance company in the country, InLife stands on a mission to provide “A Lifetime for Good” to Filipinos through financial protection, savings, investments, and retirement.
InLife continues to promote skills growth through constant learning and development programs that have armed its employees with transferable knowledge and skills.
Maynilad online service portal
West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. partnered with telecom giants Smart and Talk ‘n Text to allow free access to the company’s online customer service portal, “My Water Bill”, for Maynilad customers who are also Smart and Talk ‘n Text subscribers.
The “My Water Bill” portal gives customers easy access to their Maynilad online account where they can view their water bills for the past 12 months. Now, prepaid subscribers of Smart and Talk ‘n Text can regularly browse this portal even if they have no cellphone load, as long as they have an active SIM Card, while postpaid users can enjoy free access without being charged to mobile data, save for when they access and use external online payment channels.
This move is in line with Maynilad’s efforts to provide hassle-free digital service to its customers.
“Even before the pandemic led to a shift toward digital transactions, Maynilad has been optimizing available technologies to enhance online customer experience. We will continue to look for ways to improve and expand our customer touchpoints so that transactions with us will become even more convenient,” said president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez.
UAAP returns to iWantTFC
ABS-CBN Global partnered with Pilipinas Global Network Ltd. (PGNL) and Cignal TV Inc. for the streaming of University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) on iWantTFC in international territories starting May 4 (PH time).
In this deal, iWantTFC will be streaming the entire programming of Cignal’s 24/7 sports channel, The UAAP Varsity Channel, including the games in the on-going UAAP basketball season and the season opener of the women’s volleyball tournament, plus shows including “Step Up” and “School Spirit.”
Global streaming of the UAAP Final Four basketball tournament is available via iWantTFC beginning May 4, 15 minutes after the live TV broadcast starts locally on The UAAP Varsity Channel via Cignal at 6 p.m. Philippine time.
The UAAP volleyball season opener of its women’s tournament will also stream via iWantTFC 15 minutes after the live local broadcast starting at 10 a.m. Philippine time time on May 5.
1st Filipino achievement awardee
Alpha Southeast Asia recently honored Eduardo Francisco, president of BDO Capital & Investment Corp., with the Achievement Award for Contribution to Local Capital Market during its 15th Annual Best Deal & Solution Awards 2021.
Francisco is the first Filipino recipient and only the third awardee in 15 years.
The Hong Kong-based financial publication cited the investment banker’s noteworthy career that has already spanned for decades. Under Francisco’s leadership, BDO Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BDO Unibank, has proven itself an industry trailblazer.
During the 10-year period between the Asian financial crisis in ’98 and the global credit crisis in ’08, BDO Capital helped raised a total of $22 billion in equity offerings and debt issues for both government and private institutions. Later on, BDO Capital helped raised $180 billion for Philippines-based issuers and borrowers.
Alpha Southeast Asia also noted the bank’s excellence in public, private, and sovereign-led deals. BDO Capital has marked key milestones of leading companies including the IPOs of Monde Nissin, SM Investment Corp, Aboitiz Power, Alliance Global, Vista Land, and Synergy Grip & Development as well as most of the corporate bond offerings of the leading listed companies in the country, and the bond issuance of SMC Global Power, Manila North Tollways, and South Luzon Tollways.
Francisco played a pivotal role in introducing the first Retail Treasury Bond (RTB) in the Philippines. Today, Filipinos can invest in RTBs for as low as US$100 or PHP 5,000. Since the launch of RTBs about 20 years ago, there have been over 23 issuances. He also led the first dollar preferred share listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange for Del Monte and was involved in most of the perpetual preferred offerings in the country.
Shopee aids Typhoon Agaton victims
Last April 24, Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, together with its logistics arm Shopee Xpress, teamed up with NORVIC Drugs Corporation and NutriAsia to collect and deliver sanitation kits and refreshments to Visayans affected by Typhoon Agaton.
These donations were repacked and distributed by Shopee Xpress volunteers in the area.
For those looking to help victims affected by Typhoon Agaton, Shopee invites users to donate through its partner charities found on the app.
Jollibee opens in DTLA
Jollibee Foods Corp. is opening its first branch in Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) before the second quarter of the year ends .
The DTLA location joins Jollibee’s two existing restaurants in the Metro Los Angeles area–3821 Beverly Blvd. (East Hollywood) and 2700 Colorado Blvd. (Eagle Rock)–and marks the brand’s 57th store in the US
Located at 729 West 7th St. in the heart of the city’s financial district, the new Jollibee in DTLA is situated at the corner 7th and Flower streets across the Bloc, a prominent shopping destination for residents, office workers, and visitors.
Maribeth Dela Cruz, Jollibee North America business group head, said Southern California has always been Jollibee’s key growth area in the US. California is home to the first Jollibee in the US, which opened in Daly City in 1998 and remains one of its best performing locations in the country.
Jollibee will open by the second half another store in West Covina, also home to the brand’s North American headquarters.
Miss Universe Bahrain shares smiles with Smile Train patients
Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organization, recently welcomed Miss Universe Bahrain Manar Nadeem Deyani to the Philippines in partnership with Yugen Group Dubai, and invited her to visit patients under the care of its partner, Philippine Band of Mercy (PBM).
Deyani, who was in the country for the Miss Universe Philippines coronation night, took time from her busy schedule to visit the young patients who were waiting for or have received cleft surgeries at the Smile Train Comprehensive Cleft Care Center at the PBM complex. The first-ever Miss Universe representative of Bahrain, Deyani has been very keen on raising awareness on issues like equality, inclusivity, and has expressed her desire to support in bringing greater understanding of cleft conditions and the work that Smile Train does for the cleft community.
