Coca-Cola has lived to 109 years in the Philippines because it subscribed to the mantra that to weather the inevitable crises, it must change with the times while remaining true to its core values. It did so once again amid the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic and it responded to the massive disruption by aggressively pursuing its…
After a year of doom and gloom brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, local business leaders are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Eric Teng, president of the Restaurant Owners of the Philippines (Resto PH), an organization of restaurant owners; Wick Veloso, new president of the Bankers Association of the Philippines; and…
Binamira, who has seen his fair share of crises being a management consultant, conserved as much cash as he could, thus the painful but necessary decision to not renew for now the leases for 35 percent of Zubuchon’s branches. After all, movement restrictions as part of measures to contain the virus meant not enough foot…
President Duterte’s economic team on Tuesday expressed confidence that the economy will rebound starting the second quarter with mass vaccination in full swing and government spending, especially on infrastructure, remaining strong. During the Economic Journalists’ Association of the Philippines’ (Ejap) midyear forum, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said “we might appear to be behind our…
Filipinos are becoming increasingly comfortable with using so-called QR or “quick reaction” codes when paying for purchases or making money transfers from one person to another—a sign that the “cash heavy” local economy is well on its way to “cash light” one. In particular, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno pointed to the…
For over a year now, we’ve seen so many home-based food businesses start and flourish during the pandemic. Every sushi bake, ube-cheese pan de sal, sourdough bread, Basque burnt cheesecake and whatever else you have ordered and enjoyed come with untold stories—how these businesses started, the people behind them and what keeps them going. Here…
Accounting for the majority of the total businesses in the country and generating more than half of the country’s total employment before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March of last year, the health of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is as much a concern for the Philippines as the physical well-being of its population.…
The necessary but painful quarantine restrictions put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19 have accelerated the pace of digital transformation of Filipino companies of all sizes, from microentrepreneurs to the large conglomerates. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives know only full well that if they do not embrace the digitalization trend, they run the risk…
Billy Belleza and Jazz Manzano are former overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). When they ended their careers and went home to Bicol, they both found a lucrative business opportunity in the Balik Pinas Program of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. (CCBPI), the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in the country. In July 2019, Belleza decided to end his…
In January, the small but extremely active Taal Volcano had another “tantrum,” sending residents of nearby towns in Batangas and Cavite scampering to escape its fury. Ash fall reached Alfonso, where Varias lives and where his main shop is based. Then in March an even bigger crisis had to be faced. The deadly COVID-19 pandemic…