Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Philippine companies, including the Ayala group, were already working on programs around the evolving, expanded role of private institutions in society. And that expanded role is to help address the pain points of the community at large, and of the nation even—not just of our shareholders—and to be more…
Food, water, shelter, clothing, Vitamin C, and a robust internet connection—in a pandemic-ridden world, these are our new essentials, especially since constant connectivity is continuously reinventing the way we live and work. Recognizing this need is Globe, one of the country’s leading telco companies, and their response is to help “reinvent everyday experiences” for Filipinos…
Money changing hands became risky behavior because of COVID-19 so Filipinos promptly jumped online for financial transactions. “The pandemic broke through the inertia of digital adoption,” said Justo A. Ortiz, UnionBank of the Philippines vice chair in “Brand Digital Pilipinas: The New People’s Revolution,” a discussion at the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) held in December…
While most other multilateral institutions had slashed their respective 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts for the Philippines, the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) even raised its projection to 6.9 percent from 6.6 percent previously.The IMF’s April 2021 World Economic Outlook (WEO) report also projected a 6.5-percent GDP growth next year which , however,…
The work of nation-building never stops. And for San Miguel Corp. (SMC), one of the country’s largest and most diversified and profitable conglomerates, not even the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic should get in the way. Its history is so intertwined with that of the Philippines that it believes that it has the moral commitment to push…
It has been more than a year since the first local transmission of COVID-19 was reported in the Philippines, prompting the government to implement a lockdown in Luzon that quickly got replicated by local governments in the Visayas and Mindanao, as more cases of transmission were reported nationwide. Like other companies, Pilipinas Shell’s immediate concern…
When – not if – a perilous sickness strikes, the high costs can stun the unprepared. That is a lesson COVID-19 teaches. New to humankind, no one is naturally immune to it. It easily spreads worldwide, hospitalizing and killing millions. A bout with the disease has cost millions in bills. Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and…
The Ayala Group was just going back to its roots when it reentered the Philippines’ healthcare sector with the acquisition of the Generika drugstores and establishment of AC Health in 2015, 180 years since the group started out with Botica Zobel. That was a big leap forward for the group that has long been committed…
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is , where all of us, not just women, are asked to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality and to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Citi Philippines held a fireside chat last March 8 to commemorate International Women’s Day, and four women who have made…
It may take not just a village but collective institutional action to help local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) overcome unprecedented challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. One silver lining is the growing digital connectivity that is helping more of these small players adapt to the “next” normal.This is according…