Withstanding the Test of Time: Corporate Giveaways Buyers' Show 2013

THERE’S always something to be said about those who are able to weather the testy climate of business politics. At the end of the day, the folks who are able to roll with the punches reap the rewards of success. Enter the Corporate Giveaways Annual Buyers' Show on Business Gifts, Premiums, Promotional Ideas & Merchandise Incentives, an annual fete that has been gathering a specialized group of exhibitors under one roof, for 26 years in a row.

BIMP-Eaga agribusiness meeting to be held in Palawan

THE Philippines will host the 1st Agribusiness cluster meeting of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) this week in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Sunday.

About 100 delegates are expected to attend on June 18 to 20 the BIMP-Eaga agribusiness cluster and discuss mutual cooperation to transform the sub-region into a “food basket” or producer and exporter of various farm, fishery and processed food products for Asean, and the rest of Asia and the world.

Robust economic growth to support Globe’s mobile business

THE country’s robust economic growth is expected to further boost Globe Telecom’s mobile revenue growth this year on expectations of stronger domestic spending.

“The Philippines has been enjoying assertive GDP growth and it is driving a lot of confidence in the economy. Domestic spending remains resilient, which somehow insulates the country from the economic challenges and uncertainties from the external environment. This bodes well for our business,” said Globe President & CEO Ernest Cu, referring to the country’s economic growth of 7.8 percent in the first quarter of the year.

Forex reserves dip to $82.9 billion in May

THE Philippine gross international reserves (GIR) have declined to $82.9 billion as of end-May this year, the central bank said Friday.

The latest foreign exchange reserves were lower by $0.3 billion than the end-April GIR of $83.2 billion, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said.

Globe is exclusive PH telco carrier of the new HTC One

AS THE preferred partner of the world’s leading device manufacturers, Globe Telecom sealed another deal to be the exclusive Philippine telecom carrier of the new HTC One, making it the lone telco in the country to offer the latest HTC smartphone under its best-ever MySuperPlan.

Touted as one of the best Android smartphones in the world, the HTC One is available for as low as P1,699 monthly under the best-ever MySuperPlan 999 with a monthly cashout of P700* over a 24-month contract period. The postpaid bundle comes with unlimited LTE surfing of up to 42 Mbps and free calls and texts.

Nescafe partners with UP-Los Baños, launches agri scholarship program

NESTLE Philippines Inc. (NPI) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) on May 8, launching the first-ever Nescafe Coffee University of the Philippines Scholarship or Nescafe Cups.

Search on for Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service 2013

THE Metrobank Foundation Inc. (MBFI), Metrobank Card Corporation (MCC) and TOWNS Foundation forged their partnership for the conduct of the 2013 Search for the TOWNS through a MOA signing held last May 16, 2013 at Metrobank Plaza, Makati City. MBFI and MCC shall serve as co-presenters of the 2013 Search.

Dell Software Extends SharePlex to Optimize Data Integration and Analysis

DELL Software today announced the latest release of SharePlex™, a leading data replication solution that now also supports near real-time data integration to drive improved data warehousing, business intelligence and analytics.

Expanding on its heritage as a leading Oracle-to-Oracle data replication solution, SharePlex 8.0 now enables users to capture and deliver Oracle changed data to a variety of leading structured and unstructured databases common in today's heterogeneous IT environments.

Globe launches inbound calling offer for Koreans in PH

KNOWN for innovative and ground-breaking products and services, Globe Telecom recently launched Globe DUO Korea, an international inbound calling offer for Koreans in the Philippines.

Globe sustains leadership in international LTE roaming service

GLOBE Telecom sustains leadership in international LTE roaming service as it strengthens partnership with SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile operator to further expand its LTE international data roaming service coverage.

Stocks soar to 26th record high this year

PHILIPPINE shares closed to another record high on Friday, buoyed by optimism on listed companies’ earnings results and tracking the movement of other markets in the region.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished at 6,957.10 surpassing last April 12’s finish at 6,891.43.

Globe bucks dominance of Smart-Sun merger

AYALA-LED Globe Telecommunications Inc. said Tuesday it will only focus on giving continuous and good connectivity to its subscribers despite the dominance of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which bought Digitel Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) last year.

"We're just focusing on our services. We have not changed our strategy. The strategy of Globe is to become very customer-focused and deliver that in a well-executed manner," said Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu in a briefing.

Metrobank Foundation launches 3 coffeetable books

AS PART of its 50-year celebration, the Metrobank Foundation recently launched three coffee table books: Made of Gold, 10 Outstanding Filipino Teachers and Metrobank Foundation Exemplars at the main lobby of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Former President Fidel V. Ramos, Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban (retired) and other distinguished officials from the government, business, academe, and diplomatic communities graced the book launch.

Citi survey: Online banking users on the rise

MORE and more Filipinos are taking advantage of the convenience of online banking, according to the Citi Fin-Q Survey, an annual online poll that measures the Fin-Q or Financial Quotient of Filipino consumers.

Seventy-five percent of those polled said they now do almost all their banking from their computer, tablet or mobile phone. Only 1-in-4 continue to visit the branch, and mostly for face to face meetings with the bank managers or account officers. In fact, the uptake of online banking is so prevalent, only nine percent said they have yet to try it.

Globe holds 2013 leaders’ summit

GLOBE Telecom recently held its 2013 Leaders’ Summit, a two-day gathering of 100 Globe leaders led by company president and CEO Ernest Cu.

The summit aimed to align the leaders in their critical role in shaping the company’s growth and vision to be the best customer-focused service provider in the country.

Globe gets Palawan-Coron submarine fiber optic cable system underway

TO SUPPORT the heightening tourism and business activities in the western portion of the Philippines, Globe has successfully landed a 400-kilometer submarine fiber optic cable in Palawan.

The cable will function as a “superhighway” of telecommunications services between Puerto Princesa City to the main Luzon island and the rest of the country and the world via San Jose, Mindoro, making Globe the first telco to fiberize the area.

Wireless solutions provider banking on new products

HANDS-FREE communications technology provider Jabra recently launched its new products to aid the growing population of mobile workers in the Philippines and elsewhere.

In a briefing last week, Jabra announced the release of Jabra Motion headset and Jabra Speak 510 speakerphone with Bluetooth.

Philippines set to open $1 billion casino-resort

MANILA -- The Philippines will become one of the biggest gambling centers in the world, vying with Macau, Singapore and Las Vegas for Asia's high rollers, officials of a $1 billion casino resort opening in Manila this weekend said Thursday.

Studies project that the country's gambling revenue of $1.9 billion will rise to $6 billion, which is currently what Singapore's two casinos generate, in about five years, said Michael French, chief operating officer of the Solaire Resort and Casino.

Globe prepaid and TM segments outperform competition in 4Q 2012

GLOBE Telecom’s prepaid segment was in full-swing during the last quarter of 2012 as it gained subscribers amid a highly-challenging market, besting competing brands that churned out subscribers in the same period.

Globe Prepaid added net incremental subscribers of nearly 300,000 in 4Q 2012 while its competitor brands lost a combined 600,000 subscribers.

Globe posts record-high mobile revenues in 2012

DESPITE a highly saturated and competitive market, Globe Telecom ended 2012 with sustained growth on its mobile business after posting P67.2 billion in revenues, a six percent increase from previous year’s levels.

Fourth quarter 2012 mobile revenues likewise recorded a quarterly-high of P17.3 billion, a five percent growth year-on-year primarily driven by the strong performance of the telco’s postpaid segment.

PSE is world's 3rd best stock market in 2012

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has emerged third among the top performing global markets that posted significant growth in domestic market capitalization based on the 2012 Market Highlights report released by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).

The WFE cited the PSE after posting 38.9 percent expansion for its market capitalization in 2012, outpaced only by the stock exchanges in Turkey and Thailand, said PSE president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat.

MVP, Gokongwei to jointly bid for Cebu airport

MANUEL V. Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) and John Gokongwei's JG Summit Holdings Inc. have formalized their partnership to jointly pursue and bid for the P17.5-billion Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Passenger Terminal Project.

The two firms inked their memorandum of agreement for the development of the country's second major commercial gateway on February 22.

Globe revolutionizes prepaid with 'create your own promo' concept

GLOBE Telecom redefines prepaid as it brings another new and game changing experience to its subscribers by allowing them to make their own promo the way they want to.

Introducing Globe Prepaid GoSakto, the first and only service in the country that allows prepaid subscribers to create and customize a prepaid promo that fits their needs, budget, and lifestyle.

DLSU confers Signum Ministerii to Metrobank Foundation

THE Metrobank Foundation Inc. (MBFI) was conferred the Signum Ministerii Medal (Model of Outstanding Leadership in Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility) by De La Salle University (DLSU) last February 16 during the latter's Commencement Exercises held at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City.

Court won’t issue final ruling on public audit of Shell income

THE Court of Appeals (CA) will not issue yet a final ruling on the request of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. not to open its books for public audit, pending the Supreme Court’s action in a related case.

In an eight-page resolution, the CA’s Former Special First Division held in abeyance its ruling on Shell’s motion for reconsideration, in view of the pendency of a similar suit lodged before the high court, citing judicial courtesy.

Globe issues media advisory on text scam

GLOBE Telecom advises its postpaid subscribers to take precaution and not fall victim to fraudulent text messages currently circulating. The text scam attracts people by informing them that they can get a discount or be entitled to a rebate on their monthly bill once they text a certain number.

Jobless nurses urged to try alternative BPO jobs

MANY jobless registered nurses are going to business process outsourcing (BPO) firms to try their luck to be call center agents.

The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) is all for it but not for the usual “headset with microphone” jobs.

Google sets up Manila office

SEARCH engine leader Google announced on Wednesday the opening of an office in the Philippines, making it the fifth site in Southeast Asia after Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Globe posts strong gains in 4Q 2012 NTC test

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) disclosed the fourth quarter 2012 results of the Quality of Service (QoS) Benchmarking Tests on the telco industry networks within 16 cities and one municipality of the NCR.

“Both Smart and Globe got passing marks in these tests conducted last December, involving postpaid subscribers” NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said.

Remittances surge to $21.6B from January-November

THE Philippines recorded higher amount of remittances from overseas Filipinos from January to November last year owing to the increasing demand for skilled and professional workers abroad, the central bank said Tuesday.