BDO drives greater sustainable finance
BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO) continues to strengthen its commitment to a sustainable future through proactively financing energy efficiency projects, including green facilities and vehicles.
At the recently held Energy Financing Forum, Gabriel U. Lim, senior vice president and head of Corporate Finance of BDO Capital & Investment Corporation said that BDO is looking for more renewable energy projects to finance in support of national economic development and energy security.
BDO’s announcement of its Energy Transition Finance Statement last year reinforced the Bank’s commitment to financing the transition to a low-carbon, environmentally responsible and socially inclusive economy. This was in support of the 2015 Paris Agreement and the Philippines’ nationally determined contribution that aims to reduce 75% of the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.
Since 2010, BDO has financed a mix of 55 renewable energy projects for wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, and biomass energy sources accounting for 2,230 megawatts of total installed renewable energy capacity nationwide.
Ajinomoto PH fortifies sustainability, environmental responsibility efforts
In its latest initiative to comply with the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022 (EPR Law), Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation (APC) has entered new partnerships with four leading Filipino waste management organizations. The food industry giant formalized its commitment to a more sustainable future at a Memorandum of Agreement signing ceremony with Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies (BEST), Envirotech, Plastic Credit Exchange (PCX), and Republic Cement last September 1, 2023, at APC Makati head office.
The EPR Law mandates companies to take more responsibility for the disposal and recycling of their products throughout their life cycle, which includes post-consumer waste management. Obliged enterprises like APC must ensure that they do their part in recovering, diverting, and recycling plastic waste generated from the use of their products.
APC tapped BEST, a waste management consulting company, to aid with the collection of post-consumer packaging,
Envirotech, since 2010, has facilities that turn low-quality soft/flexible plastic waste into construction and furniture grade materials.
PCX is widely known for pioneering the Plastic Pollution Reduction Standard, for the management of pledges from companies and institutions to clean up their plastic footprints and be awarded Plastic Neutrality Certifications for their efforts.
Completing APC’s new set of collaborations is Republic Cement, with its Ecoloop program that encourages waste recovery and processing from collecting, segregating, and shredding of viable solid waste to be used as Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF).
BPI Awesome Travel Fair a success
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) brought back the BPI Awesome Travel Fair a second time this year to offer exclusive and affordable travel deals for BPI banking clients and cardholders.
The Travel Fair was held from September 8 to 10 at the Glorietta Main Activity Center, and was open to all BPI Credit, Debit and Prepaid cardholders.
Over 20 travel exhibitors composed of both local and international airlines and travel agencies participated in the travel fair. There were discounts and other deals offered exclusively for BPI clients and cardholders, such as cheaper fares, freebies, convenient arrangements, flexible payment terms, and low forex.
For the fourth edition of the BPI Awesome Travel Fair, BPI offered free travel insurance for select BPI Credit Cards and 0% installment for six months for airfare charged to the BPI Platinum Rewards Mastercard.
MOVE IT enhances rider-partner welfare programs
GM Jacinto delivers his State of the MOVE IT Address where he formally introduced the expanded Tropang Malupet program.
MOVE IT’s Tropang Malupet event welcomed thousands of rider-partners, as well as aspiring applicants eager to join MOVE IT’s growing communities of Kuya ng Kalsada.
Dedicated to enhancing the economic well-being of local motorcycle taxi service providers, the expanded Tropang Malupet welfare program encompasses optimized earning opportunities, economic assistance, aid and relief initiatives, and community engagement. MOVE IT continues to find ways to improve the lives of its rider-partners and their loved ones, and achieve upward socio-economic mobility. With Grab’s support, MOVE IT strives towards being the safer, more reliable, and most affordable motorcycle taxi that Filipinos can always depend on.
Nickel Asia awards research grant to 15 university teams nationwide
Listed mineral resource development company Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) has awarded P1.5 million worth of grants to 15 teams from different universities nationwide during its first-ever Sustainability Contest held in BGC, Taguig City.
The NAC Sustainability Contest is part of the company’s Sustainability stakeholder’s engagement plan. Part of that is encouraging students to engage in research projects that utilize science-based techniques to enhance environmental practices and promote responsible utilization of natural resources.
The 15 teams were selected by a panel of expert judges from entries received by the company between February to June.
Other recipient universities included the University of Mindanao-Matina Campus, Bataan Peninsula State University-Main Campus, St. Paul University Surigao (St. Paul University System), Visayas State University, Batangas State University-Alangilan Campus, Partido State University, STI College Surigao, Saint Louis University, Cebu Technological University-Tuburan Campus, Bicol University, and the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
Each of the 15 teams received a research grant of P100,000 in support of their proposals.
Winners of the Sustainability Contest will have the chance to execute and show their research next year at the NAC Sustainability Fair.
Nestlé supports brand rights protection, signs MOU on eCommerce
Nestlé Philippines Inc. (NPI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with online platforms and brand owners, industry associations, and chambers of commerce to support brand rights protection against counterfeit products. The world’s largest food and beverage company joins the long and impressive roster of multinational brand partners, as well as dominant e-commerce platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, and Zalora, in championing consumer protection under the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).
The MOU formalizes enhanced collaboration across different industries, together with a general process on limiting the access of counterfeit products in the market, by generating and streamlining takedown notices and procedures against digital sellers who take advantage of consumers and sell fake goods.
NPI is dedicated and looks forward to a dynamic exchange and review of the MOU’s implementation to ensure consumer protection in e-commerce marketplaces, as it reassures digital shoppers that its household brands are original and of the highest quality when purchased online.
The NPI delegation was led by General Counsel Atty. Krisma Guyala, who said that Nestlé is fully committed and participating in asserting proactive and preventive measures versus counterfeit products. She commended IPOPHL for its role in forging collaboration between companies and e-commerce platforms for brand protection.
Fil-Chi firms hold PH largest career fair, leverages AI
Seventy Filipino-Chinese companies will open more than a thousand job vacancies in the country’s largest career fair to be held on October 15 at the SMX Convention Center.
Bossjob, the chat-first career platform for professional hiring in Southeast Asia (SEA), is set to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the career fair scene when it co-organizes the 2nd Filipino-Chinese Job Fair 2023.
The job fair, a collaboration with the Philippine Dragon Media Network, will feature over 70 top Philippine and local Chinese companies from various industries offering more than 1,000 job openings, and is anticipated to be the biggest gathering of Filipino and Chinese professionals. It is expected to draw around 2,000 attendees.
The job-matching sessions will aim to connect companies with locals, Fil-Chi multilingual professionals, and fresh graduates, facilitating seamless candidate acquisition on the spot through the platform’s AI-hiring app.
Bossjob, which some investors dub the SEA version of China’s BOSS Zhipin and Tianyancha, started in the Philippines in 2018 with its innovative MDD model of “mobile + direct chat + AI-matching,” introducing direct chat into the recruitment scene. With the help of AI technologies and big data, the platform recommends highly suitable and active candidates to employers and relevant job opportunities to job seekers.
Kimberly Chen, country manager of Bossjob, said the company has always been at the forefront of integrating technology with human potential towards making the recruitment process more personalized, swift, and efficient.
The homegrown recruitment platform, which recently raised a $5 million seed fund, reached a milestone when it garnered over 2.9 million registered users in the Philippines.
Tapping opportunities beyond borders with Sun Peso Maximizer
Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. (Sun Life) has launched the Sun Peso Maximizer (Hybrid Income), a single-pay, Peso-denominated investment-linked insurance product that enables clients to tap global investment opportunities while preserving their capital.
The Sun Peso Maximizer (Hybrid Income) plan invests in credit and equity-linked notes that provide fixed annual income payouts for the first six years. This limited-offer product matures after seven years and aims to give back 100% of the client’s premium in addition to potential returns of the underlying performance asset.
It also provides life insurance coverage equal to at least 125% of the single premium.
The Sun Peso Maximizer (Hybrid Income) is available for a limited time only. Those interested can look forward to hassle-free application and policy approval through the Guaranteed Insurability Offer, subject to the terms and conditions set by Sun Life.
