Maniolas

What a tagline! Everywhere I go in the country, I open the line and say, “Change is….” and everyone in my audience will complete the line and say, “Change is coming.” It ranks as popular as the phrase, “It’s more fun in……the Philippines,” as my audience would declare and then smile and laugh about it. There are so many changes happening in the political scene and in the business scene, but what about changes that are not coming, at least in the immediate future? Well, let’s take a careful look into these things. Here are the things that will not change: 1. EDSA traffic will still be a problem and it would take time and immediate measures to improve the situation. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 2. Some politicians will still lie and steal, even though there is a higher sense of consciousness and apprehension these days. 3. Business will continue to be uncertain. 4. Business competitions will continue to rise. 5. Price competitions will always be there. 6. Technology will still churn out things that will change consumer behavior and will threaten many established industries. 7. You and I will grow old. 8. Life will still be laced with challenges and trials and the pace of it will add more stress to many of us. On the other hand, these are the good things that will not change: 1. Life is beautiful, especially if you wake up every morning and realize it is a gift Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has chosen the Philippines as a jump-off point for its expansion in Southeast Asia and the Middle East in providing operation and maintenance (O&M) services for thermal power plants. MHPS launched yesterday its third Global Service Center (GSC) for thermal power plant operators in Alabang, Muntinlupa City—the first in Southeast Asia—following its remote monitoring centers in Japan’s Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture in 1999 and Orlando, Florida in 2001. The company decided to open shop in the Philippines mainly because it is an English-speaking country and has been doing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business with local companies for over 40 years, MHPS president and CEO Takato Nishizawa said during the launch. “We need a good place and then expand, not only in Southeast Asia but also including the Middle East from here,” he said. Centered in Southeast Asia, the new GSC offers comprehensive services to a wide range of thermal power plant operators including remote monitoring, control, O&M and single-point centralized management optimized for each power plant. Masao Ishikawa, MHPS managing director for Asia Pacific, said the GSC aims to optimize the operations of power plants through the Remote Monitoring Center, which will help in lessening the downtime of plants. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We are expecting what is happening in the machines. Predictions are based on data. From there we can easily locate parts needed to repair or replaced,” he said. With the new Philippine facility, Nishizawa Read More …

Gentlemen, This refers to the article entitled “Unholy Alliance” written by Mary Ann Reyes published in the Sept. 14 issue of The Philippine STAR – Business section regarding the alleged failure of the Insurance Commission to act on the complaints filed by Steel Corporation of the Philippines (“SCP” for brevity). We would like to take this opportunity to clarify matters in relation to the issues raised in the article. First, the insurance claims of SCP are pending before the regular courts, one in the Regional Trial Court of Batangas City and another in the Regional Trial Court of Makati City. The cases involve claims to recover insurance proceeds for material damage due to fire and business interruption losses provided under the insurance policies. At present, the cases are being heard and decisions are yet to be issued by the respective courts. There is no way for the Insurance Commission to assume jurisdiction and hear the cases because the claims exceed the jurisdiction amount of P5 million provided under Section 439 of the Insurance Code, as amended by RA 10607 which took effect on Sept. 20, 2013. Second, what is pending before the Insurance Commission are administrative cases seeking the suspension and revocation of licenses of the insurance companies who issued the insurance policies involved in the incident. These cases do not seek to recover insurance proceeds for material damage due to fire and business interruption losses provided under the insurance policies. Thus, the decisions in these cases will not effect Read More …

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the country renewed its petition to the US during his meeting with Deputy US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Holleyman II at the recently concluded 13th ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Laos. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has urged the US anew to include travel goods on the list of duty-free products under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the country renewed its petition to the US during his meeting with Deputy US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Holleyman II at the recently concluded 13th ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Laos. “On our end, we’ve re-presented the request and the justifications on the travel goods. We requested for the inclusion of travel goods on the US GSP and we have a request to reconsider. It is moving already. It’s in the process, up for consideration,” Lopez said. The Philippines was unable to secure the US government’s nod to include locally manufactured travel goods in the GSP program – a preferential tariff system given by the US to its trade partners – on its annual review released last June. The country’s earlier petition which the USTR deferred seeks to include travel goods such as luggage, handbags, pocket goods, backpacks, sports and travel bags. “The only concern why it was excluded is that they are saying that the Philippines is not a least developed economy. But for us, we’re saying we are still developing and we need support and Read More …

From left: AVP and Head of Community Engagement and Marketing Communication Gabby Cui, PLDT VP and Head of SME Nation Mitch Locsin, Boss for Innovative Solutions Matthew Cua of Skyeye, Boss for E-Commerce Barni Rennebeck of The Sexy Chef, Bosses for Social Responsibility Melanie Go and Hindy Weber with PLDT Group Chair Manuel V. Pangilinan (center), Bosses for Social Media Jill Borja, Nadine Fanlo, and Jaime Fanlo joined by Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, and PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise International and Carrier Business Eric R. Alberto PLDT/Released MANILA, Philippines – The 2016 search for the country’s next generation of digital business leaders has finally come to a close, and PLDT SME Nation, the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) arm of PLDT, Inc., concluded the competition with the announcement of the new batch of game-changing entrepreneurs at the #BeTheBoss Awards Night last September 9 at the Conrad Hotel Manila. The #BeTheBoss Awards, now on its second year, recognizes promising Filipino entrepreneurs leading through tech innovation and digital integration in their business. “It’s amazing to see the number of revolutionary MSMEs we have in the country. We received double the amount of nominations from last year’s competition,” enthused PLDT VP and Head of SME Nation Mitch Locsin. “And with over 24,000 votes that came in, we can very much observe how technology continues to play a key role in the growth and success of the Filipino MSME.” From over 600 nominations, this year’s #BeTheBoss Awards highlighted 12 finalists who exhibited Read More …