Globe Telecom's GCash mobile wallet

At the GSM Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Globe Telecom launched a customer strategy for the unbanked — paying for mobile apps and other Web goods through GCash, its internationally acclaimed micro payment service that transforms a mobile phone into a virtual wallet for money transfers at the speed and cost of a text message.

Though the Philippines has over 70 million mobile phone subscribers that have catapulted it as the world’s text messaging capital, its market is traditionally constrained by low credit card ownership that hampers full participation in today’s digital life.

To start off the service, Globe has partnered with Research in Motion (RIM) to allow Globe subscribers using BlackBerry devices to charge purchases for mobile applications from the BlackBerry App World onto their monthly-postpaid bill or prepaid account credits. The new service is expected to roll out in the second quarter this year.

A tie-up with American Express will roll out an online payment solution that will enable Globe subscribers to purchase goods such as electronics, toys, apparel, and many other goods from popular US and UK online sites that accept American Express.

Read more at CRM Innovation

Photo by GSMA MMU at Flickr.com

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Filipino folk dance presentation

The Philippine Embassy participated in the recent 18th Ottawa Travel and Vacation show held on March 10-11, 2012 at the Ottawa Convention Centre in Canada. The participating travel services company includes Tours Hai International, Jade Tours, Handa Travel, and Royal Scenic, among others. At the show, there was palpable interest in selling more Philippine destinations as demonstrated by Uniktour, Travel Professionals International and Family Travel Scoop.

Besides tourism, the Philippine Embassy took the occasion to promote Philippine products and food. Filipino shell craft, baskets and the turon were the top drawers inviting queries and compliments from visitors. Philippine participation in the travel show was organized by the Philippine Department of Tourism office in New York represented by Ms. Mitchelle T. Dy, Deputy Director for Marketing.

Read more at Philippine Embassy Ottawa

Photo by pong0814 at Flickr.com

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Wells Fargo Center sign

Despite all the political pressures in the United States for businesses not to outsource, the second largest American banking company, Wells Fargo and Co., will proceed in moving some its business support activities to the Philippines. For this, the U.S. bank has set up Wells Fargo Philippines Solutions Inc., which is following the footsetps of other banking giants such as JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. It is the second largest bank in the United States in terms of deposits, home mortgage servicing, and debit cards. Wells Fargo is headquartered in San Francisco, California, but has major “hubquarters” in other cities throughout the country. In 2011, Wells Fargo had more than 9,000 retail branches and 12,231 automated teller machines in 39 states and the District of Columbia. It has over 270,000 employees and over 70 million customers.

Sources: Interaksyon | Wikipedia

Photo by moneyblognewz at Flickr.com

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U.S. outsourcer Alorica is opening a new customer service call center in the Philippine province of Cebu.

The new center represents Alorica’s growing presence in the Philippines. Alorica already employees some 3,000 people in the Philippines and plans to significantly increase that number in the next year. “Opening a new facility, offering employment and career growth opportunities is always exciting to announce,” Alorica chairman Andy Lee said.

Alorica Incorporated is a call center company with 36 facilities worldwide. Established in 1999, the company has grown to twenty-thousand employees. Currently, the company is headquartered is in Chino, California.

Read more at Fifth Quadrant

Photo from Alorica.com

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Scene from the Midnight Mercato

Beginning February 29, 2012 and all Wednesday nights therein, a late night food market will be open from 10:00pm to 3:00am (including every Friday and Saturday nights). Welcome to “Midnight Mercato” at the 34th Street and 8th Avenue of Bonifacio Global City (beside MC Home Depot). Free wi-fi. Live bands. What more can a call center professional ask for?

Text from Midnight Mercato:

Are you looking for a place to indulge your late night food cravings on a Wednesday night? Or you can’t wait until the weekend to visit your favorite late night food markets?

Then Midnight Mercato, Metro Manila’s premiere late night weekend food market, will be open on Wednesday nights starting February 29 to answer your foodie call!

Indulge in the Midnight Mercato experience and enjoy an extensive selection of foodie favorites – steamed cheeseburgers, crunchy pork belly, wagyu steak on a sticks, deep dish pizzas, authentic Vigan empanadas, ice-cream filled mochi balls, specialty milk teas, dark lager beer cheesecakes – straight from the kitchens of home-based and specialty chefs, while enjoying live acoustic performances and free wi-fi. Wednesday Midnight Mercato is perfect way to celebrate the middle of the week!

Midnght Mercato is open from 10:00pm to 3:00am every Friday, Saturday and Wednesday (starting February 29) and Mercato Centrale is open every Saturday and Sunday from 7:00am to 2:00pm. Midnight Mercato is located at the corner of 34th street and 8th avenue beside MC Home Depot in Bonifacio Global City.

For more information, please visit their website www.midnightmercato.com or their Facebook account. For vendor booth rental or venue rental inquiries, please email admin@mercatocentrale.ph or text 0917-840-1152.

Source: Midnight Mercato Centrale Organizer

Photo submitted by RJ Ledesma of Mercato Centrale

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A photo of General Santos Doctors Hospital

A new bill is being drafted that will allow United States Medicare beneficiaries to travel to the Philippines for medical reasons, according to Eric Lachica, a lobbyist who is working to get the bill introduced. The new bill would allow Medicare to reimburse certain hospitals in the Philippines directly for Guam residents, thus allowing for the full export of Medicare benefits to the Philippines. Lachica said there are about 400,000 Filipino-Americans in the U.S. mainland, and about 200,000 have seriously expressed interest in retiring in their homeland to take advantage of the low cost of living.

Currently, because of proximity, Guam Medicare residents are allowed to travel to the Philippines to seek medical care for procedures not currently offered on Guam. The patient is then directly reimbursed for the medical visit.

Read more at Marianas Variety

Photo by ManilaBoy45 at Flickr.com

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TESDA classroom

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) recently announced its plan to launch seven new programs this year intended to increase employability, provide more livelihood and spark the entrepreneurial skills of Filipinos. Dubbed REAL DEAL TESD (Reach the grassroots, Empower the reached. Assure quality training and Lifelong education Development. Enable, and Actively-engage Labor force members in job opportunities thru employability and livelihood skills), this initiative is a response to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s call for “Landas na Matuwid.”

The seven programs are:

1. IT-BPO Talent Investment Program that will train 65,000 scholars to qualify for jobs in the business process outsourcing industry;
2. TESDA-SEIPI (Semi-conductor and Electronics Industry of the Philippines) Partnership for the Semi-Conductor Electronics Industry that will train more than 9,000 new and existing workers to keep them geared up for the demands of the semi-conductor and electronics industry;
3. Partnership with PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.) for the training of 1,300 technicians;
4. TESDA-Holcim Partnership to train some 2,200 out-of-school-youths in construction trades such as masonry, carpentry and blueprint reading certification;
5. Partnership with LTRFB (Land Transportation Regulation and Franchising Bureau) in PUV (Public Utility Vehicle) driver’s certification;
6. TESDA Specialista Technopreneurship Programs that brings together stakeholders to serve the multifarious service requirements of households and small communities; and
7. Updates on TESDA-Coke National Convergence Program on Empowering Women Retailers.

Source: News Desk, president.gov.ph

Photo by netstreamph at Flickr.com

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Atty. Karen Jimeno

10. Easier to win votes with basketball courts than cases in trial courts

9. Still focused on the “just because we said so” approach to presenting evidence

8. Not yet finished researching how to get Bartlett’s Book of Quotations as acceptable jurisprudence

7. Distracted with issue of what shampoo Karen Jimeno uses

6. Distracted with issue of what shampoo Serafin Cuevas uses

5. Never really had to contend with shouts from voters of “Objection: immaterial, irrelevant, and impertinent” whenever they sang and danced on the campaign trail

4. Looking for English-Tagalog translator to win the Lito Lapid vote

3. Waiting for Miriam Defensor-Santiago to give a lecture on law to everyone

2. Praying Manong Johnny (Juan Ponce Enrile) will be true to his campaign promise: “Gusto ko happy ka”

1. Still waiting for defense team pants to go on fire

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About Chief Justice Renato C. Corona

On May 12, 2010, two days after the 2010 elections and a month before former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term expired, Renato C. Corona was appointed as the 23rd Chief Justice of the Philippines, succeeding Reynato Puno who had reached the mandatory age of retirement. Corona was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 12, 2011.

Early in his career, Corona served as special counsel at the Development Bank of the Philippines. He later became senior vice-president and general counsel of the Commercial Bank of Manila, and later a senior officer of the Tax and Corporate Counseling Group of the Tax Division of Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co.), the country’s largest multidisciplinary professional services firm.

In 1992, Corona joined the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos as Assistant Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs, and concurrently served as head of the Malacañang Legal Office. In 1994, he was promoted to Deputy Executive Secretary and later Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and member of the Cabinet. In 1998, President Ramos awarded him the Philippine Legion of Honor medal, with the rank of officer.

In 1998, Corona became the chief of staff and spokesperson of then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. When Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001, Corona became the Presidential Chief of Staff.

Source: Dickie Soriano | Wikipedia

Photo from Fan Page at Facebook thru Flickr.com

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The Filipino Plaza public park in Vancouver, BC

Somewhere in Vanness Avenue, west of Sky Train’s Nanaimo Station, Vancouver, BC, sits a park Filipino-Canadians call the Filipino Plaza. The open park, sometimes referred to as a linear park, located underneath the Sky Train Expo Line, was one of the dozens of open parks built in 1986 as part of BC Transit’s Parkway Program showcasing different cultural parks on the 26-kilometre path that parallels the Sky Train.

Fronting this park is the colorful Sarimanok logo and a 2,000-red brick wall donated by the Filipino-Canadians who started the endeavor in the park. Construction of the park was made possible with the bayanihan spirit of Filipino-Canadian members of the “Filipino Plaza Committee of 1985.”

This year, the Filipino Plaza will be the official site of the Flag Raising ceremony to kick off the various Philippine independence celebrations in the lower mainland of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Source: Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

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Michel Catuira, chairman of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants' Trade Union (MTU)

In 2009, Michel Catuira, a migrant Filipino worker in South Korea for many years, became a chairman of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union (MTU), and the following year became the first foreign delegate in the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). After becoming chairman, he spent his days working in factories and his nights organizing workers.

The Korean government has not regarded the MTU’s activities with pleasure. Three of its past chairpeople have been the objects of “target crackdowns” by immigration authorities and forcibly deported. Catuira was almost deported until the Seoul Administrative Court took Catuira’s side, saying, “I suspect that Seoul Immigration Office’s handling of the case may have been because of the plaintiff’s labor union activity.”

South Korea is not a signatory to the United Nations’ International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which stipulates the right of migrant workers and their families to be free from discrimination compared to citizens of the country where they work, and includes the right to form labor unions.

However, Catuira is returning back to the Philippines to care for his grandmother who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. His cousin, who looked after the ailing grandmother, is leaving to work in the United States. Catuira is expected to be back in the Philippines at the end of this month.

Source: The Hankyoreh

Photo taken from No Base Stories Korea

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