The Top Five Real Estate Emerging Market Trends for 2017

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Property portal Lamudi Philippines predicts five market trends that will shape the property sector in 2017

The year 2016 was a challenging year for real estate. Most of the year was rapt with uncertainty in the aftermath of two seismic events—Brexit and the U.S. elections.

Anyone thinking of buying property became hesitant and decided that it was more prudent to wait until there is more clarity about how these unexpected events would affect the market. Buyers in Mexico were worried that a wall might be built sending the country into an economic recession. English investors were concerned that the inevitable departure from the EU would be cataclysmic for the domestic property market.

Analysts at Lamudi Philippines have spent some time in the lab crunching the stats, to come up with five trends they deem will shape real estate in 2017.

Steady as She Goes

With torpid real GDP growth across most of the emerging markets, governments are reluctant to raise interest rates. So where does that leave the market? In many cases due to difficulties securing construction financing and the cash required to purchase prize locations, there is now a situation where investors will look to avoid risk more so than usual. In brief, this will create a calm market, where real estate prices remain stable. While construction activity is expected to pick up pace in the second half of 2017, the start of the new year will be slower to gain momentum.

Emerging Markets Are a Portfolio Essential

A smart move for the new year is to hedge your investments in Europe and the United States by including some higher risk real estate investment funds. In a world of unattractive global investment options going against the grain might be the ticket to prosperity. Despite the International Monetary Fund cutting its global growth forecast to 3.4 percent for 2017, there is hope in the developing world.

Attack of the Drones

Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones will be the big tech advancement in 2017. Real estate agents will look to gain an edge over competitors by providing flyovers of properties for exclusive properties and agents. Home-buyers and sellers will be able to use drones to their advantage. One caveat: certain flights will need the local tower’s permission along with a flight plan filed online. There is a real danger that drones could crash into commercial planes; considering the damage a bird can do this is something users need to bear in mind.

Optionality Is Back

As investors flee to relative safe havens; developers and investors are seeking solace in multi-use projects. Owners of versatile buildings can benefit from finding the maximum rent from the ideal tenant, whether that is through offices, retail outlets, or residential blocks. Flexible leases will become more common in a coworking type of arrangement. Lamudi—the global property platform whose global HQ is in the trendy Kreuzberg area of Berlin, Germany, share their building with other Rocket Internet startups. This is an ideal way for owners to get the full rental income while companies can engage in knowledge sharing.

Smart Home Tech and IoT

In 2016 we read a lot about the revolution that the Internet-of-Things (IoT) promised and 2017 may be the year for smart home technology to become more widespread. The problem is that there is a lot of competition, but no single company has managed to combine multiple appliances and apps into a seamless catch-all product. That could soon change with Google and Apple entering the market, giants of uniform user experiences. So brace yourself for smart houses that make life very, very easy for you.

Construction of Common Station to Start in December 2017

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The construction of the Common Station project is targeted to start by December this year after the Department of Transportation and concerned parties today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the long-delayed railway project.

The MOA was signed by the DOTr, SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Universal LRT Corporation (BVI) Limited of the San Miguel Corporation (SMC), Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), North Triangle Depot Commercial Corporation (NTDCC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA). 

Specific signatories as seen in the photo above are (R to L) Bernard Vincent Dy, President and CEO of Ayala Land Inc.; Jeffrey Lim, President of SM Prime Holdings Inc.; Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Vice Chairman of Ayala Land Inc.; Hans Sy, Chairman of SM Prime Holdings; Mark Villar, Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary; Arther Tugade, Department of Transportation Secretary; Manny Pangilinan, Vice Chairman of Light Rail Manila Corporation; Ramon Ang, President of San Miguel Corporation; Lorenzo Formos of San Miguel Corporation; Rogelio Singson, President and CEO of Light Rail Manila Corporation; and Ret. Gene. Reynaldo Berroya, Light Rail Transit Authority Administrator.

The MOA contains the design parameters for the Common Station, which will be the basis of the detailed designs that will be developed after the signing.

IPC to Offer Salesforce Training Classes for Users

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IPC (IP Converge Data Services, Inc.), leading PH cloud and data center services provider and Southeast Asia’s first and only Salesforce Gold Cloud Alliance Partner, today announced that it will conduct a series of Salesforce University training classes designed to aid End-Users, Systems Administrators, and Developers using the platform.

“For enterprises to experience a truly streamlined sales cycle and really get the most out of Salesforce CRM (Customer Relationship Management), special skillsets are required, and this knowledge base can only be acquired from IPC, being the only Authorized Training and Delivery Partner of Salesforce University in the country today,” said Niño Valmonte, Director for Marketing and Digital Innovation in IPC. “Through this accreditation, IPC has gained the knowledge to conduct Salesforce training courses in order to help users maximize the platform for their respective businesses.”

IPC is the only partner in the Philippines that has been certified for training delivery and training resellership by Salesforce University. This distinction gives them exclusive access to modules and exercises made by the developers of the world’s leading cloud-based CRM platform.

The classes will feature a Salesforce University Certified Instructor who will teach students through a series of exercises designed to reinforce the concepts presented in class. For this year, IPC will offer four courses: Administration Essentials for New Administrators (ADM201), Administration Essentials for New Administrators (Professional Edition) (ADM202), Administration Essentials for Experienced Administrators (ADM211), and Declarative Development for Platform App Builders (DEV402).

Create Your Globe Coldplay Story on April 4, 2017

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Get an exclusive chance to win tickets and watch Coldplay live in Manila

The Coldplay fandom in Manila is undeniably huge. Tickets to their April 4, 2017 concert at the MOA Concert Grounds, presented by Globe were sold out in a day, but Globe will give all its customers another chance to watch the most-coveted concert of 2017. By registering to any GoSurf promo or subscribing to any Broadband plan, customers can earn raffle entries to win tickets to Coldplay’s “A Head Full of Dreams Tour in Manila”. For Globe Broadband customers, every P5 spent on their bill is equivalent to one raffle entry. Forty tickets are up for grabs as 20 lucky customers will win 2 tickets each.

“We know that music is an integral part in every Filipino’s lives and Globe is here to elevate your music experience by allowing you to enjoy music in a different perspective. With Globe, you can listen to your favorite artists like Coldplay on Spotify, or catch it via live stream from their L.A. concert on YouTube, or even watch them perform live by joining our raffle promo. We want all our customers to get this chance and experience watching their favorite artists here in Manila, or even abroad,” shares Globe Senior Vice President for Consumer Mobile Business, Issa Cabreira.

“This time, by simply registering to any GoSurf promo or subscribing to a Broadband plan, all our customers can get a chance to win tickets to the most-anticipated concert of Coldplay this 2017.” Cabreira added.

Globe takes entertainment to another level. Just recently, Globe awarded two of its loyal customers, Monique Lim and Cristina Santiago, to watch the band perform at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney Australia last December 13, 2016 through Globe’s “Fly-Away Promo.” 

Jr. NBA Philippines Presented by Alaska to Inspire Nationwide Youth Basketball Participation

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Jr. NBA Philippines 2017 presented by Alaska returns this year to the Philippines from Jan. 20-May 14 as part of the league’s effort to encourage youth basketball participation.

Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, teaches participants the fundamental skills and core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents. In addition, Jr. NBA Philippines will introduce a court refurbishment initiative that will revitalize a community court through the NBA Cares platform.

The Jr. NBA Philippines 2017 presented by Alaska is free and open to boys and girls ages 10-14 and is comprised of four stages: skills clinics in schools and communities, Regional Selection Camps, a National Training Camp and an NBA experience trip.

The skills clinics will be held nationwide from January through April with stops in Bacolod, Batangas, Cagayan De Oro, Cavite, Cebu, Metro Manila and Subic. The Regional Selection Camps will be held in Cagayan De Oro (Feb. 11-12), Lucena (Feb. 25-26), Cebu (March 11-12) and Metro Manila (April 1-2), with the top 37 boys and 37 girls advancing to the National Training Camp in Manila on May 12-14, which will feature an NBA and WNBA player or legend. The program will culminate with the selection of 16 Jr. NBA All-Stars, comprised of eight boys and eight girls, who will embark on an overseas NBA experience trip with fellow Jr. NBA All-Stars from Southeast Asia.

SAP Introduces Jump-Start Enablement Program for SAP Leonardo IoT Portfolio

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SAP SE announced a jump-start enablement program for its Internet of Things (IoT) innovation portfolio. The program is intended to help customers connect the emerging world of intelligent devices with people and processes to achieve tangible business outcomes. Following through on SAP’s recently announced commitment to invest €2 billion in IoT over five years, the IoT portfolio combines adaptive applications, Big Data applications and connectivity in packaged solutions across line-of-business and industry use cases ranging from connected products, assets and infrastructure to vehicle fleets, markets and people.

Named SAP® Leonardo, SAP’s IoT portfolio takes its name from a figure known for ushering in a groundbreaking era of science and discovery. For more on the SAP Leonardo brand, please see here.

“Moving from things to outcomes is about new business processes such as Industry 4.0, new business models and new ways for people to live and work,” said Dr. Tanja Rueckert, executive vice president, Digital Assets and IoT, SAP. “With SAP Leonardo, we connect ‘things’ with business processes that are instantaneous and proactive, and with people who can manage more effectively with augmented intelligence and autonomous systems. Our SAP Leonardo IoT portfolio delivers on SAP’s commitment to produce superior business value through enterprise IoT innovation.” 

Converge ICT Ties Up with Google, Facebook, Netflix, Akamai

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Converge ICT—a provider of world-class ICT products and services in the Philippines—recently tied up with several web giants in the US and Asia Pacific in a bid to bring a better internet experience to its customers in the country.

In an announcement made by the company, they now have a direct peering with tier-1 sites such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, and as well as with content delivery networks provider, Akamai.

“With these partnerships, our customers now experience seamless web browsing once they visit these sites. It also allows our network to have a better data traffic to achieve lower latencies, essential for diminishing internet lags,” said Emil Baniqued, Head of Network Operations of Converge ICT.

These developments are part of the latest upgrades made by Converge ICT, which focused on improving their customer’s internet experience. The company has amplified the bandwidth capacity of its core infrastructure all the way to the distribution of data.

“We have been doing these efforts in line with our thrust of improving the internet connectivity in the country,” explained Jesus Romero, Chief Operating Officer of Converge ICT. “These upgrades are a big leap for the company since we have quadrupled the bandwidth capacity of our network’s backbone. We are also doing these improvements to ensure that we provide best-in-breed ICT products and services to our clients, especially that we are now extending our capabilities to more communities.”

To date, Converge ICT has already connected its fiber-powered capabilities to communities in NCR as well as in Central Luzon.

To know more about Converge ICT internet packages, please visit their website at http://www.convergeict.com/about.ph.

Ayala SureSeats Partners with Globe Digital Ventures

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Customers can soon enjoy an enhanced cinema experience with the SureSeats website powered by Globe Digital Ventures.

Constant moviegoers now have a more convenient way of planning their movie dates and buying their tickets online as SureSeats seals its recent partnership with Globe Digital Ventures at Raffles Hotel, Makati.

Reinforcing the telco’s ties with its Ayala Corporation family, Globe Digital Ventures signed a contract with Ayala’s Sureseats for Globe Digital Ventures’ acquisition and management of its movie schedule and ticketing website, SureSeats.com. This latest partnership allows patrons to experience a faster and hassle-free process of purchasing movie tickets to Ayala Malls Cinemas with the technology that also powers GMovies.

“At Globe, we continue to strengthen our proposition to offer services that will enhance our customers’ digital lifestyle. Innovations like GMovies alongside our strategic partnerships allow us to achieve our objective and provide services that will upgrade the connected experience,” said Ernest Cu, President & CEO of Globe Telecom.

“We are very excited with the partnership of Ayala Malls Cinemas with Globe. We look forward to a rejuvenated Sureseats.com that will elevate the customer experience of our cinema patrons and bring significant growth in membership,” said Amir Precilla, General Manager of Ayala Malls Cinemas.

SureSeats is a complete online ticketing service for all Ayala Malls Cinemas in the country, allowing customers to reserve and purchase their movie tickets ahead of time. This kind of service lets everyone plan ahead, choose their preferred cinema, date, time, and even their seats. Through the partnership with Globe Digital Ventures, SureSeats users will be able to experience a new level of digital convenience and enjoy a more rewarding user experience.

"Partnering with Sureseats - a pioneer brand in the online convenience space for Ayala malls movie theaters, is a milestone for us as we are certain we can take the Sureseats brand to a whole new digital entertainment experience," said Glenn Estrella, Vice President of Globe Telecom Digital Ventures.

Through this partnership, customers can simply enter the cinema without the need for falling in line nor having tickets printed. For more information, visit www.sureseats.com.

Expanded Maternity Leave Bill to Benefit Dads

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"Ang Expanded Maternity Leave Bill ay hindi lamang para kay nanay, pwede din kay tatay."

This was the statement issued on Tuesday by Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros in response to questions whether the paid paternity leaves of working men can also be increased.

Hontiveros, who chairs both the Senate Committee on Women and Senate Committee on Health, filed Senate Bill 215 otherwise known as "The Expanded Maternity Leave Act" to double women workers' maternity leave from the current 60 days to 120 days, with extra 30 days for solo mothers, for a total of 150 days.


"Daddy quota"

The Senator said that fathers can avail of the benefits of the proposed Expanded Maternity Leave Law. She called this the "Daddy quota" of the proposed measure.

"The idea behind the bill is not only to give expectant mothers ample time to ensure the best possible conditions for a healthy delivery, recovery from childbirth and stronger mother-child bond, it also recognizes the role of fathers, adoptive parents and alternate caregivers, and contribute to a more equal distribution of child care among Filipino families," Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said that 30 days of the proposed 120-day maternity will be alloted to alternate caregivers (spouse, common-law partner, relative up to the 4th degree of consanguinity). Adoptive parents are also included.

“Parenting is a collective effort, and pregnancy is both a delicate and precious time. Pregnancy and child care is not the responsibility of women alone. Fathers and other alternate caregivers deserve the opportunity to create meaningful memories with their partners as they welcome and nurture their children,” Hontiveros said. 

Mga tatay makikinabang sa Expanded Maternity Leave bill ni Hontiveros

"Ang panukalang batas na Expanded Maternity Leave ay hindi lamang para sa mga nanay, pwede rin ito sa mga tatay."

Ito ang pahayag ngayong Martes ni Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros bilang kasagutan sa mga nagtatanong at nagmumungkahing itaas din ang bilang ng paid paternity leave ng mga nagtatrabahong tatay.

Si Hontiveros, chairperson ng Committee on Women at Senate Committee on Health sa Senado, ay naghain ng Senate Bill 215 o ang "Expanded Maternity Leave Act" para doblehin ang kasalukuyang 60 araw na maternity leave sa 120 araw at karagdagang 30 araw sa mga solo parents, sa suma total ng 150 na araw.


"Daddy quota"

Ayon sa senador hindi lang ang mga kababaihan ang makikinabang sa kanyang Expanded Maternity Leave bill, maging ang mga tatay ay kasama dito. Sabi ni Hontiveros, may "Daddy quota" ang kanyang panukalang batas.

"Ang pangunahing layunin ng panukalang batas na ito ay bigyan ng tamang panahon ang mga nanay na magpagaling matapos manganak at masiguro din na may tamang oras na igugugol para sa mother-child bonding. Bukod sa pagbibigay halaga sa mga nanay, kinikilala rin ng Expanded Maternity Leave Act ang papel ng mga tatay, adoptive parents, at alternatibong tagapag-alaga o caregiver na may parehong responsibilidad para alagaan ang mga bagong silang na bata," ani ni Hontiveros.

Ayon kay Hontiveros, sa kanyang panukalang batas, ang 30 araw sa 120 araw na maternity leave ay pwede ibahagi sa mga miyembro ng pamilya na mag-aalaga ng sanggol (asawa, common-law partner, o kamag-anak hanggang 4th degree of consanguinity). Kasama rin ang mga adoptive parents.

“Ang pagiging magulang ay isang kolektibong pagsisikap. Ang pregnancy at childcare ay hindi lang responsibilidad ng mga kababaihan. Ang mga tatay, adopters at alternatibong tagapag-alaga ay kailangang mabigyan ng oportunidad na magkaroon ng makabuluhang panahon kasama ang kanilang mga partners para masubaybayan at maalagaan ang sanggol," sabi ni Hontiveros.

SEA-US Cable System Secures FCC License Cable is Targeted for Completion in 2Q 2017

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The Southeast Asia – U S (SEA-US) Cable System publicly marked key milestones and closed in on others with the completion of the installation of its state-of-the-art undersea fiber optic cable network by the second quarter of 2017. Last week, the Hermosa Beach, California shore-end was successfully connected. On January 12, 2017, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the SEA-US cable landing license. By the end of January 2017 the construction of California’s cable landing station will be completed. In February 2017 the installation vessel will arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii, after completing its main-lay construction between California and Hawaii.

Essential to the SEA-US Cable System’s reliability is the location and protection of mission-critical equipment on land. The SEA-US consortium members chose CoreSite (NYSE:COR), a premier provider of secure, reliable, high-performance data center and interconnection solutions across the United States, to house the SEA-US Cable System’s submarine line terminating equipment (SLTE) at CoreSite’s purpose built LA2 data center in downtown Los Angeles, California. The SEA-US Cable System’s unique design provides its users with additional protection between the Hermosa Beach, California landing and CoreSite’s LA2 data center over physically diverse dark fiber pairs.

The historic US $250 million SEA-US Cable System is being constructed by NEC Corporation. When completed, the system will deliver an initial design capacity of 20 Terabit per second (Tb/s) capacity, using NEC’s state-of-the-art 100 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) technology. This capacity will help to meet the exponentially growing demand for bandwidth between Asia and North America, while also enabling onward connectivity to existing and planned submarine cable systems.

The SEA-US Cable System investors consist of the following consortium members: Globe Telecom (Manila, Philippines), GTA (Tamuning, Guam), GTI (Los Angeles, California), Hawaiian Telcom (Honolulu, Hawaii), RTI (San Francisco, California), Telin (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Telkom USA (Los Angeles, California). More details can be found below.

The Role of Endpoint Security in Today’s Healthcare IT Environment

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This is the number of opportunities a cybercriminal needs to exploit healthcare network vulnerabilities, steal passwords, install malware, and ultimately work their way through the entire IT ecosystem. Once inside, they could hijack control of medical equipment, gain access to patient data, and much more, ultimately putting patient lives and organizational reputation on the line.

The shift towards deploying and managing a more patient-friendly healthcare environment that includes the myriad of devices being accessed by patients and employees can be very challenging, especially when it comes to endpoint security.

Let’s take a closer look at the role endpoint security plays in today’s healthcare environment, and why it needs to be part of the larger network security puzzle. 

Supporting the Patient-Centric Care Movement

Healthcare providers of all types are now being required to provide platforms that allow for seamless communication and collaboration between key stakeholders. As a result, information that needs to be securely shared and stored is now flowing at an increasingly rapid rate, and in many different directions, creating a need for security solutions that can support these exchanges.

This move towards patient-centric network services has decentralized the monitoring process and resulted in patients, providers, and other stakeholders accessing information that originates from outside the hospital’s physical walls.

The more information accessed and shared outside the hospital setting, the greater the risk of malicious content working its way inside. While some healthcare systems are adjusting to these changes by employing endpoint security and robust security solutions, there are still a number of organizations that have left the doors to their data wide open. Endpoint security is critical to keeping the patient and other stakeholders’ data secure.

Securing Endpoints Related to the Increased BYOD Interest

The growing number of connected devices used by employees in the healthcare sector is leading to more information sharing, but it’s also placing the endpoint at greater risk than ever before. It’s very common to see smartphones, tablets, and laptops being used inside today’s hospitals, and the data that’s being accessed needs to be secured, from the Internet to the endpoint. This data often contains sensitive medical information that’s being shared between healthcare professionals, including medical imaging data, transcriptions, prescriptions, and more, and typically needs to be vetted by a number of different individuals (physicians, employers, claims processors, etc.) to determine protocols and procedures.

This need for a collaborative digital workspace to enable internal and external collaboration makes it critical that endpoint security be taken seriously. Without appropriate endpoint security solutions in place, healthcare systems will not be able to enhance their existing systems and processes without an overabundance of risk.

An Endpoint Blueprint for Success

Solely deploying security end to end is simply not enough in today’s healthcare industry, as it lacks two key components – integration and automation. Endpoint security, today and in the future, needs to be part of a much larger security framework that can work together with other security elements, like threat intelligence.

From inside the network to the cloud, powerful and integrated end-to-end solutions need to protect the attack surface at all points along the kill chain. When different security sensors and tools are able to work together to collect, analyze, and coordinate a response to threats, the entire healthcare environment will be better protected. Security solutions must be ready and able to deal with the sophisticated threats of today in real time.

Let’s get a conversation going on Twitter! What role do you think endpoint security plays in today’s healthcare IT environment and where do you think we are headed in 2017 and beyond?

Written by Susan Biddle, Sr. Director of Healthcare at Fortinet

Hontiveros to Investigate Incident that Led to Woman Giving Birth in Cab

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The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health vowed on Monday to investigate possible violations to the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law after a woman reportedly gave birth last week inside a taxicab in Quezon City after being refused by two hospitals.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the incident will be on the agenda at the second hearing of her bill that aims to strengthen Republic Act No. 8344, a law that prohibits hospitals from asking for deposits first before treating patients with emergency needs.

According to the initial field investigation conducted by Hontiveros' office, a certain Aira Arellano was turned away by a public hospital in Caloocan City last January 11 after its staff allegedly assessed that she went into labor prematurely. They said that they had no incubator for the baby.

Arellano proceeded to the next nearest hospital but eventually gave birth inside a taxicab. Rescuers and media on the scene then brought her to a private hospital in Fairview, Quezon City. However, the attending staff allegedly only cut the umbilical cord of the infant and said that Arellano could not afford their fees prompting them to transfer to the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC). The EAMC staff that admitted Arellano and her infant, however, said that she had a regular childbirth.

Hontiveros said that based on these accounts, it is worth investigating if the hospital in Fairview, Quezon City, violated the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law. The Senator also said that Arellano and her child were twice victimized.

"She was a victim of a private hospital that refused to admit her because she couldn't afford the deposit demanded of her, and a public hospital that lacked facilities. We cannot tolerate hospitals denying mothers and their children health services in their time of urgent need. Where will our people go if they can't get medical help from either public and private hospitals?" Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said that she will mobilize the resources of her committee to get to the bottom of this matter. She will also coordinate with the Department of Health (DoH) to get an inventory of the facilities at public hospitals and determine legislative and budgetary interventions that can improve health services.

"No life should be unnecessarily put at risk, no person should be denied adequate and quality medical care just because they are poor and our government-run hospitals cannot adequately respond to their emergency medical needs. We have heard this unfortunate story so many times already. It's time we put an end to it," Hontiveros added.

Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 216 otherwise known as "The Amendments to the Anti-Hospital Deposit Act" that seek heavier penalties on hospitals that continue to demand any deposit or other form of advance payment, as a prerequisite for admission or medical treatment of an emergency patient.

Phoenix Petroleum Taps Globe Business to Boost Employee Productivity

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Leading independent and fastest-growing oil company in the country Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. (PNX) has tapped Globe Business, the corporate information and communications technology arm of Globe Telecom, for the use of G Suite to maximize business efficiency.

Through the partnership with Globe Business, PNX was able to acquire G Suite licences that allow its employees to work better together via secure and reliable workplace tools for email, calendar, text and video chat, document creation, project websites, and online storage and sync.

“We are a growing company, making it necessary for us to acquire a simple yet powerful office tool that would enable easier communication and collaboration among our different departments. Through the help of Globe Business and G Suite, it is now easier to keep track of our progress and to keep up with numerous projects. I recommend it to anyone who wants to level up their productivity at work,” shared Alfred Reyes, PNX’s AVP for IT.

Since the establishment of its first station in Davao in 2005, PNX has expanded nationwide to build a wide network of retail stations and commercial and industrial clients. Its business covers the trading of refined petroleum products and lubricants to retail and commercial channels, operation of oil depots, storage and transport services. Its integrated logistic services include hauling and into-plane services of Jet-A1 fuels to airports and airlines and refuelling of aircraft in key cities.

Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group, Mike Frausing added: “Globe Business is all about using technology to maximize our clients’ operating efficiency which may translate to increased savings and profitability. Through G Suite, we are able to help PNX to increase productivity, reduce information technology cost by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain servers as well as keep their most important corporate data safe.”

Powered by Google Cloud, G Suite allows users to communicate faster and more conveniently with Gmail. It provides storage for up to 30GB of email per user, advanced spam filtering, lightning-fast message search, integrated text, voice and multi-person video chat.

G Suite users can also arrange meetings and organize schedules with Google Calendar, experience hassle-free file management with Google Drive which can be accessed anytime and anywhere from any device, conduct real-time collaboration with Google Docs and Google Sheets, and make beautiful presentations together with Google Slides.

At the same time, employees can create and share project website and intranet pages without any programming skills or technical support through Google Sites, connect to the right people, ideas, and information with Google+, and manage business critical information with Google Vault retention, archiving, and eDiscovery tool.

To know more about G Suite, contact your Globe Business Account Manager or visit business.globe.com.ph


PHOTO CAPTION: Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group Mike Frausing (left) and Phoenix Petroleum AVP for IT Alfred Reyes (right) display G Suite on their mobile devices.

Top Ten News Updates About the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant

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We've had a lot of proud moments recently, like when Pia Wurtzbach won the Miss Universe 2015 title! For more than six decades, the Miss Universe has empowered women to showcase their beauty, intellect and advocacy!

Now with the pageant being held in Manila, there is a lot of pressure to Maxine Medina for a back-to-back win. However, with the viral videos of her showing how she answered during her interviews, people are saying that her chances of winning may be a bit slim if she will answer in English at the Question and Answer portion of the coronation night. Should Maxine get a translator?

However, becoming Miss Universe is a destiny. Some of our girls gave the best answers but failed.

As the other candidates of the Miss Universe beauty pageant continue to come in to Manila, a big flurry of activities leading up to Miss Universe coronation night are continuously being held in Manila. Nothing like a beauty pageant that turns downtown Binondo in Manila into a fashion playground.

The candidates just came from Boracay, Oriental Mindoro and Vigan, Ilocos Sur a few days ago, and now back in Manila for the Governor's Ball but will continue in other places like Cebu, Baguio, Batangas, and Davao soon before they finally gather again for the coronation night on January 30.

One of the best parts of this whole beauty pageant experience is making friends from all around the world...or the "Universe." Or is it sincerely like that? Since they are all competing with each other, some are saying that the engagement is not as "pure" but more likely "fake" or "forced" just like their smiles everytime they face the cameras of photo and video-graphers. Winning the Miss Congeniality or "friendship" is a good enough award than bringing home nothing at all. Well, every candidate wants to make their country proud of them, but only one will be wearing the Miss Universe crown.

The Miss Universe 2016 ...or is it 2017?... coronation night will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on January 30, 2017 at 8 am Philippines time.

Ube Express Airport Bus Service introduces its Manila Hub at Robinsons Place Manila

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Making trips to and from the airport is now a breeze for OFWs, Balikbayans, and frequent travellers with the help of UBE Express, your Preferred Airport Bus Service.

UBE Express, now introduces its newest Hub at Robinsons Place Manila. Being at the center of city life with its proximity to the Airport and Hotels and with their wide array of stores and services to choose from, Robinsons Place Manila is the ideal place to do your last minute shopping, meet-ups with friends, and spend more time with your loved ones before leaving for the airport. Making Robinsons Place Manila as the UBE Express Hub in Manila is an effort of both parties to provide a more convenient way of traveling between Manila and the NAIA terminals.

The route now includes stops at Heritage Hotel, Midas hotel, Hotel Jen, Century Park Hotel, Diamond Hotel, Luneta Hotel, New World Hotel, Pan Pacific Hotel, Bayview Hotel, Manila Pavilion, Manila Hotel, Bayleaf Hotel, and Robinsons Place Manila. Look out for the UBE Express stop signs (which will include a large display of the logo and other key information) to guide you as to where you should queue to avail the service. Schedule is 6am (First Trip), 8am, 10am, 12nn, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm, 10pm, and 11pm (Last Trip).

“With the support given to us by Robinsons Place Manila, UBE Express can now provide service to the Filipino people especially OFWs by providing quality transportation – convenient, comfortable, and world class quality. Because in UBE Express, we want to give every Filipino an Ultimate Bus Experience.”– Garrie David, President – UBE Express