Leading Hospitality Company recognized by Great Place to Work in its list of Best Workplaces in Sri Lanka

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Global research and consulting firm Great Place to Work announced Hilton’s placement on this year’s Best Workplaces in Sri Lanka list. This is the second time that Hilton has been named as one of Sri Lanka’s Best Workplaces.

"We are honored to be recognized as one of the best places to work in Sri Lanka, especially during such a challenging year for the hospitality industry. As a business of people serving people, we are fiercely committed to leading with our culture, and this means creating an environment where our Team Members can be the best versions of themselves, regardless of circumstance. Our Team Members continue to be our greatest asset, and are truly the heart of our business, enabling us to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality every day," said Paul Hutton, Vice President, Operations, South East Asia, Hilton.

The accolade had been awarded to Hilton following a survey by Great Place to Work® of over 100 registrations representing 51,000 employees in Sri Lanka. The survey assesses employees' perceptions of leadership, organizational culture, and trust, and is critical to a company being selected to the list of Best Workplaces in Sri Lanka. To be eligible for this list, organizations must be Great Place to Work Certified™ in the past year. A total of 40 companies were named in the list this year.

Recognising the importance of mental wellness, Hilton has incorporated a series of family-focused benefits for Team Members, including flexible working environments and mental health campaigns. Hilton also provides a variety of resources and programs aimed at attracting, developing, and supporting Team Members at various stages of their careers. Through the Thrive@Hilton Program, Hilton supports Team Members in their professional and personal growth. Globally, Hilton also provides further learning and development opportunities through Hilton University, its Executive Committee Networking Program, as well as Team Member benefits such as Go Hilton.

Further to creating opportunities for its Team members, Hilton had also launched a specially-curated female development program in Sri Lanka in March 2021 through a partnership with the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management. Translating to ‘female courage,’ Hilton Liya Diriya aims to provide training opportunities for local female students keen to build a career in hospitality, and in doing so, advance women’s economic empowerment and grow the country’s hospitality talent pool.

"We applaud Hilton Sri Lanka for seeking employees' feedback and the opportunity to certify itself," said Kshanika Ratnayake, CEO of Great Place to Work® in Sri Lanka. "These ratings measure its capacity to earn its own employees' trust and create a great workplace - critical metrics that anyone considering working for or doing business with Hilton should take into account as an indicator of high performance."

ePLDT Achieves a Microsoft Gold Competency for Security and Enterprise Mobility Management, and Silver Competency for Project Portfolio Management

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ePLDT Inc., one of the country’s leading enablers of digital solutions in the Philippines, continues to widen its range of Microsoft competencies after having successfully earned three more recently.

Committed to deliver best services to customers as far as Microsoft technology is concerned, ePLDT recently earned its Gold Competency for Security and Enterprise Mobility Management, demonstrating a “best-in-class” ability and commitment to meet Microsoft customers’ evolving needs in today’s mobile-first, cloud-first world and distinguishing itself within Microsoft’s partner ecosystem/ePLDT and Silver Competency for Project Portfolio Management.

To earn a Microsoft gold competency, partners must successfully complete exams (resulting in Microsoft Certified Professionals) to prove their level of technology expertise, and then designate these certified professionals uniquely to one Microsoft competency, ensuring a certain level of staffing capacity. They also must submit customer references that demonstrate successful projects, meet a performance (revenue and or consumption/usage) commitment (for most Gold competencies), and pass technology and/or sales assessments.

To earn a Microsoft silver competency, partners must successfully demonstrate expertise through rigorous exams, culminating in Microsoft certifications. In addition, to ensure the highest quality of services, Microsoft requires customer references for successful implementation and customer satisfaction.

To date, ePLDT currently has Gold Competencies in Cloud Productivity, Cloud Platform, Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions, Datacenter, and Collaboration and Content and Microsoft Silver Competencies on Messaging and Application Development—with Project Management Portfolio Management, Security and Enterprise Mobility Management competencies being the most recent advancements.

“We at ePLDT have always been committed to help enterprise customers manage their mobile security and compliance needs. The attainment of these Microsoft Gold competencies highlights our continuing pursuit of global-class expertise to enable customers in their digital transformation journey,” according to Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT President & CEO and SVP & Head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups.

Having five certified Microsoft 365 (M365) Security Administrators, customers can have confidence that their Microsoft 365 enterprise and hybrid environments are proactively secured, implemented and managed and that security compliance solutions, respond to threats, and data governance are strictly enforced.

This competency is not limited to Microsoft 365 only, as ePLDT also has three Microsoft Azure Security Engineers with subject matter expertise implementing security controls and threat protection, managing identity and access, and protecting data, applications, and networks in cloud and hybrid environments as part of an end-to-end infrastructure.

Marilene Tayag, ePLDT Chief Information Security Officer, says “ePLDT’s investment in completing Microsoft Gold Security Competencies further demonstrates our abilities in Microsoft implementation, management and monitoring security and compliance services for cloud and hybrid environments”.

Meanwhile, achieving a Silver Competency in Microsoft’s Project Portfolio Management will further demonstrate ePLDT’s capabilities to build and deploy an enterprise-wide project management solution to customers. With the Project Portfolio Management competency, ePLDT expands its acumen on designing, building, and deploying Project Management solutions based on Microsoft’s Project for the web the Power Platform.

Nico Alcoseba, VP & Head of ICT Business for PLDT Enterprise, further explains that “the sustained upskilling of employees for Microsoft technology enabled ePLDT to secure these Microsoft Gold Competencies. Our ICT solutions including the Microsoft portfolio are critical to serving our customers, as they continue to redefine their business."

In December, ePLDT was given the Tech Intensity Award by Microsoft Philippines, proving its leadership in the tech industry as it sustains strategic partnerships with technology providers in the business. Within a month, ePLDT was also recognized as one of the Top Cloud Solutions Providers (CSP) Direct Providers in the Philippines and the Number 1 Telco CSP in the country.

LRT-2 East Extension project Inauguration

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LRT-2 commuters going to Pasig, Marikina, and Antipolo can now enjoy a more comfortable, convenient, and faster travel as President Rodrigo Duterte, together with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Art Tugade, inaugurated the LRT-2 East Extension project on 01 July 2021.Also opened were two additional LRT-2 stations – the Marikina-Pasig and Antipolo stations – which will enable the rail line to accommodate an additional 80,000 passengers. Daily ridership was increased to 320,000 passengers from the previous 240,000 passengers. The rail extension line also cuts the usual three-hour road travel time from Recto, Manila to Masinag, Antipolo to just 30-40 minutes.

President Duterte commended the efforts of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), under the leadership of Secretary Tugade, and its key private sector partners for the completion of the project despite difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Your efforts and determination show that the government stops at nothing to carry on its mandate, to serve the people’s interest no matter the circumstances,” he said.

“I’ve been saying this over again, I have been redundant about it. This guy [Sec. Tugade] is our valedictorian in law school. Alam ko talaga this guy is marunong, kaya ito ang unang pinakiusapan ko sa journey ko as President. Sila ni Secretary [Mark] Villar ‘yung nag-perform exceedingly well and I thank them. I am really grateful for their services, these are my idol sa gobyerno,” the President shared.

During the ceremony, the President asked Secretary Tugade to give commuters free rides for the first two weeks of the extended line's operations.

On Monday, 05 July 2021, when the extended line opens, passengers from Santolan to Antipolo and vice versa, will ride for free.

Secretary Tugade said the project’s completion has impact on the lives of daily commuters, especially students going to Manila's university belt.

"Ito 'ho 'yung isang alignment ng tren na kung saan ang malaking makikinabang ay ang mga mag-aaral. Kasi po, Mr. President, ito 'hong LRT-2 extension ay babaybay at dadaan sa sa tinatawag natin na University District sa Claro M. Recto. Bago nag-pandemya ang mga estudyante na sumasakay dito sa LRT-2 ay 40% ng total ridership, mga 80,000,” Secretary Tugade said.

“Malaking bagay 'ho ito, sasabihin ko lang kung mararapatin. 'Pag nagbiyahe ka sa C.M. Recto papuntang Antipolo, by land – between 3 to 4 hours. With the LRT Extension, magiging 30 minutes na lang po 'yan. Ang ibig sabihin, maraming oras na mabibigay sa pamilya, pag-aaral at oras sa ating pagnenegosyo,” Tugade added.

Meanwhile, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) Administrator Gen. Reynaldo Berroya, for his part, said the project fulfills the government's promise to provide commuters with a safe, reliable and efficient mode of transportation.

He added that the LRT-2 East Extension project also took more than two decades before it was realized.

“The need to extend the LRT-2 existing system to Antipolo was seen two decades ago through a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The nod was given in 2012 by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) leading to a groundbreaking ceremony held in June 2015 followed by groundbreaking ceremonies in June 2017, and April 2019 for its Packages 2 and 3,” Gen. Berroya pointed out.

On Monday, 05 July, commuters will board a shuttle train that will take them from the line's Antipolo Station to the Santolan Station, and vice versa.

During the line's shuttle operations for the next two weeks, passengers will board at the Antipolo Station or at the Marikina-Pasig Station and alight at the Santolan Station.

From the Santolan Station, passengers will transfer to another train that will take them to the Recto Station (and vice versa).