Nadine Lustre is new GCash endorser

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The country’s favorite young artist and model Nadine Lustre is the new face of the Philippines’ leading mobile wallet, GCash.

The multi-awarded actress headlines GCash’s “What Can’t You Do?” campaign to power the dreams of young adults who constantly want to do more, to expand possibilities, and to achieve beyond their own expectations.

“Nadine is the perfect fit for GCash because she represents the true aspirations of young adults and is at that point in her life where taking charge of your finances is becoming more important. She shows how young adults can be independent and take charge of their own lives, and with the help of GCash, “What Can’t You Do?” means so much more,” Chris Manguera, Chief Marketing Officer at Mynt, which runs GCash, said.

After starting out as a singer in a pop band, Lustre evolved to become a much-sought-after actress on TV, with her primetime hits "On The Wings of Love" (2015) and "Till I Met You" (2016).

The 25-year-old actress has fared as well on the big screen, winning the Best Actress awards from Young Critics Circle, FAMAS Awards and the Gawad Urian Awards in 2019 for hit movie, “Never Not Love You.” Her latest film, “Indak,” a dance musical movie, shows Lustre’s flexibility as an actress. 

Early this year, one of world’s biggest fast fashion brands, H&M, launched Lustre as its first Filipino ambassador. The actress, named by a top magazine as Sexiest Woman in 2017, has her own line of swimwear with H&M. 

“She has built her brand and can create the image of a lifestyle that everyone will want to follow. We hope for that to happen with GCash as well,” Manguera said. “We also want to activate her big fan base to help spread the word of financial inclusion and empowerment.”

Lustre, who was voted Artist of the Year and Favorite Female Artist at the Myx Music Awards 2019, is a social media savant who has 6.8 million followers on Instagram.

GCash’s “What Can’t You Do?” campaign pushes the limits of what mobile phones can do for young adults with its innovative financial services accessible through mobile. With over 50,000 partner merchants and 20 million users, GCash remains the country’s leading mobile wallet.

Like Lustre, who has won over the entire country and has kept everyone’s attention throughout the years by relentlessly adapting to change, GCash continues to evolve not just as digital platform but as a lifestyle brand. 

‘Conscientious Consumerism’ Trend to Bring New Life to PH Coco Industry

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Pertinent issues facing the coconut industry, such as best farming practices, supply and value chain, takes centerstage in the World Coconut Congress organized by the United Coconut Association of the Philippines.

At the second World Coconut Congress, industry players here and abroad come together to tackle issues that are shaping the landscape — one of which is best practices in coconut farming and product development that local players, like ProSource International Inc. (ProSource), are focusing on.

Organized by the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP), the conference centralizes on coconut supply and value chain. Covering wide-ranging topics — from coconut solutions for health and environment, coconut biodiesel, to the latest on coconut oil health research — the said event seeks to promote Philippine coconut products globally.

At present, there is an observed paradigm shift in worldwide market behavior on choosing healthier and sustainable alternatives known as ‘Conscientious Consumerism’, as defined by the Network of Business Sustainability. With this, more and more consumers are seen to be promoting local industries, patronizing cruelty-free cosmetics, reducing plastic use, and generally, turning to healthier and more ethical diets.

To the key players in the Philippine coco industry, the eminence of the coconut trade stems from the significant shift in consumer values towards healthful living. For them, it is but an exciting opportunity to strike on now that the concept of “going green”, or lessening our environmental impact by way of creating more informed choices, is deliberately finding its way into Filipino sensibilities.

“The concept of ethical consumerism is already established in people's behavior, and as practitioners in this field, we see strong opportunities in penetrating this market,” said ProSource’s CEO Ricky E. Santos, who, as a key producer from the coconut industry, believes that businesses like them should also start adapting to the conscientious commerce trend.

“There has been an increase in veganism over the past decade even in meat-heavy countries like the Philippines. Through this thriving lifestyle, we believe that coconut production is one huge market that we all should keep an eye on,” he added.

ProSource, for one, started innovating with the Coconut. They have introduced to the market the likes of coconut calming oil, organic coconut wraps, coconut crunch, and its classic hero product, the Virgin Coconut Oil, among others. This is foreseen to be a springboard for other players to also start getting creative with the fruit with its promise of a warm reception from the market.

“We are one of those who put our strong faith in the ‘tree of life’. It is indeed that, as the fruit can be broken down into a wide range of by-products — from food, medicines, supplements, beauty products, and even personal care commodities,” said Santos.

Worldwide values of coconut products have developed steadily since 2014, and in 2017, with the Philippines reportedly exporting coconut oil at over $1.46 billion in total returns, putting the country amongst the world’s top coconut producers.

With the significant shift in consumer values towards healthful living, and the local industry players’ ingenuity to toil on this worldwide demand, the Philippines is once again set to be in the forefront of the global stage — with its competitive edge of the mastery of the miracle fruit.

To know more about how ProSource can enable you in achieving a conscientious lifestyle, visit ProSource’s website at www.prosourcecoconut.com and ‘like’ their official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ProSourceVCO/

"Wow! Taiwan" exhibit brings groundbreaking and innovative brands in the Ph market

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"Wow! Taiwan," exhibit was brought to the Philippines by Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs (BOFT-MOEA) and Commerce Development Research Institute (CDRI) in partnership with CRIF Asia, with the objective of bridging Taiwan’s leading enterprises to Philippine companies and consumers.

Recently, the “Wow! Taiwan” exhibit was held at the Rosemary Hall of City Garden Grand Hotel in Makati City, featured different Taiwan-based enterprises presented their various products and brands for possible business-matching in the Philippines and to introduce them to our local market.

The showcase presents various kiosks that displayed the best of  products. The brands in the exhibition included XYZprinting Inc., Brinno Incorporation, HiMirror Mini, Master Mi, Carnation, Yumark, FECA, Kid2Youth, Washcan, Jye Li An, Bung Cheng, Shuter Enterprise Co. Ltd., H&J Food, and Chung-Hsiang Foods.

Taiwan is a dynamic economy that has been increasingly gaining interest from global businesses in recent time. Emerging as one of the most promising innovation and startup hubs in Asia, Taiwan is home to some of the most groundbreaking and innovative brands in the region. 

To further strengthen their position as the newest innovation center in Asia, Taiwan has been proactively introducing their groundbreaking brands globally. 

The partnership also aims to open up new markets and channels for Taiwan’s breadwinning products through new distributors, agents, and retailers. The "Wow! Taiwan" exhibit showcased various kiosks that displayed the best of Taiwanese food, cosmetics, fashion, technology, and modern household products. 

Director Chang Wen Chong, Director of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines explained that the entrepreneurs of the exhibited products want to be exposed to the local market in the hope of widening their market and finding prospective partnerships and opportunities to set up shop in the Philippines. 

According to Director Chong, the Taiwanese entrepreneurs are targeting the “middle to higher-end market” in the country, due to the increasing purchasing power of Filipinos as well as their affinity with the Taiwanese.

“The Philippines has a very young and dynamic population that's open to innovative products,” stressed Director Chong. “They are also interested in Taiwanese culture, as seen in the huge numbers of Filipino visitors flocking to Taiwan.  In fact, the Philippines has the most number of arrivals from Southeast Asia in Taiwan last year. Currently, the potential is high in the Filipino market because the younger generation has more disposable income and are open to new and unique products.”

Here are the Taiwanese brands that were featured in the exhibition:

XYZ Printing Inc. Its a 3D printer for home. It’s a new Kinpo group’s subsidiary, its a Taiwan-based world leader in electronic manufacturing services (EMS) with a global footprint in the US, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Brinno Incorporation offers the first quality mass-marketed time-lapse total solution. Its the first mover focusing on the time-lapse photography advancements. Brinno develops hardware and software solutions and put them in one digital device.

HiMirror Mini its the world’s smartest vanity mirror, the company is another Kinpo Group’s subsidiary, the leader in electronic manufacturing services (EMS) with a global footprint in the US, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Master Mi provides a series of natural and healthy products made from rice. In 1998, Master Mi develops the 1st No Fried Biscuit Machine, with all-natural materials for its ingredients. They work with dietitians to provide a series of healthy, natural and tasty products.

Carnation A pioneer of Taiwan’s nonwoven industry, KNH founded in 1969 is a leading specialty manufacturer on nonwoven and related products in personal hygiene and skincare.

Yumark has been involved in the field of beauty and fashion for the last 40 years, in 2002, Yumark reached a new milestone by branching out into manufacturing of bags.

FECA Ferro-Carbon company founded in 1989 was the manufacturer of tile cutting tools, in 2009 it starts products of vacuum sucker hooks and establishes the brand “FECA”. it combines functionality and aesthetics to save space.

Kid2Youth TCT Architectural REsources establish in 1962. In 1983 TCT is Asia’s first ergonomic table and chair, marketing in Japan. Then, the TCT brand alliance in Taiwan has more than 100 stores, becoming Taiwan’s largest furniture chain. In 2005, Kid2Youtch brand markets to overseas.

Washcan is a brand of bright Journey Co., LTD, which was founded in 1982 and supplies of bedding sets, comforter sets, indoor slipper, chair cover, table cloth, and hotel items.

Jye Li An specialized in R&D on automatic products, which makes the products on a stable quantity and let customers more convenient.

Bung Cheng, Bung Cheng Technology Co., LTD. founded in 2013 provides products and services for a series of smart solutions for the living environment.

Shuter Enterprise Co. Ltd. was established in 1969, today its Taiwan’s leading specialist in the manufacture and design of storage solution for home, office and industrial settings.

H&J Food known as Formosa is rich in natural resources, advance agricultural technology, and hard-working farmers, and has produced many high-quality agricultural products. H&J Food founded in 2013 keeps introducing Taiwan Goodies to the world in a variety of types, one of them is Pomelo Ale.

Chung-Hsiang Foods is established nearly 50 years ago and the prime leader of saltine crackers and green onion crackers in Taiwan.

UNHCR and UNIQLO return to Marawi for World Humanitarian Day

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On 19 August, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, and UNIQLO, a global retailer giant, commemorate World Humanitarian Day by distributing clothing to some 750 families displaced by the Marawi conflict. This marks the second visit by the partnership to the besieged city of Marawi.

“Two years after the conflict, while the Philippine Government continues its recovery and rehabilitation efforts, displaced and returned families in Marawi remain facing significant challenges, such as lack of access to basic services and insufficient livelihood opportunities. Today, we honor the world’s humanitarians by joining the affected communities most in need through the provision of humanitarian assistance,” said Shinji Kubo, UNHCR Representative to the Philippines. 

Nearly 2,300 families remain displaced and stay in transitory sites in Marawi City1. In one of the three government-run transitory shelters, UNIQLO joined the commemoration of World Humanitarian Day with UNHCR culminating the event with the distribution of 5,000 pieces of clothing as part of its commitment to helping forcibly displaced people throughout the world. 

Through its innovative All-Product Recycling Initiative and partnership with UNHCR, globally, UNIQLO has distributed 30,290,000 garments in 65 countries and regions. In the Philippines, UNIQLO has donated close to one million items of clothing to families in need in relief efforts for Typhoon Haiyan affected communities in 2014 and for those forcibly displaced by the armed conflict in Zamboanga in 2015. In 2018, two clothing distribution activities were conducted in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, and Marawi City for Maranao families hosted in evacuation camps and transitory shelters. 

UNHCR and UNIQLO are no strangers to each other as the two organizations have worked in partnership since 2006 to provide life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable. “UNIQLO has been a staunch global humanitarian partner of UNHCR for many years, in many aspects of our work that extends beyond providing clothing. UNIQLO also supports self-reliance and livelihood programs in Asia, enhancing protection and empowerment for the refugees and internally displaced populations,” said Kubo.

Honoring Women Humanitarians 

On the tenth year of commemorating World Humanitarian Day, UNHCR is also honoring the women humanitarians around the world. These individuals play vital roles in every aspect of humanitarian action across the world, making up an estimated 43 percent of the total humanitarian workforce.2 

“Today is profoundly important, as it is the very day that honors aid workers, and reminds the international community of their obligations to protect them, and the life-saving work they do,” said Kubo. “It’s also important to remind the world that a big portion of aid workers are women, whose strength, determination, and perseverance are very much needed on the front lines in some of the world’s most difficult and dangerous settings.” 

UNHCR has been closely working with the Government and the people of the Philippines over the past 30 years, focusing on three pillars: providing durable solutions to refugees in line with the Global Compact on Refugees, ending and reducing statelessness under the #IBELONG campaign, and enhancing a protection environment for the forcibly displaced. In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, UNHCR co-leads the Protection Working Group under the leadership of the Ministry of Social Services. 

The fighting in Marawi City in 2017 has displaced more than 353,000 people, and to this day, thousands continue to live in displacement. UNHCR remains committed to helping displaced families and communities rebuild their lives with life-saving aid and in rebuilding their lives in safety and in dignity. 

Visit https://donate.unhcr.ph now to help protection internally displaced communities in Mindanao.

Shopee and Unilever promote charity with successful #BeautyThatCares Sale

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UNICEF, The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Future Faces benefit from the sale 

Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, partnered with Unilever, the leading beauty and personal care company in the Philippines, for the #BeautyThatCares sale in August. The campaign was a big success as it leveraged e-commerce to increase awareness for UNICEF, The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and Future Faces. 

Martin Yu, Associate Director, Shopee Philippines, said, “We are very proud to partner with Unilever for this philanthropic cause. This partnership has given us the opportunity to empower our users to support causes they believe in. Through the #BeautyThatCares sale, participating advocacy groups are able to reach a wider audience. Aside from our post-sale donation, we hope the continued support from our users will go a long way for these groups." 

At the same time, Dorothy Dee-Ching, Unilever Philippines’ Vice President for Beauty and Personal Care says, “The #BeautyThatCares philosophy is grounded in purpose: to care for the people, the society, and the planet. Each brand under the Unilever Beauty and Personal Care category has its own thrust, acting as a compass for all its campaigns and innovations. It's not just about what products we put out, but also why we develop them at all. We want Filipinos to feel that they are being cared for by the brands they love. We are grateful for our partnership with Shopee—they have allowed us to reach more people online and raise the visibility of our purpose.” 

The sale, which ran from August 7 to 9, gave Shopee users the opportunity to show their support for causes they believe in by buying Unilever products on the shopping platform. 20% of the proceeds from the sale went to the three partner organizations of Unilever. 

Benefitting from the sale are: 

● UNICEF - champions the rights of children everywhere in the world so they can reach their full potential. 

● The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce - advocates for safe workplaces that promote equality. 

● Future Faces - a group of young adults that use repurposed plastics to provide nutritious meals to children in impoverished areas. 

Shop Unilever personal care products on its official store on Shopee at https://shopee.ph/unilever_personalcare. 

Visit the Shopee website at https://shopee.ph/ and download the Shopee app for free via the App Store or Google Play.

700,000 Filipinos using GCash Forest to help save watershed

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More than 700,000 GCash users have joined the movement to plant trees through GCash Forest, an important carbon tracking feature of GCash, to help save the watershed that supplies water to Metro Manila. 

Ney Villaseñor, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Mynt, which runs the country’s leading mobile wallet, said 756,370 people have signed up to collect green energy through GCash Forest as of August 19. That translates to almost 400,000 people using the new feature every month since its launch on June 25. 

GCash Forest is a personal carbon account that tracks how much emission people have avoided by living more consciously. “Green” activities—such as walking, bringing eco-bags and own utensils, going cashless, reducing paper use—earn users energy points. When they have enough points, they get to plant a virtual tree in GCash Forest, which GCash will match with a real, native tree planted at the Ipo watershed. 

“GCash Forest is the easiest way to help the environment; you don’t even have to go out of the city or to make time outside of work/school to plant a tree. You simply need to make daily choices that will lessen your carbon footprint, such as going cashless when you send money, buy load or pay bills, or walking instead of taking your car. GCash will turn these actions into reforestation efforts,” Villaseñor said. 

GCash, in partnership with WWF Philippines, has adopted 300 hectares for rehabilitation and reforestation inside the Ipo watershed. WWF will monitor and report the growth of trees sponsored by GCash for three years, which is usually how long it takes to see any changes in a reforestation or rehabilitation site. 

The 7,236-ha Ipo watershed, which spans the provinces of Bulacan and Rizal, is part of the Angat-Umiray-Ipo watershed system that supplies 98% of Metro Manila’s water. It has been declared a protected area by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources but forest cover in the watershed is now only at 40%, a drastic drop from 85% several years ago.

“Planting a tree not only helps with carbon reduction but also results in water security and biodiversity conservation. Every decision we make has an impact, whether positive or negative. In helping GCash users to adopt a more environment-conscious lifestyle, we are raising a generation of green heroes,” Villaseñor said.  

Share the benefits of going cashless with PayMaya and earn up to P5,000!

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Get P50 for every referral and your friend gets P50 too!    

Paying with your PayMaya account gives you so much more than when you pay with cash, and now getting your friends and family to sign up for an account just got more rewarding too.    

Earn as much as P5,000 by simply referring your friends and family to PayMaya until August 31! For every successful referral, you and your friends get P50 in your PayMaya account. Use it for shopping online without a credit card, skip the line when paying your bills, buy discounted load and other goodies in the in-app shop, send money to your friends when you split bills, and so much more.    

To start earning, all you have to do is follow these three easy steps:     

1.      Make sure your PayMaya account is upgraded   

2.      Once your account is upgraded, open the PayMaya app and tap the Menu button   

3.      Tap Invite Friends, where you will see your unique invite code, which you can share to friends and family for them to use when they sign up for a PayMaya account   

To be able to receive the reward for you and your friend, make sure to ask your friend to upgrade his/her account by clicking the "Upgrade for Free" button within the app and submitting the requirements. It only takes a few minutes to process the upgrade with approvals usually done in as fast as 30 minutes, provided that your application requirements and complete and satisfactory. 

  

Once all these steps are completed, both of you will instantly get P50 each and enjoy convenient cashless transactions with PayMaya! 

  

Even more perks than cash when you get a PayMaya account  

For new users, the freebies do not end there. After getting the P50 reward from the unique invite code, they can also unlock an additional reward of P60 by completing the welcome challenges from PayMaya. After upgrading their account, the new user instantly gets P20, on top of the P50 from the referral. By sending at least P20 to a friend, he gets another P20, and by paying at least P20 using scan-to-pay with PayMaya QR, he can also get P20 more from PayMaya.    

This is on top of all the amazing perks and discounts that all PayMaya users can get when they shop online, pay using QR, pay their bills, or buy load and gaming PINs in the shop through the services' exciting cashback and discount promos every month.   

Once you already have an account, adding money is also quick and hassle-free as you can do it through more than 30 bank partners via Instapay, or through the more than 40,000 PayMaya Add Money channels nationwide that include Smart Padala by PayMaya centers, Smart stores, Bayad Center, SM Business Center, Robinsons Business Center, Gaisano Capital Business Center, 7-Eleven, ExpressPay, Palawan Pawnshop, Cebuana Lhuillier, RD Pawnshop, Shopwise, Wellcome, UnionBank ATMs, BDO, Metrobank, RCBC, iBayad, ECPay, VMobile and Touchpay, eTAP & Pay&Go Kiosks, among many others.  

PayMaya, the digital financial services arm of Voyager Innovations, is the only FinTech company in the Philippines offering integrated consumer and merchant payment solutions with the widest on-ground branch network. It is the first to give millions of Filipinos an e-wallet that allows them to pay cashless transactions at any time of the day, anywhere in the world, and from any device.     

To know more how you can maximize your PayMaya account, visit www.paymaya.com/deals or follow @PayMayaOfficial on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

*when you refer 100 friends 

 

Per DTI-FTEB Permit No. 15239, Series of 2019 

Per DTI-FTEB Permit No. 15241, Series of 2019