HelpPH: Global donation campaign for relief, reconstruction, rehab launched

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Mobile phone users all over the world can donate via text for relief, shelter, continuing education, livelihood programs

In response to the needs of communities devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda in the Philippines, the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF) has launched HelpPH (help.ph<http://help.ph>), a global campaign for donations via mobile load to help fund programs for relief and reconstruction in partnership with international organizations, Philippine NGOs, government agencies and private companies.

Mobile phone users from over 40 countries can now directly donate to HelpPh (www.helpphilippines.ph<http://www.helpphilippines.ph>) by sending airtime load to PDRF through BayadLoad, a mobile money service of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Philippine Central Bank) for this purpose.

To contribute to HelpPh, mobile phone subscribers overseas must key-in +63-999-7-000-000<tel:%2B63-999-7-000-000> (12-digits) as the beneficiary mobile number and then send their donation  using the airtime top-up procedure of their specific mobile network operator.  The maximum amount per day is US$10.  This fund-raising program will continue until December 31, 2013.

“The unprecedented scale of the devastation inflicted by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda requires a global response.  Through HelpPh, we are providing people all over the world the means to send help to those in greatest need through a few clicks on their mobile phones,” said PDRF chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

The United Nations recently initiated a global effort to raise US$310 million for the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.  One proven channel for international donations is through mobile phones.

According to a CNN Money report, a donation via text campaign raised US$25 million four days after Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, while a donation drive for the victims in the 2010 Haiti earthquake generated over US$150 Million.

Through Philippine and international partners, funds gathered will be directly channeled to immediate relief efforts and later, to long-term recovery programs in areas of the greatest need.

For this purpose, PDRF is firming up cooperative arrangements with organizations like the Philippine Red Cross, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Caritas Manila, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Gawad Kalinga, the United States Agency for International Development and the GSMA, the global association of the mobile phone industry.

Immediate relief operations will be prioritized for remote areas not reached by mainstream relief distribution. Corporate members will be tapped to provide transport, logistics and communications support to enabletimely coordination of relief efforts by government and relief agencies.

This includes “information as relief” to provide affected communities with news and information through mobile phones, the Internet, social media and satellite TV, as well as medical relief through on-the-ground missions, telemedicine and psycho-social therapy.

Initial partners for this effort include Alagang Kapatid Foundation, Caritas Manila, PLDT-Smart Foundation, Maynilad  Water Services, Philippine Red Cross and TV5 network.

For shelter and resettlement, PDRF will work with various partners including Gawad Kalinga, Habitat for Humanity, One MERALCO Foundation and  Philippine Contractors Association (PCA).

To provide education for displaced school children, PDRF will help implement innovative learning programs, including mobile learningsystems, in cooperation with the Department of Education, the Central Visayas Institute Foundation and the GSMA.

To sustain the recovery efforts, PDRF and its partners will promote livelihood through emergency employment programs, labor-intensive projects, technical-vocational skills training and enterprise development.

Meanwhile, the microfinance sector will be tapped to help create sustainable livelihood that would give affected families a chance to start anew. Initial partners are the Philippine Business for Social Progress, ASA Philippines, CARD  MRI, Microcredit Council of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines. PDRF is also holding discussions with the United Nations-International Labor Organization and Oxfam to pursue collaborative efforts in these areas.

Through its mobile money subsidiary, Smart has partnered with four leading global mobile airtime transfer companies that include Transfer To, Tranglo,  www.ezetop.com<http://www.ezetop.com>, and Aryty, which together cover more than 250 partner mobile network operators in 90 countries, serving 5.9 billion mobile subscribers, 60 percent of whom, or about 3.6 billion, are prepaid users.

These operators are in countries such as Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, United Kingdom,Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the Vatican City, among others.

PDRF was organized in 2009 following the devastation caused by Typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy and is made up of major private sector companies and leading NGOs.

It is one of the three identified institutional conduits approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Philippine Red Cross. To learn more about this, please visit help.ph<http://help.ph>. 

Globe Business Head Martha Sazon: Building partnership with Filipino SMEs

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Globe Business – Small and Medium Business Group Head Martha Sazon believes that a true partnership with SMBs means acquiring the same visionary perspective that entrepreneurs have. This, she says, is all-important because the business solutions they offer are meant to help fulfill each SME’s vision for the future.

“Here at Globe Business, what we are really offering SMEs are the tools to make their visions a reality. Every business starts out as a dream, as a vision of what could be. Does the client envision a chain of retail shops? Or is the vision about exporting Filipino delicacies to an  overseas Filipino community?

“What we’re telling SMEs is this: ‘You’ve already envisioned the future. You already saw the possibilities. Now, let us, let Globe Business help you make those possibilities come true—and even help you discover new possibilities to come.’ That is what our partnership with SMEs is all about,” said Martha Sazon, Head of Globe Business. Sazon, whose background includes top sales and marketing positions in multi-national companies before joining Globe Telecom, is in full-throttle when it comes to implementing the goals of Globe Business for SMEs.

Her priority nowadays, she said, is the completion of various upgrades to the existing Globe Business Plans and offers for SMEs.

The present thrust of the upgrades in Globe Business services and products for SME’s is threefold:  a) Customization; b) Cost-effectiveness; and c) Value Added offerings.  

Globe Business plans, like the My Best Ever Globe My Super Plan for Business, all have a suite of features and services that an entrepreneur can mix-and-match to suit his needs. Does he need unlimited mobile Internet to do business?  Is he more reliant on text messaging? Or do his business partners prefer mostly voice communications?

Globe Business plans are also cost-effective. They are available in a range of postpaid and pre-paid plans that fit an entrepreneur’s budget.  “We really go out on a limb to ensure that we keep our plans affordable while still empowering entrepreneurs with maximum features they need,” said Sazon.

Then there’s the Value-Added part of Globe Business thrust for the SME market. Sazon explained that they achieve this by offering booster features and services and by bundling plans with the latest, state-of-the art gadgets.

“Our plan boosters add services and features to an SME’s existing plan. All that’s needed is a minimal top-up fee to their regular monthly fee. These boosters may include unlimited voice calls, texts, or mobile Internet services.  As for the gadgets, we make sure that we offer only the best gadgets that they can use as business tools: state-of-the-art, reliable, multi-functional, and of course, always connected to the wireless communications grid, including mobile Internet. We also make it very easy to get gadgets on an installment basis or at great discounts. We do all of these because we take our commitment to SME’s very seriously. We are their partners and their growth and success is our mission,” she said.

Learn more about Globe Business as a preferred solutions provider for SMEs. Consult a Globe Business Account Manager; visit a Globe Store near you, log-on to www.business.globe.com.ph/onlinestore or call (02) 730-1010.

About Globe Business – SG

The Small and Medium Business Group of Globe (SG) is the primary enabler of small and medium business enterprises, delivering solutions that create competitive advantage. Backed by strong leadership and a world-class network, it empowers small and medium businesses every step of the way, through solutions that are anticipated and delivered the way they want them.

OSCAR ENTRY “ILO ILO” MAKES PHILIPPINE DEBUT THIS NOVEMBER

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Singapore’s entry into next year’s Oscars, “ILOILO,” which touches upon the challenges and experiences faced by the Philippines’ overseas workers, particularly those who acquire jobs as household helps for foreign families, finally hits local theaters as it premieres at Robinsons Galleria this Wednesday (November 13) as a guest film in the Cinema One Originals Festival 2013.

Acclaimed Singaporean director Anthony Chen once grew up under the care of a Filipina his family had hired as a maid when he was still a little boy. In his Academy Award-nominated film “ILOILO,” his experiences in growing up under her care are somehow reflected in the story of a child named Jiale (Koh Jia Ler) and his family’s household help, Terry (Angeli Bayani).

“ILOILO” details the story of a Filipina who accepts work as a maid for an ordinary family living in a tenement in Singapore. In taking upon this new chapter in her life, she quickly discovers her biggest challenge: the precocious ten-year old son of her employers.

The boy tries to make her life a living hell by being difficult, disobedient, and rude—even framing her for acts that aim at her getting deported. Other challenges arise as the boy’s family struggles with their finances. However, with determination and tough love, the relationship between the two slowly changes, ultimately putting things far greater than employment on the line.

“ILOILO” stars Angeli Bayani, Koh Jia Ler, Yeo Yann Yann, and Tian Wen Chan. 

The film was previously screened in Berlin, Rotterdam, Pusan, London, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Sydney, Montreal, Melbourne, Chicago, and Hawaii.

At the Cannes Film Festival, “ILOILO” received a 15-minute standing ovation. 

Critic David Ollerton of The London Film Review referred to the film as being “quietly brilliant,” calling it a “gentle, subtle film that is a worthy debut”. Variety.com’s Maggie Lee, on the other hand, found “ILOILO” remarkable as it was “brimming with love, humor and heartbreak.”

The premiere night of “ILOILO” is a special feature of this year’s Cinema One Originals Festival. 

The Cinema One Originals Festival, which runs until the 19th of November, features fifteen competing full-length feature films by top Philippine talents in the independent filmmaking scene. Catch the fifteen films of Cinema One Originals this year at Glorietta, Robinsons Galleria, and Trinoma. 

For updates and schedules, visit and like Cinema One on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Cinema1Channel).

SM Foundation Sends Out 50,000 Relief Packs to Yolanda Victims

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Typhoon Yolanda have caused a massive disaster in the Philippines that needs a swift response to help and save lives in the affected areas.

The SM Group of Companies, through the SM Foundation's disaster relief program, Operation Tulong Express, has started relief operations in typhoon-stricken areas across Luzon and the Visayas region to provide assistance to the families greatly affected by super typhoon Yolanda.

An SM Foundation “Operation Tulong” truck carrying relief goods for disaster survivors arrives in Cebu.

“The SM Group of Companies has mobilized SM Foundation’s Tulong Express disaster relief facility. We are distributing 50,000 kalinga packages to typhoon victims in Tacloban, Samar, Panay Island (Iloilo, Antique, Capiz), Cebu, Bicol and Bacolod," said SM Foundation executive director Debbie Sy.

Following the onslaught of “Yolanda,” SM Foundation volunteers and partners were able to immediately prepare 20,000 relief goods and have repacked 30,000 more for distribution to various areas at once.

Survivors receive aid from “Operation Tulong”, an SM Foundation relief drive, in typhoon-ravaged Cebu.

The Kalinga relief packages consist of bottles of mineral water, rice, ready-to-eat ulam packs, and instant noodles. A total of 50,000 relief packs are allocated in the following areas, Tacloban (20,000 packs); Cebu (10,000); Panay Island (7,000); Samar (5,000); Bohol (4,000); Bicol (3,000); and Bacolod (1,000).

A resident of Cebu clasping a relief pack she received from SM Foundation’s “Operation Tulong”.

The distribution is done in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Philippine Air Force, local government units, SM Malls, SM Hypermaket, SM Supermarket, and SaveMore.

SM Foundation also accepts donations in kind through Tulong Express booths in all SM Malls nationwide or in cash deposited at BDO account name: SM Foundation Inc.-Operation Tulong Express with savings account number: 15000 70694. SM Foundation will issue receipt of donations for deposit slips faxed to 831-8282.

For SM employees, they were able to raise more than Php100,000 for the Bohol earthquake victims. Currently, the employees are raising funds for the victims of typhoon Yolanda.

While for its other ongoing relief efforts, the Foundation vowed that it will push through with the assistance it is currently extending to other regions in the country that were hit by previous calamities, such as the earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu in October and typhoon Maring which battered various parts of the Philippines last August.

#ReliefPH operations for #YolandaPH

JUDY ANN SANTOS CALLS FOR UNITY AFTER TYPHOON YOLANDA

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“Bet On Your Baby” host Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo urged for her fellow countrymen to show unity in facing the situation left by super-typhoon Yolanda.

In her Instagram account, Judy Ann posted a photo of a screenshot she took showing the help people can give using a person finder feature on one of the more popular search engines. 

The caption of the photo read, “Helping in my own little way. Let us all hold hands. We can do this.”

Despite the country's grief brought by the recent calamity, "Bet On Your Baby" will continue its quest of bringing quality entertainment for the Filipino people.

For the upcoming episode of “Bet On Your Baby” which airs this Saturday (November 16), babies from different families around the country will once more take on good times in the “Baby Dome” .

Baby Pitpit Guevarra

Baby TK Mapa

Baby Wafat Garcia

Get to know Baby TK Mapa, daughter of a policeman from Surigao province, Baby Pitpit Guevarra, son of a driver from Bulacan, and Baby Wafat Garcia, daughter of a rice mill helper from Manila.

Don’t miss out on “Bet On Your Baby” hosted by Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo on Saturdays after “TV Patrol Weekend” on ABS-CBN.

For updates, like “Bet On Your Baby” on Facebook (www.facebook.com/betonyourbabyph) and follow @betonyourbabyph on Twitter or betonyourbabyphilippines on Instagram. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #BetOnYourBabyPH.