Colorful, lovable giants welcome 2018 at SM Mall of Asia

All roads led to SM Mall of Asia (MOA) for the Grand Mascot Parade to celebrate and welcome the New Year! Thousands of kids and kids-at-heart trooped to SM MOA for the spectacular procession of giant adorable mascots, the first time the mall mounted such an event as a highlight of its much-awaited annual New Year celebration. Since 2008, SM MOA has been treating kids and their families with a holiday spectacle through its Grand Festival of Lights Parade. 

Last December, the float parade featured Santa, MOA’s magical friends, and an array of holiday characters, dancing to well-loved holiday tunes atop six floats lined with LED lights. Unwrapping the first day of 2018, SM pumped up the celebration by adding giant inflatables to the delight of spectators. Held at the North and South Arcades of the mall, the Grand Mascot Parade featured SM’s very own Leo, the lion; Hannah, the panda; Gerry, the Giraffe; Macky, the monkey; Benny, the bunny; Cyril, the squirrel; Ellie, the elephant and Hailey, the Hippo as well as The Powerpuff Girls, Doraemon’s friends, Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers among others. A special meet and greet with the characters was held at the Seaside Boulevard. Families had the chance to enjoy taking pictures with their favorite characters.

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 The event was made grander by an impressive fireworks display. For exclusive news about SM Supermalls, visit www.smsupermalls.com or follow SM’s official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and get an insider access to all the fun happenings at SM Supermalls nationwide through SM’s Viber Public Chat. Tweet your thoughts, upload and share your photos about your memorable moments at SM, then use its official hashtag #EverythingsHereAtSM.

Workabroad.ph:Seabased engineers, Healthcare professional are Highpaid overseas

Last Wednesday, January 17, 2018  , workabroad.ph launch and re confirmed through the trip media that the highest paying specializations in 201`7 are sea based engineers, healthcare professionals, land based engineers, and IT professionals, according to an annual report by overseas job portal Workabroad.ph.

A ship master in the US can potentially earn Php 99,000,.00 , a chief engineer can earn Php 96,000.00, and a chief officer  can earnPhp 92,000.00 monthly. Meanwhile, land based engineers that are in-demand in the Middle East and Asia Pacific can earn a monthly salary of Php 57,000.00 and Php 59,000.00 respectively.

Healthcare professionals are most compensated in the Middle East . Among doctors, those who specialized in pediatric care can earn as much as Php 86,000.00 a month, nurses can earn Php 65,000.00 a month , while veterinarians can earn Php 58,000.00.

IT Professionals are also highly paid in Asia-Pacific those with 0 to 4 years of experience can already earn as much as Php 54,000.00.
The survey also revealed the top 10 countries of deployment, with Saudi Arabia topping the list from January to October of 2017, 54.19% of jobs ads are from Saudi Arabia,. Middle East countries such as Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait Bahrain andOman are part of the top 10.

In 2017, Malaysia and Taiwan made their way into the top 10 countries of deployment list, replacing 2018’s Australia and Brunei.
WorkAbroad overseas jobs also revealed skilled workers are still the most in demand . In the Middle East ,

Filipinos can find numerous opportunities in General work , Engineering related and Food Beverage restaurant service sectors. In demand general work role include drivers, electricians and AC auto refrigeration. Plumbing and maintenance technicians. In demand and engineering relaed skilled roles include mechanics and electrical technicians. There are also opportunities for cooks, waters and baristas.

In Asia Pacific , jobs awair skilled workers like carpenters, household service wokers and care takers. Opportunities also abound in the Engineering related segment for technicians and technical operators and in the manufacturing -production operations segment for factory workers, production and machine operators and welders.
While sea-based engineers are in-demand and well compensated in the US, skilled workers are also needed, such as electricians, fitters, able seamen, cooks, waiters and stewards.
Across regions, from the Middle East to the US , in the professional segment , engineers are the most In demand.

For more information about the Overseas Salary Report please visit www.workabroad.ph

The SM Store, PayMaya lead retail industry transformation with cashless payments

The SM Store and PayMaya stepped up their collaboration to revolutionize the shopping experience of Filipinos with PayMaya QR, formally launched at the Mega Fashion Hall, SM Megamall on January 17. Present during the event were PLDT, Smart, Voyager and PayMaya Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (third from left); The SM Store President Chelo C. Monasterio (third from right); PayMaya President and CEO Orlando B. Vea (second from left); Smart Vice President for Wireless Key Accounts Development Precy Katigbak (second from right); SM Mart, Inc. Executive Vice President for Controllership Ricky A. Lim (rightmost); PayMaya COO and Managing Director Paolo Azzola (leftmost).

Last January 17, 2018 SM and Paymaya launch their digital campaign and promotes the cashless transaction either online or buying directly in the store. This has been  one of the giant steps made by the known stores Nationwide.

The SM Store and PayMaya Philippines are once again redefining the shopping experience in the Philippines with a new campaign to provide added convenience and delight to customers through a nationwide 10% rebate on all purchases made using PayMaya QR.

Through PayMaya QR, shoppers at The SM Store can just open their PayMaya app, tap the “Scan” button, and point their phones at the special QR codes displayed at The SM Store’s Mobile Pay lanes to complete their transactions. PayMaya's cashless system has been made available since last December in all branches of The SM Store nationwide.

To encourage more Filipinos to experience cashless convenience, PayMaya is offering an introductory promo where shoppers can get a 10% rebate (up to P100 per branch per day) on their purchases whenever they pay using PayMaya QR at all branches of The SM Store from January 15 to April 15, 2018. For every P1,000 spend, shoppers also get the chance to win an iPhone X.

“We are happy to have a new way to make shopping more convenient for our shoppers,” said The SM Store President Chelo C. Monasterio. “The retail landscape is changing, and The SM Store is proud to lead the way with partners like PayMaya.”

“More and more Filipinos are using cashless payments with PayMaya, and we're excited to work with like-minded companies such as SM in innovating on the retail shopping experience with the help of our payment technologies. With companies like SM taking the lead, we’ll see PayMaya QR in a lot more stores and establishments all around the country,” said Manuel V. Pangilinan, Chairman at PLDT, Smart, Voyager, and PayMaya.

Easy payments, top-ups at The SM Store

Be it the latest fashion items, toys, shoes or home products, Filipinos can now easily pay for all their shopping finds at The SM Store with just their phones with the help of PayMaya QR.

Getting a PayMaya account is easy. All they have to do is download the PayMaya app on the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, register for an account using any mobile number from a Philippine mobile network, load up their account in any of the more than 15,000 PayMaya load-up touchpoints nationwide, and use the “Scan” QR feature within the app to instantly pay for their purchases.

Paying with PayMaya is also made more convenient with load-up options at all SM Business Services inside The SM Store. Account holders can also load up their PayMaya accounts at 7-Eleven, ExpressPay, TouchPay kiosks, Palawan Pawnshops, Shopwise, Wellcome, 2Go outlets, Petron stations along NLEX, and Smart Padala centers, as well as through Unionbank ATMs and RCBC retail online banking.

"SM has been an early partner of PayMaya as a load-up center for our customers, as well as a valued partner of our Smart Padala remittance service. This is a natural progression of our collaboration as we make it easier for our customers to use their PayMaya accounts anywhere they are in the country. We thank our partners like SM for helping accelerate cashless adoption among consumers," said Orlando B. Vea, President and CEO at PayMaya Philippines.

Building a Cashless Philippines

PayMaya’s partnership with The SM Store for QR-based payments builds on its trailblazing initiative of building a “Cashless Philippines” in line with National Retail Payment System initiative led by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that aims to increase the share of electronic transactions in the country by 20% in 2020.

To support this vision, PayMaya has launched game-changing innovations including PayMaya QR. Various merchants are now equipped with the payments technology, including all Smart Stores nationwide, food parks like The Yard Timog, Pioneer Street Market, and Hue Hotel and Resorts and Station X in Boracay, as well as establishments such as Fairmont Makati and Army Navy, among many others.

Today, PayMaya is also the largest online and mobile acquirer in the Philippines, powering card payment acceptance of some of the biggest e-Commerce retailers in the country, including the likes of Lazada, Zalora, Philippine Airlines, and Cebu Pacific. Most recently, PayMaya has enabled McDonald's to accept card payments in its restaurants and online delivery card acceptance will also be available soon.

PayMaya Philippines, the country’s pioneer and leader in cashless payments, is the digital financial services arm of PLDT’s Voyager Innovations. To know more about PayMaya’s products and services for consumers and businesses, visit www.paymaya.com. [END]

Citi Foundation and UP Foundation to strengthen Social Entrepreneurship in Central Luzon

The country’s largest foreign bank and its top university have formed a partnership to equip microentrepreneurs in Central Luzon with the necessary skills to succeed in business.

Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed and University of the Philippines (UP) Chancellor Michael Tan both expressed their commitment to the partnership after the launch of a bridging program for social entrepreneurship and financial inclusion to benefit microentrepreneurs.   The landmark program aims to develop certificate courses to help build and enhance capacities of practitioners in micro and small enterprise development in Central Luzon.

Ahmed said the partnership was significant as Citi Foundation continued to enhance and expand its efforts to develop a more inclusive financial system throughout the country.

 He said, “Citi has always been a champion of the microentrepreneur.   With Clark Freeport Zone being one of the growth centers in the country, the entrepreneurship courses being developed in the University of the Philippines Diliman Extension Program in Pampanga (UPDEPP) comes at an opportune time.  We hope the pilot proves to be successful,   so our efforts in educating microentrepreneurs can then be replicated in UP colleges across the country.”

Tan and UPDEPP Director Grace Jamon sttessed that the UP campus in Clark serves was the ideal strategic base for the program because of ts location and the diverse investments from business locators in the Freeport Zone. The unique advantage can be harnessed through potential collaboration of UPDEPP with large firms to support programs transforming livelihoods and small and medium-sized enterprises in the region to become more competitive and resilient.

Professor Gerardo Agulto, Executive Director of the University of the Philippines Foundation Inc., said, "We at UP Foundation appreciate this initial engagement and support from Citi Foundation.  We hope to develop updated and relevant learning materials on social enterprise management in the region and work with government and non-government organizations implementing livelihood and small enterprise programs.   We intend to offer the courses initially under UPDEPP and we look forward to sustaining this process under our non-degree and degree programs.  We look forward to a lasting and mutually gratifying relationship."
                                     
Through the partnership of the two foundations, the program hopes to promote the exchange of knowledge-among institutions to determine the best strategies that could lead to sustainability and financial independence of the identified livelihood and social enterprise groups. Pilot testing of the courses is expected to benefit directly 120 individuals from different groups such as microenterprise leaders from local livelihood groups, implementers from socio-economic development agencies of government, non-government organizations, micro-finance institutions and UPDEPP core faculty.  Indirectly, the beneficiaries of the program will be the other members of the livelihood groups and their families who depend on the income of the microenterprise.

New Design Graduates Training grooms next design leaders

Last Thursday , 15 young designers were presented as the new breed of graduates in selected schools that have outperformed their best showpieces and passed the criteria on for the Design Center of the Philippines, held at their office near the CCP clomplex.

Fifteen young designers are set to exhibit their showpieces as they move on to the next phase of the New Design Graduates Training (NDGT) Program, a track under the Design Center Competency Program which is developed by Design Center of the Philippines, an agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry. 

The NDGT is a year and four months-long program that serves as an avenue where emerging and practicing professionals can enhance their individual competencies through intensive training by an industry recognized Design Mentor and Program Advisors. It also aims to improve the quality, competitiveness and branding of Filipino products in the global market.

The NDGT has three phases with the first phase being – The Incubation, which specifically focuses on strengthening the participants’ philosophy and orientation towards design fundamentals to build their own voice. Activities in the incubation phase include Design Talks to gain further knowledge on creative thinking, design management and design business from several resource persons including the Design Mentor and Program Advisors; Learning Crafts to acquire or increase knowledge of participants on six crafts like pottery, metalworks, handmade paper-making, embroidery, sculpting, molding & casting, and carpentry; Anatomy of Product Design to further understand the design practice and process by dissecting and restructuring the product to learn its materials, processes, labor and skills requirement and price point. 

The second phase is Apprenticeship, which is geared towards a deeper appreciation of craftsmanship, cultural sensitivity, and application of studies from the incubation phase. Still under the guidance of the design mentors, participants will apprentice with select companies in the Philippines, with whom they will provide design assistance to as they also learn about the trade and business. At the same time, designers will also be exposed to various international exhibitions and trade fairs where they can understand and gain insight on the needs of the global market.

The final phase is Atelier where participants will undergo actual design practice in a design firm, applying everything they have learned without the guidance of the Design Mentors. Each phase will have a performance assessment to determine who will proceed with the program.

“The Design Center aims to cultivate a culture that thrives on creativity, value creation and innovation,” says Design Center of the Philippines executive director Rhea Matute. “At the heart of this program is a design and creative mindset, honing craftsmanship and bringing design back to making things and making them well.” 

With the intensive training, the participants were given the opportunity to be closely guided by experienced Design Mentors, Program Advisors and Resource Persons who are highly influential in the international and local design and sourcing communities. Leading the roster are Tony Gonzales and Josef Crisanto, who serve as the Design Mentors of the NDGT. Crisanto is a production designer whose clients include, DTI’s Center for International Trade, Expositions and Missions (CITEM), Dedon, Swarovski, and APY Cane to name a few. He has trained extensively in Europe where he also earned a French Master’s Degree in Design under the mentorship of world-renowned industrial designer Tom Dixon. His work products have been featured in several international exhibits alongside other international designers notably at the “Worldwide” exhibit curated by the French designer Christophe Pillet at the Salon du Meuble and the Swarovski showroom in Paris.

Meanwhile, Gonzales is an internationally-renowned designer who has been one of the preferred merchandising consultants of CITEM for its most major trade exhibit, Manila FAME. He is also the founder of A Greeting Card Company where several European investors were captured by his cutting-edge card concepts and calendars, thus tapping him to do commissioned works for product design as well as running international design workshops. Since the 90’s, he has consistently won the KATHA Award, an award given to designers and companies who show excellence in arts and design achievements. 

For his part, Crisanto says of the graduates, “We are extremely proud to see our first batch of young designers move on to the next phase of the NDGT. Our mission is to groom emerging designers to become the future influencers of the Philippine design industry and we are confident that this will be good bearers of our mission.”  

And among the list of NDGT Participants are Rey Mark Aragon, Julyn Astillero, Gerbert Balaoro, Todd Wyatt Paul Benedicto, Pauline Kimberly Co, Adam Dominiq Domingo, Mark Joecil Escame, Joseph Raphael Espinosa, Louisa Veronica Ilustre, Alexandra Daphne Legaspi, Angel Kris Mayor, Clark Adrian Mendoza, Razel Mari Sta. Rita, Hannah Grace Tusi, and Joseph Yap. The DCDP is also made possible with the support of its partners who have been vital in making the program an immersive experience for the participants. 

“The Philippines has plenty of young talented designers who have the power to share the country’s beautiful culture to the world,” says Department of Trade Industry Assistant Secretary Rosario Gaetos. “By producing globally competitive products, they are not only promoting our rich cultural heritage but also helping us achieve sustainable economic growth.” 

Without a doubt, the Design Center Competency Program is proof that the Philippines can elevate the quality, competitiveness and branding of Filipino products in the global market by giving young designers an avenue to enhance their skills and inspire them to showcase their talents locally and internationally.

The Design Center of the Philippines was established in 1970 by founding Executive Director and National Artist for Visual Arts Arturo Luz. Its main mission is to promote the use and appreciation of good design by strengthening the Philippine design industry and improving the range, quality, and thus the competitiveness of Philippine services and products. For more information, visit Design Center of the Philippines website https://designcenter.ph/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DTI.DesignCenterPH/ 

It’s a #Lucky2018 with Edu, Luis, and the new Shakey’s meal deal

How do you ensure good luck in 2018? It's simple - surround yourself with family and good friends, spread good vibes, and gather around a heart-warming meal with the people you love spending time with. Shakey's start this new year right by sharing it's affordable yet satisfying  treat for every Filipino family to share every moments of Family Reunion s or just wanting to have a simple quality time with the whole family member.

And this is exactly what father and son Edu and Luis Manzano intend to do this year. Luis has been part of the Shakey’s family since last year and has been renewed to be joined by his father, Edu. Both are known for their playful nature and are mostly followed on social media for their hilarious videos and posts.

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They appear in the newest advertisement where Edu is dressed in polka dots from head-to-toe, while Luis debunks this popular belief and shows his dad how to truly get lucky this New Year – by availing Shakey’s hottest 2018 Meal Deal.

Shakey’s president and chief executive officer Vicente Gregorio is very enthusiastic about their new tandem. “Edu and Luis embody the brand in every way, which is why we are excited to welcome them into the Shakey’s family this 2018,” he said. “Guests will surely be lucky with this meal deal, since Shakey’s is centered on exceeding their expectations. Each year, it has become a tradition for Shakey’s to offer something more fun and family-friendly with our meal deals, and this 2018 is no different as we present the 2018 Meal Deal,” he added.

With these savings, guests are indeed lucky with Shakey’s 2018 Meal Deal! Get two large Thin Crust pizzas, two platters of pasta, ten pieces of Chicken ‘n’ Mojos, ten pieces Mozzarella sticks, a platter of salad, and two pitchers of iced tea. And this year, there’s the new addition to their pasta choices – Bacon & Cheese Fusilli Pasta, a delicious creamy blend of parmesan, mozzarella and cheddar, plus crispy bacon bits baked with fusilli pasta! On top of all the fun, you also get a free SuperCard! Experience the full #Lucky2018 by Shakey’s with this sweet deal only for P2,018

“Since way back, Shakey’s has always been a staple whenever there are family get-togethers and what not. I’m really glad and honored to be a part of the Shakey’s family,” said Edu.

For Luis, it is a win-win situation. “I am a big fan of the brand. I tweet about it and constantly order pizza when I’m home or at work,” he said. “Aside from that, I get to work with my dad, which makes it a lot more special,” he added.

Whether it be bonding time with the family, hanging out with the entire barkada, or just simply spending some alone time, you can always count on Shakey’s to give you a great experience.

Now you know how to achieve a #Lucky2018! Spend time with your loved ones, and make it more special by availing Shakey’s 2018 Meal Deal. You will never go wrong.

To learn more about the 2018 Meal Deal, visit their website www.shakeyspizza.ph, their official Facebook page www.facebook.com/ShakeysPH/ and Instagram page www.instagram.com/shakeysph.