The PR & Events Circuit

GCash is set to roll out a new security feature that aims to prevent unauthorized transactions brought about by phishing and other types of scams. With #GSafeTayo the Philippines’ number one financial app introduced the “double authentication” feature which can ensure that only the account owner has the ability to link his GCash account to a specific device. (L-R) Bea de Ocampo, Head of Enterprise Risk Management, GCash, Atty. Maricor Alvarez-Adriano, Chief Legal Officer, GCash, Winsley Bangit, Chief Customer Officer, GCash, PBGen Joel Doria, Director, PNP-ACG, PCol Bernard Yang, Deputy Director for Operation, PNP-ACG “This feature removes customers’ dependence on SMS OTPs which has been exploited by some fraudsters to scam users. It will provide a unique identifier that can’t be phished by scammers. It also provides an additional layer of security to the current SMS OTP,” said Winsley Bangit, Chief Customer Officer of GCash. “We never stop innovating to make sure our 71 million users ...

The Iloilo provincial government is holding a pork festival in the entire province of Iloilo as a program on prevention, containment, depopulation and recovery measure against African Swine Fever (ASF). Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said the 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐀𝐒𝐅 will implement activities towards strengthening the resilience of backyard farmers and boosting the swine industry. Under Executive Order No. 545 Series of 2022, the pork festival will have four components: First is the imposition of sustained and intensified border control within the red (infected) and pink (buffer) zones) to prevent the spread of ASF. Second, the province will conduct trainings and seminars on biosecurity measures and animal husbandry practices to strengthen the swine industry at the municipal and barangay level. “That is the way forward. Let us strengthen the backyard farmers so we can fight ASF. That is the basic strategy,” Defensor said.  There will also be seminars with convergence...

Local and international cybersecurity leaders to lead keynote sessions and panel discussions in free annual cybersecurity conference  PHILIPPINES, November 23, 2022  –– Leading cybersecurity company Trend Micro will be holding its annual cybersecurity conference titled DECODE 2022: Detect & Respond this November 28 and 29, 2022. On this year’s two-day virtual event, Trend Micro will bring together the best cybersecurity professionals and experts to discuss industry trends, case studies, and security best practices. DECODE 2022: Detect & Respond will have six keynote presentations and over 40 sessions across four key tracks. Participants will learn about recent and relevant developments in the security industry, including emerging threats and vulnerabilities, deepfakes, fake news, scams and spam, IoT and critical infrastructures, and threat hunting and incident response. One of DECODE 2022: Detect & Respond’s speakers is Jay Yaneza, Trend Micro’s director of global...

In its continued commitment to protect Filipinos against scammers and fraudsters, GCash, country’s leading mobile wallet is ramping up security measures by removing clickable links in all emails and text messages to keep users from falling prey to fraudulent activities. The move is being implemented in response to growing incidence of fraud, particularly Account Takeover (ATO) which is a type of phishing scam where fake GCash emails or messages are created by fraudsters to trick users into clicking on a link or fake websites to get information such as their GCash number, OTPs, or MPINs. By removing links in emails and SMS, GCash ensures users are only getting legitimate messages for GCash transactions. It also assures users that GCash will not send clickable links through said channels to keep its user’s personal data and transactions in the app safe and secure. “Removing clickable links in emails and SMS is an added layer of protection for our users. It is our utmost priority to safeg...

Grab is the first platform in the Philippines to proactively roll out a robust, multi-agency social protection program for the welfare of driver and delivery-partners in the Philippines. This program piloted in Metro Manila and will be scaled to different Grab cities and communities across the Philippines - laddering up to Grab's robust partner support programs. 22 November 2022, MANILA. Philippines — Grab Philippines together with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Social Security System (SSS), and Pag-IBIG Fund announced its Social Protection Program which helps create a stronger social safety net for Grab driver and delivery-partners in the Philippines by supporting, educating and connecting Grab partners to various social welfare services of the government. Grab is the first platform in the Philippines to proactively roll out a robust, multi-agency social protection program for driver and delivery-partner welfare. This program is a result of months-lon...

For playing a central role in financially empowering its nearly 70 million users, GCash, the Philippines’ leading finance app, again makes a mark on the global financial technology industry as its president and CEO, Martha Sazon was included in The Financial Technology Report’s list of top 25 women leaders in fintech. “I’m honored to join other amazing women leaders in the Financial Technology Report’s annual list. This recognition is a testament of GCash’s positive impact on the lives of our millions of customers. It also shows that women, if given the opportunity and platform to shine, can be great leaders for various organizations especially in this increasingly more digital world,” said Sazon. “This achievement will spur us to further push the envelope in introducing more meaningful digital financial solutions and making sure nobody gets left behind in the digital economy.” The Financial Technology Report is a New York City-based news agency covering business, investment activity, ...

For years, veterinarians Doc Ferds Recio and Doc Nielsen Donato have been traveling around the Philippines to document the wildlife. On its 15th anniversary, GMA Network’s wildlife, nature, and conservation program “Born to Be Wild” presents the two part-special “Born to Be Kings.” Doc Ferd and Doc Nielsen, together with the Born team, travel to the Northern and Southern parts of the country and search for the animals that rule their species—the kings of their world. Doc Ferds treks the mountain range of Mt. Kitanglad in Bukidnon, Mindanao to have a glimpse of the juvenile Philippine Eagle named Pamarayeg III. Equipped with powerful lenses, the Born team traverses the jungle for four hours to find the almost extinct bird, with only 400 pairs left in the wild. For the first time on Philippine television, viewers will see the closest shots of a Philippine Eagle. “Although very challenging ‘yung pag akyat namin para makuhanan itong si Pamarayeg, ‘yung rewards naman na binigay nito sa ami...

Leading Philippine e-wallet, GCash, maintained market dominance as it closed the first nine months of the year with a gross transaction value of P4.8 trillion, surpassing the P3.8 trillion GTV it recorded for the full year of 2021.   GCash registered users also grew from the previous quarter, from 66 million users to an all-time high of 71 million users.   GCash Registered user base breaches 71M as of September 2022 At the quarterly media briefing of GCash parent company, Globe Group, Mynt Chief Financial Officer Tek  Olaño  shared,  “as of the end of September this year, our registered base continued to grow with 71 million Filpinos using Gash and trusting our platform. We continue to see high user engagement, which serves as further proof that we have become embedded in the everyday lives of Filipinos.”   Olaño also emphasized that, “GCash remains to be the #1 Finance App in the country while consistently maintaining profitability. The GCash active user b...

Fintech “double unicorn” GCash brings the Philippines to the global stage at the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) 2022, where it shared how it has remained relevant and kept its robust growth beyond pandemic lockdowns.   Along with other fintech leaders, GCash president and CEO Martha Sazon joined the panel session talking about, “Navigating the Winds of Change in Digital Finance,” at the SFF Global Plenary. She was joined by other industry experts from Mastercard, Tencent, and bKash with the panel moderated by Haslinda Amin of Bloomberg TV.   Before an international audience, Sazon said, “we were there when the customers needed us the most. We were there to distribute financial aid to the constituents. We were also able to give access to essentials when people were locked down. And in the process, we built trust because we were one of the very few things that worked during the pandemic.”   Sazon also shared that while the GCash team worried growth may slow as the world o...

Manila, Philippines. November 11, 2022  — The most awaited season for Filipinos is fast approaching — signaling the most beautiful time of the year for giving and sharing. Get ready to fill your hearts with your most wishlisted items for yourself and your loved ones and embark on the most exciting shopping season of the year! Want something for your  monitos  and  monitas? Or have you been wanting to reward yourself for a year of hard work? Better not pout, better not let your wallets cry because a huge blowout is coming to town! As a holiday treat for Filipino customers, Home Credit Philippines (HCPH), the lifestyle partner of every Filipino, launches The Great 0% Interest Festival with over 50,000 products offered at 0% interest rates at almost 10,000 partner stores nationwide. Grab your most desired items at 0% interest rates through Home Credit from almost 10,000 stores nationwide! “Giving has always been a part of every Filipin...

Social media management firm Hootsuite has recorded 76 million internet users in the Philippines this year, as more people go for a hybrid setup for school or work. That is why a speedy and steady internet connection remains a must for every household. However, there may be times when your internet connection weakens or slows down at the expense of your activities. It’s mostly due to the distance of your devices from the router or the thick walls interfering with the passage of signal from the router, which may result to dead spots. To improve your WiFi connection at home, a quick Google search may lead you to using WiFi enhancers — but with another dilemma: between a WiFi Mesh and a WiFi Repeater, which one will work better for your needs? But first... what are WiFi dead spots? Before deciding on a purchase, it’s important to identify the exact WiFi issue you’re experiencing at home. It’s one thing to experience some slowdown given the too many devices connecting and using up the band...

T he Ford Territory small SUV has officially reached its 15,000 th customer milestone in the Philippines, a testament to its growing popularity in the market more than two years since its launch in 2020.  As of September 2022, Ford Territory sales totaled to 15,236 units since it launched in August 2020. Over the last three years, sales for the Territory SUV have been consistently growing with 1,925 units sold by the end of 2020, 6,881 units sold in 2021, and 6,430 units sold for the first nine months of 2022, or a 29 percent increase from the same period a year ago. The Ford Territory has also shaken up the small SUV segment in the market in the last few years, retaining its sales leadership with 52 percent market share in the first nine months of 2022.  “We are very happy to achieve another milestone for the Ford Territory in the Philippines – over 15,000 happy and proud owners all over the country. It is truly a representation of the trust that we receive from our customer...

Political leaders, journalists, teachers, and artists from Asia will meet at the Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo on November 12-13, 2022 in a conference with the theme “building a democratic coalition against disinformation.”  “Disinformation has divided people all over the world. We need democracy, which connects us to each other, more than ever to overcome the many challenges we face, including poverty and hunger, the pandemic and climate change,” said Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, chairperson of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) and the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP). “Massive disinformation has shaken the very foundations of democracy. Democratic political, social, and cultural institutions are coming together in this conference to take the necessary steps to fight disinformation and fight for truth,” said former CALD chairperson and Senate President of the Philippines Franklin M. Drilon.  Participants from Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, a...

Always engineered to do good, Trend Micro Philippines continues its free annual cybersecurity conference this year with DECODE 2022: Detect &  Respond. This two-day virtual conference is set on November 28 and 29, 2022. DECODE 2022: Detect & Respond will feature industry leaders from across the globe who will discuss the latest technologies, trends, threats, and opportunities in the fast-paced and ever-changing world of cybersecurity.  Registration is now open for the biggest cybersecurity conference in the Philippines  Last year’s conference,  DECODE 2021: DEC1DE. DEC0DE , garnered an audience of over 1,200  individuals. It also featured various case studies, discussions of top threats and risks, and an analysis of how a Chief Information Security Officer’s (CISO) role in a company has evolved through the years. The event also highlighted Trend Micro’s advocacy of uplifting women in the tech industry via a “Get IT Girl!” session that featured a Q&A...