Business

Leading mobile wallet GCash continues to break barriers to bring financial inclusion to more Filipinos nationwide, racking up over 51 million users and 3,500 merchants as demand for digital solutions skyrocketed amid the pandemic.GCash Chief Customer Officer Winsley Bangit cited the gap that the e-wallet service addresses, with many Filipinos remaining unbanked as they find it difficult to apply for traditional financial services.“They find it intimidating to go to a physical bank; more so, they lack the documents in opening such accounts. It is for this reason that we made sure that these services are accessible and democratic through technology,” Bangit said at the recently held 51st National Marketing Conference organized by the Philippine Marketing Association.GCash require...

DA-6 photoAs the third-highest palay producing region nationwide following Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas posted 2,356,902.44 metric tons of palay production in 2021, which is 2.67 percent higher than the previous year, a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report showed Sunday, February 13."However, the palay production here went below the targeted 2,500,851 metric tons considering the 143,949.37 metric tons damages in the rice sector brought by Typhoon Odette last December," said Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas Rice Program coordinator Elmer Cabusas.Production volume in irrigated areas reached 1.13 million metric tons and 1.22 million metric tons in the rainfed ecosystem, which resulted in 3.48 metric tons per hectare average yield in 676,9...

The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) president Roland de la Cruz expressed alarm over the recent policy pronouncement of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to import 200,000 metric tons of sugar contained in its Sugar Order No. 3.“Sugar importation especially at the height of the milling season will have a serious and debilitating effect on local producers, especially small farm cultivators such as agrarian reform beneficiaries, small planters and sugar field workers”, de la Cruz said Friday, February 11.This call is to support the growing clamor of major sugar producers and planters’ associations calling for SRA to reconsider its policy on the importation of 200,000 metric tons of sugar at the height of this crop year’s milling ...

Globe has launched the first EasyHub omnichannel kiosk in the Visayas at Robinsons Place Bacolod City. The innovative facility enables customers, regardless of age or digital know-how, to fulfill various transactions in safe and convenient ways.EasyHub is an interactive one-stop shop for all essential needs, especially useful for “digitally-hesitant” individuals and older clients who, more often than not, prefer the traditional way of doing things. It essentially combines the comfort and familiarity of brick-and-mortar stores with the ease and convenience of digital for a faster and secure experience.“Globe values its customers. We want to empower them and enhance their lives. Through EasyHub, we can accommodate their needs for a sense of control or assurance when making digital tr...

Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. (RTMI) held its annual stockholders’ meeting led by matriarch Olivia V. Yanson (OVY) on Wednesday, February 9.OVY, Leo Rey Yanson, Ginnette Y. Dumancas, Charles M. Dumancas, Anita G. Chua, Daniel Nicolas P. Golez and Rey C. Ardo were re-elected as members of RTMI’s board of directors, a press release from the firm said.RTMI is a public transport firm plying major routes in Mindanao. It is part of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies.The newly-elected directors then held an organizational meeting where Leo Rey Yanson was re-appointed as president and chairman of the board, while OVY was re-appointed as corporate secretary and treasurer, the press release said.Stockholders Roy V. Yanson, Ma. Lourdes Celina Y. Lopez and Ricardo V. Yanson Jr. were absen...

The Asociacion de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra Inc. (AALCPI) has joined the call for the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to scrap Sugar Order No. 3, which grants the importation of 200,000 metric tons of sugar.AALCPI, the biggest non-affiliated sugar planters group with over 10,000 members, said in a press release Wednesday, February 9, that the importation order while in the peak of milling season “will have a disastrous effect in the sugar industry, particularly among the small sugar producers.”AALCPI President Roberto Cuenca scored SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica for issuing such an order “without proper consultation with industry stakeholders. We were never informed and yet he knows we are the biggest group in so far as membership is concerned, and most...