Press Release

EDC’s 112.5MW Palinpinon-1 geothermal power plant in Valencia, Negros Oriental has been supplying clean, renewable 24/7 power to Negros and other parts of Luzon and Visayas for over 37 years.On this same day 45 years ago, Lopez-led geothermal leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) was established to reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuels by harnessing indigenous power primarily from geothermal sources.Fast forward to today, EDC continues to live up to its mandate to generate low carbon, clean power and may have expanded its portfolio to include solar, wind, and hydro but geothermal remains as its core business.“Our country needs a reliable, stable source of clean, renewable power, which only geothermal energy or Geo 24/7, can provide to power the economy and low...

The Social Security System (SSS) released the second batch of February 2021 pensions on February 16, 2021 amounting to P5.2 billion, through the Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) and other checkless disbursement channels.The pension fund—which will benefit 1.1 million pensioners whose dates of contingency are from the 16th to the last day of the month—was released through PESONet participating banks, e-wallets, and M Lhuillier branches.Pensioners covered by the said batch can withdraw their pensions starting February 16 and onwards.The first batch for the February 2021 pensions—with a total amount of P6.5 billion—was released on February 1, 2021, through the same disbursement method. Covered in the first batch are some 1.5 million pensi...

Uratex Philippines and POS Home – TLPJ Marketing Inc. recently turned over 22 bed mattresses to the Immaculate Concepcion Health Center in Victorias City.The health center was affected twice by flashfloods that hit northern Negros last month.All of the mattresses were submerged in floodwaters and it would be unhygienic to use them, hospital administrator Ann Rose Gicana said.“The foul smell was intolerable,” she said, adding that they have no choice but to change them all. Already struggling since the pandemic started, Gicana said, this posed another financial challenge on the foundation.When the center’s plight was brought to the attention of POS Home manager Patricia Liza, she immediately solicited the assistance of manufacturer Uratex which promptly agreed to replace all...

Some of SM Foundation’s scholars at the General Assembly in 2019.Since 1993, SM Foundation (SMFI) has been helping deserving and qualified students from low-income households earn their bachelor’s degrees or advance in technical-vocational studies. To date, the SM College Scholarship Program has helped 5,500 scholars nationwide reach their dream of completing their studies.  This scholarship program started from the vision of the late SM patriarch, Henry “Tatang” Sy, Sr. He believed that if you send one child from an economically challenged family to college, that child would have more opportunities to have gainful employment and later on help his/ her siblings or uplift the economic status of their family. The foundation is now inviting incoming college freshmen...

Teleperformance Philippines recently launched a new learning platform to hone the talent and knowledge of its professional teams who are helping to drive the digital transformation journeys for both domestic and global clients.The Teleperformance Automation Academy is an expert-facilitated mentorship program for learning, incubating, developing, and deploying Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions.These RPA solutions are software bots that automate repetitive, high-volume tasks by using a combination of automation, computer vision, and machine learning.The academy’s participants are people recognized and nominated by their line leaders for their experience in project management and client-program relations. These can include account team leaders, project managers, and membe...

The Social Security System (SSS) announced that the first batch of January 2021 pensions was released on Tuesday, December 29, through the Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) and other checkless disbursement channels.Pensioners whose date of contingency is from the first to the 15th day of the month and are receiving their pensions through PESONet participating banks, e-wallets such as PayMaya, or M Lhuillier, can expect that their January 2021 pensions will be credited to their accounts and may be withdrawn starting Tuesday, December 29.The first batch of January 2021 pension releases covers 1.5 million pensioners with combined pensions for the month, amounting to P6.3 billion.The SSS understands that pensioners rely on their SSS pension...

The Social Security System (SSS) said its new contribution schedule and Workers’ Investment and Saving Program (WISP) will be implemented starting January 2021 pursuant to Republic Act No. 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018.In a virtual press conference held recently, SSS President and CEO Aurora Ignacio said that the SSS’ contribution rate would be set at 13 percent, from the current 12 percent, next year.She added that the minimum monthly salary credit (MSC) would be adjusted to P3,000 from the current P2,000, except for Kasambahay and OFW members whose minimum MSC will respectively remain at P1,000 and P8,000, while the maximum MSC will be at P25,000 from P20,000.“As to the contribution share of the employer and employee, the additional one percent will be equally divi...

The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) festival organizers held a “MMFF Zoom Roadshow” with Pinoy celebrities to invite Filipinos from all over the world to watch this year’s line-up of top calibre films.Celebrities Zanjoe Marudo, Charlie Dizon, Keann Johnson, Andrew E, Ritz Azul, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, Julia Estrada, Fumiya and Yamyam kicked off the online roadshow together with PCOO (Presidential Communications Operations Office) Director Pebbles Duque who hosted the online event. OFWs from Hawaii, the UK, Australia, UAE, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Italy, USA, Trinidad and Tobago, and Hong Kong showed their support and were pleased to meet and greet the celebrity guests. The participants were also given a short demo on how to watch the MMFF films via UPSTREAM, the newest transacti...