Category: Business

CLMI inks agreement with Philam Life for accessible life and micro-life insurance

PRNEWS Leave a comment

In the photo (from left): Cebuana Lhuillier Micro insurance General Manager Jonathan Batangan; Cebuana Lhuillier Micro insurance Vice President Leo Escaño; Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier; Philam Life President and CEO Rex Mendoza; Philam Life Chief Operating Officer Rey Centeno; and, Philam Life Head of General Agencies and Corporate Unit Agencies Cecile Lizares

Cebuana Lhuillier Micro Insurance (CLMI) continues to provide quality and affordable insurance protection and innovative services to its target clients as it sealed an agreement with the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company (Philam Life), the country’s premier life insurance company and market leader for 60 years.

The two major insurance players formalized the partnership with the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement held recently in Makati City.

The joint venture intends to make available Philam Life’s existing products to both employees of Cebuana Lhuillier and its clients, as well as develop new “micro-life” insurance products for the general public.

“With Cebuana Lhuillier’s success in making accessible insurance protection to the average Filipino, and Philam Life’s expertise and credibility as the dominant life insurer in the country, the partnership is poised to bring newness and innovation in the microinsurance sector,” said Cebuana Lhuillier Micro Insurance General Manager Jonathan Batangan.

Philam Life offers an extensive line of products that provides solutions to various financial needs including life protection, health insurance, savings, education, retirement, investment, group, and credit life insurance.

Smart, Ateneo partner to make SHINE an open-source platform

PRNEWS Leave a comment

Smart and Ateneo sign an agreement to further enhance SHINE and make it an open-source platform by 2015. In photo are John Paul Vergara (left), vice president for the Loyola Schools of the Ateneo de Manila University, and Ramon Isberto (right), head of Public Affairs at Smart.

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has forged an alliance with the Ateneo Java Wireless Competency Center (AJWCC) to enhance and make Secured Health Information Network and Exchange (SHINE) an open-source platform next year, allowing users to contribute modules and plug-ins.

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has forged an alliance with the Ateneo Java Wireless Competency Center (AJWCC) to enhance and make Secured Health Information Network and Exchange (SHINE) an open-source platform next year, allowing users to contribute modules and plug-ins.

Launched in 2011 in consultation with the Department of Health (DOH) and various stakeholders, SHINE is the first cloud-based electronic medical record and e-referral system in the country, readily deployable in any area with Internet coverage.

A multi-awarded mHealth platform here and abroad, SHINE enables health facilities and professionals to create an electronic medical record, send electronic referrals to other health facilities, generate reports, and send SMS reminders to patients.

“By making SHINE a community-driven platform, we hope to make it more user-friendly and flexible to address the specific healthcare needs of different communities,” said Ramon Isberto, head of Public Affairs at Smart.

Smart is also tapping partner-universities under the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP), as well as developers in the Smart Developers Network (DevNet) to contribute modules and plug-ins to the SHINE open-source platform.

“Our vision for SHINE is to create not only a community of users but also a community of developers who want to help on improving healthcare delivery in the country,” said AJWCC Executive Director Dr. Reena Estuar.

In collaboration with Ateneo, SHINE 2.0 will be aligned to the Philippines eHealth Strategic Framework and Plan 2013-2017 of DOH and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). A senior level advisory body composed of representatives from the government, Smart, and Ateneo is also being formed to ensure the system and implementation is aligned with the country’s health policies and programs.

To formalize the partnership, a memorandum of agreement was signed between Smart and AJWCC on March 31. The SHINE Laboratory in Ateneo de Manila University will also be inaugurated during the event.

The role of the SHINE lab is to serve as the center for the further enhancement of SHINE, function as the help desk for users, and make SHINE an open source platform by 2015.

SHINE is part of the mHealth program of Smart, which hopes to transform healthcare delivery in the country by utilizing wireless technologies. In 2012, SHINE has been given the award of merit at the 2nd Galing Likha-Kalusugan Awards and has been recognized as ‘Best Community Telecom Project’ at the 15th Telecom Asia Awards, ‘Best Emerging Market Initiative’ at the 2nd Asia Communication Awards in Singapore, and a finalist for Mobile Health Innovation Category at the Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, Spain.

Metrobank is Best Securities House-Bank Category for 2013

PRNEWS Leave a comment

Metrobank President Fabian Dee (left) recieves the Cesar E.A. Virata Award for the Best Securities House – Bank Category 2013 from the Philippines Dealing System Holdings Corporation (PDEX) during 9th PDS Awards. Also in photo is FMIC President Roberto Juanchito Dispo (right) who recieved same top award for First Metro Investment Corp under Investment House Category.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank) receives the prestigious Cesar E.A. Virata Award for being the Best Securities House under the Bank Category for 2013 from the Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corporation (PDEX). This award recognizes outstanding financial institutions which have exhibited performance, leadership, and innovation that contribute to a robust domestic capital market in the country.

Metrobank also received top awards including Top Dealing Participant for Corporate Securities, Top Brokering Participant for Retail Transactions, Citation for Best Execution through Active Use of Fixed-Income Broker Internet Order System, Top 5 PDDTS/PvP Participant, and Top 5 Fixed Income Dealing Participant. The highest recognition of the PDS Award is named in honor of former Prime Minister Cesar Virata, a veteran banker and an influential personality in the Philippine Finance industry who was responsible in the establishment of fixed-income trading platform in the country.

“It is with great honor and humility that we accept the Cesar E. A. Virata Award for Best Securities House 2013 – Bank Category.,” said Metrobank President Fabian Dee. “Metrobank acknowledges the hard work that the Philippine Government, through the Bureau of Treasury and the BSP, has put in, to create a more robust Philippine domestic capital market. The award we receive tonight signifies Metrobank’s continuing commitment to help in this effort,” adds Mr. Dee.

CTBC Bank Opens Taytay Branch

PRNEWS Leave a comment

Leading the cutting of the ceremonial ribbon are its guests of honor, Juan Miguel Del Castillo, Jr., owner of MORE Business Center Building (2nd from right), and Eduardo Valerio, Jr., Finance Manager of Mitsubishi Motors (rightmost). Joining them on behalf of the Bank are its president and CEO Mark Chen (2nd from left) and Retail Banking Head Henry Chang (leftmost).

CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp. formerly Chinatrust Philippines, recently inaugurated its 24th branch along Ortigas Avenue Extension at the heart of Taytay, Rizal’s commercial district.

Opened as full-service commercial bank in the latter part of 1995, CTBC Bank now has one of the largest branch networks among foreign banks in the country catering to the banking needs of both local and foreign companies; aside from extensively servicing the needs of the middle-income consumers.

BayaniJuan kids learn lessons on saving from Sun Life Foundation

PRNEWS Leave a comment

Students of Sto. Tomas Elementary School in Calauan, Laguna with their coin banks
from Sun Life Foundation

Elementary students of Sto. Tomas Elementary School in the BayaniJuan community in Calauan, Laguna learned valuable lessons on saving for the future, after the Sun Life Foundation visited their school recently.

Sun Life Foundation Executive Director Joub Miradora graced the event and spoke to the children about the importance of being conscientious when it comes to handling money. After the short talk, he distributed over a thousand coin banks to the students, whose families were among those who were relocated to the BayaniJuan community from the Pasig River Rehabilitation program and after being displaced by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009.

“This is a part of our financial literacy advocacy because we believe in the importance of instilling in children the value of saving for the future,” Miradora shared. “Teaching them to save early on will help them understand how to handle their finances in the future.”

Sun Life Foundation aims to distribute 5,000 more coin banks to public school students in the coming months.

Sun Life Financial is represented in the Philippines by its life insurance arm, Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. (SLOCPI); its mutual fund manager, Sun Life Asset Management Company Inc. (SLAMCI); and its pre-need company, Sun Life Financial Plans Inc (SLFPI). Sun Life Financial Philippines – Foundation, Inc. is the philanthropy arm of SLOCPI.