Nominations open for the 2021 Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards in the Philippines

Manila, Philippines – UN Women returns with its annual Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards, which honor companies operating in the Philippines for their achievements in advancing gender equality in business. Organized by the UN Women programme WeEmpowerAsia, the WEPs Awards is now accepting nominations from May 31 to July 31. The WeEmpowerAsia programme, funded by the European Union, promotes women’s participation and leadership in the workplace, marketplace, and community.

Nominees will compete in six categories: Leadership Commitment; Gender-inclusive Workplace; Gender-responsive Marketplace; Community Engagement and Partnerships; Transparency and Reporting; and Youth Leadership for Generation Equality. The latter three categories are new to this year’s awards. Also new are three Champion titles for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“As we now welcome more WEPs signatories than before, we are excited to work with new allies in the private sector,” said UN Women Philippines Programme Manager Ma Rosalyn Mesina. “We found great success with our collaborations with the winner’s pool last year. We look forward to an even more productive 2021 for gender equality!”

“The business case is clear,” according to Boots Garcia, co-chair of the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE), a partner of UN Women in the Philippines. “Embedding these concepts in corporate sustainability and governance, and business strategies will lead to quantifiable and positive results in attracting and sustaining the best talent in the market, increasing shareholder value, and promoting innovation,” Garcia said at the launch event and info session held online on 25 May.

Diverse participation

WeEmpowerAsia received more than 400 nominations from 17 countries for the inaugural WEPs Awards in 2020.

Katrina Chan, Executive Director of QBO Innovation Hub in the Philippines, which won in the Youth Leadership category last year, said: “The Awards was an amazing opportunity for QBO, a young startup, to network with established organizations that share our vision. Attaining this recognition raises our profile around the efforts to ensure equal gender representation in tech becomes the norm.”

“We wanted to push ourselves to do more and to inspire others to do the same. It makes business sense to empower women on all levels and all fronts,” added Jonah De Lumen-Pernia, Director for Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability of Coca-Cola Philippines, winner of the Community and Industry Engagement category.

This year’s awards are supported by Investing in Women (IW), an initiative of the Australian Government, together with PBCWE and the Indonesia Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment (IBCWE). IW aims to create enabling environments for women’s economic empowerment towards a more gender-equal world. The IW-supported PBCWE and IBCWE work with leading companies in the Philippines and Indonesia to introduce gender equality strategies and tools, enabling a more diverse workforce and the associated benefits to companies, employees, and wider society.

Save the date

The national WEPs Awards ceremony in the Philippines will be hosted by WeEmpowerAsia on 15 October 2021. All nominees will be eligible for the regional awards to be announced on 18 November 2021.

Nominations for the 2021 WEPs Awards are being accepted until Bangkok midnight on 31 July 2021.

Nominate your business now! www.asiapacificwepsawards.org.

About the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs)

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to businesses on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace, and community. Established by UN Global Compact and UN Women, the WEPs are informed by international labor and human rights standards and grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake in, and responsibility for, gender equality and women’s empowerment. For more information, visit https://www.weps.org.

Travel Safe and While you Rule the Streets!

Tanauan City, Batangas­ - June 01, 2021 – It’s been a long year of isolation. While the country still struggles with the ongoing pandemic, non-essential travel is still discouraged. However, the need for some semblance of normalcy has caused people to adjust their travel behaviors.

Now, more and more are taking short road trips to nearby places so that they can still have that sense of fun and exciting journey. And taking solo trips has become the way to go for many who want to travel.

It is spirit of fun journey that is the true inspiration of The New RS125, a motorcycle known for its exciting features and thrilling design that make for a fun ride. This time, Honda Philippines, Inc. (HPI), the No.1 motorcycle manufacturer in the country, sets out to thrill riders again with its refreshed design.

Filipino riders have always prided themselves on how their motorcycles look as they cruise the road and turn the commuters’ heads. With The New RS125, riders can be prouder with its refreshed image and new stripe designs in its three color variants, such as Matte Axis Gray Metallic, Pearl Nightfall Blue, and Victory Red.

Its refreshed image lends the motorcycles a slim and sporty look that’s more stylish and exciting for first-time riders looking to make a splash as they commute for fun!

Riders also get to enjoy features that make The New RS125 incredibly unique, like its new speedometer dial design for easy visuals and an edgy taillight design for signaling commuters behind you. It also features a new body cover design and seat cushion providing style and comfort as well as a muffler with a cap for noise suppression.

What’s more The New RS125 not only lets you look stylish on the road but also allows you to experience the thrill of what it’s like to be a true motorcycle rider. It has an air-cooled, 125 cc, 4-Stroke, Overhead Cam (OHC) engine, giving for a powerful performance with a maximum power of 7.12 kW @ 7,500 rpm. At the same time, its Euro 3-compliant PGM-Fi fuel system provides an excellent 67.5 Km/L fuel efficiency based on the World Motorcycle Test Cycle (WMTC) Test Method.

“At Honda, we aim to create a world where people get to enjoy traveling even if it’s as simple as buying groceries or going for a fun road trip. The New RS125’s refreshed design is our way of making our motorcycles exciting and share that feeling with Filipinos,” said HPI President Susumu Mitsuishi.

The New RS125 with refreshed image will be available in all Honda dealerships nationwide with a suggested retail price of Php73,400. Its latest addition is a part of Honda’s “One Dream” campaign, which aims to cater to everyone’s daily travel needs and to fulfill their dreams through the joy of mobility.

Explore more from Honda and its wide array of motorcycles. For more details about Honda products and promos, visit our website at www.hondaph.com and follow us on Facebook, Honda Philippines, Inc., and Instagram, @hondaph_mc. You can also contact us through our landline number, (02)-8581-6700 to 6799, and mobile number, 0917-884-6632.

PCTA Members Empower their Communities to Advance and Adapt to the New Normal

Philippine Cable and Telecommunications Association, Inc. (PCTA), together with its members, continue to support the government efforts in improving communications and connectivity services for the public. The pandemic increased the need for stable internet access for social, economic, and educational needs and over 150 internet service provider (ISP) members of the PCTA are at the forefront to help the communities they serve transition into the new normal.

“Providing adequate bandwidth allocation and ensuring that internet service and signals are accessible to our communities are among PCTA’s priorities to support more Filipinos during unprecedented times. We doubled our efforts to improve internet services even in underserved areas,” Joel Dabao, president of PCTA said.

Cotabato Cable Television Network Corporation, one of PCTA’s active members, has put in a lot of work to deliver high quality service and bring the world to the homes of their subscribers in Cotabato City. It has earned the trust of government offices and became the city government’s official internet provider.

Cotabato Cable empowers its community of 3,200 households by providing convenient subscription plans and bundling cable TV with Internet of up to 12mbps in speed for subscribers who shifted to Fiber To The Home (FTTH) system. At the peak of the pandemic, they ensured that they lay out good signal and cable programs that would entertain the elders, help employees who work from home and students who attend their online classes. Cotabato Cable also gave the Department of Education free cablecasting of their modules from Mondays through Fridays.

Bongao Cable TV Network, Inc., one of PCTA’s member operators, has been providing internet service in the Salug Valley Province since 2016. At the start of the pandemic, Bongao Cable extended their services and upgraded their system, availing a higher bandwidth to cater to the needs of their subscribers.

They help schools and learning communities to set-up their online learning by providing a higher bandwidth and reasonable packages. They also support their local government units, specifically the Mayor’s office, to integrate and offer their services online that extends aid to the people in the municipality.

With their constant effort to provide internet services even in the farthest municipalities of the province of Zamboanga del Sur, subscribers no longer need to relocate as they can confidently work from home. Bongao Cable TV Network, Inc. offers the highest internet plan speed of up to 20mbps using the FTTH technology

Bongao cable continuously looks for more ways to upgrade their system to serve their ever-growing number of subscribers without increasing their basic rate for cable TV, at the same time not compromising the quality of their service. In addition, they exercise leniency in the collection of monthly payments understanding the challenges of these unprecedented times.

“As our nation moves forward to recovery, PCTA and its member operators will continue to serve reliable internet connectivity that will empower Filipinos especially in far-flung areas to accelerate and thrive in the digital transformation era,” Dabao added.

For more information about the PCTA and its members nationwide, visit www.pcta.org.ph



ABOUT PCTA

The PHILIPPINE CABLE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION (PCTA), INC. is the umbrella organization of nationwide Cable Television Operators and Internet Service Providers in the Philippines. Its membership roster includes the biggest cable operators in the country as well as the medium and small cable operators who, through their pain-staking efforts, have succeeded in bringing up-to-date programs, information, and technology to the farthest island in the country. To date, the PCTA has over 300 regular members. Together, the PCTA member-cable operators are serving 75% of the total cable TV subscribers in the Philippines.