Championing hard work and discipline, Fortune Life gave out this year’s edition of the Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua Gintong Parangal para sa Edukasyon.
This award for educators is in cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd) and Marylindbert International.
The awards program was borne from Fortune Life’s advocacy to impart good moral values to the youth.
Dedicated teachers, principals and education supervisors comprised the awardees.
Glenda Barretto of Via Mare transformed the Bulwagan ng Karunungan of DepEd into a virtual “bahay-na-bato,” decking it with the mantones de Manila.
As expected, served were Spanish-influenced Filipino cuisine.
Guests, executives, educators and awardees completed the setting, wearing elegant Filipiniana gowns and barong.
Linda Legaspi of Marylindbert gave the welcome remarks.
Fortune Life general manager and executive vice president Evelyn Carada thanked the educators “for their unwavering support to the company’s quest for molding discipline and hard work among young Filipinos.”
J. Antonio A. Cabangon Jr., Fortune Life director and treasurer, stressed the insurance leader’s “desire to promote and instill the importance of hard work and discipline to everyone, most especially the youth.”
“Our goal in two years,” he pointed out, “is to give away to the students a million workbooks on the advocacy.”
To date the advocacy has benefited 500,000 students.
In her keynote speech, Education Undersecretary Dina Ocampo—who, from day one, has been very supportive of the awards program—again recognized the value and importance that every educator plays in fostering moral values to the youth. She congratulated the Gintong Parangal para sa Edukasyon awardees for besting over 1,500 nominees.
Capping off the event was a message of gratitude from one of the awardees, Enerio E. Ebisa.
Real estate boom
RE/MAX, said to be the world’s highest-rating real estate brokerage franchise, was launched in the Philippines at the Discovery Primea Hotel in Makati.
“For brokers, the brand provides a more professional approach to doing business,” said RE/MAX Philippines president Leonard Campos. “It gives more options to people looking for property to own or lease.”
Also present at the launch were RE/MAX country manager Michelle Perlas, Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Tessa Prieto-Valdes, ABS-CBN’s Philip Cu-Unjieng, and publicist Chris Cahilig. Issa Litton emceed.
Marketing manager Kristine Traviño and business development head Arvin Abreu hobnobbed with top brokers and guests including Paolo Villavicencio, Kerwin Yu, Juan Patag and Niccolo Pizzocheri.
“The brand is capitalizing on the ongoing real estate boom in the country,” said Perlas. “RE/MAX enters the picture by guiding its clients in making a smarter investment and doing it the right way.”
She added: “What we offer to the real estate practitioners is an end-to-end solution. We equip our agents with tools that have been effective, tried and tested in 97 countries. If it is successful in other countries, how much more here where real estate is so lucrative nowadays.”
Campos said that “the RE/MAX technology is the best in the industry, the network and property search is strong and global. We are not trying to take over the way real estate is done, we are just trying to enhance it.”
Upgraded LPG facility
Isla Petroleum & Gas (IPG), a leading LPG provider, gathered business and oil-industry bigwigs to celebrate the inauguration of the company’s upgraded facility in Batangas.
Welcoming guests were IPG chief executive officer Shoichi Watanabe, who said: “The LPG storage refinery plant, named Isla Gas Terminal Inc., was designed to meet the growing LPG demands of south Luzon and provide Filipinos with a convenient and reliable access to safe LPG products.”
Isla LPG Corp. (ILC) product and brand manager Ernest Loquinario toured guests and officials around the plant.
Enjoying the tour were ILC CEO Ruben Domingo, general manager for supply chain Jaypee Gonzales, chief financial officer Willie Sarmiento, board member Bobby Kanapi, general manager for sales Tonito Gonzales and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. refinery general manager Edward Geus.
Also in attendance were Batangas City Bureau of Fire Protection chief inspector Glen Salazar and Philippine Economic Zone Authority officer Felicidad Sayo.
The inaugural was formally held in the morning, followed by a breakfast reception. IPG and ILC officials briefed guests on their future business plans and proposals for strengthening the brand’s commitment to its clients and partner institutions.