QuaranTalks: Pandemic Panic!

I said 2020 will be an epic year.

2020 was a year of exciting times. I even spent the first new year of the new decade in a different country. We got to celebrate it with my family in a amusement park complete with a concert and fireworks. Though accidentally my phone dropped and some of the screen had cracks. It was still working yet not as flawless as before. However, it seems to be an omen of an upcoming dangers as I started the year.

I thought that the year would be just like any year with some exciting parts. But even at the start of the year we are already shocked with news such as wildfires in Australia, the threat of war in the Middle East, and even the eruption of Taal Volcano. Both natural and man-made events stir worry to many, and I have to admit that those things scare me too.

But then came the next months and now being introduced with viral disease of COVID-19, prompted many countries into lockdowns, quarantines, and other strict measures. With the disease infecting fast and is also lethal, abrupt closure of businesses, work, and school was enforced. 

Gabay Guro launches ‘Learning Never Stops’ online training program for teachers nationwide

Gabay Guro, PLDT’s flagship educational program, provides free online trainings for teachers nationwide through its recently launched ‘Learning Never Stops’ campaign. As of May 30, 2020, Gabay Guro has led 13 e-learning sessions on Facebook with over 300,000 views to date. 

The online training videos uploaded on the Gabay Guro Facebook Page are all for free. These videos are available for replay which allows teachers to go learn at their own pace.

Topics of the live training and recorded webcasts include life learnings from the quarantine, virtual teaching 101, flipping the classroom, improving students' reading and comprehension, as well as teachers' mindset improvement in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Card payment partners charge 2.58% convenience fee for GCash cash-in via MasterCard/VISA bank card

The card payment partners of GCash will charge a minimal convenience fee of 2.58 percent for cash-in via MasterCard/VISA bank card services starting July 6, 2020. The fee is a direct charge of payment partners.

The convenience fee will be computed and will be stated in the GCash app for each cash-in via bank card transaction. For instance, a customer cashes in P100 in his GCash wallet. The convenience fee would be P2.58, for a total amount of P102.58 charged to the card.

David Chua Joins ALV Talent Circuit

Don’t let his K-pop looks fool you. Despite his Eurasian lineage, model/actor David Chua is proudly Filipino, and can speak Tagalog with full conviction.

Prior to his showbiz career, David was a Fine Arts student at the UST, where he was discovered via Mr. and Ms. Ideal Thomasian, the campus-based personality pageant (2006-2007). This led to modeling stints, where he became a staple in high-profile fashion shows and print ads.

The ‘accidental celebrity’ was thrust into the showbiz limelight in 2008, when he was cast in ABS-CBN’s ‘My Girl,’ the Kim Chiu-Gerald Anderson starrer, where he played the twin brother of Alex Gonzaga and Kim’s close friend.

Globe services and assistance package for COVID-19 reaches P1.3B

During the first three months of the pandemic, Globe Telecom was able to come up with over P1.3 billion in combined services and assistance package for COVID-19.  This consists of support for Globe employees and vendor partners, services and promos, external fund-raising efforts, and monetary and in-kind donations.

The bulk of the amount went to salaries and benefits which Globe continued to provide even to managed service partners and vendor employees to help ensure their safety, health, and well-being as well as their families. Globe currently holds weekly rapid antibody testing of all its frontliners and has contributed to the AC Health COVID-19 facility to accommodate its workforce and their families who may contract the virus. 

Globe urges customers to use reporting tool for spam/scam cases

As cases of mobile fraud and spamming continue to escalate during the pandemic, Globe Telecom is encouraging its customers to use the company’s reporting tool to stop unscrupulous people from taking advantage or deceiving the general public through calls and text messages.

By visiting https://www.globe.com.ph/stop-spam.html and filling out the online form, Globe customers can easily help put a stop to these illegal practices.  Once a report is received, Globe will promptly respond by deactivating numbers proven to be repetitive sources of such dubious messages.

“We are concerned about the problems that could arise from these call and text scams. This is why we continuously work to combat this malicious behavior to provide a spam-free experience for all our customers. While we constantly upgrade and improve our blocking and filtering mechanism to keep unwanted messages from entering our network, we also need the cooperation of our customers to make this effort fully effective,” said Anton Bonifacio, Globe Chief Information Security Officer.

Globe kicks off tribute campaign for local SMEs with special FB live event and inspirational video

As quarantine guidelines are slowly being loosened around the country, Globe myBusiness is paying tribute to an economic hero: the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), whose strength and resilience as they reopen and thrive in the new normal merit unwavering support through this year’s #SaludoSME campaign. 

The campaign kicked off with a special Facebook Live event via the official Globe myBusiness FB page with special messages from Ayala Corporation Chairman of the Board, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu. Another highlight of the event is a special reveal of an inspirational video, sung by none other than Broadway legend and international Filipino pride Lea Salonga, which showcased the resilience of local SMEs as they resume operations in the new normal.