Coca-Cola says ‘thank you’ to our Tagahatid Pasko

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The holiday season is often marked with its trademark rush – people hustling through their shopping lists trying to complete it before Christmas Eve and passengers crowding bus stations, airports, and other terminals to get home in time for noche buena. But it’s not the same for everyone, as every Christmas season, thousands of people work tirelessly just to make sure that everyone else can celebrate and feel the yuletide spirit.

This year, Coca-Cola paid tribute to people more popularly known as “Tagahatid Pasko”, highlighting how their hard work, dedication, and sacrifice has made it possible for everyone to have the merriest celebrations this season. All throughout December, the Company gave gifts and surprises to over 15,000 Tagahatid Pasko around the country as their way of thanking the various unsung heroes of Christmas who tirelessly work to bring a merry season for everyone else.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, several Tagahatid Pasko were surprised by Christmas carolers and associates with ice-cold bottles of Coca-Cola at their workplaces. Over 15,000 Santa packs filled with food items and special gifts greeted the unsung heroes of Christmas who were still in their workplaces.

“This is our way of expressing our gratitude to the people who help us make Christmas happen in our own homes – be it the grocery clerk who makes sure the shelves are well-stocked, or the gift-wrapping teams who work until midnight at department stores, or the toll booth operator who works overtime just so everyone can come home in time for Christmas. To all of you, thank you!” said Stephan Czypionka, Coca-Cola Philippines Vice President for Marketing.

One of the Tagahatid Pasko is Carla Dominique Diego, who works in the gift-wrapping section of a leading department store. Since the onset of the Christmas season, she has been working longer hours in order to accommodate all the customers. “Pag Christmas season, napakarami po talagang nagpapagift-wrap. Nakakalungkot lang isipin na hindi ko manlang naaasikaso yung mga regalo para sa family ko dahil busy ako sa pagbabalot ng mga regalo ng ibang tao,” she said.

Wait staff are also one of those who tirelessly work overtime during the Christmas season to allow others to celebrate the festivities with their loved-ones and friends. Jerico Gonzales, who works the night-shift at a restaurant, says that the holiday rush makes its more challenging for them. “May mga guests ako na bumabalik-balik, at naiisip ko, ang saya nila, sana ganyan din nararanasan ko ngayon. Paskong-pasko, di ko manlang nakakasama ang pamilya ko,” he said.

24-year-old Red Cross volunteer and Tagahatid Pasko Brenda Paule recalls joining her team in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda to bring the spirit of Christmas to typhoon survivors and other relief workers.

“Sharing the joy of Christmas is more than gifts; it’s about being there for others. There is no joy like seeing the smile on the face of others because of something that you have done. And that for me is the priceless reward of what we do,” a misty-eyed Paule said.

For the past four years, Paule has spent her noche buena in the streets, ready to respond to any untoward incident that may arise.

Even on Christmas Eve and at work, a doctor at the hospital finds time to share a smile with patients and enjoy a bottle of Coca-Cola, too. Like many other medical practitioners who are on duty during Christmas, they are one of the Tagahatid Pasko.

The Coca-Cola Christmas campaign did not stop with giving out Santa sacks, celebrities also joined the celebration by being this year's Tagahatid Pasko during the Metro Manila Film Festival 2016 Parade by giving out ice-cold bottles of Coca-Cola. While a Christmas Concert, top-billed by the country’s best musicians and most popular love-teams, together with Coca-Cola Ambassadors James Reid, Nadine Lustre, Enchong Dee, Ylona Garcia and Bailey May, serenaded and performed for over 300 unsung heroes of Christmas from partner companies earlier this month.

Together with Coca-Cola in thanking all our Tagahatid Pasko this year are partner organizations Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, Rotary Club Philippines, Shakey’s Pizza, McDonald’s, Grab, iFlix, Robinsons Mall, Jollibee, Zomato, 5by20 Women Artisans of Tondo, 7-Eleven, Shell, Select, Mini Stop, Metro Manila Development Authority, Djarn Manpower, Sentinel, Tropical Hut Pasay City, the Philippine National Police, and VXI.

To see how Coca-Cola paid tribute to our #TagaHatidPasko, 

check out the video

 https://www.facebook.com/CocaColaPhilippines/videos/1254441844601851/ 

on their official Facebook page.

The Music RunTM by Philam Vitality brings the party back to Manila

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ASIA'S MOST EXCITING RUN IS ABOUT TO GET EVEN LOUDER THIS YEAR

The ultimate 5k running and music festival drew nearly ten thousand runners when it first made waves in the Philippines last year. 

This year, The Music RunTM by Philam Vitality returns to amp up an equally large—or even larger—crowd with everyone’s favorite hits playing on 120 concert-quality speakers across McKinley West in Taguig City.

In partnership with music streaming service Spotify, The Music RunTM by Philam Vitality will rock Manila on December 3. Last call for registration is on November 25.

Philam Life has been at the forefront of leading innovations in the life insurance industry to change the general perception about insurance. Insurance is about living life to the fullest without worry and being healthy to pursue one’s passion and achieve one’s goals.

“This is the second time that Philam Life is partnering with The Music RunTM. We want to send a strong message that being healthy can also be fun and engaging,” Deputy Head of Philam Vitality Kats Cajucom said.

“One of our company’s main thrusts is healthy living through our Philam Vitality program, which is the first of its kind in the Philippines. It is a full-scale wellness program where members get rewarded for making healthy choices. Through Philam Vitality, we are taking active steps to positively transform the lives of Filipinos by helping them live longer, healthier, and better lives,” Cajucom added.

“While most fun runs originate from the US, The Music RunTM started in Asia and expanded throughout the region before crossing over to Europe and the US in the last two years,” said Martin Capstick, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Exceed Sports and Entertainment who is organizing the run.

“The reason for its massive success is its winning formula that combines music with the ever- growing fitness craze into the ultimate running and music festival that also puts control of the run’s soundtrack in the hands of our Music RunnersTM,” he added.

The five-kilometer run will include five music-themed zones playing rock, pop, old school, hip hop, and dance. Using the live Spotify Music Voting App on www.themusicrun.com.ph, participants can vote up to five songs per playlist every day to build the official soundtrack for each zone.

The ultimate after-run music festival includes world class DJs, live bands, dancers, laser lights, LED screens, fireworks, chill out zones, giveaways - and plenty more!

Rock Star, Pop Star or Dance Floor Demon, register now and come LIVE THE BEAT!

The event will kick off with a pre-run performance by up and coming local alternative band Sud, while the after-run music festival will feature Australian radio house DJ Sam Withers.

Music RunnersTM can select from two event packs—the Standard Pack for P850 and the Rock Star Pack for P1,400. The Standard Pack comes with a T-shirt, bag, beat band, sticker, and temporary tattoo. Those who would like to party with the Rock Star Pack will also receive a towel, water bottle, and cap.

Late registration for The Music RunTM by Philam Vitality starts on November 1. Standard and Rock Star Packs for late registrants are priced at P950 and P1,600 respectively. Children less than five years old can join the run for free.

For last call registrations starting on November 21, the Standard and Rock Star Packs will cost P1,050 and P1,800 respectively.

Registrants can collect their event packs at Glorietta 5 in Makati from November 26 to 28.

The Music RunTM first took place in Kuala Lumpur in 2014. Since then, it has drawn more than 100,000 runners across 12 events and nine countries.

For more information on The Music RunTM by Philam Vitality, please visit the official website, Facebook page, or YouTube Channel.

1,000 concrete houses completed for super typhoon survivors

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Concrete from floor to ceiling, two hundred brand new houses were turned over recently in Ormoc to complete the targeted 1,000 units for the survivors of super typhoon Yolanda in various parts of the Visayas region. The houses were donated to the beneficiaries and are part of a project that was initiated immediately after the historic storm that devastated thousands of lives and property in November 8, 2013.

The housing project – initiated under SM Cares, and a division of SM Foundation – covered areas that were hardest hit by Yolanda. It started with the turnover of 200 houses in Bogo, Cebu a year after the typhoon in November 2014. In October 2015, 200 more houses were given to survivors in Iloilo. Early this May 2016, 400 houses in Barangay Kawayan, Tacloban were given to chosen beneficiaries.

The houses were designed and engineered to withstand disasters like super typhoons that may hit in the future. Aside from the disaster-resilient concrete houses, each SM Cares housing village is also planted with vetiver grass to help manage slopes and control soil erosion, sewage treatment, materials recovery facility, and rainwater catchment system.

Each beneficiary is carefully selected with the help of various NGOs and community groups, which conducted interviews and profiling. Melba de Luna, a 43-year old housewife, expressed her positive outlook by volunteering as a cooperative member in their community in Bgy. Kawayan.

“Dininig ng Diyos ang panalangin namin na bigyan kami ng bahay na safe. Ngayon kahit sobrang lakas ng hangin sa labas, hindi namin halos maramdaman. Sa kinikita ng asawa ko sa pagmamaneho, naglalaan kami para lalong pagandahin itong bahay naming.” (God heard our prayer to give us a safe house. Now even when the wind is strong outside, we can hardly feel it. With my husband’s earnings from driving, we save up to make this house look better.) Her husband drives a taxicab for a living" de Luna attested.

SM Cares’ housing project for the survivors of Yolanda was made possible by the selfless support of its customers, business partners, service providers, employees and local communities. Through these donors, SM was able to raise the necessary fund to complete 1,000 concrete homes where its owners can feel safer and more secure after what they went through three years ago.

Globe-Pusod, Inc. partnership boosts Taal Volcano's ecotourism

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Taal’s ecotourism has received a big boost from the partnership between Globe Telecom and the nonprofit environmental organization Pusod Taal Lake Conservation Center (TLCC). 

The collaboration of Globe and Pusod Inc. is working together to empower communities around the lake through environment education and sustainable enterprises.

Pusod is an environmental non-profit organization which works with small fisher folk communities in Batangas and Cavite to conserve ecosystems and empower them through environment education and sustainable enterprises.

A member of Taal Volcano Protected Landscape Protected Area Management Board, in 2012, Pusod tapped Globe for the use of ICT to enhance implementation of the Taal Volcano Protected Landscape (TVPL) Management Plan designed to ensure the economic and environmental sustainability of the Taal Lake ecosystem which covers 13 municipalities and 3 cities in Batangas and Cavite.

One of the key programs implemented by Globe and Pusod to address the area’s environmental issues is the promotion of ecotourism which gives a low-impact alternative to commercial tourism. This not only helps protect the environment but also provides livelihood to communities around the lake.

As the result of the partnership,  the Pusod Taal Lake Conservation Center (TLCC) has increased earnings by 1400% from P40,000 upon its establishment in 2011 to P600,000 in 2015. It now provides sustainable livelihood opportunities to the local communities surrounding the Taal Volcano Protected Landscape (TVPL). The earnings came from various sustainable tourism initiatives such as Knowledge Tours, Kayak rentals, and sales from honey, coffee, and vinegar.

“Globe creates positive societal impact by fostering connectivity for families, businesses, and the nation, providing jobs across our value chain and by developing partnerships that support sustainable livelihood and conservation as part of our sustainability strategies,” said Fernando Esguerra, Director, Globe Citizenship.

“Lakes take a long time to respond to conservation measures. Those that are still connected deeply with the livelihood that the lake provides are less and less reliant on it. It prompted us to take action because a lot of people really depend on the lake for livelihood. The goals of all protected areas should be sustainable development, preserving the characteristics and the life forms in an ecosystem,” said Atty. Ipat Luna, Executive Trustee and Founding Member of Pusod, Inc.

“The only way we can really save the lake is if they take pride in it: I live in a protected area source of pride,” said Atty. Luna.

A photo exhibit entitled “Pusod: Ang Pagkakaisa ng Pamayanan at Kalikasan”, will give you a glimpse of the Taal community through endearing snapshots of the scenic views of Taal Volcano and Lake, as well as its natural beauty. 

Photos of the TAAL Ecosystem  displayed at the Globe Art Gallery from August 3 to 31. Photos were taken by Globe Employee Volunteers (DRMHWS). Proceeds of the exhibit will support Pusod’s conservation work in TVPL.

“Together with Globe, our work entails us to work with communities and tell them more about the ecosystem where they are and to eventually help them to protect it and create enterprises around them,” said Ann Hazel Javier, Executive Director, Pusod, Inc.

“We started with the eco-tourism program. We have built capacities for the people in the volcano island, the tour guides and the boat guides, our local caterer and the community volunteers. Their main motivation is really to help conserve and protect the ecosystem,” said Javier. 

“As an organization, we hope to connect humans to nature and vice versa. Aside from the conservation work, we work a lot with communities and we see the need of the communities to have economic activities so that they can participate in the conservation activities as well,” she added.

Here are Globe-Pusod Inc. Partnership Highlights

Since 2012, Globe:

- Established a monitoring system involving 5,000 fisherfolks of the Kilusan ng Maliliit na Mangingisda ng Lawa ng Taal through the TxtConnect facility for the E-Governance Program. TxtConnect, a web-based platform that enables them to broadcast messages critical to the implementation of the TVPL Management Plan. 

- Paved the way for mobile financial services to reach almost fisher folk communities across the 13 municipalities and 3 cities in Batangas and Cavite under the TVPL by distributing 5,000 SIM cards with discounted call and SMS rates. 

- Improved productivity of 276 households in Barangay Calawit, Balete, Batangas with the provision of solar lams through the Stiftung Solarenergie collaboration 

- Helped provide employment for 131 community-based tour guides, boat operators, horse guides and hospitality practitioners for the Sustainable Tourism Program 

- Sparked citizens’ and employees’ participation through the Boat Building Activities and Knowledge Tours

Pusod, Inc. established Taal Lake Conservation Center (TLCC) in Sitio Lipute, Barangay Kinalaglagan, Mataasnakahoy, Batangas which is the central knowledge hub of the TVPL.

It operates the Taal Ecotourism Program which highlights the Taal Knowledge Tour. includes Briefing on the lake region; eruption history of the volcano;  Boat Ride from TLCC to Calauit, Balete on Volcano Island and back; Horse Ride or Trek to the crater view deck with local tour guides; Snacks and lunch of Batangas fusion cuisine and local refreshments; Conservation contribution; Boat Sailing; Kayak and Stand Up Paddle Board.