LIBRE PARA SA LAHAT
LUNES 6|Disyembre 11, 2017
Ministop becomes the 1st convenience store to accept QR payments via GCash GCash, the pioneer in electronic payments using QR codes, partners with Ministop, one of the largest 24-hour convenience store chains in the Philippines, to promote and spread the benefits of cashless payments in the country. Ministop is a franchise of Ministop Co. Ltd., one of the largest convenience store chains in Japan. It is a subsidiary of Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc., the second-largest multi-format retailer in the Philippines. “We are excited over this partnership since Ministop is the first convenience store in the country to embrace e-payment via QR code. This will be good for the larger population because of the ease, convenience, and security that e-payments provide both to the consumers and merchants,” said Anthony Thomas, President and CEO of Mynt which operates GCash. The convenience store chain has developed products and services that cater to the consumption profile of the Filipino market with its wide assortment of merchandise and an extensive selection of ready-to-eat products which are mostly patronized by employees and students. With a deep understanding of the Filipino consumers, Ministop continues to provide quality, affordable price and value-added services that will make it more convenient and secure for its customers to pay for their purchases, thus, the deci-
sion to partner with GCash for e-payments through QR scanning. “Providing 24/7 convenience to our customers has always been our thrust,” said Ministop’s General Manager, Ms. Thelma Roxas-Jacob, “and we find that Globe GCash’s e-payment via QR code program will redefine convenience to our customers by providing them an easier way to shop for their favorite treats and meals with just few clicks on their mobile phones.” To use the scan to pay feature of the GCash App, customers only need to download or update the GCash App in their iPhone or Android smartphone, register for an account and load their GCash wallet in any of the 12,000 GCash partner outlets nationwide, including Robinsons Business Centers, Globe Stores, SM Business Centers, Puregold branches, 7-Eleven Cliqq kiosks, and TouchPay kiosks, among others. Once done, they only need to tap or point the phone’s camera at the QR code, and input the amount to be paid. The GCash App scan to pay feature is initially available at Ministop branches in Cyberscape Alpha and Cyberscape Beta in Ortigas Center starting December 1, with more and more branches slated to roll out the service in 2018. GCash users will also enjoy a 10 percent rebate when they scan to pay with GCash at the said branches for the whole month of December.
GCash, operated by Mynt which is owned by Globe Telecom, Ant Financial and Ayala Corp., has been aggressively campaigning for cashless payment system using the GCash App scan to pay feature, kicking off the cashless movement at Mercato Central in Bonifacio Global City and Ayala Malls. Thomas said Filipinos will see GCash becoming more ubiquitous in the next couple of years as it acquires more partner merchants including micro entrepreneurs. “We are not reserving e-payment for organized trade, but also for your cigarette vendor, balut vendor and the sari-sari store, among others. Eventually, you can pay with your smartphone anywhere you go. No need to bring cash,” said Thomas. GCash has been working hard to change the landscape of how Filipinos usually pay for their purchases to eliminate the pain points of payments such as the hassle of bringing money, waiting for change, or getting into misunderstandings over payments. Merchants, meanwhile, will no longer need expensive machines to process mobile money transactions since they only need QR stickers with a unique code linked to their GCash wallet. Learn more about GCash by visiting www.gcash.com. Follow us on our social media channels: www.facebook.com/ gcashofficial,www.twitter.com/gcashofficial, and www.instagram.com/gcaashofficial.
19 farmers in Cebu thank Pres. Duterte for new land titles CEBU CITY – After years of dreaming to own the farms they till, 19 farmers from the towns of Ronda, Alcantara, Badian, and Barili, Cebu now realized their aspirations after receiving 21 certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). The farmers expressed appreciation to the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the leadership of OIC Secretary Rosalina L. Bistoyong for the fulfillment of their dreams. The covered landholdings involved a total land area of 21.2299 hectares, covering some areas of barangays Tupas, Ronda, Candabong, Solagmaya and Calanglang of Badian town and barangay Cagay and Patupat in Barili, Cebu province. OIC-Provincial Agraian Reform Program Officer Elvira B. Bation, who led the distribution of CLOAs encouraged the farmer-beneficiaries to be active in their respective organizations to avail the support programs and services of DAR. “Make your lands productive and become part of the continuing effort of the government on food security,” Bation said. Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer (MARPO) Nestor Castro, on the other hand, reminded the farmers of their rights and obligations to their newly-acquired lands. DAR has also provided the beneficiaries with support services that include training programs, construction, and rehabilitation of infrastructure facilities and access to basic social services to boost their capabilities.
Cimatu: ASEAN must take climate change ‘very seriously’
HOST OF THE EVENING – Philippine Undersecretary for Fisheries Eduardo Gongona welcomes the delegates of the Western and Central Pacific EVERYONE’S HAVING A GOOD TIME – WCPFC Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) during a 2017 delegates find themselves having a great time Welcome Dinner on December 3, 2017. during the Welcome Dinner festivities. A NIGHT OF FILIPINO CULTURE – The Ryan Cayabyab Singers and Angeles Foundation University (AUF) Dance Troup give the WCPFC delegates a taste of Filipino music and culture.
ENVIRONMENT Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said it is high-time the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) take climate change seriously as a threat to sustainable urban development. “I would like to encourage everyone to take this threat very seriously. The fact that we are gathered here today is an acknowledgment that the problem is in critical proportion,” Cimatu said in a speech delivered last Wednesday at the ASEAN Forum on Urban Resilience to Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Management Strategies held in Laoag City. The regional forum brought together over 150 research and development experts from across Southeast Asia to discuss plans on attaining urban resilience to climate change and disaster risks within the region. Experts from ASEAN partners like Japan and India also attended the forum organized by the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, in cooperation with the ASEAN National Organizing Council under the Office of the President, and the provincial government of Ilocos Norte. Cimatu expressed his gratitude to the scientists and researchers across ASEAN and other partner countries for sharing their knowledge and expertise during the forum, which formed part of events celebrating ASEAN’s 50th founding anniversary being hosted by the Philippines. “Your years of hard work in research about urban resilience and disaster risk reduction deserve recognition,” Cimatu told forum participants. “Our region needs these noble efforts to make our people and families more secure and resilient amidst the threats posed by the changing climate.” The environment chief expressed hope the forum would lead to proposals and policies geared toward a more resilient ASEAN. “For this day, we look forward to be more
adept with new inventions and researches toward facing the challenge of climate change and reducing disaster risks,” Cimatu said. Cimatu said he believed the awareness on the need to address climate change should not be confined on scientists and researchers alone, but also on all people from large cities to the smallest communities in the region. “Let us handle climate change risks boldly, swiftly and collectively as one ASEAN,” he said. During the forum, at least four renowned scientists gave lectures on climate change impact assessment tools, urban resilience and green growth strategies, institutional resiliency and management strategies. A Japanese expert also shared his country’s initiatives and means to make urban communities resilient to climate change and reduce disaster risk. In the past 10 years, ASEAN countries became highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change as they are now experiencing more frequent extreme weather events — floods, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea levels. As early as 2009, the World Bank warned that the Philippines topped the list of countries most vulnerable to storms, with Vietnam the second most vulnerable to rising sea levels, and Thailand and Vietnam among those most threatened by flooding. Last year, the Global Climate Risk Index of German Watch listed four out of 10 ASEAN countries — Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand — as among the 10 nations most affected by climate change from 1995 to 2014 based on annual averages. Other ASEAN countries are also vulnerable to climate change at varying degrees with Brunei Darussalam suffering from heat-related stress, low coastal scopes in Indonesia likely to be affected by a small increase in sea level, and Malaysia’s Sabah frequently experiencing floods and drought.