The acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Gloria Steele, will be the keynote speaker at this week’s 14th Washington SyCip National Education Summit that will focus on how Filipino students can overcome learning challenges amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a 40-year career at USAID, Steele, a Filipino-American, was appointed acting administrator by U.S. President Joe Biden shortly after he took office in January. A staunch education advocate, she launched the Education Governance Effectiveness (EdGE) program in 2013 when she was USAID’s mission director for the Philippines.

Under EdGE, Steele also introduced the Hugpong sa Pagbangon in Iloilo province in 2015, an education recovery assistance for communities affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

USAID implements its EdGE program in partnership with Synergeia Foundation. It is aimed at transforming local communities to be education champions, with the goal of improving the reading skills for at least one million early grade students.

With the theme “Learning from our Best to Defy Gravity”, the virtual summit on March 25-26 will show how the national and local governments can work more efficiently to help students across the country who have fallen behind their international counterparts based on recent global learning competency assessments.

The event will be streamed live on Synergeia’s Facebook page.

Other speakers and guests include Vice President Leni Robredo, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian and singer and songwriter Jose Mari Chan.

There will be panel discussions among education stakeholders including mayors, principals, teachers, parents and students on how they have transformed learning in their communities through participatory leadership, devoted parenting and committed teaching.

Education financing, a critical issue as the global health crisis prompted local governments to fund the production of millions of learning modules, will also be in focus.

The other highlight of the summit is the awarding of the Seal of Good Education Governance to cities and municipalities that have shown a marked improvement in education governance. Accomplishing that goal has become harder as the pandemic shut schools, forcing millions of students to learn remotely.

Synergeia, a nonprofit organization that transforms communities to improve the quality of basic education, has handed out 61 Seal of Good Education Governance since 2017, with nine local governments being recipients of the Seal for three years in a row.

Consistent winners include Diffun, Quirino; Solano, Nueva Vizcaya; Lambunao and Mina in Iloilo; Cagayan de Oro City; Valenzuela City; Datu Paglas, Maguindanao; Bongao, Tawi Tawi; and Bacnotan, La Union.

Apart from the Seal, the winning local governments will receive prizes for their communities from PLDT Smart and Seaoil Foundation.

Official media partners for the event are INQUIRER.net, INQPOP!, BusinessWorld, Digital News Exchange, Malaya Business Insight, Pageone, The Philippine Post, The Luzon Daily, The Visayas Journal, The Mindanao Life, Manila Magazine and Woman PH.

Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance arm strengthens Fire Prevention call, mounts webinar with BFP The damage of getting your house razed by fire is insurmountable; fires at home can break out anytime and anywhere and can damage livelihood, household appliances and more.

In 2018, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) recorded a total of 14,316 incidents of fire from January until December. This is why every March is Fire Prevention Month in the Philippines, and BFP’s campaign for this month is safety consciousness among our people every day of the year as a positive preventive approach to a problem that can be solved by more caution, vigilance, sobriety, exercise of common sense and respect for the law.”

It is a campaign that focuses on exercising vigilance at home and keeping oneself knowledgeable on the best way to protect your home and family from destruction brought about by fire. “Cebuana Lhuillier has always committed to be of help to the Filipinos at all times, and our call for Fire Prevention is a reflection of that, our insurance products that aims to keep our clients protected at all times is a complementary effort to our advocacy for this month.” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, President and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier. PJ Lhuillier’s insurance arm, the Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Brokers, Inc (CLIB), has also expressed its support for BFP’s campaign through the years.

It has been a staunch advocate of having Filipinos insured, posting almost a 35% contribution to the total number of insured Filipinos through microinsurance. CLIB has also worked together closely with the Insurance Commission in promoting microinsurance in the country, they have settled over more than 5,300 million claims worth over Php 500 million they have serviced over 16,500 claimants. Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Brokers’, Inc. is also the first and only ISO-certified insurance broker in the Philippines. Also launched this month in conjunction with the celebration of the Fire Prevention Month is a promo dubbed “Panalo ka sa ProtectMax” where clients of the ProtectMax product of CLIB get a chance to win Php 25,000.

The promo is open to all clients who will purchase 5 ProtectMax COCs; these 5 COCs are equal to e-raffle entry. For the promo, 20 lucky raffle winners will be selected and will win Php 25,000. “This Fire Prevention month, it is very important to drumbeat awareness on fire safety and prevention, and the importance of being protected. CLIB believes that an information and education drive is very important to ensure that everyone is well-informed against conflagration.” said Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Brokers’ Inc., Jonathan Batangan. For clients who are interested to keep themselves protected without having to go to Cebuana Lhuillier’s more than 2,500 branches, they may purchase Home Insurance via the ProtectNow app or website, just log on to protectnow.com to see CLIB’s full range of products online.

They’ve also mounted the #SunogFreeWorryFree: ProtectMax Kontra Sunog webinar which aims to highlight the importance of being ready for untoward situations especially fire, and the importance of having protection whenever there are threats of conflagration.

To celebrate women, women’s month and new beginnings, Vine Holistic Medical Aesthetics launched its new logo and campaign tagged “Beauty Speaks.”

Dr, Emehly Sevilla, or Dr. Em, the owner of Vine Aesthetics, said since the majority of Vine’s clients are women, the new campaign is aimed at celebrating women and their valuable contribution not only to their families, colleagues and friends but to society in general.

“We have been working on the relaunch of the clinic and we felt that the month of March would be the best time to do so to coincide with the celebration of International Women’s Month,” Dr. Em said. “There’s no better way to celebrate women than to show that we cherish them by pampering them and showing them how much we love them.”

Vine’s relaunch campaign focuses on beauty and how women communicate through their beauty. Through their beauty, women are able to convey their strengths, self-love, fight for equality, service, and freedom amongst others.

“As we celebrate the women in our lives, we would like to give a deeper meaning and value to self-care,” Dr. Em said. “We want to be there for women so that they can relax, reboot and reset.”

The new logo of Vine Aesthetics’ redefines “beauty by going back to its roots through unfiltered self-confidence.”

“We have decided to adopt a new logo, a new face that will allow the women’s beauty to speak and spread like new vines waiting to flourish,” Dr. Em explained.

To celebrate the new campaign and logo, Vine Aesthetics came up with Beauty Speaks promos that will allow women to “Raise Your Arms High,” “Peel it Away” and to “Come Back to your Shape.”

“We want to give you the best care that you need until your unfiltered beauty speaks for you,” Dr. Em said.

To avail of the Beauty Speaks promos, book an appointment by calling (0917) 539 8697 79684538 or through PM at the FB page of Vine Holistic Medical Aesthetics

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew of the bittersweet stories of returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Often, they go abroad for high-paying jobs so that they can save and send money to their families back home. But migration storiesdon’talwaysguarantee a happy ending, and they need help when they are forced toreturnhome.

“Dahil ang pagkakaakala ko ay ang pagigingOFW ang sagotsalahat ng nagingproblemangfinancial namin at gusto kongmaiahon ang akingpamilya at mapagtapos ang akinganak,” said returning OFW Marites Coronado.The journey, however,wasn’t simple.

Take the case of another former OFW, Alma Palafox. She recounted: “Hindi po ako sini-suwerte sana pupuntahan na bansa. Laging may masamang nangyayari po sa akin. At minsan narin muntik na akong hindi nakabalik ng Pinas ng buhay. Kaya hindi ko po natataposkontrata ko.”

Gerlie Austria shares a similar experiencebut remains grateful despite the hardships she endured abroad. “Hindi man po ako naging maswerte sa ibang bansa,pero nagpapasalamat po ako sa Panginoong Diyos at ako po ay nakauwi nang buhay.”

Myrna Peñosa Corporal recalled the gloom she felt when she decided to go back to her family. “Noongnagsabiakosaamo ko naibaliknaakosaagency,dinala po nilaakosaLabor. Ang unang pumasok sa isip ko at naiyakako, ‘Paanona ang pamilya ko? Uuwi ako nawalang pera at naipon’,” said Corporal.

Coronado, Palafox,Austria, and Corporalare among the OFWs who hadto return home even if they haven’t achieved yet the financial goals they set for themselves.

The Balikabayanihan campaign, a program supported by the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), seeks to help these OFWs whose dreams were interrupted for various reasons.

Spearheaded by NEDA-Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency and Atikha — a non-government organization working with OFWs and their families to maximize the gains of working abroad — Balikabayanihan calls on the spirit of volunteerism of Filipinos to help returning OFWs.

It is a call for partnership by the Overseas Filipino organizations with government agencies, local government units, and the private sector to help OFWs by providing the needed resources—manpower and funds or mobilizing their volunteer network to serve as mentors to the OFWs.

Melanie Labera, a returning OFW whose plan to resume her work abroad was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, benefitted from the program. “Nang umuwiako ng Pilipinas, nagkataon naman na pandemic.Gusto ko sana bumalik [abroad], pero dina ako makabalik. Kaya malakiang pasasalamat ko saprogramangito, patisa BPI. May konting puhunan naman ako sa aking tindahan, pero konti lang. Kaya nagpapasalamat ako nanadagdagan dahil sainyo.”

For her part, Austria, also a program beneficiary, said, “Nang makabalik po ako sa Pilipinas, isa po ako sa maswerteng napili ng Atikha namabigyan ng tulong upang ako’ymakapagsimula ulit sa aking buhay. Nagingmasaya po ako at nagkaroon ng pag-asasabuhay. Ngayon po ay natupad ang isakongpangarapnamakabili ng makina.”

Financial empowerment

As one of the program supporters, BPI aims to empower repatriated OFWs by helping them manage their finances through learning webinars and by mobilizing volunteers and sponsors. BPI implements their programs through its business unitsBPI Foundation, BPI-Philam,and Remittance and Fund Transfers.

“This pandemic has been hard on everyone, but repatriated OFWs and their families have been particularly affected. OFWs have done so much to uplift our entire nation’s economy over the decades. It’s only right that we stand by them now and help them get back on their feet and establish a financially secure life for themselves and their families,” said Reggie Cariaso, BPI Head of Corporate Banking Strategy, Products, and Support.

“Napakaganda po ng akingkaranasandahilnagkaroon po ako ng pag-asasabuhay at talagangipinangako ko po saakingsarilinapagbubutihin kopo itongtulongnaibinigaysa akin ng Atikha at BPI PamanaPadala. At ang nagustuhan ko po dito ay ang mga taong kasapi dito na maaayos ang pakikitungo at napakamapagkumbaba at napakababait upang matulungan kaming lahat,” said Coronado.

BPI Foundation holds mentoring sessions for OFWs with BPI Unibankersas volunteermentors.For its part, BPI Philam provides free COVID-19 insurance coverage worth P200,000. BPI’s Remittance and Fund Transfers offersfinancial grants and monthly mentoring sessions for chosenOFWs and instills the value of saving using their BPI PamanaPadala account.

With opportunities such as the Balikabayanihan,returning OFWsare more empowered than ever totry their luck in their home country.

Palafox said, “Ditonalang po akosaPinas.Kahit mahirap po basta’tsama-samakami ng mgaanak ko. Kaya nagpapasalamatkami saBalikabayanihanat saBPI. Ang tanging hinahangad ko po saakingsarili ay mapaunlad ko ang muntingnegosyo at magkaroon pa ng maramingkaalaman.”

Corporal shared another insight: “Natutunan ko po saBalikabayanihan nakailangan po tayon gmagtulungan para makabangon ulit sa hamon ng buhay.”

Synergeia Foundation in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development will be holding the 14th Washington SyCip National Education Summit this month, with focus on improving the proficiency of Filipino students amidst the learning challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the theme “Learning from our Best to Defy Gravity”, the virtual summit on March 25-26 will show how the national and local governments can work more efficiently to help students across the country who have fallen behind their international counterparts based on recent global learning competency assessments.

The two-day event will be streamed live on Synergeia’s Facebook page.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on basic education, will speak on how the central government can spearhead the climb towards increased proficiency.

Filipino Grade 5 students lagged some of their regional counterparts in reading, writing and mathematics proficiency, based on the 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics done by the United Nations Children’s Fund and Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization. The year before, 15-year old students from the Philippines ranked lowest among 79 countries in reading proficiency and second lowest in mathematics and science in the Programme for International Student Assessment.

Vice President Leni Robredo, who set up community learning hubs, will lead the awarding of the Seal of Good Education Governance to local governments that have excelled in implementing education-focused initiatives during the pandemic.

Mayor Rex Gatchalian from Valenzuela City, which supplemented remote learning with teaching videos streamed live from one of its schools, will challenge local governments into thinking out of the box to deliver education more effectively.

There will be panel discussions among education stakeholders including mayors, principals, teachers, parents and students on how they have transformed learning in their communities through participatory leadership, devoted parenting and committed teaching.

Education financing, a critical issue as the global health crisis prompted local governments to fund the production of millions of learning modules, will also be in focus as well as Synergeia’s plans over the next two years.

The summit will end with a conversation with respected singer and songwriter Jose Mari Chan. He will also be singing two of his songs – “Be Gentle” and “No Rewind, No Replay.”

Seal of Good Education Governance

Synergeia, supported by USAID and UNICEF and in partnership with PLDT Smart and Seaoil Foundation, will be awarding the Seal of Good Education Governance for a fourth year.

The Seal is given to cities and municipalities that have shown a marked improvement in education governance. Accomplishing that goal has become harder since 2020 as the pandemic closed schools, forcing millions of students to learn remotely.

Still, many local governments tried to limit disruptions to education. While some cities provided free computer tablets to children, there were municipalities that conducted limited, in-person tutorials in open areas to help students cope with distance education while observing safety protocols.

To qualify, the city or municipality must have a high cohort-survival rate, that is, Grade 1 students must at least finish Grade 6.

Other criteria include how local governments have reinvented their Local School Boards; how functional their School Governing Councils are; a decrease in the number of non-readers based on the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory Test; and an increase in the ratio of education spending to the total local government budget.

A criterion was added this year to measure the involvement of the community in helping parents and children overcome the challenges brought on by the pandemic including school closures and restrictions in movement among people.

The Seal of Good Education Governance is aimed at encouraging transparency, accountability and efficiency among local governments in providing education to children – their most important constituents.

Synergeia, a nonprofit organization that transforms communities to improve the quality of basic education, has handed out 61 Seal of Good Education Governance since 2017, with nine local governments being recipients of the Seal for three years in a row.

Consistent winners include Diffun, Quirino; Solano, Nueva Vizcaya; Lambunao and Mina in Iloilo; Cagayan de Oro City; Valenzuela City; Datu Paglas, Maguindanao; Bongao, Tawi Tawi; and Bacnotan, La Union.

Apart from the Seal, the winning local governments will receive prizes for their communities from PLDT Smart and Seaoil Foundation.

Official media partners for the summit are INQUIRER.net, INQPOP!, BusinessWorld, Pageone, The Philippine Post, The Luzon Daily, The Visayas Journal, The Mindanao Life, Manila Magazine, Woman PH, Digital News Exchange and Malaya Business Insight.

Property investment has become a borderless transaction with the existence of online real estate platforms like Lamudi. For foreclosures, in particular, pageviews and leads indicate city residents’ desire to own property in the provinces, which may indicate that those who are buying property are ready to move into a new location or that they are considering property investment.

Amid the pandemic, this shows that despite travel restrictions, and perhaps due to this limit on mobility, property buyers want to improve their living conditions by moving outside of the metro to get a bigger property for a more attractive price, or owning property in a popular destination to generate a passive income.

Foreclosures as a way to enter the property investment market

According to Lamudi’s data, in 4Q2020, the millennial age bracket (25-34) contributed the most pageviews (27.19%) and leads (31.7%) for foreclosed properties for sale. This age group is known to be a generation of travelers, who enjoy experiences rather than investments. The pandemic may have marked a shift in the younger generation’s mindset, and uncovered the potential of real estate as a way to grow wealth. With their income in check as they start and establish their careers, they may be considering property investments with a more affordable price tag such as foreclosures.

As the pandemic has shifted lives to become more technology-based, there is an interesting demand uncovered by Lamudi’s data. In 4Q2020, pageviews for foreclosed properties for sale done on mobile devices jumped from 63.63% to 68.23% quarter-on-quarter. Leads also jumped from 69.82% to 74.15%, signifying the more immediate decision to pursue foreclosed properties in 4Q2020.

Metro residents and overseas seekers are looking into provincial cities

Throughout the pandemic, there has been a trend to move to provincial cities for their less dense areas, focus on open spaces, and relatively more affordable property prices. This trend is also reflected in the interest in foreclosed properties in provincial regions.

Seven out of the top 10 most-searched locations for foreclosed properties for sale are located in the provinces, accounting for 64.66% of pageviews generated by the group of locations assessed. These provincial cities are Antipolo (13.27%), General Trias (11.42%), Bacoor (11.34%), San Pedro (8.02%), Dasmariñas (7.18%), Imus (6.72%), and Calamba (6.72%). 

What’s more interesting is the fact that buyers of foreclosed properties seem to be interested in areas outside their current location. Six out of the top 10 property seeker cities that generate pageviews for foreclosures are different from the location where they want to buy foreclosed properties. These six locations–Makati, Manila, Pasig, Cebu City, Caloocan, and Angeles–generated 42.63% of pageviews for foreclosures for sale in 4Q2020.

Interest from overseas seekers also proves that travel restrictions have not hindered property search. Taking a look at the top 10 overseas locations in terms of pageviews for foreclosed properties, there is demand from Singapore (23.65%), Dubai (15.91%), Doha (10.36%), Riyadh (8.91%), Sydney (8.21%), Los Angeles (7.99%), Abu Dhabi (7.37%), Toronto (6.38%), London (6.04%), and Jeddah (5.18%).

What attracts property buyers to foreclosures

One of the draws of foreclosures is the security of full disclosure of information of the property to be purchased. In a Q&A article from Lamudi, Paolo E. Abarquez of VAL Law shared, “Given that sellers of foreclosed properties are usually banks or financial institutions, information such as tax payments, utilities payments, property condition, and pending court cases involving the property are disclosed to the buyer.”

On Lamudi, banks such as BDO and Unionbank are some of the providers of foreclosed properties. BDO has more than 1,700 listings on the platform, with property types ranging from residential lots, houses and condominiums, to commercial, agricultural and industrial properties all over the Philippines. The first bank client of Lamudi, BDO has been making their foreclosed properties available online on the platform since 2014.

Abarquez added that foreclosed properties are also a way for buyers to find properties in locations with high commercial value where properties may not usually be available for sale.

Focusing on the residential market, Unionbank recently added 500 of its foreclosed property listings to Lamudi. Unionbank’s foreclosures are located in some of the most sought-after locations in Metro Manila as well as in Visayas and Mindanao.

The pandemic has changed the priorities of Filipinos, and with real estate transactions made borderless by Lamudi, property buyers can fulfill their homeownership dreams regardless of where they are and where they want to move into.

Visit lamudi.com.ph/foreclosures/buy to see foreclosed properties from BDO and Unionbank on Lamudi.

Duty Free Philippines (DFP) will be holding a 4-day sale dubbed as “Forward March” a thanksgiving treat to all our valued shoppers who have continuously patronized Duty Free shopping and to celebrate as well our continued strength and resilience during this Covid-19 pandemic.

To mark this month of March, Duty Free offers as much as 70% discount in most of the product categories, on March 18, 19, 20 and 21, 2021 at its flagship Fiestamall store in Paranaque, 11am to 6pm and Luxe Duty Free at the MOA complex, 11am to 7pm.

“Rest assured all of IATF’s safety regulations, such as the regular disinfection and social distancing protocols, wearing of face mask and face shield are strictly complied with. Our customers’ and employees’ convenience and safety remain our number one priority”, said COO Angala.

As an attached agency of the Department of Tourism, DFP remains true to its mandate of catering to the shopping needs of international travelers despite the ongoing pandemic.  All these efforts are geared to further enhance the Tourism attached agency’s retail presence to augment revenues and continually contribute to government’s tourism programs and projects.