Made It Through Mum

The atrium of SM City Masinag turns into a charming oasis of reds, greens, and golds as they launch their Christmas centerpiece, which is aptly named, Enchanted Christmas.   Giant embellishments of peonies, roses, Christmas balls adorn towering Christmas trees at the center of the display. Lighted butterflies swirl the trees, the rustic swings, and the entire centerpiece. Tall-lighted gazebos and entrance arch entice shoppers to take photos of this beautiful holiday indoor scenery. Poinsettias, gift boxes, and huge bows are spread on the patches of greeneries at the centerpiece.

Putting People Well-being First Well-being Challenge achieved 5 million steps and 4,800 kilometers  Company Activates Annual Purpose Day in the Philippines Mondelēz International (NASDAQ: MDLZ) celebrates its Purpose to empower people to snack right by focusing on well-being for its colleagues, consumers, and communities during its third annual Purpose Day. The event, which is held around the anniversary of the global snacking company’s founding on October 1, mobilizes nearly 31,000 colleagues to activate a key element of the company’s purpose in unison around the world.  This year’s theme is “Let’s put the ‘we’ in well-being.”  Given the strains of the pandemic, well-being has never been more urgent. According to IPSOS’ 2021 Global Well-being Survey, only one-third of people say well-being is fully or slightly integrated into their company’s business and talent strategy. Top employee well-being issues include work-life balance (61%), mental health (61%), work envir...

  100+ Leaders of Breast Cancer Patient Groups Band Together Last September 11, 2021 , Olympic Gold Medalist Hidilyn Diaz surprised a group of Breast Cancer patient advocate leaders on the last day of the 2-day Patient Power Summit led and organized by the ICanServe Foundation Inc. A SuperSHEro herself, Diaz related her humble beginnings,  how she hurdled the battles that got in the way of her dreams with the grace and determination of a champion’s heart.  Diaz emphasized, “Hindi ako sumuko. (I didn’t give up).”   She said the formula was simple “level up your game to reach your goal.” As a sports icon and an authentic leader in her field, she said the goal should always be to become a  survivor and a victor. Crisann Celdran, co-founder and Chairman of the ICanServe Foundation In a gathering of cancer advocate leaders that represented 34 breast cancer patient groups from all over the country, the mission was beyond helping navigate a patient through well...

  The pandemic that caused a lot of trouble to both the economy and the health system around the world can be regarded as a great equalizer. No one is spared from the effects of it. The rich feeling the downturn in their investments, the middle class either losing their job or getting lower income due to the revenue plunge of their employers, and the poor being the most vulnerable because of the disruptive effect of the pandemic to their livelihood. No one can say they were ready for what happened in 2020 . Now that everyone is slowly picking up the pieces and trying their best to live with the virus towards the new normal, here are some tips to turn finances around and repair one’s credit.  Understanding Your Current State . It is important to know your current financial stand to appreciate the situation and prepare how you will go about it. Look closely at what your present financial capacity is and evaluate what your current standing is. Are you on track to growing your...

  Vibal Group continues to make headway in making online teaching and learning more user-friendly and convenient for schools, teachers, and students by developing new dynamic applications. This October, Vibal releases the VSmart Quiz App where students can keep their memory sharp and their minds well-tuned—all while having fun competing with other students.  VSmart Quiz Quizzes are effective in training and practicing our minds in analytical thinking, regardless of the platforms. It forces our brain to regain the information we learned and helps us imprint them in our memory for good. VSmart Quiz exactly does that. It is a free mobile application where users can answer questions on different subjects. The application has thousands of questions that cover topics about history, culture, politics, science, arts, sports, technology, entertainment, pop culture, and more. The questions are distributed according to three difficulty levels: low, medium, high so the users may test thei...

  100 Small business owners invited to set up shop in SM malls It has been almost two years since the pandemic brought Filipino life and many livelihoods to a screeching halt. According to a 2020 Asian Development Bank (ADB) study of 1,804 Philippine MSMEs, 70.6% were forced to temporarily close with 66.2% reported to have temporary staff cuts during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. Bucking these statistics and the odds created by the changes in the landscape, the enterprising Filipino found many opportunities in online businesses, with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recording over 88,000 new e-commerce registrations at the end of 2020. This figure is projected to be a million e-commerce enterprises by 2022 (from 500,000 in 2020). By taking advantage of the online space, MSME owners have become unsung heroes of the economy, all the while providing for their families and making their business dreams a reality.  SM Supermalls very well understands the potenti...

  Early detection of dementia is critical -- expert A medical expert has sounded the alarm on early and proper detection of dementia in the Philippines which is often misinterpreted as an aging problem or being ulyanin and malilimutin in Filipino terms.  In the first episode of a webinar series called “Malilimutin: Dahil nga ba sa katandaan?"  Neurologist and dementia specialist Dr. Jacqueline Dominguez shared her knowledge on dementia and how to differentiate it from mere forgetfulness on the part of the patient.  HI-Eisai sponsored the webinar to raise awareness on dementia and related types of diseases.  "Dementia is a collection of symptoms with a decline in cognition, change in behavior, and impairment of daily function," Dominguez said in the live webinar held last Thursday (Sept 9). She enumerated the types of dementia, including the most common one, Alzheimer's disease. Other types are frontotemporal, Parkinson's dementia, dementia due to traumati...

Trust the Filipino to put the most positive of spins on the most difficult of times. And that is exactly what many Pinoy families are doing in this pandemic, which is leaving people little choice but to hole up at home rather than risk their health outside. While this situation is less than ideal, many Filipino families are nonetheless using the extra time they are spending at home to bond with one another—usually over food, whether for a kingly breakfast, a sumptuous lunch, a mouthwatering merienda, or a delectable dinner.  But as COVID-19 showed yet again, there is no substitute for good health, and that is something you and your family can best ensure by sharing food that is both hearty and healthy. To be clear, this doesn’t mean saying goodbye entirely to all-time Pinoy favorites, like adobo or liempo or sinigang. These delicacies will forever be part of the Filipino dining table, and you can continue to feast on them from time to time. That said, do explore other food choice...

CELEBRATES WORLD HEART DAY BY HIGHLIGHTING THE EMPOWER PROGRAM FOR HYPERTENSION September 29 is World Heart Day all around the globe.  More than just a celebration, World Heart Day was established in the hopes that it could reach more people and be able to spread awareness about the perils of heart diseases and stroke. Sanofi recognizes that this is a unique time to be worried about heart health and learn more about the steps that should be taken to ensure risk-free living, especially under a cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s heartbreaking to see those with comorbidities battle a critical to severe form of the virus- forcing them to put their lives on hold, be isolated from family, friends, and people who matter most to them,” Amal Makhloufi Benchouk, the Philippines Country Lead for Sanofi, shared in her opening remarks. Statistics have shown that 7 out of 10 people are diagnosed with hypertension, and 2 out of 10 hypertension patients die. Sanofi continues to respond to...