BusinessWorld B-Side

In this B-Side episode, Froilan C. Calilung, a political science professor at the University of Santo Tomas, talks about the legalities and loopholes that have allowed vote buying to become part of the Philippine political system, with structures built by those with power and money. “We could simply say that poverty is one of the contentious issues why we have vote buying, and why it is still very...

It’s campaign season and election fever is on the rise. Comedian Red Ollero has been interviewing political candidates of all stripes on his show Bago Matulog with Red Ollero , a casual conversation that’s more approachable than the debates aired on television. While platforms are still discussed, Mr. Ollero also grills his guests and gently roasts them. In this B-Side episode, Mr. Ollero tells Bu...

While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dominated the headlines, other issues such as mental health concerns, tuberculosis, and cancer still need to be addressed. “There are a lot of patients who are not able to get treatment because of COVID-19, and access to treatment is an issue,” said Dr. Erwin G. Benedicto, head of medical affairs at Johnson & Johnson Philippines. In th...

The days of zero-COVID policies are long past, and learning to live with the coronavirus will require major adjustments to how things were done in the first year of the pandemic. “Coping with it, living with it, adjusting our policies and the way we live with the COVID threat (is) a matter of reducing risk,” said Dr. Regina P. Berba, head of infection control at the Philippine General Hospital (PG...

Digital infrastructure may not be a campaign talking point but it will be important for the next administration and the Philippines’ post-pandemic future. “Whether you’re talking about agriculture or housing, all these will ultimately be driven by a broadband connection,” said Mario R. Domingo, founder of deep learning solutions company Neural Mechanics, Inc. and director of the Ateneo Institute f...

The Omicron surge doesn’t dampen expectations that the Philippine internet economy will hit $40 billion in terms of value by 2025. “We don’t look at our estimates from an event point of view because we can’t forecast individual events like Omicron and who knows what’s going to happen next,” says Willy Chang, associate partner at Bain & Company. “It’s based on foundational views. In this B-Side...

It’s 2022 and as we head into year three of this pandemic, Omicron, the latest coronavirus variant of concern, continues to surge. Due to pandemic-related restrictions, digital wallets have become the primary mode of sending and receiving money. Because of the large number of overseas Filipino workers, fintech or financial technology plays a key role in financial inclusion in the Philippines.&nbsp...

With the holiday season in full swing, there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for online fraud during e-commerce transactions.  “Merchants are so focused on growing as quickly as possible, that they forget to put the right fraud tool,” said James L. Melon, country manager of fraud prevention services company Vesta. “The need is [only] realized when they get exposed from fraud attacks. Merch...

A percentage of those who recover from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) still suffer from long COVID, a condition characterized by symptoms such as chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction.  Initiatives such as the global AFTERCOR study, a two-year research program on the long-term outcomes of COVID-19 ICU (intensive care unit) survivors, are gathering data from its...

Money Talks is a series on personal finance sponsored by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank). Money is on the mind of many people, particularly amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Debt is a top concern, with 70% of Filipinos citing it as a challenge in financial management, according to a recent study titled “State of Banking and Financial Wellness” by US-headquartered...

At the beginning of the pandemic, the design community used digital fabrication laboratories to 3D-print face shields for emergency health workers. “The urgency to providing solutions created this kind of a design sprint to create new systems of logistics as well as new products that were not being done before,” said Maria Rita “Rhea” O. Matute, executive director of the Design Center of the Phili...

Money Talks is a series on personal finance sponsored by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank). Before investing, neophytes should first know why they’re getting into it. “You have to take a step back before you dive into the investing world,” said Sharon W. Zulueta, vice president and division head of trust retail products at Metrobank. “You have to know yourself and know what type o...

The pandemic has pushed businesses into investing in cloud software and services as evidenced by a study released early this year by Alibaba Cloud, which found that 74% of local businesses see hybrid cloud solutions as key to their disaster recovery and business continuity efforts. In this B-Side episode, Shiju Varghese, president and country head of Tata Consultancy Services Philippines, explains...

Money Talks is a series on personal finance sponsored by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank). The pandemic has brought with it a newfound interest among Filipinos to participate in the stock market. Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed that the average daily number of trades in 2020 soared by 33.7%, while retail participation surged by 47.8%. This follows an increase in o...

Why do we need coins, which can hardly buy anything, when experts say that digitalization is pushing us toward a cash-lite society? In this B-Side episode, Eloisa T. Glindro, Director at the Currency Policy and Integrity Department of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, explains to BusinessWorld reporter Luz Wendy T. Noble the role of small change in our financial system and why we should stop hoardi...

Thrice-a-week Zoom meetings birthed Winning Still: Essays from the Philippine Sports Landscape during the Pandemic , an anthology of essays written by accomplished Filipino sports stakeholders and personalities.  In this B-Side episode, Ateneo de Davao University athletics director and Winning Still project coordinator Emmanuel Rene "Noli" S. Ayo tells BusinessWorld senior reporter Michael An...

Hybrid working arrangements won't kill the traditional office, said Balder Tol, general manager for Australia and Southeast Asia of WeWork, a co-working spaces firm. "There is an absolute need for a physical space to inspire and engage employees and to drive collaboration as well," said Mr. Tol. "There is nothing more powerful than a meeting room and a whiteboard when you want to think about innov...

The pandemic changed the way we eat, said Christian Wiegele, president of the Fresh Produce Group of Dole Sunshine Company. In this B-Side episode, he tells BusinessWorld reporter Revin Mikhael D. Ochave about the future of food and how Dole is meeting the increased demand for fruits despite the logistical challenges caused by the pandemic.  Mr. Wiegele, who spent 18 years with Coca-Cola, also tal...

The entire consumer journey now happens online, according to the third iteration of SYNC Southeast Asia, an annual report by Facebook and management consulting firm Bain & Company.  “Before, for example, you’d be walking in the mall and maybe you’d hit a makeup stand and you’d say ‘yeah, I like that’ and try it out,” said Facebook Philippines country director John Rubio. “What’s happened...

Despite saying that the pandemic response is a priority , the executive department of the Duterte administration slashed the P50.4 billion allotted for healthcare workers ’ allowances and other benefits from the proposed 2022 budget. "It's so important for us to know exactly what the government wants to do — and what it really wants to do is reflected in the national budget. It's not really in the...

Personal data can be misused and repurposed in the lead-up to the national elections next year. The National Privacy Commission earlier flagged an election-related survey website that was collecting excessive data. Companies and government institutions should be accountable, compliant, and ethical in using personal data, in accordance with the Data Privacy Law.  “Practice privacy by design. W...

You are what you listen to. By analyzing the songs that are on heavy rotation on your playlist, music solutions agency Homonym can give brands a picture of who you are: from the shampoo that you use on your head to the shoes that you wear on your feet.  “To us, sonic branding, or the sound part of your branding, is very important because that’s the only way you can make [people] feel. ... Aud...

Children are getting ready for another round of virtual classes as the Department of Education (DepEd) announced Sept. 13 as the opening date for School Year 2021–2022.  The mental health of children has been discussed by experts, who are worried about the long-term effects of lockdowns. In this B-Side episode, Jean L. Goulbourn, founder of the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation (NGF Mindstrong), t...

Coronavirus cases are surging. Our nurses are not getting paid and hospitals are filling up. We’ve been locked down since the beginning of August. And our economy probably won’t recover until the end of 2022 or 2023.  In this episode of B-Side, Joey Francis Hernandez, treasurer of the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians, speaks with BusinessWorld’s Russell Louis C. Ku about the Phi...

Wealthy countries have cornered the world’s vaccine supplies. As a result, the Philippines has, as of this writing, vaccinated only 10% to 12% of its population. To punish the unvaccinated by barring them from leaving their homes — when vaccine inequity has yet to be addressed — aggravates an already inequitable public health crisis. In this B-Side episode, Commission on Human Rights Chairperson J...