Category: Companies

The Tzu Chi Foundation: Compassion in Action

Posted on by jane

I learned about Tzu Chi Foundation as I was reading up one time on good friend Jay Jaboneta‘s advocacy together with Anton Mari Lim — the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation. The name of the foundation was familiar. I had heard it mentioned in different instances in the past but I guess I never really bothered to find out what they were all about.

Then recently I heard about them again when a friend, Maizie SyCip-Qua, sent me some information on Tzu Chi Foundation and what it has been quietly doing in our midst for years.

Tzu Chi: A Brief

Tzu Chi Foundation is an international non-profit humanitarian organization that seeks to spread what it calls Great Love through its work in the fields of charity, medicine, education and culture. Established in 1966 in Taiwan by the Venerable Dharma Master Cheng Yen, Tzu Chi came to Philippine shores in 1994. In 1995, volunteers, in cooperation with doctors and nurses from the Chinese General Hospital, headed by Dr. Josefino Qua, launched its first medical mission in Lion’s Club, Baguio City. From then on, quarterly missions would be conducted in provinces, with each mission having between 5,000-7,000 patients, many of whom would walk for 3 days down mountains just to get to the medical mission site.

Although Tzu Chi began with members from the Filipino-Chinese communities in the country, a number of Filipinos have likewise joined the group.

Tzu Chi in Action

Below are some pictures from different crisis situations in the Philippines where Tzu Chi was present and helped in various ways.

Clean-up post-Habagat, August 2013

Preparing stacks of rice for distribution during the Zamboanga siege, September 2013

Treating the wounded after the Bohol earthquake, October 2013
Tzu Chi volunteers post-Yolanda, November 2013

Post-Yolanda Assistance

Tzu Chi Foundation continues to help out in disaster areas post-Yolanda. In the short term, Tzu Chi provided cash relief for clean-up, heavy equipment to transport debris to the dumpsite, and cash assistance for shelter. In the medium-term, they are providing temporary classrooms and temporary housing.

At the moment, they are building 80 temporary classrooms using the Quonset structure. Wikipedia describes this kind of structure as a prefabricated one, usually made of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section. Look at the pictures below showing the Quonset-type classrooms from the outside and from the inside.

Tzu Chi is also coordinating with LGUs on the construction of temporary housing.

Just to give you an estimate of what they have spent so far, here is a cost sheet. And this is not the end, because even as I write this post, they continue to bring relief to hundreds of thousands of displaced residents in Yolanda-damaged areas.

It’s truly a relief to know that the spirit of Buddhism is very much alive not just in a spiritual way but in concrete manifestation. And that it is happening right here in our country. I’m just glad I found out about all the things that Tzu Chi Foundation, through its volunteers, is doing in this country.

Del Monte Pacific Limited Debuts on the Philippine Stock Exchange

Posted on by jane

Who hasn’t heard of Del Monte?

My family has been using Del Monte products for decades. The brand is a staple in our home. In the 1980s, I also had the chance to be assigned to audit Del Monte (then known as Philippine Packing Corporation or PPC). That assignment meant working not only in their Makati office then but I had to travel as well to Bukidnon where I spent days in their Bugo office and had to stay on the plantation as well.

Even back then, that plantation visit overwhelmed me. Del Monte sits on a plateau so the air and temperature there is akin to Baguio – cool. On the ground, you would pass hectares upon hectares of pineapples, as far as your eyes could see. It was not just pineapples there. Some of the best steaks could be experienced in Del Monte. Their cattle are ‘pampered’ – kept in corrals so very little movement happens and that makes their meat tender and juicy. Fresh milk and butter, pickles, fruits, and so much more all came straight from Del Monte soil.

Since then, Del Monte has changed ownership hands and it is now called Del Monte Pacific Ltd. or DMPL. And last June 10, 2013, DMPL did something which is a FIRST in the Philippines. It listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), 14 years after it listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) in 1999. This first dual listing between the SGX and the PSE helps promote the integration of the PSE with ASEAN bourses. Before this, the PSE only cross-listed with the New York Stock Exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited.

After the ringing of the PSE bell signaling the listing of DMPL, its executives held a press conference where they fielded questions from traditional media and social media.

Currently, DMPL carries 2 brands: Del Monte (for processed foods) and S&W which was acquired in 2007 (covering Asia, Middle East, Europe and Africa). In 2012, DMPL’s sales reached US$460 million while its net income was US$32 million. In 2012, the branded business brought in 68% of its sales and 89% of its operating profit.

One thing that struck me about the current owners of Del Monte (the majority shareholder is the Campos family behind Unilab) is that unlike most other Chinese families, no Campos family member runs the operations. All their top management executives are professionals. Mr. Joselito D. Campos (Managing Director and CEO) is visible, sets the vision, participates in top-level discussions, but leaves most everything else to his management team. The ones who faced us at the presscon were Mr. Luis Alejandro (COO), Mr. Ignacio Carmelo Sison (CFO), Mr. Antonio Engenio Ungson (Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Legal Counsel) and Mr. Danilo Feliciano (Co-CEO-CLSA Exchange Capital Inc. — responsible for investment banking, corporate finance, financial advisory and new business activities).

Mr. Joselito Campos and Mr. Luis Alejandro of Del Monte pose with bloggers

The “Coming Home” theme adapted by Del Monte is indeed a true homecoming because Del Monte has been around for 87 years already. It’s really about time that they join the stock market here and let Filipinos become stockholders of such a long-standing presence in the country. DMPL believes that this listing makes the company accessible to local investors, widens its investor base beyond Singapore, and give the company additional sources of capital.

For interested stock exchange investors, the Del Monte stock code is DMPL.

Cognizant opens in Ortigas Center

Posted on by jane

When people hear the term “business process outsourcing” or BPO, they immediately think of call centers. While it’s true that the Philippine call center has now overtaken that of India, we can be proud of the fact that we have gone beyond these services alone.

Just recently, I attended the launch of the SECOND delivery center of Cognizant, a NASDAQ-listed company with headquarters in New Jersey, USA, and is one of the leading providers of IT, consulting and BPO services. The center, located in the IT-BPO services hub in Ortigas Center, was designed to house as many as 1,000 professionals. These professionals  will be providing applications, IT infrastructure and business processing services to global clients in different industries: financial industry, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics, retail, hospitality, telecommunications and consumer goods industries.

Cognizant executives include Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan (Vice Chairman), second from left,
and Mr. Prabhakar Bisen, Country Head, third from left

Cognizant started operations in December 2009 in McKinley Hill with 40 people. Their expansion into the Ortigas Center signifies a very positive outlook in the BPO industry. Asked why they chose to set up their second delivery center in Ortigas, Mr. Prabhakar Bisen, Country Head of Cognizant Philippines said, “We are pleased with our experience and growth in the Philippines and chose Pasig City to expand our footprint in the country because of its high-quality talent, sound infrastructure, good connectivity and a great business environment.”

During the Q&A portion, I asked Cognizant if all their work force were office-based. My rationale for the question was my firm belief that a good number of well-educated and experienced women (and possibly, men) have opted to leave the workforce to attend to family needs and this is an untapped market for BPOs, given the breadth of these people’s backgrounds. If this group of people can be tapped by BPOs and allowed to work from home, it could be a potential new asset for the sunrise industry.

Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman of Cognizant, acknowledged this fact and I was happy to note that he felt this was definitely something to consider in the future. Part of the issues preventing this from happening at the moment are the conditions of telecom infrastructure as well as ensuring that customer service quality is not affected or impaired from a work-from-home arrangement.

Cognizant is still on the lookout for people wanting to join their organization in Ortigas Center. If you’re interested in a future with Cognizant, check them out at their Ortigas location.

COGNIZANT
Hanston Square Bldg, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City
Follow Cognizant on Twitter: @Cognizant

Happy 5th Birthday, Nuffnang!

Posted on by jane

I am proud to say I am a Nuffnanger! It’s been a little over a year since I joined Nuffnang PH and I am now on my 2nd year and still going strong…

Nuffnang is Asia-Pacific’s first blog advertising community consisting of hundreds of bloggers who write about everything and anything under the sun (and under the sea). In the Philippines alone, they count several hundred bloggers under their wing.

Nuffnang will be celebrating its 5th birthday on Feb. 27. Wow, have they been here that long already? I do remember first encountering them at the very first Word Camp of WordPress here in Manila and wondering what Nuffnang was all about. In fact, I still have their Nuffnang mug here (it holds all my pens).
Celebrating one’s 5th birthday is a milestone indeed and Nuffnang will be celebrating at Borough, The Podium Mall. I hope to be able to attend this and get to meet not only my blogger friends who are also Nuffnangers but also get to meet those I have not met yet.
Happy, happy 5th birthday, my dear Nuffnang! Here’s one for you.
(greeting card courtesy of Photobucket)
And thanks to Nuffnang sponsors, without whom our celebration won’t be possible.

Cirtek Holdings debuts on the Philippine Stock Exchange

Posted on by jane
(Disclaimer: My posts about any publicly listed corporation should not be construed as a buy/sell recommendation. Any person interested in stock investments must do his/her own due diligence review before deciding to buy or sell.)

I was invited recently to the debut of Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. (Cirtek) on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

(L-R) PSE President/CEO Hans B. Sicat; Cirtek VP/Director Nicanor Lizares; Cirtek Chairman/President Jerry Liu; Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines Honorable Jejomar Binay; PSE Chairman Jose T. Pardo; and CVCLaw Senior Partner and Former National Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, Jr (photo taken from Cirtek Holdings website)

Cirtek’s listing (which carries the stock symbol “CHIPS” on the exchange) came on the heels of a very successful initial public offering (IPO) which saw the stock oversubscribed over 4 times.
Because I did not know much about Cirtek (goes to show how long I’ve been away from the corporate world), I tried to google a little bit about the company.
Cirtek Holdings is the holding company of two wholly-owned subsidiaries namely Cirtek Electronics Corporation (CEC) and Cirtek Electronics International Corporation (CEIC). Both subsidiaries are involved in the assembly and testing of electronic devices. Cirtek was organized as a Philippine corporation on Feb. 10, 2011. Its recent IPO generated PhP 295.14-M which consisted of 42.16 million common stock representing 26% of its total issued and outstanding stock. The success of the IPO offering, considering that the offer period only lasted from Nov. 8-14, 2011 showed the public’s positive acceptance of the stock.
Here’s a short interview I conducted with Cirtek’s Chief Financial Officer, Anthony Albert Buyawe, who I discovered was an ex-SGV person like me.

Cirtek does not produce ordinary chips. They make specialized chips that are used in laptops/tablets, defense industry (their lips remained sealed as to exactly what defense technology), auto industry, and medical industry, among others.
How well did it do? Well, on opening day last Nov. 18, the stock closed at P7.95, up from its P7 per share IPO price.
When asked if Cirtek benefited from the floods in Thailand, Cirtek was circumspect, stating that they were saddened by what happened in Thailand but acknowledged that they were indeed negotiating new contracts from flood-hit Thailand. Four of these contracts have been concluded and another 6 could be finalized by end of 2011 or early 2012.

Meralco opens more digital doors to its customers

Posted on by jane

I still remember the days of old when I was growing up. Whenever we had a power outage in our area, it was a challenge to reach Meralco. Phone lines were jammed all the time. We had to tune in to radio stations via our portable radio to find out what areas were affected and how soon power would be restored. No one had any idea if their area would be affected by maintenance of power lines. Basically, Meralco customers were pretty much in the dark (pun intended).

A new Meralco, however, has been emerging from its corporate shell. Going beyond its official website which was then a one-way, company-to-customers information dissemination tool, it began engaging the public on social media by creating a Twitter account (@meralco) and a Facebook page. Suddenly, access to Meralco widened beyond the capacity of phone lines as maintenance schedules were posted online and inquiries from customers were answered more rapidly.

In continuing plans to better inform the public and to improve public service, Meralco has revamped its website to make it more responsive to the public’s needs.

Homepage

When you land on its homepage, it gives you two different portals. FOR CUSTOMERS provides answers to customers’ concerns including electricity consumption, bill-related matters and new account applications. THE COMPANY is where you find corporate information like annual reports, business partnerships, stakeholder relations and investor information.

Since most of us are consumers, I’ll focus on the FOR CUSTOMERS portal. Here’s what you get when you choose that option.

The navigation bar on the topmost part lists the website’s main sections. At the bottom are links to frequently accessed information. The Quick Links on left sidebar provide more detailed information for customers and the center area is reserved for the most recent videos, photos and articles for customers to know.

The Meralco Appliance Calculator (AppCal for short), which is a link under Quick Links, brings you to a web application where customers can compute and gauge their electricity consumption based on the different appliances they use at home. Computations can be specific to the type of appliance, corresponding wattage, and frequency of usage. The AppCal calculates cost per hour, day, week, and month. The AppCal also takes into account the prevailing generation charge for the month.

For those with smartphones and tablets, AppCal is now a FREE downloadable app. I’ve downloaded it on my ipad.

Meralco is setting up more innovative plans, one of which is offering prepaid electricity, much like a mobile phone’s prepaid load feature. Their other innovation plans can be read in my post HERE.
Find Meralco in these digital areas:

McDonald’s Philippines turns 30 with a new look

Posted on by jane

Today, September 30, 2011, McDonald’s Philippines turns a big 30!

The first McDonald’s in the Philippines opened in 1981 in Morayta. Today, there are about 325 McDonald’s branches all over the country.

To celebrate three decades of serving burgers, fries, sundaes, chicken and more to young and old alike, 4 Anniversary Stores (Makati Cinema Square, Greenhills, Quezon Ave. and North Ave.) underwent a major renovation to give McDonald’s a brand new look.

This new design concept can actually be seen already in McDonald’s stores in other parts of the world. Some of the features include comfortable, spacious dining areas, vivid color splashes, dynamic graphics and architectural accents. Common to every branch are some features. A red blade (vertical external posts that distinctly mark every McDonald’s store), a white ribbon (horizontal lines that go around the external part of the store), and a pylon (the familiar McDo yellow arch), and TidyMan (a caricature that marks the spot in each branch where people can dispose of garbage).

Modern graphics 
Tidy Man

Men’s room

Ladies’ room

Despite some common features, the anniversary stores do not look the same. The profile of the type of people who frequent each branch was studied so that every branch layout projects the lifestyle and habits of its clientele.

MAKATI CINEMA SQUARE

The theme here is FORM. Instead of bright colors, this branch is done up in subdued brown considering that most of those who come here are urban dwellers. Following the red blade design outside, a red ribbon runs around the ceiling of the branch. Stylized text and modern graphics line the walls.



GREENHILLS

This is the one closest to me and is the first ever drive-thru McDonald’s branch. It actually did not need renovating as it is one of the newly renovated branches that sports a modern look. But it’s been redone again to reflect FUN. The Italian designer, Fred Avanci, who designed the Greenhills look calls it LIM (short for Less Is More). Majority of those who come here are very young so splashes of color and a polka dot wall are used as accents. The colors used in this branch are warm. Because it is one of the 24/7 branches which also has a McCafe and a Dessert Center, the entire branch has been zoned. For example, the area nearest the McCafe has furniture and designs that look like a cafe, including small round tables since it is expected that those who stay here usually order coffee and sandwiches only. This is different from the zone area for the usual McDonald’s crowd where tables are larger to accommodate those having meals.

QUEZON AVENUE

The theme here is ALLEGRO CLASSIC. Allegro means “happy” so while the colors are subdued (browns, reds, whites and oranges), this branch still looks very vibrant and gives out a cafe ambience. Its signature look is a bullseye. There is a party area as well as a play area for the toddlers. This is also a 24/7 branch with a McCafe and Dessert Center.

NORTH AVENUE

ALLEGRO URBAN is the look in this branch which is near Trinoma. The crowd here is older and urban so the branch features high ceilings and warm colors as well. It is a 24/7 branch as well but only has a McCafe machine and not a full-fledged McCafe. It’s got a Dessert Center as well.

I’m excited to drop by the Greenhills branch and check out the newly renovated place in person. Once these changes are rolled out to the remaining branches, the McDonald’s experience is sure to become a lot better.

HAPPY 30th ANNIVERSARY to McDonald’s Philippines!

My visual tour of Gardenia’s plant

Posted on by jane

Gardenia‘s meteoric rise in the bread industry to No. 1 is nothing short of spectacular. I remember my Mom telling me about a decade ago to buy Gardenia for my family (I was still buying another brand which I was familiar with growing up) and my reaction then was “What is Gardenia?” Today, ask anyone on the street what brand comes to mind when you say ‘bread’ and probably 9 out of 10 will say Gardenia.

I had been hearing about Gardenia’s plant tours and was secretly hoping I would have a chance to go some day. First, I wanted to know how all Gardenia breads were made since it was a permanent item on my shopping list. Secondly, I wanted to assure myself that the production process observed strict quality control. And third, just plain curiosity as to why Gardenia came from behind and overran all existing bread manufacturers.

My opportunity came last week when some of us bloggers were taken on a special tour of Gardenia’s plant inside the Laguna International Industrial Park in Binan, Laguna. Here’s what we saw and learned….

A nice surprise – a special banner welcomed us at the main lobby

In a special audiovisual room, we got to watch a video of the entire production process, after which the marketing manager also talked about how the finished breads are distributed throughout the country. Some trivia we picked up:

* Gardenia runs a machine that can produce 6,000 loaves of bread AN HOUR! In the same plant, they have a machine that can do 4,000 loaves/hour as well as a machine that can do 2,000 loaves/hour. In their recently opened Cebu plant, they use a machine that does 2,000 loaves/hour.

* From P137-M in total sales in 1995, Gardenia’s total sales in 2010 grew to P2.5-B. And based on a Nielsen audit in 2010, they command 67% of the bread market.

* Feeder trucks go out every day to different locations where smaller trucks meet them to further deliver the bread to the retail outlets so that consumers get them fresh every day.

* Every day also (esp for big retail outlets), unsold bread is taken back by Gardenia and brought to a holding area in the plant. There, contractors buy all the unsold bread. These are processed and broken down as fish meal. No returned bread is resold for human consumption. The holding area is thoroughly cleaned after all the bread is taken so that no chances of bacteria or molds can get into the production area.

Of course, nothing could beat actually seeing the entire production line from start to finish from a glass-enclosed viewing area high above the production floor so here we go…

Sponge and Dough Mixing Stages

50% of the bread’s ingredients are mixed and fermented in a cold room to develop the bread’s aroma. Once fermented, the other 50% of the ingredients are added in and mixed with the fermented dough.


Dividing, Rounding, Intermediate Proofing, Moulding Stages

At this stage, the dough is cut to size, rounded, and passed through a check weigher so that every loaf weighs the same. Cut dough that are over- or underweight drop from the conveyor belt into a pan. No hands touch the dough throughout this process. Those that pass the weight test are moulded into loaves.

Dough is divided and rounded
Rounded dough are weighed as they move on conveyor belts

Loaves about to have lids placed on them before baking

Spiral Cooling

Baked loaves are placed on a spiral cooler that has several open and turning circles, allowing air to freely go around the hot bread to cool it down prior to being packed and sealed. I watched like a child at the two giant mountains of bread slowly turning and turning. It was a fascinating sight.

Slicing, Bagging, Packing
The cooled loaves travel through an automatic slicer, then move on to an automatic bagger that stuffs the sliced bread into its familiar packaging. The G-lock is also attached at this point to seal the loaf. The bagged bread then moves to the final stage where these are placed on trays and sent to a distribution center where it is held prior to being loaded into feeder trucks.
Automatic slicing
Automatic bagging and sealing with G-lock system
Almost ready to ship out!
Distribution Center

The G-Lock Seal
When I used to buy bread before, my only concern was the expiration date. I thought the colors used for the plastic seals were just random to add some color to the entire packaging. It was only later that I found out that there was one color for every day of the week and signified the day the bread was delivered to the retail outlet.

Gardenia staffers remember the codes this way — TOY-BGRW

I did get to test this. I was at the grocery last Wednesday and the G-lock was supposed to be yellow. I checked the bread on the shelves. Yup – yellow G-locks! Now we know how to check for freshness.

As a mother, I was very happy to have seen the innards of Gardenia. I am comforted, seeing how they made the bread, that I would always have fresh bread for my family. For those of us who do not have luxuries like time to bake our own breads (or mothers who bake), Gardenia is the sure alternative.

I’d like to thank the entire team of Gardenia, most especially its President, Mr. Jun Umali, who took the time to be with us and patiently answer all our questions.

Bloggers with the Gardenia officers (the President, Mr. Umali, is the one with a tie)

Meralco: Innovating to Empower

Posted on by jane
Who ever thought utilities could ever be exciting? 
During my corporate life years back, discussions about electricity had always been a little over my head although for a while, I was knee-deep in power discussions (financial and legal) because my employer had a joint venture with an American power company to put up a diesel power plant on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangement and I was one of those in the front line. When people discussed the computations to arrive at the charge to consumers per kilowatt hour, I tended to tune out often. Talking electricity was not exactly the most exciting topic I could think of.

But a few days ago, a handful of us bloggers were invited to come see how Meralco was innovating, using available technology to empower its consumers and shape a world-class standard of living. We got a glimpse of what they are looking into to employ digital technology and incorporate it into home living.

As a consumer of electricity, walk through these possibilities with me and see which ones you’d like to see Meralco introduce soon to your home.

Innovation #1: Meralco’s Current Distribution Automation

Think of this situation. A power outage suddenly occurs somewhere in Meralco’s web of grids. In real-time, using information on their screen, they are able to pinpoint the source of the outage, shut down that malfunctioning grid, and even re-route power, if needed. The red and green icons on the screen reflect where the grids are closed or open. With these equipment, Meralco can monitor and control distribution systems from remote locations, including the overall health of the electric grid. All in real time.

They are now looking into other innovations that may be introduced to consumers. These innovations try to take advantage of existing and developing technologies to empower the consumer to manage his own energy consumption by making this information accessible even when the consumer is away from home.
I know that in North America, in particular, many green homes are already equipped with these technologies. Let’s take a look at some innovations.


Innovation #2: The Smart Meter

Think prepaid load. If it can be done with mobile phones, why not power? If you can top up your phone via SMS, it can now be done for electricity as well. Here’s how it works:

The lighted meter has load while the unlighted one does not.

Software allows you to monitor your usage and load

A light’s energy consumption reflects on this devic

Simply send out an SMS indicating how much you want to top up. 
When you’re done, this is the confirmation you see on your phone

Innovation #3: The Energy Management Portal

Imagine that now, you can have a device in your home that is able to check your energy consumption (by room or per appliance), compare your consumption to a previous month or previous year — all in real time. Via an energy management portal on a computer, you can analyze your consumption so you can turn appliances on and off to meet your power budget.

Illustration of what a smart home could look like

From your device, monitor your energy consumption timeline…

…and your utility consumption — in real-time

Innovation #4: The Smart Home

Here’s what a future smart home would look like. Add a “smart plug” to your TV, DVD player, ref or any other appliance and you can program it to switch on and off. Use your computer at home or when you’re away, use your phone or tablet to manage which devices at home turn on and off. All in real-time.

The demo below showed that with the device, you can actually set an electrical budget, say for a month. And by means of the software, lights and other pre-programmed devices can be turned off when it nears your electric budget.

Innovation #5: The Home Area Network

The prospect of a home totally controlled with the flick of a remote control was quite fascinating as I spoke with the people from Cisco. They walked us through different ways you could control your home in terms of security, entertainment and energy remotely. Your handheld device, whether it is an iPad, iPhone, Androids, etc can be transformed into control devices.

The pictures below show that by attaching a security camera (the one above costs around P800 only) to your gate or front door (or wherever you please), combined with the right software, you can actually see who is ringing your doorbell. Some security cams can be made to move around to give you a wider view. With a special door lock (they said it costs around P8,000 at hardware stores), you can open/close the door with your handheld, manually input a code to open it, or use an actual key to open the door.
The same software, via your handheld, can also act as a remote to activate your entertainment system so you can choose the movie you want to watch without physically having to go near your DVD player.

3 ways to open the door: 1) remotely via iPad 2) manually by inputting a code
3) manually with the use of a normal key
A control panel on this iPad allows you to turn lights on and off or simply dim them.
This light switch with options for Home, Away and Vacation allow you to program lights to turn on/off depending on which option you choose.
I was told that the Twin Oaks Condominium by Greenfields District along Shaw Boulevard which is being constructed, will be the first smart and green high-rise condominium that will employ this energy system. In the near future, I think many planned high-rises as well as homes will be considering these energy-saving home systems too.
Innovation #6: Meralco Apps
Got an iPad, iPhone or Android-powered device? You could have a lot more information at the tips of your fingers and available on the fly. Some time back, I wrote about the Meralco Appliance Calculator, accessible via Meralco’s website, which helps you calculate which appliances are responsible for most of your energy bill. Now the Meralco Appliance Calculator is a FREE app downloadable from the App Store. 
Meralco Appliance Calculator as seen in the App Store

But aside from this app, there are more apps coming to your device. Take a look…

Power Maintenance Schedule – Find out if there is a maintenance schedule in your area.
Business Office Directory – Locate the nearest Meralco Business Center.
Meralco e-Bill – No need to wait for the bill to be delivered to your home. Get the details right away online.
After I finished the walkthrough, I actually felt excited to test out, for real, the energy innovations shown to us. Of course, I realize not all of these can be implemented all at the same time but being a bit geeky, I really appreciate the ease with which energy management and conservation can be done both online and remotely. But for these innovations to work, there needs to be a critical mass that will be willing to pay the price for the convenience. That is the magic number that Meralco still needs to work out.
Considering the present Philippine demographics, with many still living below the poverty line, the innovation that will be most helpful and probably most used across society classes will be the prepaid load concept. I think the prepaid concept just naturally clicks with those on a very tight budget and many Filipinos are unfortunately in that situation. By allowing them to consciously top up based on their own budgets, it also makes them more conscious of energy conservation.
How about you? Which innovation did you like best?