The Business of Football - Philippines Set for May 18 at New World Hotel in Makati

Wazzup Pilipinas!

AFC, La Liga and Dentsu headlining the first 1-Day Football Business Conference in the Philippines

Riding on the heels of the historic Asian Cup 2019 qualification the Philippine Men’s National Team, more popularly known as The Azkals, the Philippines is set as the perfect venue for the upcoming “The Business of Football - Philippines” one-day Conference. 

The event is organized by MMC Sportz Asia, best known for delivering the high-caliber annual SPIA Asia - Asia’s Sports Industry Awards & Conference (www.spiaasia.com), recognizing and celebrating Asia’s top achievers within the sports industry.

“The Business of Football – Philippines,” sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), is the first of its kind to take place in the country on 18 May 2018, from 10am to 5pm, at the New World Hotel Makati.

The one-day Summit will bring together all the key stakeholders of the football community in the Philippines from the rights holders, football clubs, agencies, brands, media, retail, real estate, and of course, the fans.  The overall objective is to educate and to discuss the current state of football in the Philippines, with the goal of being able to determine the strategy to make it the biggest spectator sport in the country.

“There is so much un-tapped potential in the football-business in the Philippines, that we felt like it is time to bring all the key stakeholders together in one room, and to discuss the state of the game, and how we can develop the sport in the Philippines,” states Eric M. Gottschalk, CEO of MMC Sportz Asia Inc., the organizer of the conference.

“The inauguration of the professional football league in 2017 and the recent international successes of both the men’s and the women’s national football teams should be a springboard for the sport to finally take off in a basketball dominated country.  But we noticed that the key stakeholders are still adapting a “wait-and-see” approach.” continues Gottschalk, “private investment is needed in sports infrastructure, retailers need to offer a wider range of equipment options to the participants, and the media needs to make football a regular news feature.  We are proud to launch this first get-together of the “Who is Who” in Philippines football with the overall aim to listen and learn about the vision for football in the country from a professional point of view, delivered by our partners from the AFC, PFF, PFL, La Liga, and supported by research and analytics from Dentsu, and SMG Insight.  We are excited to bring this event to Manila, and hoping for it to impact the development of football in the Philippines, and for it to become a regular feature on the annual sports events calendar.”

Philippine Azkals Team Manager Dan Palami says, "The Business of Football - Philippines, is timely, since it gathers all the relevant stakeholders in Philippine football in one venue.  It is high time we get our act together, and elevate the level of the sport, in time for the upcoming Asian Cup 2019.  Wherein the country, and the Philippine Azkals will have the opportunity to make a mark, and create history in the international football scene."

The conference will cover topics such as Football in South East Asia, State of Football in the Philippines, Why Brands Should Get Involved, Developing Football in Asia, Asian Cup 2019, Youth Academies, among others.

The event will also feature a Job Fair, wherein participants can explore careers in football, learn from industry leaders, and get to network with key executives in the industry.

Confirmed speakers include AFC Director Member Association Development Mr. Stuart Larman, La Liga Managing Director for SEA, Mr. Ivan Codina, Men’s National Team Manager Mr. Dan Palami, Men’s National Team Head Coach Mr. Thomas Dooley, Philippines Football League CEO Mr. Lazarus Jansen Xavier,  MMC Sportz Marketing CEO Mr. Eric M. Gottschalk, SMG Insight Managing Director Mr. Frank Saez, and PFF General Secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes, among many others.

Organized by MMC Sportz Asia, the event is sanctioned by the Asia Football Confederation (AFC) and the Philippines Football Federation (PFF) and sponsored by La Liga, Dentsu, SMG Insight, RSportz and Platinumlist.

Delegate passes are available online at Platinumlist (The Business of Football - Philippines) and priced at P2,750 for regular delegates and P1,500 for the student pass.


For more information, please visit: The Business of Football - Philippines

Foundation for Media Alternatives Revisits Comelec Breach of 2016

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With two years already having elapsed since the Philippines’ biggest government data breach grabbed hold of global headlines, non-government organization, Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA),has released a briefing paper providing a summarized account of the events surrounding the infamous hacking incident.The document proposes some major takeaways and action points, both on the part of government and the private sector.

When news of the so-called “Comeleak” first broke out, the ensuing public panic was exacerbated by wildly conflicting accounts from the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the hacker groups claiming responsibility for the incident (i.e., Anonymous Philippines and LulzSec Pilipinas), and law enforcement authorities. It would take a months-long investigation carried out by the then newly-minted National Privacy Commission (NPC) before some degree of clarity was achieved, through the agency’s December 2016 Decision, and the brief Preliminary Report it issued a few months prior.

If one recalls, the NPC found the Comelec and its then-Chairman, Andres Bautista, both liable for violating a number of provisions of the country’s Data Privacy Act (DPA). It went so far as to recommend to the Department of Justice the filing of criminal charges against Bautista, whilemaking no other findings of liability on the part of the other respondents initially named in the case.

With the case now pending before the appellate court, the world has since bore witness to a number of other election- or voter-related data crises. Mexico and the U.S., for instance, suffered even bigger information leaks just weeks after the incident. Then just these past month, thisFacebook-Cambridge Analytica controversy has highlighted anew the extent by which misuse of data—even as innocuous as that shared via online quizzes—can threaten the very foundations of a democratic society.

In its paper, FMA looks back at that historic moment before suggesting to the various stakeholders some steps it deems necessary to prevent similar privacy breaches in the future, namely:

•        All Filipinos need to take data privacy seriously.
•     The NPC must be competent (from the Commission proper down to its operations staff), well-resourced, and independent.
•        Additional data protection policies must be developed to help government agencies and the private sector comply with the DPA.
•        State capacity in other areas (e.g., cybersecurity, cybercrime investigations, etc.) should also improve.
•        Extreme caution should be observed when dealing with data-intensive systems.
•        Civil society must continue advocating for privacy and data protection measures in government and the private sector.

These measures become even more relevant today as the Philippines prepares for another set of elections.

BDO Leasing, First Privately-owned Financial Institution to Finance Modern Jeeps

Wazzup Pilipinas!

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'ModernJeepneys' coming soon in streets near you.

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State-of-the-art jeepneys will soon ply the Metro Manila route—and eventually the rest of the country—with BDO Leasing and Finance, Inc. (BDOLF) at the driver's seat of this trailblazing milestone.

A subsidiary of BDO Unibank that caters to the leasing and financing market, BDOLF became the first privately-owned financial institution in the country to enter into a loan agreement to finance modern public utility jeepneys (PUJs), in connection with the jeepney modernization program of the government. As of now, Landbank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines are the only two banks that have allocated funding specifically for the jeepney modernization program.

Under this program, the government plans to replace all old PUJs aged 15 years or older with environment-friendly jeepneys that have safety features to promote safer and more environment-friendly transport options. Based on an initial study done by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), around 180,000 jeepeys nationwide face replacement under the program.

BDOLF partnered with Transport Equipment Aggregator and Management, Inc. (1-TEAM), a company that manages and consolidates PUVs under a unified management system, to provide funding for five units of modern jeepneys or BEEP (shortened name forBagong Jeep).

Incidentally, the BEEPs will be supplied by IKK Ichigan, Inc., a former BDOLF client and an existing BDO commercial banking client.

1-TEAM is the first and only fleet management company in the country to consolidate around 30 individual PUJs under a single fleet system.  Its services include the provision of logistical support, manpower selection and training, equipment repair and maintenance, and the operation of public land transport services such as but not limited to, jeepneys, taxis, buses and UV express vans.

Each BEEP unit is air-conditioned and powered by a Euro IV compliant diesel engine.  With a size almost as big as a mini bus, each BEEP unit will also have a seating capacity of 24 passengers plus driver and will be have various safety features such as a speed limiter, closed-circuit television camera, Global Positioning System, dashboard camera, and outfitted with an automated fare collection system.

The units shall be deployed to various SM Mall Terminals to provide public utility jeepney shuttle service. At present, a number of PUJ units of 1-TEAM are already providing shuttle services from SM Mall Terminals to various end points. Among these terminals are SM City Baguio, SM City Clark, SM City Marikina, SM City Sta. Mesa and SM City Fairview.