ePLDT bags regional partner award from Cisco anew

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Leading global information technology and networking company Cisco has recognized ePLDT, the ICT arm of PLDT Enterprise, as its Small Business Partner for Best Cisco Designed Portfolio for program adoption after attaining the highest revenues among its peers in the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China (APJC) region.

Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT President & CEO and SVP & Head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups, said the recognition is proof of ePLDT’s endeavor of supporting businesses through Cisco Design, Cisco’s new technology portfolio for small and medium-scale businesses (SMBs).

“As a premier integrator partner of Cisco, ePLDT has been actively empowering businesses as they embrace digital transformation to pivot and thrive amid these uncertain times. We thank Cisco for this recognition, and we are more driven to steering our clients and this partnership forward,” said Hernandez.

Last year, ePLDT was recognized as the global tech giant's Software Partner of 2020 and Small Business Partner of 2020. Similarly, Cisco hailed PLDT Inc. as its Tier 2 Partner of the year during its annual Partner Summit Conference.

ePLDT offers Cisco Enterprise Networking, Security, and Collaboration from the Cisco Designed Portfolio.

Robin Llamas, Cisco Philippines Head of Public Sector, Small Business and Mid-Market teams and interim Managing Director, said that Cisco Designed paves the way for cost-effective technologies that allow SMBs to adapt to the new ways of conducting businesses.

“Cisco Designed was built to serve SMBs, especially now in this pandemic situation. We continue to uphold our relationship building and customer care principles that enable us to know who our customers are and how best we can serve them,” said Llamas.

He also lauded ePLDT for a fruitful partnership for the past year, empowering connection, networking, security, and other services and support to more businesses.

“We congratulate ePLDT for being our APJC Small Business Partner for Best Cisco Designed Portfolio Adoption. This is a well-deserved accolade in recognition of your relentless efforts in serving our clientele, and we hope that you reap more successes as we continue to nurture this partnership,” he added.

Meanwhile, PLDT First Vice-President and Head of PLDT Enterprise Core Business Solutions Group Jojo Gendrano said that ePLDT and Cisco have been working on providing innovative business technologies suited to accommodate the changing needs of its customers.

“As the needs of the enterprises continue to evolve, we are striving to provide solutions that will make them more resilient despite the most difficult economic conditions. Together with Cisco, we will continue to work at great lengths to reciprocate the trust and confidence of our customers,” said Gendrano.

ePLDT and Cisco have been partners since 2002, initially focusing on delivering enterprise networking architecture solutions. Through the years, the partnership expanded to cater SMBs and other advanced services along with its initial market of large enterprise customers.

For more information, visit epldt.com

Public interest law group ImagineLaw bats for raising the minimum age of access to cigarettes to 21 years old

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“It is like 16 jeepneys full of people without social distancing.”


This was how public interest law group ImagineLaw and other groups on Friday described the 321 Filipinos who die every day due to tobacco-related diseases, during a street installation featuring 321 pairs of shoes and slippers at Boy Scout Circle, Tomas Morato in Quezon City.


“This installation has a clear message: tobacco companies and their products are deadly. They are not partners in public health and are instead the cause of death of hundreds of Filipinos every day,” said the law group’s executive director Atty. Sophia San Luis, citing data from the Department of Health (DOH). “Stronger tobacco control policies are needed to protect Filipino lives,” she also said.


Meanwhile, the Philippine Cancer Society (PCS) expressed support for the proposal to raise the minimum age of access to tobacco products to 21 years old. Earlier this week, Senator Pia Cayetano filed Senate Bill No. 2410 that sought to raise the minimum age of access to tobacco products to 21.



“We need to protect young people's health and development from the bad effects of cigarettes and addiction to nicotine,” PCS Executive Director Dr. Rachel Rosario said.


The groups also said that the government should uphold policies against tobacco industry interference in policymaking.


"Today is a stark reminder of the lives we can save if government and local government units (LGUs) uphold and fully implement tobacco control laws and policies,” said Menchie Auste, chief executive officer (CEO) of Cancer Warriors Foundation and Vice President of Cancer Coalition Philippines.


“We already know the how’s of preventing this needless loss of lives and suffering. What we need to do is act now and work together to prevent these avoidable deaths,” she said.


The groups called for the passage into law of House Bill No. 8763 or the Smoke-free Environment Bill that will expand the coverage of the smoking ban in Republic Act No. 9211 or the Tobacco Regulations Act of 2003 and strengthen the power of local government units to enact stricter smoke-free ordinances.


They also urged Senators to junk Senate Bill No. 2239 or the Non-Combustible Nicotine Delivery Systems Act, more commonly known as the Vape Bill, that seeks to roll back regulations on the sale, manufacture, and marketing of vapes and e-cigarettes in the country.


The group also called on the government to uphold the DOH - Civil Service Commission (CSC) Joint Memorandum Circular 2010-001 (JMC 2010-001) that protects policymaking and government processes from the influence of tobacco companies.


“The JMC is our vaccine against the tobacco epidemic,” San Luis said. “Without it, tobacco companies will continue to spread the deadly diseases caused by their products,” she concluded.


Photo caption: “It is like 16 jeepneys full of people without social distancing.” Law group ImagineLaw lays down 321 pairs of shoes at Boy Scout Circle, Tomas Morato to remember the 321 Filipino lives lost due to tobacco. The group is calling for stronger tobacco control policies to save lives.

4 things to know before getting psychic readings

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To get clarity on your future, a psychic reading session can help answer in detail some of the questions you have you have concerning the same. Psychic reading services are popular today across different parts of the world and you can find the one you need either in your region or online. Phone psychic readings are becoming the obvious option for many people due to time and budget limitations that they have to deal with every day. Aside from choosing worthwhile psychic readers, you need to know how to best prepare yourself for the best session.

Have an open mind

The reading you get from a psychic highly depends on how well prepared you are for the same.You should not come with high expectations or worse yet lack faith in the system. You will establish the legitimacy of the expert during the sessions, for instance in the details they reveal. A good psychic reading session will entail a mixture of reading some which you will like while others may not be what you anticipated when searching for the services. Nevertheless, you must keep an open mind during the session and only leave if you detect elements of fraud in the sessions paid for.

Ask open-ended inquiries

At times, you might just give the psychic reader everything they need to use for their reading. This is not always ideal especially if you count on getting accurate predictions and readings that you can work with. Open ended queries will seek to establish general information rather than a specific detail. Closed ended questions for instance if your girlfriend Grace loves you can give away not just the gender but the name of the person too. A good inquiry will be to ask for a reading on the kind of relationships you will have in the future and if Grace is not in the reading then you have the answer that you seek.

Abstain from drugs

The accuracy for most psychic readings is never 100% but there are bits of clues that you can use to ascertain the truth from the readings. When you visit any psychic when under the influence, it becomes easy to be manipulated and that is never right. In your sober state, you can tell whether the expert you pay is worth their salt or will you be wasting your money. Drugs also make you hallucinate and you might miss some of the things the psychic is trying to make you understand defying the essence of the process.

Limit yourself to your budget

Affordability is instrumental for whatever services you are paying for. Based on the legitimacy of the psychic readings made, you should care about how much you are charged for accurate psychic or psychic medium reading. A research on the price charged by diverse psychics on your list can be revealing of the ones that fit your budget plans. Amid the process, you also learn how to choose authentic psychics whose services you can count on.