Filipino scientist wins UN Sasakawa award for disaster risk reduction

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Filipino scientist and diplomat Glenn S. Banaguas was recently conferred the United Nations’ Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction, besting over 200 nominations worldwide—unprecedented in the award’s 35-year history. The award is bestowed on institutions, groups, and individuals that promote inclusive and resilient approaches to disaster risk reduction in line with the UN’s Sendai Framework. The main theme of the 2022 competition is “Building Resilience through a multi-hazard approach.”

In 2010, Banaguas spearheaded the creation of Climate Smart Philippines under his leadership at the Environmental and Climate Change Research Institute. The flagship program brought together scientific experts and stakeholders to tackle disaster risks and prevent potential damage and losses from climate change and other hazards besetting the Philippines.

“I extend my thanks and gratitude to the organizers of the UN Sasakawa Award for recognizing Climate Smart Philippines’ efforts to empower people from all walks of life to develop evidence-based, humane, and gender-responsive solutions,” Banaguas said on receiving the award, which was conferred at an official ceremony Bali, Indonesia, on May 25, 2022.

This is the first time that a lone Filipino has won in the Award’s 35-year history. Also honored this year was Save the Children-Philippines, which won the award in the Organization category. Previous Philippine honorees include the City of San Francisco in 2011 and the ESCAP/Typhoon Committee in 1988.

Prior to receiving the Sasakawa Award, Banaguas earned a name for himself as a prolific scientist, diplomat, educator, and a leading expert on environment, climate change, and disaster risks in Asia. He is also a strong and vocal advocate of science-based policy solutions. He is the youngest The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Laureate, which he earned for his pioneering work in environment conservation and science diplomacy. He is also an Outstanding Young Scientist awardee, conferred by the National Academy of Science and Technology, and the Asia Leaders Awardee for Sustainable Leadership.

The 2022 Sasakawa Award, held under the theme, “Building Resilience through a multi-hazard approach,” recognizes the changed global landscape in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2019, the UN Sasakawa Awards have recognized the world-changing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its continuing economic and social impact on millions of people around the globe. These lingering effects, in addition to climate change, ecosystem degradation, and other risk drivers, underscore the inter-connectedness of disaster impacts across countries and social strata. In such a multi-hazard world where everyone is affected by disasters, disaster risk management remains an urgent global challenge. Thus, the Sasakawa Awards recognize distinguished efforts to promote inclusive and resilient approaches to disaster risk reduction through the Sendai Framework.

Inspiro drives Philippine BPO industry forward through ambitious partnership with Microsoft

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Inspiro, a leading Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) provider in the Philippines, recently partnered with Microsoft to create innovative solutions, transform employee and customer experience and open new lines of business.  

 

The Philippines makes up 10-15 % of the global BPO market, with a national workforce of approximately 1.3 million workers. This sector generates about 9% of the country's annual GDP. As one of the country's leading BPO players, Inspiro's investments in digital transformation aim to elevate its services and establish its Philippine operations a center of excellence for the industry. 

 

"Our digital roadmap is driven by evolving client requirements, the changing technological landscape, and the need to stay ahead of the competition," said Yuji Hamamoto, Inspiro's president and chief executive officer. "We look to Microsoft for guidance and support to fast-track implementation of our roadmap, keeping our clients and our CX agents at the core of our digital transformation." 

 

Through this partnership, Inspiro will gain access to Microsoft's industry-leading technology innovations, services, and expertise, transforming and co-developing solutions to improve customer engagement, employee empowerment, operational optimization, and product transformation—all part of Inspiro's three-year digital transformation program.  

 

Inspiro has been operating in the Philippines for 20 years with centers in Luzon and Visayas, powered by a workforce of over 14,000 people delivering value-driven CX (Customer Experience) solutions to global brands and multinationals. Its initial efforts aim to deploy platform solutions to provide CX agents with greater flexibility, better internal collaboration and improved performance.

 

"The BPO industry is a key economic driver for the Philippines, one that has put our nation on the global stage, providing people and businesses all over the world with critical services, and over 1.3 million Filipinos with jobs,” said Peter Maquera, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Philippines. “As we look towards continued economic recovery in the post-pandemic world, digital transformation and innovation have become absolutely necessary. We are committed to bringing the full stack of our technology to empower Inspiro and every organization in the country to achieve their digital ambitions.” 

 

The partnership will focus on four key areas of empowerment: 

• Improved average handling time and accelerate speed to market 
• Strengthen competitive positioning 
• Boost revenue growth and create new revenue streams 
• Raise employee productivity, engagement and mitigate attrition 

 

Microsoft in turn will employ technology such as robotics process automation, data warehouse modernization, app modernization and security to enable Inspiro’s desired outcomes. 

 

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Inspiro quickly shifted their operating model to work-from-home, ensuring its people were healthy and safe. The company deployed Windows Virtual Desktop and utilized Microsoft Teams to enable a remote workforce of more than 3,000 agents to ensure business continuity and sustain operations.  

 

Inspiro has a global network of 32,000 employees and operations across Asia, North America, Latin America, and Australia. 

Top 5 Payments Methods in The Philippines Online Casinos

Wazzup Pilipinas!?



You will definitely need an online banking method to deposit and cash out your winnings while gambling. This review will introduce you to the top 5 payment methods to use at any Philippine online casino.

 
Introduction



The rate of online gambling has increased to a massive number, with more and more Filipinos making the best use of this digital upgrade. This is because of the conveniences of playing casino games they can never get from a land-based casino. And truly, these online services make gambling comfortable by allowing bettors to play different games and use various payment methods to pay and withdraw.

However, the rate of cyber scams is also on the rise, leaving many bettors with the fear of getting scammed at an online casino. Seeing real money banking as a means for cyber threats, it is now very important for online gamblers to stay careful. Luckily, you will still find a good number of legit online casino Philippines GCash and other payment options that are safe and reliable.

Thanks to the advancing world of technology, online casinos can now implement scam-proof banking measures. To help you remain more vigilant, this review will expose you to the top 5 payment methods you can always try at any Philippines casino. Let's go!

 
Credit Cards

Credit cards are a reliable banking option, many online casinos provide for their customers to make deposits effortlessly. From the casino's server, you can simply use this method by entering your card details, specifying the amount, and then confirming payments. In addition, credit card options have a compound anti-scam security that expels and protects its users from fraudulent online activities.

Regardless, you still need to be vigilant when using your credit card. First, check the site's URL. Make sure it starts with HTTPS and opens with a padlock icon on the address bar. Also, it would be best not to use public Wi-Fi to make these payments, as it can risk exposing your banking details to scammers. If you don't have one, you can apply for a credit card and get one almost instantly.

 
Debit Cards

Debit cards are another prolific banking method that allows every gambler to make safe deposits and withdrawals. It is similar to the credit card option, only with a few more directions. Even more interesting, the debit card allows you to spend only what you have in your account. So, if a scammer steals your details, they won't be able to do much if there is nothing in the account.

Apart from the safer solution with debit cards, it also provides online casino gamblers with the wonderful benefit of playing free games. Many gambling services have bonus schemes specific to debit card deposit options. This provides certain benefits for gamblers using this payment method to top up and cash out.

 
E-wallets

E-wallets are also known as digital wallets. It is another reliable online banking method for every Filipino bettor. There are a variety of these services available on the internet today. It will be easy to pick from this multitude and make the best of it.

After you sign up, top it up with an online banking method like a credit or debit card. Once the account is stuffed, you can then use it to top up your casino account according to your wish. Like debit cards, you only get to spend what is in the wallet. Here again, you are safe from cybercriminals stealing your information if the account is empty.

 
Third-Party Payment Options

There are now a lot of third-party banking services serving as an intermediary between an online casino and payments. Being the best of these services, PayPal has made online banking possible. Although other services, including Payoneer, G-cash, Skrill, and many more, all make banking easier.

The best of using a third party is its safer processes that direct you to only one entity. Moreover, it follows very easy steps to deposit and withdraw without stress. For instance, you get to cancel PayPal payments before it's too late. While trying to process a payment, you make a mistake. The likes of PayPal make it easy for you to cancel the order before it's too late.

 
Online Banking Services

Several utility services and online merchants also intermediate online banking for Filipinos to make payments. Making these payments is also very easy. You just need to enter the correct account number into the banking server (app or website). Then, specify the amount you would like to pay, and that's all.

As a security measure, these banks will tell you to enter a 4 or 6-digit one-time password (OTP). The bank will send this password to the mobile phone number you used to register with them. If you mistakenly input the wrong password, the platform will cancel the full payment.

 
Conclusion

If you want to gamble online, you will definitely need to make real money transactions. And sadly, the internet space is not as safe as it looks: cybercriminals are on the watch to scam anyone surfing the net with leniency.

You will need to use the best online banking casino methods that allow Filipinos to make safe deposits and withdrawals. Thankfully, we have exposed you to 5 of the best methods to make payments in any online Philippine casino. Good luck!

Author bio: James Warner, an editor at OnlineCasinoHEX.ph. He has several years of experience in online gambling in the Philippines market. His author page is https://onlinecasinohex.ph/author/jameswarner/