Philam Life primes against fraud

In the insurance world, when we talk of fraud, we often referred to the policyholders and/or claimants.  But fraud can take many forms as it comes in all shapes and sizes.  Insurance fraud is evolving.  Fraudulent activities in the organization may be perpetrated by internal and external individuals.   That is why fighting fraud and mitigating fraud risk are gaining significance in the insurance industry.

Nick Wright, Associate Director for Investigations and Financial Crimes Compliance of AIA Group Compliance, talks about “Gathering and Analysis of Evidence” during the Fraud Investigation Workshop.

Philam Group participants working on analysis and assessment of a case study.  
(From left) Philam Life Chief Risk Officer Joseph de Dios, AIA Group Compliance Associate Director Nick Wright, Philam Life Head of Compliance Ivan Justiniano.



Recently, Philam Life conducted a Fraud Investigation Workshop, with the intention of guiding participants (key employees, senior management officers, and bank partners) of effective anti-fraud efforts – including prevention, detection, and investigation of fraud, fraud reporting, and fraud risk awareness, education and training.

The two-day Fraud Investigation Workshop shows the company’s commitment in treating customers fairly and that it does not condone nor tolerate any acts of fraud within the organization.  Proper and effective investigations reinforce ethical culture as they help:

⦁ Management to “walk the talk”
⦁ Employees and agents feel safer to report misconduct
⦁ Increase deterrence
⦁ Protect customer interests and the company
⦁ Strengthen internal processes and governance

To combat fraud effectively and proactively, Philam Life and its affiliates (BPI-Philam, Philam Asset Management) adhere to its Anti-Fraud policies and guidelines, set-up a Whistleblow Policy and Hotline, promotes Speak-Up culture, conducts Ethics Survey and Ethical Leadership Training.

Philam Life upholds the highest standards of integrity and professionalism by adopting a zero-tolerance policy to fraud.  Trust and integrity are of utmost importance to a financial institution like Philam Life.  It is committed to conduct business in an environment of honesty and integrity and will strive to reduce if not eliminate fraud from all operations.  Philam Group works to protect customer interests and ensures fair and ethical approach to customers.

As the premier life insurance company in the Philippines, Philam Life continues to embody its commitment of being a real life company that people can trust.

Book & Borders Cafe Now Brewing in Eastwood City

Each time I got an invite to a Book & Borders launch. I always check on what titles/bestsellers they are carrying in each branch. When Book & Borders opens its 3rd branch at Eastwood, I immediately got my hand on Nicholas Sparks See Me. The story revolves around the love story of Colin and Maria but with a tinge of mystery and suspense. If you want to wind up from traffic and is a book and coffee lovers like me, its time to visit Book & Borders Cafe Eastwood branch.

Book & Borders Cafe Eastwood branch opens its doors on Saturday, November 26, 2016. The launch was attended by Book & Borders owner Kristine Simisim, Mary Simisim, Megaworld’s Kevin Tan, General George Ancheta, Benjamin Alves, Karylle Tatlonghari-Yuzon, Architect Paolo Grijalvo and Harry Morris led the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Get the“me”-time you deserve by indulging in delicious drinks and comfort food along with your choice of book at this charming urban cafe.

Having already opened branches in Tuscany, McKinley Hill, Taguig; and Tomas Morato, Quezon City, Book & Borders Cafe is proud to unveil its third cafe in Eastwood City, giving residents, office workers, students and shoppers a new venue to dine and unwind after a tiring day.

Benjamin Alves and Karylle Yuzon

Formally opening its doors on Saturday, November 26, 2016, Book & Borders promises great food, awesome drinks, and hours of fun reading.

To celebrate this milestone, Book & Borders owner Kristine Simisim, Mary Simisim, Megaworld’s Kevin Tan, General George Ancheta, Benjamin Alves, Karylle Tatlonghari-Yuzon, Architect Paolo Grijalvoand Harry Morris led the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Cafe Latte

Serving all-day breakfast, cakes, rice meals, pasta, sandwiches, your favorite coffees and more, you can find Book &Borders Eastwood at the ground floor of Olympic Heights Condominium in Eastwood City, Libis.

Chicken teriyaki with Kimchi Rice

Pork Ssokugie with Kimchi Rice

As guests were invited to check out the bright, cozy space, they were also treated to special dishes that were thoughtfully prepared by the resident chef. Aside from the cafe‘s signature drinks such as the Salted Hot Chocolate, lced Coffee Fudge, and Hazelnut Frappe, guests enjoyed delicious comfort food like the Barbeque Liempo with Rice, Fried Tuyo with KesongPuti Pasta and Seafood Aligue Pasta.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

As the guests wined and dined, singer and self-confessed bookworm, Karylle, serenaded the guests with renditions of her favorite songs. Christian Bautlsta, Carlo Orosa, Keiko Necesario, Gio Levy and Bullet Dumas followed it up with another round of special performances.

More than offering a cozy escape to read and study, Book & Borders Eastwood becomes a welcoming space where you can enjoy a quiet meal with friends, family or your special someone. Pass the time, avoid the traffic, and savor the calm and quiet at Book & Borders Eastwood.

 For more information, follow Book & Borders on lnstagram @bookandborderscafe, or call (0932) 871 5560 and (02) 584 2465.

Huawei wraps up the year with exhibit featuring best photos captured with P9 dual lens technology

Global tech giant Huawei culminates a groundbreaking year with The Power of #OO: Huawei P9 Photography Exhibit.

Upon learning that fellow blogger Ed Uy's photos was going to be included at the #OO HuaweiP9 exhibit, I felt very excited as if it was going to be my own photos that were going to be on display. Maybe because I was always with him when he was taking the photos and I was the first one to see it before he posted it on Instagram.

As much as he doesn't want to admit it I know it was was a dream come true for Ed, even though he still doesn't believe that he's can really take nice photos.  I wont brag but I kind of expected it knowing how Ed takes beautiful pictures. He has the "eyes" so to speak. I always tell him to take photography lessons to further enhance his "talent" and hopefully after seeing his photos in an exhibit, he'll take my advice. I know this would be the start of something new and exciting for Ed Uy's career.

The gallery features the most captivating photos by some of the most renowned cultural vanguards aside from Ed Uy. Photos of Karl Ivan Presentacion, Kara Chung, Camille Co, and Edsel Roy with the revolutionary dual lens technology of their Huawei P9 and P9 Plus. The exhibit was open to the public at Greenbelt 3 Park, Makati from November 25 to 27.

Co-engineered with renowned German camera manufacturer, Leica, Huawei P9’s dual lens enables depth analysis, giving more sharpness and clarity of details to each shot. Thus, allowing consumers to take more professional-looking photos.

 This year, Huawei proves to be a big player in the smartphone arena. While a relatively young brand in the Philippines, it is rapidly and significantly expanding its local footprint today. A tripled market share in a span of six months is strong evidence of its growing presence in the country. The launch of its Huawei P9 and P9 Plus served as key to this growth, taking smartphone photography to a whole new level.

“Huawei is not only in the business of producing smartphones, but it is also in igniting passion and inspiring people. We live in a world that is highly visual, where everyone desires to capture the beauty of everything mainly through their photos. With the P9, Huawei answers this need of curating and preserving memories through reinventing smartphone photography,” shared Corinne Risos-Bacani, Senior Marketing Manager at Huawei Mobile Philippines.    

 The exhibit showcased photos featuring different elements of life using various effects like black-and-white and bokeh. This range of photography effects and forms attest to the versatility and expertise of P9’s dual lens technology in capturing even the smallest of details and turning them to the most captivating of shots.

 “The photos were so breathtaking, so beautiful, too beautiful, in fact, that we felt it was unfair to the owners, to the photos and to the world if we didn’t share their beauty,” says Mark de Joya, Marketing Director of Huawei Philippines. “With this gallery, we aim to change the way people see the world through a new and clearer lens. We want them to think that they, too, are capable of taking professional-looking photos that appreciate and capture the true beauty of life,” he adds.

To know more about Huawei P9 and more of Huawei's products, you may visit http://www.huawei.com/ph.

My OA Farm Tour 2: Canaan Hill Farms and Honey Garden

Our last stop for this leg of OA ATI's “KITS (Knowledge, Inputs, Technology Sharing) Journey: 8th Bloggers Event for Organic Agriculture") Farm Tour was the Canaan Hill Farms and Honey Garden

We left La Granja de Reyna at around 130pm and arrived at Canaan Hill Farms and Honey Garden in Caibiran, Calibiran City at 5:00pm. It was another exhausting long ride coming from Leyte made even gloomier by the heavy downpour. The cool weather however lulled me to sleep for almost the entirety of the trip and when I woke up we were almost at Calibiran.

As soon as I stepped out of the van, the spectacular view made the entire trip worth it. It was like a painting come to life or one of those scenic movie backdrops with the trees, and perfectly lined flowers that decorated the place. It’s one of the places you’d go to if you want some peace and quiet, if only it wasn’t raining.

They welcomed us with organic snacks like cassava flakes drizzled with honey and some antioxidant water with blue flowers in it. Since we were the first to arrive, I was able to have a small chat with the owner Lemuel Espinazo, one of the Espinazo brothers.

The Canaan Hill Farms is a 6-hectare uphill organic farm that practices organic farming and is managed by the Espinazo clan, Parents Eduardo and Priscilla and siblings Lemuel, Sandro, Jemmel, Jeffrey, Samuel and Jeruel Espinazo.  They make their fertilizers by gathering their goat's waste which they say is better because it doesnt smell as bad as the waste of other animals.

He told that the farm got its name Canaan from the bible, being the “promised land” that flowed with milk and honey. When their parents bought the farm, they originally thought of planting nothing else but bananas because their father knew nothing about farming as he was a fisherman by profession at the time they bought it.

But through hard work, the farm is almost a paradise of fruit bearing trees with around 100 calamansi trees, mangoes, jackfruit, as well as vegetables. They confessed that the farm became organic by neglect. Aside from the crops, they also raise chickens, goats and sheep.

As much as we'd like to know more about their farming methods. The Espinazo's seemed more eager to share their religious beliefs which they say is the reason why their farm continues to be blessed.

We stayed the night at the Canaan Hill Farm, (we were supposed to go around the farm as soon as everyone arrived but it was still raining heavily we decided to call it a day and just start early the next day. We went uphill to Espinazo's house which was quite far as it took us 45 minutes to go uphill, made more difficult by our luggages, the muddy terrain and it was already getting dark. But thank God, nothing bad happened to us, despite the looooong walk in the rain and mud.

We woke up  at exactly 4am and ready with our cameras hoping to get the best view get a great photo of the sunrise, Unfortunately the weather didnt cooperate and it was dark the whole time.

Disappointed, we packed our things and got ready for breakfast. We toured the farm and took photos of the trees, animals, mangoes that was within reach, and the whole farm terrain. We snapped photos everywhere.

Canaan Hill Farms and Honey Garden is located on the slope of the Mountain in the Uson Barangay Caibiran in Calibiran City. It is open to the public. Visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/canaanhillfarms/ for more details.

Happy Life airs on GMA News TV on Sunday Dec 11

GMA News TV and White Lion's TV partner for Happy Life, a new travel show on a Sunday morning to watch out. The show aims to transport televiewers to the beautiful sights and sounds, delicious native cuisines, local culture and traditions. It also encourages others to pay it forward by helping and initiating projects for the poor and the less privileged in the form of livelihood projects or community sharing acts.

Director/Actor Eric Quizon directs the show and serves as a tour guide, bringing everyone to places that need attention both by adventure-seekers and those who want to help others.

The show hosts by Bea Santiago, MJ Lastimosa, Jamie Herrell, Giulia Zahar, Sophie Rankin and Anthea Murfet. 

Happy Life was recently launched to the media at Gloria Maris Greenhills on Nov 30. The launch was hosted by Happy Life Actor-Director Eric Quizon . The event was attended by Councilor Chavit Singson, Happy Life hosts Bea Santiago, MJ Lastimosa, Jamie Herrell, Giulia Zahar, Sophie Rankin, Anthea Murfet, Alice Dixon, Theresa Loyzaga and media.

Spearheaded by White Lion Media Productions, Inc, Happy Life is a new Sunday morning special to watch for, with its light, stylish take on seriously important matters such as encouraging others to pay it forward and initiating projects to benefit the less privileged, either in the form of livelihood projects, shelter-building initiatives, or community sharing acts.

Most travel shows capture the beauty and significance of places and people while enjoying the experience on and off camera. A new travel show, Happy Life certainly has it, and more.

Set to air its pilot episode on December 11, Sunday at 9:30 am on GMA News TV, Happy Life takes the joy of traveling and celebrating life along with the sense of extending help to others in need. In this case, the people it meets during its travels and out-of-town visits. it is traveling with and for a cause.

 Hosts Bea Santiago, MJ Lastimosa, Jamie Herrell, Giulia Zahar, Sophie Rankin, and Anthea Murfet -a classy group of ladies owing to their allure and intelligence as beauty queens and models -will take viewers to interesting places around the Philippines all in the name of fun and sharing.

Needless to say, the show implies that altruism is really the way to a happy life on top of the joys of traveling.

Under the direction of multifaceted showbiz figure Eric Quizon, the program is a breath of fresh air as it gives the public the value of traveling with an extra purpose. Here,

"We primarily showcase the value of helping others with the backdrop of eyepopping destinations readily provided by the Philippines. It's a lifestyle show with a style all its own”, emphasized Eric Quizon. In a way it is interactive, encouraging people to lend a hand and contribute to the good causes the show carry through. It wants to let the public know that there are generous people willing to help." Team Happy Life claims, "We are one with you in going the extra mile.” 

So, sit back, relax and open your heart. Happy Life is here to touch down destinations and touch people's hearts.