PLDT Enterprise Earns Global Recognition as Tech Week PH Wins at the 2025 IBAs

 PLDT Enterprise, the corporate arm of PLDT, has been recognized at the prestigious 2025 International Business Awards (IBA) for its successful launch of Tech Week PH, the telco group’s first multi-city technology roadshow designed to advance digital inclusion, ecosystem collaboration, and technology adoption in high-growth regions across the Philippines. 

The Stevie® Awards, organizers of the IBAs, are the world’s premier business awards, honoring the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and professionals worldwide since 2002. The International Business Awards® are open to all organizations across the globe and celebrate accomplishments in all aspects of work life.

Tech Week PH 2025, which won Bronze in the Art, Entertainment & Public – Roadshow category, brought together startups, developers, government stakeholders, enterprise leaders, and other regional ecosystem players in an education and business platform that connected them with global technology partners. Each stop was tailored to local contexts and sector-specific needs to make enterprise technology more relatable, actionable, and inclusive.

The roadshow was held in Davao and Cebufeaturing panel forums, technical workshops, and solution showcases on cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. The event welcomed over 1,500 attendees from more than 500 companies across diverse industries nationwide, all eager to explore emerging trends in the regions and technologies to power their growth.

Mitch Locsin, First Vice President and Head of Enterprise Core Business at PLDT and Smart, emphasized that the recognition reflects the company’s mission to put customers at the center of everything it does.

“We wanted Tech Week PH to be a lasting, impactful experience for all participants—it really is a show of our commitment to our customers. By bringing relevant technologies and solutions directly to where our partners and clients operate, we ensure that no one is left behind in the country’s fast-paced digital transformation. This award is the fruit of our dedication to enabling businesses to grow, innovate, and thrive, wherever they are in the Philippines.”

Tech Week builds on the success of PLDT Enterprise’s PH Digicon, expanding its reach to key provincial growth centers and ensuring that businesses nationwide can access cutting-edge solutions and insights. The program aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).

To learn more about the digital solutions fit for your business, visit https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-intl-business-awards-2025

Clean, Play, Win: LG Introduces the CordZero™ Dust Hunt Challenge

 Amazing LG products up for grabs by joining LG Philippines’ photo contest from November15 to December 15, 2025

Ever tried cleaning that one corner of your home where dust just won’t go away no matter

how many times you sweep? Picture this: it’s the weekend; you’re rushing through chores,

broom in hand, and there it is again — the stubborn patch of dust hiding behind furniture or

clinging to narrow edges. You sweep once, twice, even three times, but it stays put.

This all-too-familiar scenario inspired LG Philippines to launch the LG Dust Hunt

Challenge, a nationwide activity that invites Filipinos to uncover these tricky dust spots and

show why the LG CordZero™ Vacuum is a more effective and convenient solution than the

traditional walis.

Running from November 15 to December 15, 2025, the challenge encourages participants

to take a photo of themselves searching for hidden dust at home, post it on Facebook or

Instagram, and explain why the area is difficult to clean with a broom. Participants must also

register at https://lgpromoregistration.ph/lg-dust-hunt-photo-challenge and upload the same

entry.

Here’s how to join:

● Step 1: Like and follow LG Philippines (@lgphilippines) on Facebook and/or

Instagram.

● Step 2: Capture a photo that shows you hunting for hidden dust in your home

then explain why it’s hard to clean that area using just a broom or walis.

● Step 3: Upload the photo on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag

#LGDustHuntChallenge. The post should tag @LGPhilippines.

● Step 4: Register at www.lgpromoregistration.com.ph and submit the following

details:

Full name

Gender

Email addressHome address

Contact number

Image: Photo entry, same as that uploaded on Facebook and/or

Instagram.

● Deadline for submission of entries is December 15, 2025 11:59PM. Only

entries submitted on or before the specific time given above will be considered

valid submissions.

Entries will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

● Originality: 40% (Entry must be an original concept, not an intentional copy of

existing content)

● Relevance: 30% (Entry must be relevant to the concept of the promo, around

the theme of home cleaning with brooms or basic cleaning tools)

● Creativity: 30% (Entry must take a unique and entertaining approach)

The best entries will be awarded with the following prizes:

● 1st Prize: LG CordZero™ Powerful Cordless Handstick Vacuum

● 2nd Prize: LG Automatic Dust KompressorTM Canister Vacuum in Iron Grey

● 3rd Prize: LG Automatic Dust KompressorTM Canister Vacuum in Iron Grey

● Consolation Prizes: 10 Winners of P1,000 Sodexo Gift Certificates and LG

xboom Buds Lite each.

The LG Dust Hunt Challenge shows how the LG CordZero™ Vacuum makes cleaning

smarter and more efficient, especially in those hard-to-reach spots where dust hides. Log on

now to https://lgpromoregistration.ph/lg-dust-hunt-photo-challenge for a chance to win

exciting LG prizes.

Discover how LG technology can turn everyday chores into easier, more enjoyable

moments. Take part in the LG Dust Hunt Challenge, experience the power of the LG

CordZero™ Vacuum, and see how effortless cleaning can be. 

Stay inspired and connected by following LG Philippines (@lgphilippines) on www.linkedin.com/company/lg-electronics-

philippines-inc/, www.facebook.com/LGPhilippines, www.instagram.com/lgphilippines, and

www.tiktok.com/@lgphilippines/.

* Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-242688 Series of 2025.

7-Eleven Unveils City Café Christmas Blind Cups to Bring Extra Holiday Charm

Convenience store goers went crazy over 7-Eleven’s City Cafe Blind Cups, selling out the

YUMO collaboration down to the last box. The excitement for more is loud and clear, so

everyone’s go-to convenience store is playing Santa to bring on the charm and cheer

once again this holiday season, with the City Cafe Christmas Blind Cups.

Get a hold of this new line of limited-edition, Christmas-themed YUMO bag charms that

will add a dash of cuteness to your next coffee run. Customers can simply grab a cup of

their favorite energy booster, any small, hot City Cafe drink for P249, and tear off the perforation in the middle to reveal one of eight toys.

They say the more the merrier, so there’s now even more charming besties to collect, including Fluffy Glove, Warm Snowman, Reindeer Baby, Wish Bell, Surprise Gift, Santa Claus, and Christmas Stocking. If luck is on their side, they might even find the Lucky Parol Secret Charm.

The City Cafe Christmas Charms featuring YUMO are exclusive to 7-Eleven, so hurry

over to a City Cafe branch as they launch on November 26, 2025—only available while

supplies last! And in the spirit of the giving season, everyone’s Paboritong Kapitbahay

has also made sure that these fluffy cuties are available in more stores nationwide.

Whether it’s a treat-yourself gift or a surprise for a loved one, collectors and coffee lovers can sip, unbox, and savor the Yuletide joy with 7-Eleven, City Cafe, and YUMO.

Like us on 7-Eleven Philippines Facebook, follow @711ph on Instagram, and @711philippines on X and

TikTok for more information.Customers can simply grab a cup of their

Smart Infinity Elevates the Holidays with Exclusive SMEG Rewards for Members

This holiday season, Smart Infinity, the premium postpaid brand of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) partners with SMEG Philippines to make the season more rewarding and stylish for its valued members.

From November 21, 2025 to February 23, 2026, existing Smart Infinity members can take part in an exclusive raffle, with a chance to bring home SMEG’s most coveted kitchen appliances, a perfect blend of form and function that elevate everyday living into an art. 

Up for grabs are the iconic SMEG FAB 5 Mini Refrigerator and the SMEG Espresso Coffee Machine with Grinder, statement pieces that embody timeless design and Italian craftsmanship. Members can also win other SMEG essentials - from blenders and coffee machines to toasters and kettles, designed to transform every kitchen into a showcase of style. 

To join, members must opt in to the raffle by texting SMEG to 5858. Members may also register via the Smart Infinity website or coordinate directly with their Relationship Manager. A confirmation SMS will be sent, indicating the number of raffle entries earned.

Raffle entries are awarded to members who:

•             Upgrade their plan (from 3500 to 5000; 5000 to 8000; or 8000 to 9500)

•             Add a new line under Plans 5000, 8000, or 9500

•             Successfully refer a new subscriber to Plans 5000, 8000, or 9500

Each plan corresponds to raffle entries: Plan 5000 earns one entry, Plan 8000 earns two, and Plan 9500 earns three, giving members more chances to win as they move up to bigger plans. Winners will be announced on February 27, 2026.

 

“Our partnership with SMEG is a celebration of loyalty and lifestyle. As we honor our members this holiday season, we bring them experiences that reflect the elegance and exclusivity of the Smart Infinity way — rewarding choices that elevate everyday living,” said Tina D. Montinola, Head of Smart Infinity.

 

For more details, visit  https://smart.com.ph/Postpaid/infinity-smeg or contact your Smart Infinity Relationship Manager. Your next timeless reward awaits. #

FROM RAMBO TO WICK: HOW PAIN, NOT POWER, SHAPED TODAY’S ACTION GENRE

 Long before John Wick turned stylized violence into an emotional story of loss, one man redefined what it meant to fight back — His name was Rambo. 

The Birth of a Hero

When First Blood premiered in 1982, it wasn’t just another survival story. It introduced a new kind of action hero: one burdened by trauma, haunted by memory, and shaped by a society that didn’t know what to do with him. The conflict does not unfold on a battlefield overseas. It happens in a quiet American town, where John Rambo finds himself fighting the same country that once sent him to war and later abandoned him.

Sylvester Stallone didn’t just play Rambo. He carried him. The way he delivered silence, restraint, and emotional breaking points made Rambo’s pain feel real. Stallone built the character from the inside first. The thousand-yard stare, the defensive tension in his body, the way his voice cracks when the weight of memory becomes too much. He showed that beneath the soldier was a man who never wanted violence, but those whose past left him with no other language.

First Blood made violence personal, and that emotional core changed the action genre forever. It taught audiences that a hero is not defined by how hard he fights, but by how much he has endured.

Beneath all that firepower, Rambo’s heart remained the same. He showed that a hero does not seek conflict. He reacts because his past has given him no other path.

From Rambo to Wick: The evolution of the modern action hero

That emotional core continues in some of the strongest action films today. You can see it in several character-driven titles on Lionsgate Play, where the struggle is both internal and external.

In Redemption, Jason Statham plays a former soldier trying to outrun his past. Violence is not triumph here. It is the only way he knows to survive. Memory, starring Liam Neeson, follows a man who has spent his life doing harm. His real fight is now with his conscience. Every decision has weight he can no longer ignore. In The Next Three Days, an ordinary man is pushed far beyond his limits. When love is on the line, survival becomes personal and morality becomes complicated.

In John Wick, grief becomes precision, discipline, and controlled fury. These films inherit and evolve what Rambo began: the action hero who is not heroic because of strength, but what pain has turned him into — a man shaped by war, memory, loss, and the world’s failure to give him peace.

The Legacy lives on

Four decades later, the genre has evolved. The fights are tighter, the choreography cleaner, and heroes speak less but feel more. Yet the emotional center remains the same. Every hitman, vigilante, and ex-soldier carrying emotional scars owes a little something to the man who drew first blood.

For those who want action with meaning, where every choice has a cost, the Rambo series and the films influenced by it offer something deeper. The hardest battles are often the ones that happen after the war is over.

All three Rambo films — First Blood, First Blood Part II, and Rambo III — are now streaming on Lionsgate Play in the Philippines, alongside other character-driven action titles.