Grace Bondad Nicolas is a lady with a "Midas Touch"

Grace Bondad Nicolas—the woman behind successful shows, an indefatigable civic and multiplatform leader, and adviser to billionaires—breaks her own record as Rising Tigers Magazine publisher and managing director.

 

In less than year, she is already concocting her biggest and grandest event yet by feting the movers and shakers of public service and industries with Rising Tigers Magazine’s Grand September Ball, to be held in no less than the country’s historic “The Manila Hotel”.

 

“We tried to innovate. All our activities under Tag Media Group whether it’s the concert, shows and our clients projects, we keep on doing everything differently from the rest. We did launch the coffee table book last year and launched it inside the Singapore Embassy and now the magazine. We’re super grateful in all that’s happening. All because also of our creative team.” Grace said. Simply put, there is no stopping her.

 

Grace is all about breaking the glass ceiling and celebrating gratitude. She continues to make history in everything she touched.

 

Setting her visions high and achieving them

 

Like the legendary King Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold, the Grand Ball glitters with gold and black as its color palette.

 

Would you believe that Rising Tigers Magazine is just her second publication? Last year, Grace with her TAG Media Team launched Asia Leaders Award’s Profiles of Excellence coffee-table book at the Singapore Embassy in Manila.

 

This year, not even a year into Rising Tigers Magazine’s release, the only business and lifestyle glossy magazine to come out of the pandemic is already National Book Store’s most widely distributed periodical on its rack!

 

Every time an issue of the magazine launches, industry leaders and government leaders are swept in waves of grandiose festivity. Who can beat that?

 

Producing bigger and grander events

 

Grace is after all the Queen of Events herself!  We cannot expect less, definitely not.

 

She is not only the brains and beauty behind the Asia Leaders Awards, she’s also the brains behind TAG Media Group—composed of TAG Media and Public Relations, AG Builders and Developers, and AAA Cosmetics and Trading Company—the fantastic team behind Rising Tigers Magazine and her ultra-successful productions.

 

TAG Media and Public Relations is the force behind Asia Leaders Forum, Asia’s Best Singing Competition, Asia Digital Marketing Expo, Asia HR Expo, Asia E-commerce Expo, and Dwelo.

 

Making waves outside of the events circuit

 

Truly, multimedia celebrity and serial entrepreneur, Grace Bondad Nicolas, is a bombshell inspired to achieve everything she could every day for family, businesses, and community.

 

She is concurrently the first woman President of the American Association of the Philippines (AAP), Lieutenant Governor Designate of Division 3A (Metro Manila) of the Kiwanis Philippine Luzon District, Vice President of the Makati Tourism Foundation, and Vice President for External Affairs of the Los Baños Chamber of Commerce & Industries (LBCCI).

 

As if these positions aren’t enough to challenge her brains and brawn, she is also Certified Mentor of Go Negosyo. She shares first-hand business experiences which according to her was all because of the training from her parents.

 

Always inspired, indefatigable Grace is also the COO of eco-tourism destination Hidden Hills Farm by Josefino, named after her father who was also her inspiration and mentor.

 

Grace holds both a BS in Industrial Engineering and an MM in Engineering Management from Colegio de San Juan de Letran, writes business articles for The Manila Times, and in different regional newspapers in Region 4A. Rising Tigers Ball is just one of the events for the magazine to highlight the leaders. Next for this November 22, 2022 is another awards event under Tag Media Group which is Asia Leaders Awards.

Rising Tigers Magazine Honors Zubiri and Other Luminaries in Grand September Ball

 

What do Senate President Miguel Zubiri, PAL President Stanley Ng, Mr Freeze Tube Ice Founder Gerry Santos, and Skin Magical CEO Ghie Pangilinan have in common?

 

Apart from being movers and shakers in public service and industry, they are all set to grace the red carpet for Rising Tigers Magazine’s biggest and most fabulous event for 2022—the Rising Tigers Magazine Ball.

 

These remarkable leaders and their inspiring stories will headline this September’s Rising Tigers Magazine double issue with the themes ‘Emerging Leaders and Nation Builders Captains of Industry’ and ‘Men of the Year, and Women of Substance.’

 

Like Rising Tigers Magazine’s driving ethos of corporate social responsibility, Zubiri, Ng, Santos, and Pangilinan are exemplars who continue to make a difference this 2022, impacting society in many ways—and deserve to grace the cover of Rising Tigers Magazine.

 

The gala breaks another record for Rising Tigers Magazine, now National Book Store’s most widely distributed glossy and is available in both print and digital versions, as the most dynamic and ubiquitous magazine and awards impresario in the Philippines and soon, in all of Asia.

 

The red carpet gala and awards ceremonies is a joint partnership of Rising Tigers Magazine—headed by its indefatigable publisher and managing director, the marvellous Grace Bondad Nicolas, with the Makati Tourism Foundation, Kiwanis Club of Makati, and the different embassies in the Philippines.

 

Stand by for the complete list of honorees to be released soon on https://www.facebook.com/risingtigersmagazine,

 

Rising Tigers Magazine Ball is slated on September 22, 2022, at the historic The Manila Hotel, Manila, Strictly by Invitation Only.

National Resilience Core Group renews support for MSME recovery beyond pandemic

AUGUST 2, 2022, MANILA— The National MSME Resilience Core Group (RCG), a public-private sector consortium established in 2016, reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the disaster resilience of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to support their recovery beyond pandemic during the very first hybrid forum held last July 27.

The National MSME RCG is composed of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine Exporters Confederation (PHILEXPORT), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management-Philippines (APAD-PH), and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC).

Representatives from the MSME sector, national and local government, academe, and the general public attended the annual MSME Resilience Forum with this year’s theme “Negosyong Handa, Negosyong May Bukas.” Cebuana Lhuillier, Landbank, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and OCD also participated as exhibitors. The event showcased the RCG’s accomplishments and recent developments to support MSMEs in preparing for and recovering from disasters. The past two forums had been conducted virtually due to pandemic restrictions.

During the event, all core group members signed the new Memorandum of Understanding to reaffirm their commitment to designing and implementing programs for MSME resilience against crises.

DTI Assistant Secretary Domingo R. Tolentino Jr. emphasized in his keynote address that the government must further strengthen the country’s disaster preparedness, ensure the consolidation of the central portal of disaster communication, and implement innovation-driven programs to help MSMEs operate more efficiently.

“Kailangan isaisip natin na ang mga bayan at rehiyon ay kailangang maging handa upang tayo ay makabangon sa hamon ng pagbabago, sa hamon ng kalamidad, at sa hamon ng kahirapan,” said Asec. Tolentino. [“We must keep in mind that our towns and regions must be prepared so that we can recover from the challenge of change, the challenge of disaster, and the challenge of poverty.” ]

The forum also featured two panel discussions tackling policies and success stories and the Resilience Roadmap 2022-2028. Other topics included the establishment of the Department of Disaster Resilience, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Plan 2020-2030, Public Service Continuity Planning, public investment and bottom-up approach to DRRM, microinsurance, and climate resilient programs.

PCCI President George Barcelon reiterated that DRRM is a huge task that must be undertaken by both the government and the private sector and that climate resilience must always be a priority when formulating and implementing programs.

“We should continue to push for the welfare of our countrymen and our businesses, especially the MSMES, for them to thrive and rebound in the coming months and years,” said Barcelon, “We underscore the need to collaborate among our stakeholders and to create the impact that would be beneficial to all of us.”

PDRF Executive Director Veronica Gabaldon also discussed mentorship as an effective approach to training MSMEs in business continuity. She highlighted PDRF’s capacity building activities for MSMEs and the innovative approaches taken to ensure training continued in spite of the quarantine restrictions.

I

In his closing message, ADPC Country Program Manager Edwin Salonga summarized the session in three points: (1) Resilience can be strengthened through innovation, capacity building, and backed up by scientific data; (2) The need for a whole of society approach in terms of DRRM and climate change adaptation; and (3) Respecting the principle of leaving no one behind, especially the marginalized and vulnerable sectors of society, including MSMEs.

“May we continue working together in terms of achieving safer, disaster-resilient, climate change-adaptive Filipino communities towards sustainable development,” said Salonga.

The recording is available HERE.

PDRF has been a staunch supporter of MSME resilience since before the pandemic. For more information on the other tools and programs developed to support MSMEs, visit here: https://covid19.pdrf.org/msme-resilience/ 

2021 Philippine Water Challenge winners invite new innovatorsto solicit solutions addressing water scarcity

 

Pasig City, August 3, 2022 — The second round of the Philippine Water Challenge (PhlWC) starts in August 31, 2022.  It is an ideal platform to generate promising innovations, support improvements and promote scale-up of applications.  This year’s theme for the Challenge is on water demand management to help address  water scarcity issues in many parts of the country.

“The PhlWC provides a good opportunity for water utilities – that have innovations – to share these practical, novel and low-cost solutions that address challenges in the water sector,” shared Libmanan Water District General Manager (GM) Rodolfo Jimenez, whose innovation, the low-cost digitization and automation solution in management of water distribution system, won grand prize last year. 

GM Jimenez joined the four other PhlWC 2021 winners in a panel discussion to share their stories of successes and challenges in scaling application of their solutions in utilities, in unserved or underserved communities, as well as in responding to disasters, such as Typhoon Odette.  The winners are in various stages of preparations for commercialization. At the end of the panel, the winners also invited new innovators to submit their solutions to the second round of the challenge.

Co-organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Safe Water Project, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), Manila Water, and Maynilad, the PhlWC is an annual competition that aims to identify innovative solutions that benefit both water services providers and users, identify community demonstration projects, and promote cross-sectoral collaboration to address water challenges.

“It is projected that the increased demand from domestic commercial and industrial activities will exert a significant pressure on our country’s water supply system. Because of this quandary, we recognize the glaring reality that we will continue to face challenges in our goal to achieve universal access to safe water. Notwithstanding, this should be seen as an opportunity for us to creatively address such challenges with new ideas,” NEDA Undersecretary Joseph Capuno shared in his message.

The 2nd PhlWC’s theme is  “Smarter for Water: Innovations and Solutions to Water Scarcity”. The organizers will accept entries and solutions that (1) reduce water consumption, (2) recycle used water for other purposes, and (3) capture wastewater, storm water, salt water or greywater for reuse.

Registration for applicants starts on August 31, 2022 at pdrf.org/2nd-philippine-water-challenge/. A partnership fund in cash, incubation support, and networking package await the winning innovators by March 2023.

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals through Science, Technology, and Innovation

 

The Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (PhilAAST) is pleased to announce its 71st Annual Convention to be held on 09 September 2022 with the general theme "Accelerating Transformations for Sustainable Development through Science, Technology, and Innovation.” As part of the celebration, the PhilAAST invites all interested parties to join the virtual webinar series this August 2022 that will focus on important issues and concerns on Health

and Wellness; Sustainable Utilization of Water, Land, and Soil Resources; and Accelerating Transformations of Sustainable Development through STI in Digital Revolution.

Recently, the Association conducted virtual webinars on Climate Resilience and

Sustainable Communities, and Integrated Energy Solutions Addressing Security and Sustainability on 19 and 26 July 2022, respectively. It addressed emerging challenges on climate change and energy security and sustainability, where primary considerations in crafting a concrete strategy and implementing integrated energy solutions in the country were brought forth and discussed in detail. This event was jointly hosted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the premier government agency mandated to provide central direction, leadership and coordination of scientific and technological efforts to ensure that the results there from are geared and utilized in areas of maximum economic and social benefits for the people.

As a private organization of scientists and technologists, the PhilAAST recognizes the

significant role of the DOST in promoting and making use of science, technology, and

innovation in the country to its full extent for national development. Over the years, the

PhilAAST has witnessed the irrefutable relevance of the DOST to society through its programs, projects, and activities that encompass almost every socio-economic sector. Moreover, the DOST has been the PhilAAST’s active and reliable partner in the pursuit of promoting and advancing the value of science, technology and innovation in the country.

The PhilAAST also lauds the recognition received by the DOST in the international arena. The United Nations (UN) recognized the DOST on two separate occasions: the UN Public Service Award for the category of "Enhancing the effectiveness of public institutions to reach the SDGs”, and most recently, the "Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program 4.0 (SETUP 4.0),” which is the DOST’s flagship program in the regions, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) platform. This recognition from an esteemed foreign organization only shows the DOST’s unwavering commitment to the improvement of the quality of life of Filipinos through innovative S&T interventions.

Science and technology was also among the viable solutions identified by His Excellency President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in his first State of the Nation Address last 25 July 2022, in response to the many and pressing issues being faced by the country. Improvement in the agricultural sector, climate change mitigation, and management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are among the priority agenda of the President, and are all within the thrusts and mandate of the DOST. 

The PhilAAST is confident that the DOST is competently able to maneuver the realization of the President’s relevant S&T plans in the next six (6) years for the betterment of the country. In order to realize this, the Department’s S&T plans and programs need to bebolstered and strengthened further, with a strong and able leader in the forefront who understands the dynamic nature of science, technology, and innovation in order to steer the organization in the achievement of better results through excellent and efficient S&T services for the Filipino people.

The PhilAAST is a non-stock and non-profit organization that aims to promote and

broaden the base of scientific advancement in the country. For details on the organization’s webinar series, awards, activities, and membership opportunities, please contact the PhilAAST through e-mail philaast@yahoo.com,  or you can visit the PhilAAST Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/PhilAAST.

Magnificent Klaypel Art Competition! 2022

 

To all artists out there, come & join the KLAYPEL Art Competition 2022

Get a chance to win P500,000! The Usbong Klaypel Art Competition is open to all artists 18 years old and up. 

View the full mechanics: bit.ly/3zYZjhj

Register here: https://www.klaypelph.com/usbong

#artphilippines #UsbongKlaypelArtCompetition2022 #KlaypelArt #UsbongPH #arts #artcompetition #filipinoartist #artwork #artph

Malaysia - Philippines Palm Oil Trade Fair & Seminar Addressing Philippines Oils & Fats Diversity Through Malaysia Palm Oil

Manila, Aug 17, 2022 -- The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) has assured its Palm Oil Trade Fairs and Seminar (POTS) in the Philippines (POTS Philippines 2022) 

In a statement, MPOC said POTS Philippines 2022 is aimed at bringing together reputable Malaysian palm oil industry players to meet with existing and potential users of palm oil in the Philippines from various sectors, with the aim of developing long and successful business relations.  

Speakers at the one-day seminar were prominent local industry captains and international experts from Malaysia, Europe and the Philippines. 

In her keynote address, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin highlighted the significance of the Philippines as a trade partner and important user of Malaysian palm oil.

“The Philippines is the sixth largest importer of Malaysian palm oil in 2021. With an import volume recorded at almost 580,000 tonnes in 2021, it is a testimony that the Philippines is very important to the Malaysian palm oil industry,” she said.

Palm oil is the major oil consumed in the Philippines, followed by locally-produced coconut oil, accounting for 77% of the total usage of all oils and fats. 

Zuraida said POTS Philippines provides a valuable platform for those in the oils and fats business to meet and explore not only business collaborations and opportunities, but also establish trade partnerships. 

She expressed confidence that the event would widen collaborations between Malaysian and the Philippines' oils and fats industry players.

“This event offers the business communities, particularly from Malaysia, [the opportunity] to synergise and strengthen existing partnerships that have been nurtured over the years, as well as explore new potential for cooperation,” she added.

Themed “Addressing Philippines’ Oils and Fats Diversity Through Malaysian Palm Oil”, POTS Philippines 2022 aspires to establish and continue to complement the Philippines’ growing oils and fats needs, stemming from the country’s rapid economic growth.