Many people have become more aware of the importance of sustainability in everyday living during the two years that the world faced the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental awareness has caught on through practices such as shifting to paperless, reducing plastic use and planting more trees. For property developers, taking part in this movement means transitioning into green buildings and developments.

Such is the case for SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), a publicly listed subsidiary of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) that is committed to building innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities. SM Prime is future-proofing its developments to be more responsive and adaptive to community needs and the effects of climate change in line with comprehensive sustainability goals ranging from energy to ecology.
Over the years, SM Prime has continued to elevate its approach to building and development of community spaces.  All these green initiatives have been recognized by reputable and well-known organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) which awarded Conrad Hotel Manila and SM Aura Premier the Gold certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in 2016 and 2017, respectively. 
“When we build, we build with the community in mind. This is why it is important to integrate sustainability in our developments and operations. We remain committed as an environmentally-conscious and responsible integrated property developer ready to serve the ever-changing needs and aspirations of our communities and stakeholders,” said SM Prime President Jeffrey Lim.

Building green office spaces

SM’s Commercial Property Group is renowned for balancing green design features with operational and practical considerations, enabling more companies and locators to enjoy environmentally sound commercial developments.

The CPG’s flagship properties are its five E-com Centers – all future-forward buildings catering mainly to technological, business process outsourcing, and Fortune 500 companies. All five E-com Centers are located in the MOA Complex. Each building has a proportionate amount of green open spaces and communal areas where workers can socialize and decompress from work.

CPG further promotes sustainable practices with its LEED gold-certified office buildings, solidifying its foothold and commitment to building green offices and commercial developments.  These certifications are a testament to SM Prime’s dedication to reducing its contribution to global climate change—all while enhancing the quality of life within its communities.

The ThreeE-com Center boasts architectural wonders and green features that eventually earned its LEED Gold certification. These include water recycling for landscape and non-potable use. The building is fitted with glass windows that minimizes heat from entering the building, allowing tenants to use less air conditioning. This 15-storey, semi-circular twin-tower office building features function and aesthetic complemented with state-of-the-art facilities.  While it was the first office building in the Mall of Asia Complex to receive such an honor, the new FourE-com Center also recently achieved the same certification—designed with its tenants’ needs in mind, improving work-life balance and office culture accordingly.

Both designed by globally renowned firm, Arquitectonica, the Three and Four E-coms are unique amongst business centers. “We designed the E-coms to functionally meet the BPO industry’s need for large, continuous floorplates, but also sculpted them in interesting ways so as to allow views and airflows between the buildings, while also, of course, giving them interesting architectural identities. At the same time, their landscaped podium decks create attractive communal green spaces for the tenants; they are envisaged to be interconnected via landscaped skybridges in the future. The combination of all these factors, architectural design and green spaces, have made the E-coms highly attractive to multinational companies and brands,” said David Zaballero, Arquitectonica Director.

 

Travel to your favorite destinations as GCash now makes your much deserved trip hassle-free and even more exciting as it partners with Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border digital payments and marketing solutions by Ant Group.

Being the first e-wallet in the Philippines to enable cross-border payments, GCash allows Filipinos to have more convenient payment experience when they travel abroad with over 1 million merchants to choose from. You can now conveniently pay for meals, shopping, and experience amazing possibilities at Alipay+’s partnering merchants across the region.

“Through our partnership with Alipay+, GCash users now can travel with ease knowing they can take control of their budget by enjoying real-time forex when paying. On top of that, GCash users will not be subject to any service fees and they can access a wide variety of promos and discounts within the app,” said CEO of GCash, Martha Sazon.

 

Many of the advocacy films produced are mainly because of the need to inform and be known what is happening to a specific organization or group. Many of which are sometimes negatively stereotyped like boring or too-chatty or wordy film. Probably that was in some advocacy campaign film. So, with this Called to Rescue Philippines (CTR PH) which happens to have launched a short film at the KMC Armstrong Cafe will have a film to talk about. The short film stars popular young celebrities Donny Pangilinan and Nourijune Hooshmand that aims to raise awareness on the recovery and reintegration of human trafficking survivors to the society.

Written and directed by international filmmaker Dean Colin Marcial, the film ‘GRADUATION’ is about a young woman played by Nourijune, who fell into depression after surviving human trafficking. Through the support of her brother, played by Donny, she was able to slowly get back on her feet.

Beyond Rescuing
GRADUATION was the brainchild of Marcial, CTR PH Advocacy Head Abby Anciano, and CTR PH President Anthony Pangilinan. The three, advocates and active volunteers of CTR PH, found the need to bring emphasis not only to a survivor’s rescue, but to their reintegration to society as well.

“Bakit hanggang rescue nalang? Yung after-rescue rin kailangan. [This project] was out of frustration for me, and is one of the reasons I decided to do this,” Anthony explained.

“Our main focus [was on a] survivor’s reintegration into society. It’s something that I drew on, something Donny and Nourijune drew on as well,” Dean expressed.

From there, the two gathered a team of volunteers to bring the short film to life. With help from family, friends, clients, and donors, Graduation was set out to be one purpose-driven production.

Heeding The Call
The short film centers Cinemalaya actress Nourijune Hooshmand and Star Cinema actor Donny Pangilinan. Donny is a long-time anti-human trafficking advocate, while both are currently active CTR PH volunteers. Director Dean Marcial, script-writer and director of the film, handpicked the two for the starring roles.

When asked about participating in the project, Nourijune and Donny expressed no hesitation whatsoever.

“When Dean accepted to go through this project, alongside Nour, it’s not something I had to think twice about,” said Donny, “I specifically chose to do this. I really believe this is something we needed to do.”

“This [advocacy] is really important work. I’m very thankful that I had this opportunity. I’m really happy to be a part of this,” Nourijune shared.

Everyone Is Called To Rescue
Doctor Cyndi Romine, international director of Called To Rescue, noted: “The film is for everybody because we all know somebody. To assume we don’t know somebody would be an error on our part.”

Though people might wonder who this film is truly for, whether it’s for those rescued or those taking care of the rescued, Graduation is a film made to touch all audiences who view it. It sheds light on the significance of aftercare work and a loving community — a part of healing that is more often than not, overlooked.

“Once a person is rescued, you need to meet a lot of people and still go through the journey with the help of people who love you,” Donny noted.

“The bond of family is different, and knowing someone is there for you can really help what you’re healing from,” Nourijune adds.

Through the 5-minute film, CTR PH hopes to draw attention to the post-rescue challenges of trafficking survivors and promote the collective role of community (especially family members) in addressing their needs, supporting their rehabilitation process, and cultivating a safe space for their ongoing journey of healing.

“It takes a village to raise a child: It takes a village to heal a child,” Anthony shared. Everyone is called to rescue.

GRADUATION was made possible with the generous donors: Magic Crackers, Jollibee, Grab Philippines, KMC Solutions, Cabalen, MediCard Philippines, and LabX Corporation.

 

The Pet Express PISO SALE, exclusively via MetroMart headlines the weekend piso sale events of MetroMart this October 7-10, 2022. Premium dog and cat foods can be purchased for only ₱1.00 from participating Pet Express branches, via exclusive delivery order on the MetroMart app and website.

The Pet Express PISO SALE, exclusively via MetroMart will have select products available for only ₱1.00 within schedules of 9AM- 2PM & 3PM-8PM on October 7-10, 2022, Friday until Monday. These include Pedigree Dentastix, Pedigree and Cesar dog food in different flavors, plus Whiskas, SmartHeart and Sheba cat food in different flavors.

Participating Pet Express branches include Pet Express Finlandia, Pet Express Cubao, Pet Express SM Aura, Pet Express North Edsa, Pet Express SM Makati, Pet Express SM Megamall, Pet Express Estancia, Pet Express Masinag, Pet Express Alabang Hills, Pet Express Fairview, Pet Express Mall Of Asia, Pet Express Greenhills, Pet Express Virra Mall, Pet Express Dasmarinas, Pet Express Molino.

Please see all items up for grabs:

*Products are subject to availability in Pet Express branches. 

“The MetroMart family is excited to have this partnership with Pet Express, as we continue to provide our customers with lots of great deals through the weekend piso sales.This time, we are including the furry members of the household, and Filipino families and ‘furparents’ can shop online for their pet supplies and other pet essentials.” MetroMart CEO and co-founder Steffano Fazzini said.

The Pet Express PISO SALE, exclusively via MetroMart is applicable to New and Existing Users of MetroMart. A min. spend of only ₱2,000 is required in order to avail the 1-peso sale items. Only completed checkout of orders within the scheduled day and time can avail the discounted items.

New customers of MetroMart can use the code "MMNEW" upon checkout to avail a ₱200 discount for a minimum order of ₱2,000 on their first order from the MetroMart app or website. The promo is valid for one-time use and applicable across all stores and supermarkets, until October 16, 2022.

MetroMart is the #1 online grocery delivery service in the Philippines. Our grocery partners include S&R (with or no membership card required), Robinsons Supermarket, Landmark, The Marketplace, Shopwise, All Day Supermarket, Merrymart, Super8 Grocery Warehouse, Ever Supermarket, UltraMega Supermarket, and over 500+ specialty store retailers like Pet Express, No Brand, Baby Company, Toy Kingdom, Toys”R”Us, National Book Store, Office Warehouse, Southstar Drug and AllDay Rx. Customers can order from their favorite stores on the MetroMart app and have it delivered to their door in 2 hours! For more updates on MetroMart, like and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at @metromartph. Order groceries online or download the app via https://bit.ly/DownloadNowMM