The Office of the Vice President (OVP) will roll out an apprenticeship program for some 400 out-of-school youth, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday.

In a Facebook post, Robredo announced the launch of the online platform called Bayanihan Mart, where small entrepreneurs can market their products online and reach more customers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The webinar was organized by the College of Economics and Management of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (CEM-UPLB) in partnership with the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD). It was held on July 27, 2021, in commemoration of CEM-UPLB’s founding anniversary.

When I hear some business people gush about how the Philippines can take a lead in what is called the Industrial Revolution 4.0, I cannot share their enthusiasm. As people talk about Artificial Intelligence, Robotization, the Internet of Things, Big Data and other components of the digital world, I dread the intensification of the digital divide, another manifestation of the grossly unequal distribution of income and wealth in the Philippines.

To kick start its founding anniversary celebration, the College of Economics and Management hosted a webinar via Zoom, streamed through the CEM Facebook page last July 27, 2021. This is the first installation of the four-day anniversary celebration of the college with the theme “Future-Proof CEM: Harnessing Business and Economic Opportunities in the New Normal.”

There has not been an upheaval more profound and game-changing than the COVID-19 pandemic. It killed millions and forced governments all over the world to brutally shut down businesses and keep people in their homes.

In April 2020, my colleagues and I used our “involuntary detention” to brainstorm on how we could help micro-sellers, mostly entrepreneurial mothers whom we fondly called Nanays, resume their shuttered businesses by going digital.

After a stellar 40-year career in the banking industry, Joey Bermudez returned to the one thing he has always been most passionate about: social enterprise.

MAYBRIDGE Financial Chairman Joey A. Bermudez, social enterprises are not a new phenomenon in the Philippines. In fact, Bermudez said he had seen, several decades ago, numerous organizations striving to deliver social good in a commercially sustainable fashion.

Mr. Joey Bermudez, a Certified Public Accountant, is the founding chair and CEO of Maybridge Financial Group and founding CEO of Iskaparate.com, a unique selling platform for entrepreneurial women of lesser means. He has an experience of being a CEO for 19 years and of being a past and current board officer and senior advisor for 24 years in organizations in the Philippines and other countries.

MANILA, Philippines — From Bayanihanapbuhay to Bahayanihan, the office of Vice President Leni Robredo, together with partners from the private sector, last year extended assistance to millions of Filipinos severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters.