A total of 2,037,450 trees have been planted and nurtured in different parts of the country under the One for Trees environmental advocacy program led by One Meralco Foundation (OMF), the corporate social responsibility arm of Meralco.

According to OMF President and Meralco Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer Jeffrey O. Tarayao, the successful planting and nurturing of over two million trees is a testament to the power of grassroots partnerships to impact lasting change.

“One for Trees goes beyond reforestation and embraces sustainability by working with communities to ensure that the trees they plant will also benefit their own families,” Tarayao said.

The One for Trees program, Tarayao explained, advocates multi-dimensional sustainable solutions to address reforestation and environmental protection and conservation in the Philippines while empowering communities through economic and social development.

Since its launch in 2019, One for Trees has contributed to a greener future in different parts of the country including Bohol, Bukidnon, Aklan, Agusan del Norte, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, Quezon City, as well as Panay, and Cebu, where reforestation sites of Global Business Power Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corporation, are located.

One for Trees also provides new sources of income for tree-farming families through partnerships with people’s organizations. These strategically contribute to the program’s aim to plant five million new trees by 2026 in biodiverse landscapes in the Philippines.

“Our reforestation efforts are in line with One Meralco’s wholistic approach to embed sustainability not just in our business operations, but also in the development of the communities we serve. As we continue to engage more stakeholders in environmental protection and conservation, we remain committed to helping ensure that the responsibility and benefits of investing in our planet is shared by all,” Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer and OMF Vice Chairman Atty. Ray C. Espinosa said.

Centered on preserving and protecting the planet, One for Trees is a key initiative under One Meralco’s sustainability agenda called “Powering the Good Life” which is deeply rooted in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In the recently concluded Asia Pacific Cloud & Data Center Awards organized by W. Media, Bayad was conferred the Outstanding IT and Cloud Project Award under the Cybersecurity Implementation Category for its accelerated and efficient deployment of a full cloud system for its cybersecurity platform.

The upgraded platform enables the company to further improve its security solutions while keeping pace with its evolution from a traditional payment center into a full-fledged fintech player that facilitates both onsite and online financial transactions.

“This international achievement is a recognition of Bayad’s commitment to ensuring the integrity of our service and our relationship with our stakeholders. For us, maintaining, facilitating, and intensifying digital trust is critical as we help spur the country’s digital transformation journey,” said Bayad President and CEO Lawrence Y. Ferrer.

“We help shape the Philippine payments landscape by elevating the financial experience of Filipinos, and this rests heavily on ensuring that each and every transaction coursed through Bayad is not only reliable, but also secure,” he added.

Bayad’s advanced digital infrastructure is designed to support the growing service offerings of the company. It enables efficient risk management programs and cyber incident response systems that help strengthen the company’s capability to protect, detect, and respond to cyber threats.

Bayad Chief Information Security Officer Mel Migriño highlighted that “the upgraded cybersecurity posture of Bayad gives its stakeholders the confidence to continuously ideate, innovate, and initiate new projects while staying protected.”

“Cybersecurity is mission-critical as we process real-time bills payments and remittances, expand our partner network, and grow our e-wallet services,” she said. 

Bayad is also one of the fastest growing subsidiaries of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the Philippines’ largest electricity distributor. 

“It is imperative that cybersecurity becomes core to the culture of all our companies in Meralco. This is especially true for Bayad as a major player in the Philippines’ financial and payments landscape. This award, conferred by an international pool of experts, is a confirmation that we are moving in the right direction,” said Meralco President and CEO Atty. Ray C. Espinosa. 

“Bayad will continue to lead in bringing financial services closer to Filipinos by offering innovative solutions to better serve the public amid the continuing challenges posed by the global pandemic,” Espinosa, who is also the Chairman of Bayad, added. 

From being the pioneer of over-the-counter payment collection service to becoming the largest multichannel payment provider in the Philippines today, Bayad has become a fintech trailblazer enabling Filipinos to reap the benefits of secure and innovative financial services. 

In the recently concluded 2021 ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Awards presented by Asia IoT Business Platform (AIBP), Meralco was recognized for its entry, “Transformation Powered by Technology and Tradition”, which showcased the power distributor’s programs aimed at enhancing customer experiences through process improvements and digital transformation.

Among Meralco’s key customer-centricity initiatives are its Facebook Live Chat, which serves 8,000 transactions per hour; Virtual Customer Assistant, which allows customers to speak with Meralco representatives via video conferencing; and Online Customer Appointment, which enables customers to schedule appointments before visiting Business Centers. All these are geared towards ensuring the safety and convenience of Meralco customers.

In addition, Meralco introduced the Customer Account Number, which is a permanent reference number for all payment transactions.

Another important initiative is the redesigned electricity bill, which aims to help customers better understand and manage their energy consumption. The new bill format is easier to understand as it provides all necessary information such as the customer’s 24-month consumption and payment history.

To augment these customer-facing programs, Meralco also arms its crews with a Meter Reading App that helps in optimizing service routes and ensures accurate readings of electricity consumption. Through the Real-Time Payment Validation App, Meralco avoids incidents where the electricity service of customers is disconnected due to the late reflection of customer payments for unsettled bills.

Meralco Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Customer Retail Services Ferdinand O. Geluz said that the Company has always advocated for “service with compassion” as it commits to making customers the priority while adapting to the challenges of the new normal.

“Moving forward, and as signaled by all our efforts behind customer centricity, we will continue pursuing our passion of transforming customer experience across all our transactions and touchpoints,” he said.

In 2021, Meralco also unveiled its most advanced Operations Platform and Telecommunications Integrated Command Center (OPTIC), which manages all information, communication, and technology (ICT) systems across the Company.

The first of its kind among electricity distribution utilities in the country, OPTIC is a state-of-the-art facility that aims to reduce unplanned downtime of critical ICT systems, increase employee productivity, and enhance service delivery to Meralco customers.

Meralco First Vice President and Head of Information Communication Technology and Transformation Rocky D. Bacani said the AIBP recognition affirms the Company’s commitment to service innovations that improve customer experience.

“What guided us through our journey is the clear and decisive leadership which accelerated the change and ensured that everyone marches to the same beat as we move forward with our transformation program,” he said.

“We also embraced agile delivery allowing us to address customer pain points rapidly through incremental improvements. We knew that beyond technology, the success of our transformation relies heavily on our crews, their ability to embrace change, and their ‘malasakit’ and sacrifices to go above and beyond in the service of our customers. This Innovation Award is indeed a recognition of Meralco’s continued and strong thrust for customer centricity and digital transformation,” Bacani added.

Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer Atty. Ray C. Espinosa, meanwhile, said: “Excellent customer service and communication are at the core of what we do in Meralco, and transparency is a value we have long adhered to. To be recognized internationally for campaigns focused on these is a remarkable feat, and a great honor to the many women and men of Meralco who toil relentlessly for the fulfillment of these programs and their objectives, despite adversities brought by the pandemic.”

The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has unveiled its most advanced command and control center to date — the Operations Platform and Telecommunications Integrated Command Center (OPTIC), which now manages all information, communication, and technology (ICT) systems across the Company.

The first of its kind among electricity distribution utilities in the country, the OPTIC is a state-of-the-art facility that aims to reduce unplanned downtime of critical ICT systems, increase productivity of employees, and enhance service delivery to Meralco customers.

Operated by highly skilled ICT engineers, the OPTIC provides a centralized monitoring system that allows faster fault detection and restoration of technology services. The underlying platform is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) that analyzes all systems logs, provides actionable information and insights, and enables predictive and proactive maintenance.

With the pandemic encouraging millions of Meralco customers to rely on digital touchpoints, the OPTIC improves the distribution utility’s resiliency and service reliability by providing real-time application, IT network, and communication link outage alerts to support teams to immediately restore these services.

“The new  OPTIC is an intelligent communications and response coordination platform that covers and serves all our facilities, operations, and people. This platform plays a pivotal role in the effective management of Meralco’s daily operations, resulting in higher efficiency, improved incidents mitigation and response capabilities which translate to consistent and reliable services to our customers and workforce. This is especially crucial at this time with the pandemic making us highly dependent on technology,” according to Meralco First Vice President and Head of Information Communication Technology and Transformation Rocky D. Bacani. 

Aside from its smart features, Meralco’s OPTIC is secure, safe, and sustainable. The command center is operational 24/7 and boasts of an industrial grade and energy-efficient LED display wall, as well as a smart and audible alarm system for alerts and incidents. It is also equipped with a 360-degree video conferencing system to coordinate activities during major incidents and emergency response scenarios. Moreover,  OPTIC heightens its physical security system and CCTV monitoring by using computer-vision AI not only to check compliance with health and safety protocols, but also to ensure that only authorized personnel can enter the premises.

Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer Atty. Ray C. Espinosa highlighted that the platform serves as an “essential foundation in achieving Meralco’s goal of becoming smarter and innately digital”. 

“Meralco’s  OPTIC revolutionizes the way data is harnessed and used to closely monitor our mission critical systems in real-time, proactively identify and address issues, make intelligent operational and business decisions, and eliminate barriers to heighten collaboration. We are excited as the launch of the command center lays the groundwork upon which we will expand technologies and enable more innovations, ultimately leading to excellent service to delight our customers,” Espinosa added. 

RED Broadband, a new partnership to bring to every Filipino home the latest unlimited fiber broadband and payTV service, is formalized between Cignal TV and Radius Telecoms. Radius Telecoms COO Jenevi L. Dela Paz, MERALCO President and CEO Atty. Ray C. Espinosa, Radius Telecoms President and CEO Exequiel C. Delgado, Cignal TV President and CEO Robert P. Galang, and Cignal TV CFO John L. Andal were present to ink the partnership. Spending more of our lives online due to the pandemic, there is a crying need for faster and more reliable INTERNET access for online education and work from home needs.

Radius Telecoms, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) and the only telecommunications carrier in the Philippines that delivers services on an end-to-end fiber optic platform, is responding to this nationwide clamor with RED Broadband, the country’s newest and most reliable broadband internet player. Cignal TV, Inc., the country’s premier Direct-to-Home satellite provider transmitting 120 channels, including free-to-air, SD, and HD channels to households nationwide is partnering with Radius Telecoms to bring to every Filipino home the best fiber broadband and pay-TV service designed for every household budget. RED Broadband is offering to consumers unlimited fiber internet  + Pay TV plan for as low as P1299 per month.