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TYCOON
Henry Sy Sr.’s signature retailing genius once again
shows in Banco de Oro’s (BDO) novel way of reaching out
to the country’s overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) while
drumbeating the bank’s remittance services and creating
a link-up with the so-called unsung heroes.
BDO’s
new passion involves a padala-in-kind that is
aimed at surprising OFW families here in the country by
way of hot meals from Jollibee Foods, the iconic Pinoy
fast food that clobbered global fast-food giant
Mc-Donald’s in the Philippines.
The
innovative “remittance” package allows OFWs to surprise
their loved ones here with the delivery of Jollibee’s
food offerings, a new way for OFWs to touch base with
their families here. BDO’s new passion fosters family
kinship and seeks to preserve the strong ties for which
extended Filipino families are known for. In introducing
this bank service, BDO creates a new image for the bank,
enough for it to have a sizeable cut of the pie—the over
$1-billion monthly remittances of OFWs to their loved
ones here.
Sy, who
has transformed a shoe store into a huge retail chain,
three are in the top 10 biggest department stores
worldwide—SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall and SM City North
Edsa—possibly got his stroke of serendipity during the
opening ceremonies for the newly transferred BDO branch
in the heart of Hong Kong early this year. It is said
that before the ceremonies were to begin, Hans Sy, who
supervises the retail chain, took the elder Sy, who is
at times wheelchair-bound, from the car into his arms
and then onto the bank premises.
Jollibee
has its presence in Hong Kong, and that probably made
the elder Sy into thinking about the need to nurture the
family ties among the OFWs and their loved ones here.
Thus was born the innovative padala package of
hot meals. With this, the bank has gone beyond providing
a simple channel where Filipinos overseas can send their
remittances to the Philippines.
With its
partners and subsidiaries here and abroad, BDO has been
a solutions provider to the major concerns of Pinoys
when sending money from abroad, now more conveniently
available to beneficiaries.
Dubbed
Jollibee “Langhap Sarap Padala,” the package allows OFWs
to send food or party packages to their loved ones here,
especially during family occasions. According to the
bank, since the bond that ties Filipino families is
threatened by the distance that separates them, the BDO-Jollibee
tie-up would “break the barrier of distance by
preserving family tradition.” The bank also said it
shares with Jollibee the vision of preserving the spirit
of family togetherness through Jollibee “Langhap Sarap
Padala,” the first remittance product of its kind.
Under
the setup, the bank has set a delivery hotline in Manila
8-7000 that allows OFWs to send Jollibee meals to their
families in the Philippines instead of cash. A remitter
can go to any BDO subsidiary office or tie-up in Europe,
Asia, the Middle East, the United States and Canada,
choose from a variety of meal and party packages and
Jollibee shall deliver them right at the doorstep of
their beneficiaries in the Philippines. The package is
initially available in Metro Manila and in the so-called
Greater Manila area, which includes parts of Cavite,
Bulacan and Rizal.
BDO’s
passion to provide service beyond traditional
remittances is driven by the significant contribution of
OFWs. With it, the bank not only affirms its commitment
to deliver fast remittances, but also shows that it
values family relationships, as well, and help OFWs in
their quest for a better life by continuously creating
innovative solutions, products and services
tailor-fitted to their needs. Here, the elder Sy again
shows his knowledge about connecting with the Filipino
psyche and, in so doing, helping the bank’s business, as
well.
GSIS to
solve CTPL mess
A
private-vehicle owner will now only pay P575 for the
Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS) Compulsory
Third Party Liability (CTPL) compared with the P900
charged by present CTPL providers, for a saving of P325
per policy while owners of utility vehicles, including
jeepneys, will only shell out P575 compared with its old
price of P950, for a saving of P375 under a memorandum
of agreement the GSIS signed with the Insurance
Commission and the Department of Transportation and
Communications.
The
agreement is expected to solve the current CTPL mess
whereby billions in CTPL premium taxes do not go to the
government due to fly-by-night CTPL providers. Under the
set-up, GSIS would just serve as a clearing-house and
would allow legitimate CTPL providers to be accredited
in providing the cheaper service. This would plug
revenue leaks for the government from the taxes on CTPL
premiums as the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will
directly remit the same to the BIR.
According to the GSIS, from 2000 to 2007, a total of
39.7 million vehicles registered with the LTO, but only
17.1 million had valid CTPLs. The 22.6-million
discrepancy is the number of fake CTPLs sold to the
public in that seven-year period. It meant that two out
of three buyers of CTPLs got duped into buying worthless
insurance, either through the multiple sale of one
insurance policy or through the switching of
certificates of cover (COC).
This
also means the government losses from the CTPL racket,
which was provided by the surety firms that pockmark LTO
offices, amount to a whopping P2 billion for the period,
enough to provide a lifeline to 4 million families
living below the poverty line at P500 million per
family. That’s a lot of money that went into the pockets
of unscrupulous CTPL merchants, instead of being used by
the government to fund its propoor projects. No wonder
there is a stiff opposition to the new CTPL setup.
E-mail:
hugagni@yahoo.com |
