Insurer earns Social Media Initiative of the Year and Excellence in Talent Acquisition, with finalist nods across Marketing, Human Resources, and Public Relations.

MANILA, Philippines—Manulife Philippines, the local arm of leading international financial services firm Manulife, has been recognized by two leading industry award programs for excellence in customer engagement and talent management, earning Social Media Initiative of the Year at the Insurance Asia Awards 2026 for the digital campaign supporting its GoalReady savings and protection solution, and Excellence in Talent Acquisition at the HR Excellence Awards 2026. These awards affirm Manulife’s commitment to helping Filipinos reach their financial goals in an accessible way, while building a workplace where talent thrives.

The Insurance Asia Awards celebrate innovation and outstanding achievements across the region’s insurance industry. Manulife Philippines received the Social Media Initiative of the Year award for the campaign supporting GoalReady, a customizable life insurance solution designed to help Filipinos save for milestones such as education, retirement, and business goals. Through creative, targeted content across digital and social media platforms, the campaign linked financial planning to customers’ aspirations and encouraged more meaningful conversations around long-term financial security.

“For many Filipinos, social media is where they discover ideas and seek inspiration that can help them make important decisions. We designed the GoalReady campaign to meet people in those everyday moments with content that connected financial planning to the goals that matter most to them, whether that’s building a secure future for their family, funding a child’s education, or growing a business,” said Joy Concepcion, Chief Marketing Officer, Manulife Philippines. “To be recognized for making financial planning more relatable and accessible is a proud moment for our team.”

GoalReady was also named a finalist for Excellence in Digital Marketing at the Marketing Excellence Awards 2026.

At the HR Excellence Awards 2026, Manulife Philippines was honored for its efforts to strengthen recruitment practices and candidate experience. The company won Excellence in Talent Acquisition for building stronger in-house recruitment capabilities, improving hiring manager effectiveness, and creating a more consistent and engaging hiring journey.

“Our people are at the heart of how we serve our customers and deliver on our purpose of making decisions easier and lives better,” said Ardhi Siregar, Chief People Officer, Manulife Philippines. “This award reflects our commitment to attracting exceptional talent and offering transparent, inclusive, and meaningful candidate experience.  We will continue to strengthen our talent practices so we can build a workplace where colleagues can grow, thrive, and do their best work.”

Beyond these wins, Manulife Philippines was also recognized as a finalist in several prestigious industry award programs:

• HR Excellence Awards 2026: Finalist for Excellence in Leadership Development for its EDGE Leadership Series.
• Marketing Excellence Awards 2026: The Global Performance Marketing Shared Services team was named a finalist for Marketing Team of the Year, and Rudilor Rodrigo was shortlisted for Marketing Leader of the Year.
• PR Awards 2026: Finalist for Best Insights-Driven Public Relations for its thought leadership initiatives anchored on Filipinos’ views on longevity.

Together, these honors reflect Manulife Philippines’ focus on combining customer insight, innovation, and people excellence to create meaningful impact—understanding Filipinos’ evolving needs, delivering relevant customer solutions, and building a culture where colleagues succeed.

MANILA, Philippines—Manulife Philippines, the local arm of leading international financial services provider Manulife, has received international and local recognitions for its efforts to build stronger communities and promote longer, healthier, and more financially secure lives for Filipinos.

Manulife Philippines was named Champion of Sustainable Community Impact Asia 2026 by Capital Finance International (CFI.co), a London-based business, economics, and finance publication that recognizes organizations demonstrating leadership, innovation, and measurable impact across industries worldwide. CFI.co recognized Manulife Philippines for its integrated approach to financial literacy, environmental stewardship, and community development. 

The company also received a Philippine Quill Award from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC Philippines) for its marketing communications campaign, “Filipinos’ Evolving View on Longevity: Accelerating Longevity Thought Leadership in the Philippine Life Insurance Sector,” underscoring the company’s efforts to elevate the conversation around longevity and financial preparedness in the country.

“For nearly 120 years, Manulife has stood alongside Filipinos. These awards matter because they reflect the difference we make in the lives of the farmers, students, and families we seek to improve,” said Rahul Hora, President and Chief Executive Officer, Manulife Philippines. “Whether through financial literacy, environmental restoration, or advancing the national conversation on longevity, our commitment is to creating lasting improvements in people’s financial security, resilience, and well-being. This is a responsibility that guides us at Manulife, and we intend to carry it forward for generations to come.”

Manulife Peso Smart builds a model for lasting community impact

At the center of Manulife’s community investment commitment is Peso Smart, its financial literacy program launched in 2017. The program has reached more than 4,000 learners across 18 public elementary schools nationwide, with company assessments showing improvements in participants’ knowledge of budgeting, insurance, and financial safety, as well as stronger saving and spending habits.

In 2026, Manulife Philippines expanded its impact through a tripartite partnership with the Haribon Foundation and the Corazon Sanchez Atayde Memorial Foundation, linking financial education with environmental restoration by equipping participating farmers with practical financial skills that they can share across their communities while strengthening long-term economic resilience. This same spirit drives the company’s commitment to Manulife Impact Forests, which have supported the planting of more than 31,000 seedlings, including 5,000 mangroves, across Quezon and Zambales by the end of 2025 in a ridge-to-reef restoration effort helping reinforce biodiversity, climate resilience, and local livelihoods.

According to CFI.co, Manulife’s Peso Smart program demonstrates a replicable model for insurer-led community investment by combining education, livelihoods, environmental restoration, local ownership, and measurable outcomes. The initiative is expected to expand further, reaching 26 schools in 2026 and 30 schools in 2027. 

Insight-driven thought leadership is redefining what it means to age well

The Philippine Quill Award, meanwhile, recognized Manulife Philippines’ efforts to advance understanding of longevity among Filipino consumers. Built around insights from the Asia Care Survey 2025 and the company’s proprietary #FYP: Future-Proofing Young Pinoys study, the award-winning campaign challenged the traditional perceptions of aging by highlighting the growing importance Filipinos place on financial independence, health, well-being, and purpose as they plan for longer lives. This award underscores the efforts of Manulife’s Longevity Institute, a global platform for research, thought leadership, innovation, advocacy, and community partnerships.

The campaign transformed research findings into a multi-channel communications platform spanning earned media, digital content, social storytelling, stakeholder engagement, and live events. Its centerpiece, “Time to Move: The Manulife Longevity Symposium,” brought together healthcare experts, industry leaders, customers, advisors, partners, colleagues, and media to discuss the future of health, financial well-being, and resilience in the Philippines. The campaign aimed to move Filipinos from awareness to action—encouraging them to plan earlier, make more informed health and financial decisions, and take practical steps toward longer, healthier, and more financially secure lives. 

“Together, these awards move us closer to our ambition: to be Filipino customers’ no. 1 choice for trusted financial advice,” Hora added. “They are evidence of what’s possible when meaningful community impact meets insight-led thought leadership—and they inspire us to support more Filipinos to live better for longer.”

Erceflora, together with the Manila Water Foundation, Department of Education (DepEd), and the Pasig City Government, is expanding the Batang Matatag child health initiative across 44 schools in Pasig as the program marks its fifth year.

The initiative will bring refrigerated drinking water fountains and health education on gut health and everyday hygiene—including toothbrushing, handwashing, and sanitation—to school communities. The expansion is part of Batang Matatag’s broader effort to promote healthier school environments through sustained community partnerships.

“Batang Matatag has always been about creating healthier environments where children can grow and thrive. As we enter our fifth year, we are looking beyond immediate needs to help communities build the knowledge and habits that can support children’s health in the long term. Through our partnerships, we hope to make these healthy practices more accessible and sustainable for the communities we serve,” Rica Mateo, Erceflora ASEA Brand Zone Lead said.

Five Years of Batang Matatag: It Takes a Village

Since its launch, Batang Matatag has grown from a program focused on essential water access, sanitation and hygiene or WASH facilities into a broader child health initiative, reaching 150,000 students and healthcare professionals by 2026, up from 9,494 students in 2023.

In July and August, Erceflora brings Batang Matatag to De Castro Elementary School, Nagpayong High School, Pinagbuhatan High School, Manggahan High School, and San Miguel Elementary School to bring health education closer to school communities. Through the WASH paaralan sessions, select student attendees are challenged to be lead and role models of hygiene on campus.

The Pasig rollout began with a ceremonial turnover of WASH facilities and refrigerated drinking water stations at De Castro Elementary School, where more than 100 students, teachers, and parents participated in a gut health lecture.

“Access to safe, clean, and cold drinking water can make a real difference in encouraging our learners to drink more water and stay healthy. When children are healthy, they are better able to attend school, participate, and learn. That is why partnerships like this are important—not only in improving our school facilities, but also in supporting the health and learning of our students,” said Lailani Lucero, De Castro Elementary School Principal.

The program's expanded focus reflects the growing recognition that child health requires more than access to safe water. Nutrition, gut health, and consistent hygiene practices also play an important role in supporting children's immunity, development, and ability to learn.

“Providing access to safe water is an important first step, but children also need good nutrition, proper hygiene, and healthy habits to support their overall health. These practices should start at home and be reinforced in school, where children can learn how simple, consistent habits can help protect them from illnesses like diarrhea,” said Dr. Jo-Anne De Castro, Pediatric Infectious Disease expert. 

Batang Matatag therefore continues to equip children, parents, teachers, and healthcare professionals with practical knowledge on gut health and everyday hygiene.

“Healthy habits need to be consistent. It’s not enough to have access to clean water or practice proper hygiene only sometimes. Children need an environment where these practices are maintained every day, because consistency is what helps turn good health practices into lasting habits,” Dr. Jo-Anne added.

Why Gut Health Deserves a Seat at the Table

The program's growth reflects the scale of its expanding impact.“Seeing Batang Matatag grow from reaching just over 9,000 students in 2023 to 150,000 students and healthcare professionals in 2026 is a meaningful milestone for us. More importantly, these numbers represent more children and communities gaining access to healthier practices and resources. The program’s continued expansion shows what can be achieved when we sustain our commitment to child health and work closely with schools and communities,” Mateo noted. 

For Manila Water Foundation, the collaboration highlights the importance of bringing together different sectors to create healthier learning environments. “Building healthier learning environments cannot be done by one organization alone. It requires the combined efforts of partners providing safe and reliable water, health resources, education, and support. When these efforts come together, we can give our learners the healthy and conducive environment they need to stay in school, stay well, and learn better,” the Manila Water Foundation Executive Director, Reginald Andal, emphasized.

As Batang Matatag enters its fifth year, Erceflora sees the milestone as a foundation for its next phase and its broader commitment to ensuring no child suffers needlessly from preventable and curable gut health issues. “Year 5 is an important milestone, but we see it as a foundation for what comes next. In Year 6, we hope to build on what we have learned and expand beyond Luzon and BARMM to reach more children in need of WASH facilities and gut health education. Our goal is to keep evolving Batang Matatag and strengthen our efforts to help prevent childhood mortality caused by diarrhea,” Mateo concluded.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), through VYBE e-wallet, is expanding its growing network of brand partners through its latest collaboration with Noodlerama, Inc., giving customers more ways to enjoy cashless payments while accessing exclusive dining offers from some of the country's favorite restaurant brands.

VYBE users get more value when they dine at any of the participating branches of Ramen Nagi, Ramen Ton-ichi, Propaganda Bistro, and Akimitsu until October 31. 

As part of the partnership, VYBE users can enjoy exclusive dining offers:

• Ramen Nagi: Get ₱150 off participating Hot Nagi side dishes with a minimum spend of ₱1,000.

• Ramen Ton-ichi: Enjoy a regular-sized Ton-ichi Ramen for only ₱99 when ordered with any participating regular-sized ramen.

• Propaganda Bistro: Get ₱100 off on one order of Crunchy Pork.

• Akimitsu: Enjoy an 8-piece California Maki for only ₱150 with a minimum spend of ₱500.

"At BPI, we continue to expand VYBE's network by partnering with brands that are part of our customers' everyday lifestyles. Through our collaboration with Noodlerama's restaurant chains, we're making QR Ph payments more rewarding while helping our partners connect with more customers. It's another step in making digital payments more convenient, accessible, and valuable for everyone," said Eric M. Faustino, Head of Digital Partnerships at BPI.

The offers are available exclusively to customers who pay via QR Ph using VYBE at participating branches nationwide during the promo period 

Beyond these exclusive offers, VYBE's interoperability allows users to pay at any merchant nationwide that accepts QR Ph, giving them the flexibility to use their VYBE wallet beyond participating partner brands. By connecting customers to a broader network of QR Ph-accepting merchants, VYBE helps make digital payments more accessible and convenient while supporting greater participation in the country's growing cashless payments ecosystem.

As BPI continues to grow VYBE's ecosystem of brand partners, the e-wallet app goes beyond being a payment platform by connecting users to exclusive offers across dining, shopping, travel, and other lifestyle categories. With close to 2.9 million users as of September 2026, VYBE continues to strengthen its position as a rewarding e-wallet that helps Filipinos make the most of their everyday cashless transactions. Through strategic collaborations with partner brands, VYBE aims to make digital payments more rewarding while supporting businesses in reaching more customers.

The partnership reinforces BPI's commitment to making digital payments a natural part of everyday transactions. By parterning with trusted brands to give meaningful rewards, the Bank continues to create more opportunities for Filipinos to experience the convenience, security, and value of paying digitally.