BIZ BUZZ: Meralco rock star is born

Whether leading a dominant player in the energy sector or rocking the stage with power chords—Manny Rubio always snatches the spotlight.

Transforming the boardroom to a stage setup, this power sector veteran recently unleashed his rock star persona as he led Meralco PowerGen’s (MGen) official band in entertaining colleagues during One Meralco’s Battle of the Bands.

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Sporting a classic white polo and vintage pants paired with red sneakers, MGen’s big boss certainly brought his A game—with the authentic sound of the 70th Anniversary 54 reissue energizing the crowd.

“Music has a unique way of bringing people together, and this event was a perfect reminder of the vibrant and dynamic culture we have here at Meralco,” said Rubio, who has long been known for his love for music.

“It’s not just about achieving goals or hitting targets—it’s also about hitting the right notes, having fun and celebrating what makes us a strong team,” he added.

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No doubt, Rubio is always at peak performance level, whether boosting the firm’s bottom line … or while on stage and strumming his guitar. —Lisbet K. Esmael

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Protecting Filipinos’ trust in payments systems

Following the recent incident involving unauthorized GCash transfers, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) wants the public to know that they can still trust the country’s digital payments system.

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That was the assurance from BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan, who told reporters on the sidelines of a “systemic risk dialogue” hosted by the central bank and the International Monetary Fund that the regulator is conducting a “thorough” probe into the GCash incident to keep public trust intact.

Tangonan, head of the BSP’s payments and currency management sector, said he expects the investigation to wrap up not later than mid-December.

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The public will know the results of the probe which, he explained, may show if there are policy gaps that the regulator must plug. Recall that GCash had said the unauthorized deductions on account balances of affected users were due to “errors in an ongoing system reconciliation process.”

“To instill that trust, we have to tell the public what happened, what we’re going to do about it and how do they protect themselves,” Tangonan said.

He added that the BSP will exert every effort to get at the root cause of the unfortunate incident “because that’s very important.”

As it is, the BSP is leaving no stone unturned in protecting the hard-won trust of Filipinos in the country’s payments system, even if it means tighter regulations for e-wallets and intensified enforcement of policies.

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“That (more regulations) would be, I would say, the last measure to do because sometimes you have good regulations in place but then [it] just needs to be monitored and enforced,” Tangonan said. —Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral