Game changers

Last week, PLDT SME Nation, in partnership with Go Negosyo, named the latest roster of MVP Bossings!

In our continuous efforts to recognize and honor leading entrepreneurs in the country, we have carefully selected the nine Bossings this year. They have been an inspiration and driving force to young and aspiring entrepreneurs.

This year’s MVP Bossings are Johnny Chan of Bellevue Hotels and Resorts, Ricky Reyes of Gandang Ricky Reyes, Julie Gandionco of Julie’s Bakeshop, Arthur Tugade of Perry’s Group, Ferdinand Marañon of Sagrex Corp., Alice Eduardo of Sta. Elena Construction and Development Corp., Laura Verallo de Bertotto of VMV Hypoallergenics, and Esther and Gaspar Vibal of Vibal Publishing House.

The Grand Bossing is Carlos Chan of Liwayway Marketing Corp..

4th OFW and Family Summit happens today at the World Trade Center Tent. (In Photo from left) Go Negosyo executive director Ramon Lopez, Sen. Cynthia Villar, and Go Negosyo founder, Joey Concepcion.

As Manny V. Pangilinan, PLDT chairman, has said, “The Bossings are living proof that good intentions, together with unwavering perseverance, can lead to success. Trials may come their way, but the triumphs they achieve will certainly outweigh them.”

In the coming years, Go Negosyo and PLDT SME Nation will recognize new sets of Bossings who contributed to the growth of the economy and the welfare of its citizenry.

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Today is the 4th OFW and Family Summit of Villar Sipag Foundation in partnership with Go Negosyo. It will be held at World Trade Center Tent. We are once again providing various business opportunities for the modern day heroes of this country, the overseas Filipino workers and their families. This OFW Summit continues to promote and encourage OFWs towards the path to entrepreneurship, as a way to productively channel the remittances regularly received, so as to create better livelihood activities for their future.  We present during the summit business opportunities and models that fit their skills and interest. This will be their chance to network with business owners, franchise holders and other entrepreneurs who can help them start their own businesses. Aside from the learnings that they will gain, the audience can also win prizes such as pangkabuhayan showcases, scholarship grants, and house and lot from Camella.

Seth Hiranand, son of Haresh Hiranand, with international tennis player Maria Sharapova.

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I would like to congratulate Manila Mavericks team owners Haresh Hiranand, Kevin Belmonte, Hans Sy and Jean Henri Lhuillier together with foreign partner Bala Swaminathan. They brought in Manila Mavericks players Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray and others. The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) Manila leg last week has been a successful one with an audience of 30,000 for the three-day event. IPTL founder, Mahesh Bhupati was also a world doubles champion with 16 grand slam.

When the Thailand’s Red Bull team backed out, the Philippines took the opportunity to be part of the league. I asked the team owners why they made this investment in a basketball-crazy country and all of them said that it was for the love of the sport as all of them are tennis players and they want to inspire more Filipinos to get into tennis as they see the world’s best players come to our country. It was a bold move for the team owners of Manila Mavericks but as I have seen, passion and knowledge combined increase the chance to succeed in a venture. I definitely enjoyed watching tennis for the first time live and seeing all the superstars at one time. A great boost to tennis from the Philippines and one day we should have a Pinoy superstar in this league. We need more entrepreneurs who will challenge and be bold enough to mount events like this who I call game changers!