CHINA’s official Xinhua News Agency is planning to issue news collectibles based on technology used in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) even as policy makers in Beijing have largely banned all crypto-related transactions.
The collectibles, minted from select news photography reports from this year, will be issued for free via its news app at 8 p.m. on Friday, the agency said in an announcement on Wednesday.
The move comes despite China’s sweeping crackdown in the crypto space, which in the past few years has meant bans on almost all activities from exchanges, initial coin offerings to mining and transactions. Other media outlets such as the New York Times and Cable News Network have earlier made similar offerings.
While Chinese authorities haven’t labeled NFTs illegal, it’s a grey area where any participant must tread carefully to avoid unwanted scrutiny. Domestic firms such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Ant Group Co. have issued NFTs on their tightly-controlled blockchain platforms. Domestic media had warned of “blind speculation” in NFTs.
NFTs run on public protocols like Ethereum and are traded freely outside of China, sometimes fetching millions of dollars. An NFT of a column about NFTs at the New York Times sold for $560,000.
Xinhua’s “digital news collectibles” will have unique identification and ownership information on a blockchain from Tencent Cloud, and are of “special commemorative significance and collection value,” the agency said. Tencent and Ant also previously changed the name for NFTs on their platforms to “digital collectibles.” A total of 11 will be offered, each limited to 10,000 units, in the first batch, along with a special edition, according to Xinhua.
“It’s a unique year-end review,” Xinhua said. “Moreover, it’s digital memory written in the metaverse.” — Bloomberg
A MILITARY check point is seen during lockdown amid the pandemic in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Aug. 23. — REUTERS/STRINGER
Vietnam was once regarded as a success story in containing Covid-19, reporting only a handful of daily cases for the entire first year of the pandemic. Now it’s fallen to the bottom of Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking in December, replacing the Philippines, after a protracted Delta outbreak caused deaths to spike and clouded its economic outlook.
The country’s infection rate is hitting records, with more than 10,000 cases a day for the past month, running counter to the rest of Southeast Asia where the virus has started to ebb. More than 200 deaths from COVID-19 are reported every day.
Vietnam is also specifically under pressure because its export sector, which supplies global brands like Nike Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co., has been rocked by shutdowns aimed at halting virus spread. Temporary factory closures and an exodus of workers from virus-hit cities over the third quarter meant that manufacturers were disrupted during the peak holiday production season, which has dimmed the nation’s economic outlook for the year.
The government forecasts gross domestic product to grow 2.5% this year, far below the official target of up to 6.5%, pulling it down in the Ranking.
Since October, Vietnam has tried to reopen the economy step-by-step, allowing factories to resume operations as long as workers are vaccinated. Nearly 60% of its entire population is now fully inoculated, and the government is ordering more shots for boosters as omicron looms. But with cases still on the rise, officials are considering tightening restrictions again in high-risk localities during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.
In contrast, cases and deaths in the Philippines have plummeted to a fraction of their past peaks and restrictions have been eased, pulling up its ranking in December three spots. After enduring repeated lockdowns, people are able to go to indoor restaurants, gyms and cinemas again. Kids are allowed in malls and domestic flights have been picking up.
As a whole, Southeast Asia continues to lag globally on vaccination, a key reason why the region has populated the bottom of the Ranking for several months now. While Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam have fully vaccinated the majority of their populations, and Indonesia and the Philippines have given one shot to more than half of their citizens, their numbers are far behind developed countries where over 90% of eligible populations have received two shots, with boosters now being rushed out. — Bloomberg
THE National Basketball Association (NBA) has no plans to pause its season despite a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, league commissioner Adam Silver said.
Seven games have been postponed since last week, with a report on the league’s website saying at least 84 players from 20 teams had entered health and safety protocols as of Tuesday.
US media reported the 10 NBA teams playing on Christmas Day have been told the times of their games could change due to COVID-19 reasons and decisions could be made as late as Friday.
Silver told ESPN in an interview the league had “no plans right now” to halt the season. “We have of course looked at all the options, but frankly we are having trouble coming up with what the logic would be behind pausing right now.
“As we look through these cases literally ripping through the country… I think we’re finding ourselves where we knew we were going to get to over the past several months, and that is this virus will not be eradicated, and we’re going to have to learn to live with it.”
Silver’s comments come a day after the National Hockey League and its players’ union agreed to postpone games due to COVID-19 cases at teams and bring the holiday break forward. — Reuters
DEVIN Booker scored 24 points in his second game back from a hamstring injury as the visiting Phoenix Suns extended their latest winning streak to four games with a 108-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
Deandre Ayton added 19 points with 11 rebounds and Mikal Bridges scored 14 points for the Suns, who recovered from a slow start to win for the 24th time in their last 26 games. Chris Paul had 11 points and nine assists.
Prior to the Tuesday victory, Phoenix was just 1-2 on the road since its 18-game winning streak ended on Dec. 3.
LeBron James scored 34 points for the Lakers, who lost their third consecutive game while working through coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) issues and now have Anthony Davis sidelined due to a knee injury. Russell Westbrook contributed 22 points and 10 rebounds.
James injured his left ankle with 6:05 remaining in the third quarter when he came down on the right foot of Phoenix’s Jae Crowder. The Los Angeles star pounded his fist on the floor after the injury but remained in the game, though his mobility appeared compromised the rest of the way.
While the Lakers’ Talen Horton-Tucker and Dwight Howard were available again after being sidelined due to health and safety protocols, the team was without head coach Frank Vogel for a second consecutive game. David Fizdale was the acting head coach. Los Angeles also had Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, Avery Bradley and Austin Reaves still in protocols.
It was a rough shooting night early for the Suns, who opened nil of nine from 3-point range before Booker made two from deep in the final 1:41 of the first quarter. The Suns were just 3 of 22 from 3-point range through two quarters but still had a 54-52 lead at the break.
The Suns pushed their advantage to as many as 13 points in the third quarter and entered the final period with an 85-73 lead. The Lakers never got within single digits the rest of the way.
Cameron Johnson also scored 11 points for the Suns, while JaVale McGee had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Cameron Payne added 10 points. Phoenix finished 12 of 41 (29.3 percent) from long distance.
In his third game with the Lakers, veteran Isaiah Thomas scored just three points on 1-of-11 shooting. Horton-Tucker had just three points on 1-of-13 shooting in his return, and Howard never got off the bench. — Reuters
LONDON — Eddie Nketiah struck a hat-trick as Arsenal beat League One club Sunderland (5-1) at the Emirates on Tuesday to book a place in the semi-finals of the League Cup.
Mikel Arteta rotated his side but still fielded a strong enough line-up to ensure his team comfortably progressed to the last four.
The 22-year-old Nketiah, who has not started in the Premier League this season, put the Gunners ahead, against the third-tier club, pouncing from close range after Rob Holding’s header from a corner was parried out by Sunderland keeper Lee Burge.
Nicolas Pepe doubled the lead with a deflected shot after good work from Cedric Soares but Sunderland pulled a goal back with a nice finish from Nathan Broadhead, who lifted the ball over the advancing Bernd Leno.
Nketiah restored the two goal advantage, clipping in a low ball from Nuno Tavares in the 49th minute and then produced a cheeky backheel finish to make it 4-1 after Pepe nutmegged Dener Hume and delivered a low cross.
The forward, whose contract at Arsenal runs out in June, has scored 10 goals in nine career appearances in the League Cup.
“This competition is the place I’ve been getting starts. I’ll do my best whenever I’m asked to play,” said Nketiah.
“I’m desperate to play football. All I can do is keep working hard. It’ll sort itself out. As long as I play for Arsenal I’ll give my all,” said Nketiah, who has yet to agree any contract extension.
A positive evening for Arteta’s side was completed when 18-year-old substitute Charlie Patino, making his senior debut, converted another low cross from Pepe.
Sunderland, who were relegated from the Premier League in 2017, were cheered on by 5,000 supporters from the North East and manager Lee Johnson said that he was pleased they had spells of good play in the game.
“The bigger picture for us is the learning experience. Now they know the standard. When you feel the quality of the opposition you learn so much more. Arsenal were fantastic,” he said.
In the other three quarter-finals on Wednesday, Tottenham face West Ham United, Liverpool host Leicester City while Chelsea are at Brentford. — Reuters
MATTHEW Stafford threw two second-half touchdown passes to Cooper Kupp as the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Seattle Seahawks 20-10 Tuesday night in Inglewood, CA.
The Rams (10-4) won their third game in a row and moved into a tie with Arizona for first place in the National Football Conference (NFC) West.
The Seahawks (5-9) had a two-game winning streak snapped and their wild card playoff hopes dimmed even further. The Seahawks are assured of a losing record for the first time in Russell Wilson’s 10 seasons.
The Rams broke a 10-all tie on Kupp’s 29-yard touchdown reception with 10:48 remaining, capping an eight-play, 88-yard drive.
It seemed the Seahawks were going to get good field position when the Rams’ third-and-12 play from their own 10 came up short, but Seattle cornerback Blessuan Austin was called for holding Kupp before the pass was thrown. That gave the Rams an automatic first down, and they moved quickly down the field for the go-ahead score.
Matt Gay added a 35-yard field goal with 1:51 left to clinch the victory.
Stafford was 21 of 29 for 244 yards, and Kupp made nine catches for 136 yards. Sony Michel added 92 yards rushing on 18 carries.
Wilson was 17 of 31 for 156 yards and a late interception. Teammate Carlos Dunlap had three sacks.
The Seahawks took the lead on their opening drive of the second half, with DeeJay Dallas scoring on a 4-yard run to make it 10-3.
The Rams responded with a touchdown drive of their own, with Stafford hitting Kupp with a 6-yard scoring strike to tie it at 10-all.
The score was tied 3-3 at halftime after Seattle’s Jason Myers kicked a 39-yard field goal with 10 seconds left.
The Rams held the ball for 21 minutes in the first half and had a 153-79 edge in total offense, but their offense stalled every time they crossed midfield — which they did on their first four drives.
Their only points came on Gay’s 55-yard field goal on their first drive, which was extended by a play after Seattle’s Alton Robinson was flagged for running into Rams punter Johnny Hekker, moving the ball close enough for Gay’s attempt. — Reuters
THE PESO retreated versus the greenback on Wednesday amid cautious sentiment due to stock market losses.
The local unit ended trading at P50.19 per dollar on Wednesday, weaker by 24 centavos from its P49.95 finish on Tuesday, based on data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines.
The peso opened Wednesday’s session strongest at P49.93. Its weakest showing was its close of P50.19, while its intraday best was at P49.90. Dollars exchanged increased to $1.063 billion on Wednesday from $916 million on Tuesday.
The peso weakened versus the greenback following the third straight day of losses in the local stock market, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 47.87 points or 0.66% to close at 7,119.19 on Wednesday.
The broader All Shares index also dropped by 0.22% or 8.45 points to end trading at 3,797.22.
Meanwhile, a trader said the peso also depreciated due to concerns on higher oil prices.
Reuters reported that oil prices increased by more than 3% on Tuesday due to worries on the impact of the Omicron variant to holiday travel plans. Brent crude rose by $2.46 or 3.4% to $73.98 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude increased $2.51 or 3.7% to $71.12 per barrel.
For Thursday, Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P50.10 to P50.30, while the trader expects the local unit to move within P50.05 to P50.20. — Luz Wendy T. Noble with Reuters
DESPITE global equities’ recovery, Philippine stocks declined further on Wednesday after the President said funds are depleted amid mounting losses from Typhoon Odette and resurfacing fears from the Omicron virus variant.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index retreated 47.87 points or 0.66% to close at 7,119.19 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares index lost 8.45 points or 0.22% to 3,797.22.
“The stock market ended still in the red today despite the recovery in the global equities. Investors remained apprehensive about the economic impact of Typhoon Odette, which battered major parts of the Visayas and Mindanao,” Papa Securities Corp. Equities Strategist Manny P. Cruz said in a Viber message.
The Department of Agriculture on Wednesday said Odette hurt the farm sector, which accounts for 10% of the country’s economic output, leaving around P2.6-billion damage for the farming and fisheries sectors.
Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco noted that the agricultural and infrastructure damage together with other disruptions in the Visayas and Mindanao could weigh on the economy’s recovery.
Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trade Aniceto K. Pangan said in a text message that the market remained on the decline after Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte remarks.
In a televised meeting with Cabinet officials on Tuesday night, Mr. Duterte said: “I am really worried because, let me be frank to the public, our money here in the Philippines is depleted [by the pandemic], even coping up with the growing expenses for the typhoon victims.”
Mr. Pangan said the comment “indicated that we have depleted funds to address Omicron-driven coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge thus insinuating of possible stricter restrictions to contain and limit cost through localized lockdown in order to contain the spread of this new variant.”
Last week, Mr. Duterte also said in his talks with government economists that the budget had been “immensely depleted” by COVID. The government announced three confirmed Omicron cases in the country.
Meanwhile, Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said that the index finished lower due to investors taking profit ahead of the holidays.
The stock exchange will close at 12:10 p.m. on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31.
Meanwhile, most sectoral indices closed in the red except for industrials, which gained 146.79 points or 1.44% to 10,339.77; and mining and oil, which climbed 43.77 points or 0.48% to close 9,042.93 on Wednesday.
Holding firms fell 126.50 points or 1.80% to 6,877.84; property dropped 20.30 points or 0.63% to 3,156.21; financials lost 4.01 points or 0.25% to 1,600.53; and services decreased 0.33 points or 0.01% to 1,979.74.
Value turnover declined to P6.03 billion on Wednesday with 1.61 billion issues traded from the P6.86 billion recorded on Tuesday with 955.83 million shares traded.
Advancers closely beat decliners, 86 against 83, while 69 names closed unchanged.
Foreign net selling fell on Wednesday with P173.79 million from the P372.02 million net outflows the previous trading day. — Marielle C. Lucenio
With increased reliance on digital infrastructure due to the pandemic, cyber-attacks have become more lucrative, threatening organizations and institutions worldwide. This will continue in 2022, and individuals, businesses, and authorities must prepare for it, according to American multinational cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
At a virtual press briefing on Thursday, the company announced its cybersecurity predictions for the coming year, zeroing in on the trends to watch out for.
Citing the 2021 Unit 42 Ransomware Threat Report, it pointed out the increase in profit from ransomware attacks in 2021, with the average ransom paid by an organization in the first half of the year reaching 28,529,924.43 PHP — 82% more than the year before.
“Due to the rising value of cryptocurrency and anonymity in ransomware payments, cybercriminals will have more funds and resources to launch bigger attacks on critical infrastructure,” Palo Alto said in a statement.
To combat this, it recommended investing in cybersecurity capabilities, running exercises to identify security gaps, and undertaking ransomware readiness assessments to determine level of preparedness.
Just this December, two of the biggest telecommunications companies in the Philippines, PLDT group and Globe Telecom, Inc., shared their recent increase in investments in cybersecurity given the many risks in a hyper-connected world.
“Cybersecurity is a team sport where everyone — individuals, businesses, and the authorities — needs to work together to safeguard the data and integrity of assets belonging or connecting to any organization’s network,” added Palo Alto.
This is the kind of vigilance that all people and sectors in a country must consistently have to protect against cyber-attacks, according to Vicky Ray, principal researcher for Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 cyber research team.
“With the help of private-sector threat intelligence, governments should continue to leverage all instruments of national power to raise the consequences for attackers and reduce the profitability of their attacks,” she explained via e-mail.
Another form of risk that plagued the country is text scams offering fake jobs, which grew in number over the past few months amidst high unemployment and underemployment among Filipinos.
Ms. Ray noted that there are now many ways in which threat actors are able to get sensitive data and personal credentials, with unauthorized access to an organization’s e-mail system to commit fraud or data exfiltration being a prevalent attack in 2021.
Partnerships and collaboration are the best way to combat this: “[Cybersecurity providers] have access to threat intelligence and information on the activities of ransomware gangs, while the infrastructure of [cloud and telecommunications operators] is used by ransomware actors to propagate attacks.”
Putting these two together, with the authority of the government to back it all up, can form an effective united front, according to Palo Alto.
Five major shifts in human behavior will shape the world coming into the new year, according to the Fjord Trends 2022 report by Accenture, a global professional services company. The dominant theme – after two years of disruption – is the need to respond to the changes in how people relate to the planet, technology, brands, and each other.
POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH An era of post-traumatic growth has taken shape this pandemic, the report found. It is manifesting in greater personal strength, stronger spirituality, deeper relationships, a more profound appreciation for life – and a growing agency enabled by side hustles. Today, for example, two million of the estimated 50 million plus creators on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitch make six-figure incomes from revenue models such as advertising, paid subscriptions, merchandise, or live and virtual events.
Companies no longer only compete with each other. They also compete with everything else individuals want to do with their lives outside of work.
The five report trends will challenge business leaders to rethink their approach to design, innovation, and growth, said Bronwyn van der Merwe, Accenture Interactive’s Asia Pacific (APAC) design lead and general manager for Fjord APAC.
“Against the growing sense of agency that people have over their lives and changes in employee expectations and mindset, companies across industries must look inward and act immediately on any weak spots within their organization that might drive employees to quit,” she said in an e-mail to BusinessWorld.
Ms. Van der Merwe pointed out that among the companies that have responded to this change are software corporation SAP and graphic design app Canva, both of which provide flexible work environments and options.
CARE-FOCUSED LEADERSHIP Staff retention hinges upon how organizations improve wellbeing across the board, the report also found. Worldwide, the pandemic has yielded a willingness to dialog on mental health challenges.
Examples of businesses that address this need are online fashion retailer Zalora, which gives full-time employees mental health benefits, and hotel booking platform RedDoorz, which provides counselling sessions to its employees in Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Ms. Van der Merwe further shared that Accenture offers its employees tools like Thriving Mind, a self-directed learning experience for mental health.
“How organizations design for all aspects of care – thoughtfully, with inclusivity and accessibility, with the right balance between physical and digital, and always having the individual’s best interests in mind – will be an important differentiator and a source of competitive advantage,” she told BusinessWorld.
VALUES-DRIVEN CONSUMPTION The other three behavior trends found by the report are the shift from immediate consumer gratification to a greater consciousness about the environment; the burgeoning cultural explosion in the metaverse; and the expectation to get answers at the moment of interaction.
“As consumers overhaul all of their relationships, brands will be faced with two big responsibilities: taking care of the world today while also building its future in a way that’s good for the planet, for business, and for society,” said David Droga, CEO and creative chairman of Accenture Interactive, in a press statement. “The key lies within deeply understanding the impacts of those relationships and aspirations and converting them into potent business strategies that drive relevance and growth.”
Businesses, as per the report, need to protect brand reputation by synchronizing marketing, customer service, and the supply chain. They also have to make strategic choices on how they answer customer queries in a way that builds trust.
As values-driven consumption continues to rise, brands likewise need to design for the balance between affordability and sustainability. This, the report said, presents an opportunity for brands to break new ground.
“Companies that offer ‘regenerative business,’ whether using recycled materials to create new products, or simply providing restoration services that extend a product’s life, will take the lead over their competitors in the coming years,” said Kelvin T. Si, Accenture Interactive’s delivery lead in the Philippines, in another e-mail to BusinessWorld.
An earlier Accenture report found that at least seven in 10 APAC consumers look to brands to make it easier for them to buy or consume sustainably, added Ms. Van der Merwe.
“All businesses must think about how they can create a better world in the process of doing business, in a time where supply chains are fragile, natural ecosystems are stressed out, and consumers are looking to brands for direction,” she said.
Fjord Trends 2022 is crowdsourced from across Accenture Interactive’s worldwide network of about 2,000 designers and innovators in more than 40 locations.
SINGAPORE – The rapid intensification that turned this week’s Typhoon Rai (local name: Odette) into the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year surpassed all predictions, forecasters said, leaving nearly 400 people dead and almost a million displaced.
While it’s unclear exactly how global warming is affecting the intensification of such storms, the UN’s climate change agency has found it is “likely that the frequency of rapid intensification events have increased over the past four decades” as temperatures rise.
Before Rai underwent a process of rapid intensification, forecasters at first warned of a storm that could bring “considerable damage”, with winds of up to 165 kilometres (103 miles) per hour.
“But the situation evolved very fast,” said Nikos Peñaranda, a forecaster who studies thunderstorms at the Philippines’ national weather bureau, speaking on Tuesday. “Our models weren’t able to predict the way the storm intensified, and it exceeded all our predictions.”
In rapid intensification of storms, warm ocean water and differing wind speeds near the eye of the storm act as fuel to whip it up into a more severe event. In the case of Rai, the storm turned into a category 5 supertyphoon, with speeds similar to when a passenger airplane starts to lift off the ground.
When it made landfall, winds of up to 210 km/hr were uprooting coconut trees, ripping down electricity poles, and hurling slabs of corrugated tin and wood through the air.
A lack of real-time data and case studies of similar storms in the region made it difficult for forecasters to predict just how much Rai, or Odette as the storm is known locally, would intensify, said Peñaranda.
“The challenge in forecasting rapidly intensifying events is just that the speed with which this occurs, often in a matter of hours, leaves less time for disaster risk reduction mobilisation and evacuations,” said Clare Nullis, media officer specializing in climate change at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm, experienced a similar intensification in the Gulf of Mexico hours before it slammed into the U.S. state of Louisiana in August.
Ocean temperatures near the surface and at depths of up to 200 metres are rising around three times faster in this region than the global average, according to the WMO, making it fertile ground for more intense, less predictable storms.
In the past three decades, the Philippines has recorded at least 205 tropical cyclones, the highest of any Asian country, according to EM-DAT, a publicly available database on disasters run by the University of Louvain. Nearly each one of has taken lives and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.
By comparison, China, the second-most affected country, has seen 139, and Bangladesh, also prone to storms, has seen 42. — Reuters
Wilcon Depot, the Philippines’ leading home improvement and construction supply retailer, opened a new provincial store in the capital city of Bukidnon—Malaybalay on December 17, 2021.
With the hopes to end the year significantly, the company’s commitment to bring their high-quality products and excellent customer experience to more Filipinos nationwide has been fulfilled to the Bukidnon homeowners and builders.
New home in Malaybalay City
Wilcon Depot sees Bukidnon as the perfect home for its 73rd store nationwide. Aside from being a tourist destination, Malaybalay City envisions itself as a prime agri-industrial center in Northern Mindanao with a vibrant economy.
Wilcon Depot Malaybalay is its first-ever store in the province and 9th store in the Mindanao region. It is also the 10th store to open this 2021. With a total selling area of over 7,000 square meters, the newly-opened store carries the wide product selection that Wilcon offers ranging from Tiles, Sanitarywares, Plumbing, Furniture, Home Interior, Building Materials, Hardware, Electrical, Appliances, and other DIY items.
Customers can shop daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM at Wilcon Depot Malaybalay located at Purok 2, Sayre Highway, San Jose, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.
Grand store opening celebration
Wilcon brings top-of-the-line products and home solutions with the highest quality standards, innovative, and sustainable features to all Bukidnons.
(L-R) Wilcon Depot AVP for Engineering Nicholas Agbing, Project Manager Isagani Robles, Malaybalay City Mayor Florencio Flores, Barangay Chairman of San Jose Bebina M. Kee, and Wilcon Depot AVP for Sales and Operations Ruben Flores
The store opening was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Wilcon Depot AVP for Sales and Operations Ruben Flores and AVP for Engineering Engr. Nicholas Agbing with Malaybalay City Mayor Florencio Flores, Jr.
Wide product offering
Wilcon Depot Malaybalay offers limitless home and building products and solutions. Discover the various exclusive brands and in-house brands like GROHE and KOHLER Sanitarywares, FRANKE Kitchen Systems, POZZI Bathroom Solutions, Sanitarywares, Whirlpool Bathtubs, Ceramics, and Shower Enclosures, ARISTON Water Heaters, GEBERIT Monolith Puro, MACROAIR HVLS Fans, BULL Outdoor Products, RUBI Tile Cutter, and REHAU Premium PPR pipes.
Sanitaryware Section
Premium quality Italian tile brands such as NOVABELL, ENERGIE KER, GARDENIA, IMOLA, HERBERIA, OPERA, CASTELVETRO, KERADOM, NAXOS, DOM, and VERSACE alongside with Spanish tile brands ALCALAGRES, GRESPANIA, ROCERSA, CIFRE, EMIGRES, KEROS, TESANY, ONIX, OSET, VITACER, GRUPO HALCON, MYR, ECO CERAMICA, and ETILES are showcased in their Tile Studio.
Asian tile brands are also available like ARTE, SOL, LOLA, HUANQIU, VERONA, PICASSO MOSAIC, ROMAN, MULIA, KIA, CHINA NATURAL GRANITE, BASEL, SAIGRES, and GEMMA.
Tile Section
HERITAGE Furniture and HEIM Home Interior, Furniture, and Decor are exhibited at the Home Living Showroom. The Appliance, Kitchen, Lighting section displays HAMDEN Kitchen Appliances, KAZE Ceiling Fans and Air conditioners, and ALPHALUX Lighting Solutions.
Home Living Section
HOMEBASICS and INTERDESIGN Housewares, BIRKE faucets and Bathroom Accessories, SEFA Specialty Bathroom Faucets, Bathroom Accessories, Shower Heads, and Kitchen Organizers, SUNCRUST BBQ Grills, LANDJACK Bicycles, CROWN and PRUSSIA Kitchen Sink QUARTEX Quartz Kitchen Sink, ELECTRON Generators, DIRECT HARDWARE, TRUPER Tools, P.TECH Builder’s Aid and Quartz Stone, FOREST Wood Products, IGLOO and RUBBERMAID Coolers, UNITED SOLUTIONS Outdoor trash bins, and SOLUTHERM PPR pipes and 304 stainless Steel Pipe Fittings are displayed in the DIY Section of the store.
DIY Section
Bigger and better home shopping experience
Wilcon Depot Malaybalay also provides the utmost customer satisfaction. It has redefined the home and building shopping experience through its Design Hub, Home Living Showroom, Tile Studio, and Architects, Builders, Contractors, Designers, and Engineers (ABCDE) Lounge, including their value-added services such as ample free parking spaces, reliable delivery service, and tile cutting service.
ABCDE Lounge
For a bigger and better home shopping experience, valued customers can also shop online at Wilcon by visiting shop.wilcon.com.ph. Shop for all your all-around home needs and have your items delivered right at your doorsteps or choose to pick-up in store. Online store customers can conveniently pay with their credit card, debit card, BancNet, and GCash.
To ensure a safe and convenient shopping environment in all Wilcon stores, the company continuously prioritizes the implementation of safety protocols for the health and well-being of both employees and valued customers. Wilcon also offers Browse, Call, and Collect or Deliver, and Wilcon Virtual Tour services to complement the in-store shopping experience. In addition, Wilcon provides contactless payment options like bank transfers, GCash, PayMaya, Instapay, PesoNet, WeChat, and Alipay for customers’ convenience.
Wilcon makes loyalty more rewarding for their valued customers by offering exclusive perks and discounts. The Wilcon Loyalty Mobile App allows customers to earn and check their points and convert their purchases to rewards after signing up. The Wilcon Loyalty Mobile App is available for download at the Google Play Store and App Store for free.
Store expansion plans
Wilcon Depot now has 18 branches in Metro Manila and 55 stores in key cities and municipalities of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The newly-launched stores represent Wilcon’s relentless commitment to providing its valued customers a more convenient and better home shopping experience by offering thousands of high-quality home improvement and building needs and excellent customer experience.
These store openings are part of their #FlyingHighTo100 store expansion campaign, wherein the company aims to have 100 operating stores nationwide by 2025, barring any unexpected external factors.
Start building big ideas for your home and shop now at Wilcon Depot Malaybalay at Purok 2, Sayre Highway, San Jose, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
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