JERUSALEM — Israel reported on Monday a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness but said it remained highly effective in preventing serious illness.
The decline coincided with the spread of the Delta variant and the end of social distancing restrictions in Israel.
Vaccine effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease fell to 64% since June 6, the Health Ministry said. At the same time the vaccine was 93% effective in preventing hospitalizations and serious illness from the coronavirus.
The ministry in its statement did not say what the previous level was or provide any further details. However, ministry officials published a report in May that two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine provided more than 95% protection against infection, hospitalization and severe illness.
A Pfizer spokesperson declined to comment on the data from Israel, but cited other research showing that antibodies elicited by the vaccine were still able to neutralize all tested variants, including Delta, albeit at reduced strength.
About 60% of Israel’s 9.3 million population have received at least one shot of Pfizer’s vaccine in a campaign that saw daily cases drop from more than 10,000 in January to single digits last month.
This spurred Israel to drop nearly all social distancing as well as the requirement to wear masks, though the latter was partially reimposed in recent days. At the same time Delta, which has become a globally dominant variant of the coronavirus, began to spread.
Since then, daily cases have gradually risen, reaching 343 on Sunday. The number of seriously ill rose to 35 from 21.
Data scientist Eran Segal of Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science said the country was unlikely to experience the high levels of hospitalizations seen earlier in the year since there were much fewer critically ill.
He said it was fine to “continue with life back to normal and without restrictions” while stepping up measures like vaccination outreach and ensuring testing for Israelis returning home from abroad. — Reuters
A GENERAL VIEW of skyline buildings in Hong Kong, China May 28, 2020. — REUTERS
A GENERAL VIEW of skyline buildings in Hong Kong, China, May 28, 2020. — REUTERS
HONG KONG — Hong Kong police said on Tuesday they had arrested nine people, including six secondary students, on suspicion of terrorist activities, the latest to be targeted under a sweeping national security law Beijing imposed on the financial hub last year.
Police said at a press briefing those arrested were aged 15-39 and also included a university management-level employee, a secondary school teacher and an unemployed person.
Officers also froze bank funds of around HK$600,000 ($77,237.97), as well as cash that they believed was linked to suspected terrorist activities.
They also seized triacetone triperoxide (TATP) in a hostel room police described as a laboratory for bomb-making equipment to deploy at a cross-harbor tunnel, railways, court rooms and rubbish bins.
TATP has been used in attacks by extremists in Israel and London.
Police said the group, called Returning Valiant, had been renting the room at the hostel in the bustling shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui for about a month.
“They had a good division of labor among those arrested. Some of them provided money. Some are the scientists — the ones who made the TATP in the room,” Senior Superintendent Steve Li told reporters.
“One is responsible for the sourcing of chemicals and other materials needed for the plan, while another small group of people create the bombs, using chemical equipment. There is also a surveying team and an action team, which is responsible for laying the bombs.”
Members of the group had deliberately recruited secondary students who planned to leave Hong Kong for good, Mr. Li said.
Beijing imposed the security law on Hong Kong last year, punishing what it regards as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in jail. Authorities have repeatedly said it has “restored stability.”
Critics of the law, including Western governments, lawyers and international human rights groups, say authorities are using it to crush dissent in the former British colony, an assertion Beijing rejects.
The Hong Kong government has said that freedoms in the global financial hub are respected but not absolute and they cannot endanger the security law. — Reuters
MEXICO CITY — Just days after video of a massive ocean surface blaze near a Pemex oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico went viral, Mexico’s national oil company has declared that environmental damage was avoided due to quick action by its workers.
The July 2 blaze, caught on video apparently from a nearby helicopter, showed bright orange flames jumping out of the water as the fire raged a short distance from the oil platform. Pemex has previously said it took more than five hours to fully extinguish the fire.
“There was no oil spill and the immediate action taken to control the surface fire avoided environmental damage,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
The statement added that the blaze was sparked by an electric storm that ignited a leak of gas from a busted underwater pipeline.
The fire ignited a storm of criticism over the weekend, including social media posts from climate activist Greta Thunberg and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, among many others.
The fire took place at the top producing offshore oilfield operated by Pemex, which has a long track record of major industrial accidents at its facilities.
Gusatvo Alanis, a board member with Mexico’s environmental law center CEMDA, told Reuters he thinks it is much too soon to conclude that the fire caused no environmental damage.
Pemex should commit to preparing a “detailed study of the (environmental) impact caused by the fire” as well as a plan to repair the damage, according to a statement issued earlier on Monday and signed by more than two dozen environmental groups, including Greenpeace as well as CEMDA.
In its statement, the state-run Pemex only committed to investigating the cause of the pipeline gas leak. — Reuters
MOSCOW — Russia’s powerful Orthodox Church admonished people refusing to be vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), calling them sinners who would have to atone for the rest of their lives, as the country reported another jump in new infections and deaths.
The church urged all its faithful to be inoculated as another 24,353 new COVID-19 cases were registered on Monday, including 6,557 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 5,635,294.
The government coronavirus task force said 654 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 138,579.
The federal statistics agency has kept a separate count and has said Russia recorded around 270,000 deaths related to COVID-19 from April 2020 to April 2021.
Speaking on state television, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, said those refusing to vaccinate were committing “a sin for which they will have to atone throughout their lives”.
He added: “I see situations every day where people visit a priest in order to confess that they had refused to vaccinate themselves or their close ones and unwillingly caused someone’s death.
“…The sin is thinking of oneself but not of another person.” — Reuters
The impact of the pandemic on currencies around the world, and the forex market, is difficult to fully appreciate. It may even be too early to quantify exactly to what extent the pandemic has affected the world’s financial market. The tourism, hospitality, and travel industries were all rattled to their cores by the various lockdowns around the world.
Despite this, in the initial first 6 months, forex seemed to be largely unconcerned. By early 2021, increasing volatility has been the marked reaction of many currencies to the various twists and turns of the global health crisis. Even the fastest-growing economies in the world weren’t excused from the sharp increase in fluctuations, including the Philippine peso.
The Philippine economy was submerged into a strict approach to lockdowns, typical of many of the satellite countries to China. In Q2 2020, the Philippine economy actually suffered one of the biggest contractions, shrinking by 16.5% year-on-year, producing its first official recession in 30 years. However, a combination of its unique economic makeup and the pressures of the pandemic led to an environment where the Philippine peso has challenged even the mighty U.S. dollar, and it may continue to do so.
The Current Situation
The Philippine peso’s moment in the sun began in late 2020. The currency strengthened by a remarkable 4% against the dollar by September 2020, outperforming all its APAC counterparts. Only the Chinese yuan and Taiwanese dollar also made gains on the U.S dollar during this time. Largely, the growth was attributed to a complete dropoff in imports, as a precautionary measure against a novel Coronavirus. With an import fall larger than the exports, the Philippine peso flourished.
A Fitch Solutions report from late 2020 explained; “As domestic restrictions measures are eased, we forecast a gradual reversal of the current account’s improvement”. This seems to be a reasonable assumption to make given the tenuous nature of the economic benefits of a pandemic.
However, there is no ruling out a continuation of the trend of the strong peso, especially if Philippine demands for imports do not increase, whilst exports recover. A year of isolation and lockdown could potentially have allowed the Philippines to streamline and improve their self-reliance for certain goods or services, thus keeping imports down.
A Powerhouse in the Making?
The Philippines is already a popular market amongst investors as one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. There is no guarantee the pendulum simply swings the other way once again. Institutional and retail investors alike are closely watching the progress of the peso as 2021 progresses. Unseen obstacles are easily thrown up: new viral variants, future lockdowns, recovering industries, and continued vaccination schemes are all ongoing efforts that make the future of the peso a subject of interest.
Meanwhile, over in the States, the U.S. dollar’s difficult year is speculated to be coming to an end too. Bullish investors are ready and waiting for a recovery, buoyed by a successful vaccination rollout in North America, and a strengthening dollar over European allies. Some analysts have forecasted an improvement to 1.15 dollars per euro by the end of 2021.
We’re left now with a further six months of uncertainty that entirely hinges on the pandemic’s second year of existence as one of either further complications or a gradual reduction in severity. It’s clear that uncertainty will contribute to further volatility, so for the time being forex traders interested in the Philippine peso’s continued shifting position against the dollar are best advised to continue monitoring the situation closely, as there are no guarantees either way just yet.
In Southeast Asia, the appetite amongst investors has been growing for quite some time. Of the many nations within that region, several have been earmarked as rapidly emerging markets capable of significant growth, and healthy recoveries from the global health crisis of 2020 onwards.
According to Oxford Economics, some of the fastest-growing, and highest-rated economies include Malaysia, The Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. Some rely on thriving tourism industries like Thailand, others are experiencing rapid GDP growth – the Philippines boasts a year-on-year increase of 5.3%. It’s, therefore, no surprise that forex traders were attracted to the region and its wealth of small, high-growth national economies.
The demand was so great in fact, that the recent decision of the Philippine Monetary Board – known as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) – has raised the NOP (Net Open Position Value) for banks’ foreign exchange transactions. The NOP is the sum of all short single currency exposures, and raising the cap is a sign of both strong appetite and a willingness within the nation’s banking structure to usher in more market activity, within a well-regulated shell. In short, it’s great news for forex traders.
Whilst this good news was announced, an important appendix was added to the statement, to limit risk-taking. As the BSP Governor, Benjamin Diokno explained in his weekly press conference; “The amendments are geared toward increasing liquidity in the foreign exchange market while ensuring that the transactions undertaken by financial institutions meet legitimate foreign currency needs and are subject to the appropriate risk governance.”
The move comes in light of presumed increased demand from traders and brings with it a number of potential benefits to both sides of these trades, both to investors and the facilitators, or brokers, of the trades. Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, greater liquidity in the Philippine forex market. This is important to the establishment of the Philippine Peso as a trusted and reliable currency to trade in as, typically, higher liquidity leads to a more secure, predictable currency pricing. Conversely, less liquidity means much higher volatility in the market, which can often be less attractive to a more cautious forex trader.
The liberal decision to raise the cap also increases the chance of further government supervision of the market. Again, this is no bad thing. An increase in legislation and some improvement in supervision can be fantastic trust signals to retail investors or institutional bodies looking for consistent Asian currencies to trade-in. As many of these nations are viewed as ‘emerging’, it’s positive to see them take their forex market seriously, although the hope amongst many will be for a balanced approach between legislation and market freedom.
Forex being a naturally unpredictable and fast-moving beast for traders, the decision to raise the NOP has happily resulted in no major drop-off in interest. It appears more traders are instead choosing to test the waters of the Philippine market with demo accounts, often found on popular forex trading platforms that allow for a risk-free observation of how the move has affected the Philippine Peso’s day-to-day movements.
As mentioned, this move has been a measured one from the BSP, as much as it was a move to welcome greater investment. Economic recovery has seemingly been the approach of many nations leaving the challenges of 2020 behind and hoping to enjoy some growth in the new year. For forex traders, there is a sense of waiting to see how the cap rising affects the volatility of the peso. It’s an exciting step for an emerging market, but also one that will leave traders filled with plenty of curiosity moving forward.
TOKYO – Japan said on Tuesday it would ship millions more doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine to Asian neighbours this week as a continuation of bilateral donations.
Japan will send about 1.1 million more doses to Taiwan on Thursday, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters at a regular press conference, after previously delivering 1.24 million doses last month.
A further 1 million doses each will be sent to Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam this week, following earlier donations to Indonesia and Malaysia, Motegi said.
“True friends always lend a hand when they need each other the most,” Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang wrote on his Facebook page.
Japan has arranged to buy 120 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, with most of that supply produced by domestic companies. Regulators approved the shot in May, but amid lingering concerns about blood clots, health authorities have relied on the mRNA-type vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc in Japan’s inoculation push.
Japan has pledged $1 billion and 30 million doses to the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, but so far its donations have been outside of that programme.
AstraZeneca doses produced in Japan have not yet been approved by the World Health Organisation for use in COVAX, Motegi said, so the country has turned to bilateral deals to respond to “urgent requests for vaccine supplies.”
Japan’s first shipments through the COVAX facility are expected in the middle of this month, with some 11 million doses bound for nations in south Asia and the Pacific islands, Motegi said. – Reuters
Calling all choco-holics! On July 7-11 2021, S Maison at Conrad Manila will be the sweetest place in town, bringing you the must-see World Chocolate Festival where you can indulge in heavenly chocolate treats. Get ready for a sugar high as you feast on the everything chocolate – donuts, ice cream, waffles, tableas, babkas, cookies, and chocolate frozen yoghurt.
This year, your favorite sweet shops show off their iterations of the award-winning Auro chocolate. For the fair, Auro is partnering with Overdoughs, Café Mary Grace, Poison Doughnuts, Half Saints, Serenitea, Bubu Bars, Lola Café, Pinkberry, and Conrad Manila.
Froyo and vegan ice cream. Want to try dairy-free choco bars? Bubu Bars has the perfect treats for you! Get their “Nuts For You” flavored vegan ice cream bar with hints of bourbon vanilla and light creamy caramel covered in thick Auro 55% single origin dark chocolate, topped with salted almond praline. Vegans can also try their “Fancy Pants” sweet and tart vegan ice cream bar blended with roasted strawberries, covered in thick Auro 77% single origin dark chocolate and topped with freeze-dried strawberries. Their products are all dairy-free and plant-based so you can satisfy your sweet tooth ─ minus the guilt! What’s more, you can also opt for Pinkberry’s rich and nutty dark chocolate froyo at the fair.
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Chocolate-flavored chips and cookies. Can’t decide between sweet or savory? Have the best of both worlds with Poison Doughnuts’ milk chocolate Doritos donuts, coated with an Auro 42% milk chocolate glaze, or their white chocolate Cheetos donuts with 32% Auro white chocolate. If you prefer your chocolate in cookies, there’s something for you, too! Give in to your cravings with Overdoughs and their white chocolate cashew butter cookie mixed with sweet Auro white chocolate, cashew nuts and white chocolate chunks. They will also offer more flavors that you can try at P120 per piece or P450 for a box of four.
Savory chocolate pairings. Believe it or not ─ Half Saints will offer spicy chocolate and beef kare in a pan, a sweet and savory ground beef filling with 42% Auro milk chocolate and spicy Japanese curry. They’ll also be serving their highly praised 64%
Dark Chocolate Tart with Himalayan Pink Salt, among others. Meanwhile, Lola Café will have a strawberry and chocolate waffle with crème fraiche and toasted coconut on the menu and Auro tsokolate cakes.
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Delicious milk tea and cakes in cans. If you haven’t tried the trendy cake in a can, Conrad Manila’s chocolate and griottine cherry cake in a can, topped with a 64% Auro chocolate disc, is the perfect place to start. Another cake to try is Café Mary Grace’s single-origin Davao dark chocolate with almond chocolate bark and orange cream. For milk tea addicts, Serenitea will offer several special milk tea flavors with Auro chocolate like their bestselling Cacao Cookie Supreme, Trio Chocolate, and more. And if you just want Auro chocolates, Kultura has you covered. They’ll be selling over 20 Auro products beautifully packaged as always, including dark chocolate freeze dried mangoes and milk chocolate with banana chips.
Don’t miss out on their exclusive promos, too! You can get free personalized tags for a minimum purchase of P500 from any vendor at the chocolate fair from July 7 to 11. Shoppers can also get free Auro chocolate for a minimum purchase of P300 from July 9 to 11. Prefer to stay at home? Get free delivery for a minimum purchase of P1,000 from July 7 to 11 from 10AM – 6PM.
To top it off, you can also win exciting giveaways! All you have to do is take an Instagram-worthy photo during the fair, post on Instagram, follow and tag @smaison_conrad and @aurochocolate. Don’t forget to use the hashtag, #SMaisonxAuroChocolateFair. The winners will be notified through direct message on social media at 12pm on Sunday, July 11, and may claim their prize on the same day at or before 8pm.
The event is free and the mall will implement strict safety protocols. At the World Chocolate Fair at S Maison, expect chocolate surprises ─ from classic pastries to inventive desserts ─ that you haven’t seen or tried anywhere else!
For more updates, visit www.smsupermalls.com and follow @smsupermalls on all social media accounts.
HONG KONG – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday “ideologies” posed risks to national security and urged parents, teachers and religious leaders to observe the behaviour of teenagers and report those who break the law to the authorities.
The financial hub has taken a swift authoritarian turn since China’s imposition of a sweeping national security law last year and changes to its political system to reduce democratic participation and oust people deemed disloyal to Beijing.
At her weekly news conference, Ms. Lam expressed dismay at some residents mourning the death of a 50-year-old who stabbed a policeman before killing himself on July 1, the anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule and the Chinese Communist Party’s centenary.
“For a long time, citizens have been exposed to wrong ideas, such as achieving justice through illegal means,” Ms. Lam told reporters, adding that national security risks stemmed not only from “public order” acts, but also from ideology.
The city has been polarised since protesters took to the streets in 2019 demanding greater democracy and accountability for what activists called police violence. Authorities have said the protests were fuelled by foreign forces and exposed risks to national security.
Since the security law was introduced, the most prominent government opponents have been jailed or fled abroad. Critics say the legislation has crushed the city’s wide-ranging rights and freedoms, while supporters say it has restored stability.
Government departments “shouldn’t allow illegal ideas to filter through to the public through education, broadcasting, arts and culture, beautifying violence and clouding the conscience of the public,” Ms. Lam said.
“I also call on parents, principals, teachers, and even pastors to observe acts of teenagers around them. If some teens are found to be committing illegal acts, they must be reported.”
Police and security officials said the stabbing of the 28-year-old policeman was a “terrorist,” lone-wolf attack, based on unspecified materials found on the attacker’s computer.
People went to the scene of the attack on Friday, some with children, to pay their respects to the attacker and lay flowers, drawing condemnation from Ms. Lam and other officials.
Lam said residents should not be deceived by messages circulating online suggesting the government had any responsibility for the violence, or by slogans such as “there’s no violence, only tyranny.”
“Do not look for excuses on behalf of the violent,” Ms. Lam said. – Reuters
SINGAPORE – Singapore researchers have developed a smart foam material that allows robots to sense nearby objects, and repairs itself when damaged, just like human skin.
Artificially innervated foam, or AiFoam, is a highly elastic polymer created by mixing fluoropolymer with a compound that lowers surface tension.
This allows the spongy material to fuse easily into one piece when cut, according to the researchers at the National University of Singapore.
“There are many applications for such a material, especially in robotics and prosthetic devices, where robots need to be a lot more intelligent when working around humans,” explained lead researcher Benjamin Tee.
To replicate the human sense of touch, the researchers infused the material with microscopic metal particles and added tiny electrodes underneath the surface of the foam.
When pressure is applied, the metal particles draw closer within the polymer matrix, changing their electrical properties. These changes can be detected by the electrodes connected to a computer, which then tells the robot what to do, Tee said.
“When I move my finger near the sensor, you can see the sensor is measuring the changes of my electrical field and responds accordingly to my touch,” he said.
This feature enables the robotic hand to detect not only the amount but also the direction of applied force, potentially making robots more intelligent and interactive.
Tee said AiFoam is the first of its kind to combine both self-healing properties and proximity and pressure sensing. After spending over two years developing it, he and his team hope the material can be put to practical use within five years.
“It can also allow prosthetic users to have more intuitive use of their robotic arms when grabbing objects,” he said. – Reuters
SYDNEY – The premier of Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) said on Tuesday she aims to decide within the next 24 hours whether to extend a COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney that is due to end on Friday as new infections dropped in the country’s most populous state.
Just 18 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases were detected in NSW on Tuesday, half of the previous day’s number. But Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the decision would also take into account her administration’s determination to make the current lockdown in the city of five million people the last, as it aims to step up vaccinations.
“That will factor into our decision-making as to whether it (the two-week lockdown) finishes on Friday or whether we continue for a period longer,” Ms. Berejiklian told reporters. “I hope to be able to communicate to the community tomorrow on what next week looks like.”
Sydney went into a hard lockdown on June 26 to quash the latest flare-up – an outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID-19 – but officials have been frustrated after finding new infections linked to illegal gatherings and people flouting social distancing rules, raising prospects of an extension.
Of Tuesday’s cases, 16 were either in isolation throughout or for part of their infectious period. Two cases spent time in the community while they were infectious.
With Sydney battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak of 2021, total infections in the flare-up crossed 330 since the first case was detected nearly three weeks ago in a limousine driver who transported overseas airline crew.
Speedy contact tracing, lockdowns, tough social distancing rules and a high community compliance have kept Australia’s COVID-19 numbers much lower among developed economies, with just over 30,800 cases and 910 deaths since the pandemic began. – Reuters
The giant home retailer Wilcon Depot, known for its high-quality home improvement and building needs, continues its expansion with its newest store location at Cordon, Isabela.
The successful opening of its first store in the province of Isabela on June 25, 2021, brings the Philippines’ leading home retailer store count to 67 across the country, wherein 18 branches are in Metro Manila and 49 stores located in key cities and municipalities of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The company sees the municipality of Cordon as a viable place for their newest store. Valued shoppers can enjoy great home and building shopping every day from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM with Wilcon Depot Cordon, Isabela located at Purok 2, Brgy. Malapat, Cordon, Isabela.
Isabelan homeowners and builders can now shop through the newest store and explore the wide array of product selections ranging from Tiles, Sanitarywares, Plumbing, Furniture, Home Interior, Building Materials, Hardware, Electrical, Appliances, and other DIY items.
“Wilcon gives our valued customers, the Filipino homeowners and builders across the Philippines, the widest product selections and great customer experience that they deserve. With this new store opening, we are keeping our promise to help Filipino homeowners, especially the Isabelan to build, improve, and refine their homes for a sustainable and comfortable life,” said Wilcon Depot SEVP-COO Rosemarie Bosch-Ong.
Photo shows: (L-R) AVP for Engineering Nicholas Agbing, Cordon Municipal Vice Mayor Hon. Jane Ngipol, Isabela 4th District Representative Hon. Alyssa Sheena Tan, Cordon Municipal Mayor Hon. Lynn Zuniega, representative from the Office of the Vice Governor Hon. Faustino G. Dy III, Wilcon Depot AVP for Information Technology Rowel Mapolon, and AVP for Sales and Operations Francisco Lazaro
The inauguration of its 67th store nationwide was graced with the presence of Wilcon Depot AVP for Sales and Operations Francisco Lazaro, AVP for Engineering Nicholas Agbing, and AVP for Information Technology Rowel Mapolon together with the local government officials—Cordon Municipal Mayor Hon. Lynn Zuniega, Vice Mayor Hon. Jane Ngipol, Isabela 4th District Representative Hon. Alyssa Sheena Tan, and representative from the Office of the Vice Governor Hon. Faustino G. Dy III. A video conference with Wilcon Depot President and CEO Lorraine Belo-Cincochan and SEVP-COO Rosemarie Bosch-Ong was also held before the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Photo screenshot shows: (from top left) Wilcon Depot President and CEO Lorrain Belo-Cincochan, SEVP-COO Rosemarie Bosch-Ong, Cordon Municipal Mayor Hon. Lynn Zuniega, Vice Mayor Hon. Jane Ngipol, and Isabela 4th District Representative Hon. Alyssa Sheena Tan
“Recognized as the queen province of the Philippines, Isabela is naturally beautiful and rich in agriculture business, human resource, and biodiversity. Wilcon is thrilled to be part of the growing and progressive province. The new store opening here in Cordon is a fulfillment of our #FlyingHighTo100 store expansion campaign of having a 100-strong store network by 2025, barring any unexpected external factors,” said Lorraine Belo-Cincochan, President and CEO of Wilcon Depot.
Wilcon Depot Cordon offers endless home products and solutions. You’ll never run out of options as it provides everything you need for your home. 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.
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.
HERITAGE Furniture and HEIM Home Interior, Furniture and Decor are exhibited at the Home Living Showroom. HAMDEN Kitchen Appliances, KAZE Ceiling Fans and Air conditioners, and ALPHALUX Lighting Solutions are displayed in the Appliance, Kitchen, Lighting 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.
Wilcon Depot gives the utmost customer satisfaction and redefines the home and building shopping experience through their 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.
For a bigger and better home shopping experience, valued customers nationwide can now 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. Customers can conveniently pay with their credit card, debit card, BancNet, and GCash.
Customers can also enjoy the Browse, Call, and Collect or Deliver and Wilcon Virtual Tour, and these shopping options give you a safe and convenient shopping journey. Wilcon also provides contactless payment options like bank transfers, GCash, PayMaya, Instapay, PesoNet, WeChat, and Alipay for customers’ convenience.
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.
Start building big ideas for your home and experience more of what Wilcon has to offer. Shop now and visit their newest store in Purok 2, Brgy. Malapat, Cordon, Isabela.
Wilcon makes loyalty more rewarding for their valued customers with its loyalty program that offers exclusive perks and discounts. The Wilcon Loyalty Mobile App allows customers to earn and check their points, as well as convert their purchases to rewards after they sign up. The Wilcon Loyalty Mobile App is available for download at the Google Play Store and App Store for free.
