12 BUSINESS NEWS PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY June 1 - 15 , 2017
The government may spend nearly P3 billion for its nationwide free wifi project , an official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology ( DICT ) said .
DICT Undersecretary for special concerns Eliseo Rio Jr . told reporters that the department had already secured more than 300 sites nationwide for its free wi-fi project .
The DICT targets to provide free wi-fi internet in 13,000 public sites across 145 cities and 1,489 municipalities through a project called PipolKonek .
Rio said the investment needed to fund the 13,000 sites is “ almost P3 billion .”
PLDT Inc . said Tuesday it expects to save P7 billion over the next five years from the planned manpower reduction of its IT department .
“ It ’ s progressing reasonably well and we aim to sign the relevant agreements with IBM by the end of June ,” PLDT chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan told reporters at the sidelines of the stockholders ’ meeting in Makati City .
“ Not all of the IT people will move to IBM , some will be retained . We have to retain the so-called brains of the IT organization ,” he said . PLDT has over 1,000
I had to learn different skills to cope with stress .” “ I missed the social aspects of smoking .” “ I ’ d relapse and have to work up the nerve to try again .”
These were just a few of the hurdles that former smokers said they had to overcome in order to kick their smoking habit for good .
In our most recent smoke-free survey , smokers from across our health region shared their real struggles , and gave an honest assessment of the challenges they faced while quitting smoking .
There ’ s no question that quitting smoking is difficult . But it is doable . After all , in the end , each one of the 150 former smokers who shared their struggles with us achieved their goal of becoming an ex-smoker . You can too .
Here are some of the real struggles they conquered while quitting . Could one of their strategies help you break free too ?
• “ I smoked more when I was under stress ,
PH to spend P3B for free wi-fi
They aim to reach the target before the end of the year .
The DICT earlier said the project dubbed Pipol- Konek is intended to promote digital literacy among Filipinos .
Launching the said project will facilitate the development of an ICT-enabled nation geared toward sustainable socio-economic growth ,” the DICT said .
In line with providing free internet access to the public , the DICT together with the National Telecommunications Commission ( NTC ) launched the first phase of its EDSA free wi-fi project Monday .
The first stage of the project aims to provide high speed internet services project along the 24 km stretch of EDSA , which covers all 13 stations of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 ( MRT3 ), from North Avenue to Taft , as well as the street level of EDSA from Guadalupe to Taft Avenue .
DICT said it expects to complete the first two stages of the EDSA free wi-fi project before President Dutuerte ’ s State of the Nation Address ( SONA ) in July .
“ The second stage will cover EDSA from Cubao to North Avenue and from Guadalupe to Taft Avenue to be operational before the President ’ s SONA on July
PLDT expects to save P7B in manpower cut
IT personnel .
“ We estimate over P7 billion [ in savings ]. It ’ s quite substantial . It will not happen in one year but several years , at least five years ,” Pangilinan said .
Pangilinan said besides manpower reduction , the company would also cut expenses on travel , seminars , symposia , foreign trips and essential entertainment .
PLDT also implemented a salary increase freeze in the last two years .
“ Everybody is pitching in , in terms of helping out in the opex [ operation expense ] reduction ,” he said .
PLDT put a new leadership team in place at the
PLDT CEO Manuel Pangilinan
start of 2017 to ensure its continued income recovery .
“ This new team has brought new ideas , new ways of working , fresh perspectives and a variety of skill sets and experiences . We ’ ll continue to develop our people , to ensure that we ’ re constantly poised to deliver on innovative growth ,” Pangilinan said .
“ This isn ’ t easy for PLDT as large and as old and as profitable as it is to accept that change is needed . But we remain idealists about our future as we were in our past – with no illusions that failure to transform will mean extinction . Disruption is the key to survival and revival in this new day and
24 , 2017 ,” DICT said .
“ This will make the street level of EDSA running alongside the MRT3 rails a continuous high speed wifi zone from Taft to North Avenue at Quezon City ,” it added .
The DICT department said the third and last stage of the EDSA free wi-fi project would cover the entire 24 km stretch of EDSA , outside the reach of MRT3 from MOA to Balintawak . This is set to be completed by the end of August 2017 .
DICT Secretary Rodolfo Salalima said the agency aims to replicate the EDSA free wi-fi projects in other areas of the country . ●
- C . Talavera , PS
age ,” he said .
PLDT , partly owned by Hong Kong ’ s First Pacific Co . Ltd . and Japan ’ s NTT group , earlier reported a net income of P4.95 billion in January to March , down 20 percent from P6.21 billon it earned in the same period last year .
Core profit , which excludes foreign exchange gains or losses and other non-recurring income , also dropped 26 percent to P5.3 billon from a year earlier .
The company is maintaining a profit guidance of P21.5 billion this year , despite the lower first-quarter profit . ●
- D . Amojelar , MS
How did you overcome smoking struggles ? when I was driving and after eating . So I had to change my whole way of life . I went for walks on my breaks instead of smoking , I snacked on fruit and veggies in my car and after dinner I started to knit to keep my hands busy .”
• “ I would relapse when I ran out of nicotine gum , and if I went to buy more , I would end up buying cigarettes because they were cheaper . So I got my whole family involved in buying my gum supply for me .”
• “ For me smoking was such a social thing so I joined other social types of engagements where smoking was discouraged : bowling , going out to dinner , being with non-smoking friends .”
• “ I realized that whenever I drank a cup of coffee or alcohol , I wanted to smoke , so I had to quit that for about four months .”
• “ I struggled most with talking on the phone and not smoking . So I started cleaning the bathrooms when I was on the phone . Those were some really clean bathrooms those first
few months !”
• “ The cravings were hard to get past , but I used my goal of saving money to buy a home as motivation , saying out loud , “ I want a home more than a smoke .”
• " I fight it one craving
at a time , not one day at a time . I will go for a walk , get up and go do something , drink water , just something to take my mind off of it . Every craving I beat , it gets easier and easier .”
Thinking about addressing your tobacco use ? Here are resources to help you :
• Did you know that if you are an in-patient in one of our hospitals or facilities , we can provide you with nicotine replacement therapy
WWW . PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY . COM
such as nicotine patches , gum , lozenges or inhalers for the entire length of your stay ? Ask one of your care providers to explain the options to you .
• Did you know that after your discharge from hospital you can continue to access free nicotine replacement therapy through the BC Smoking Cessation Program ? This program is open to all B . C . residents and provides non-prescription nicotine replacement therapy products such as the patch , or gum , or lozenge or inhaler at no cost . Simply head to a drugstore and talk to a pharmacist to learn more . The program also covers prescription smoking cessation drugs through benefits for those who qualify for Fair PharmaCare . Speak with your family physician to see if prescription smoking cessation medication is right for you .
• Did you know that you can access free and confidential one-to-one coaching to stop smoking throughQuitNow ? QuitNow provides support through their interactive online service or through text , chat , email and phone support . They provide phone services in 300 languages , plus an online community of peers to cheer you along in your smoke-free journey . Visit Quitnow . ca or call ( call 1-877-455-2233 ) to speak with a coach today .
• Tobacco has played a sacred role in First Nations and Métis cultures in B . C . for thousands of years . VisitRespecting Tobacco and Keep It Sacred for more information on how to quit commercial tobacco and keep tobacco sacred .
• Did you know you can learn more about smoking cessation on Fraserhealth . ca ? Here you can find tips and tricks for stopping smoking , and compare nicotine replacement therapies , and read inspiring articles of others who have quit .
Share your own biggest struggles to quit smoking and tell us how you overcame them in the comments below . You could inspire someone else to achieve smoke-free success . ●
- fraserhealth . ca