Rose Pharmacy blends savings, family fun at mega sale

CEBU CITY — Shopping for family essentials turned into an interactive weekend getaway as Rose Pharmacy hosted its Mom and Kids Mega Sale on July 29–30, 2026, transforming the Atrium of Robinsons Galleria Cebu into a lively, camping-themed destination.

Designed to go beyond the typical shopping experience, the two-day event offered parents steep discounts of up to 50% on trusted healthcare and childcare brands while giving children a dedicated space to play, create, and explore.

The venue's vibrant campsite design featured several interactive stations, including: Camping-Themed Photo Spot: A festive backdrop for families to capture keepsake photos; Arts & Crafts Corner: A hands-on station for kids to unleash their creativity; Interactive Games & Activities: Group challenges structured to bring parents and children together and Kids Costume Contest: A centerpiece showcase where young participants took the stage in colorful, imaginative outfits.

The event brought together top partner brands alongside Rose Pharmacy to offer exclusive promotions, blending everyday value with entertainment.

“At Rose Pharmacy, we understand that caring for families goes beyond providing trusted healthcare products,” said Michael So, General Manager of Rose Pharmacy Inc. “Through the Mom and Kids Mega Sale, we wanted to create an experience where families could enjoy quality time together while taking advantage of meaningful savings.”

The turnout highlights Rose Pharmacy's ongoing effort to make everyday family care more accessible, engaging, and rewarding for generations of Filipino households. (Photos: Rose Pharmacy)

G Summit 2026 drives Visayas enterprises toward ‘Intelligent Transformation’

 CEBU CITY— As the Visayas region cements its position as a primary driver of national economic growth and a critical conduit for international trade, regional enterprises are navigating increasingly complex operational demands. Managing multi-island operations, cross-island supply chains, and stringent global compliance requirements has placed a spotlight on the need for integrated, future-ready digital systems.

Addressing this strategic need, Globe Business convened the region’s top corporate leaders, utility executives, and technology innovators at G Summit Cebu 2026, held on August 19 at Nustar. Centered on the theme "Orchestrating Intelligence," the event presented a unified vision for "Intelligent Transformation"—a model that shifts enterprises away from fragmented tech upgrades toward a synchronized ecosystem linking cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, telco APIs, and artificial intelligence over a resilient network backbone.

“Technology should be a catalyst for regional growth, not a barrier,” said Glenn Estrella, Vice President of Globe Business. “For the Visayan region, connecting operations across a distributed landscape represents a complex operational undertaking. G Summit Cebu is about aligning with the region's leaders to orchestrate regional resilience that meets global standards.”

The summit featured an executive panel exploring the distinct operational requirements of Visayan industries. Key panellists included: Mark Anthony Kindica, President and General Manager of Visayan Electric Company (VECO); Nilo Arribas, Chief Information Officer of Vivant Corporation and Suzelyn Urbano, Vice President at GCash.

The leaders addressed practical challenges across the region, including coordinating utility and telecom infrastructure for new commercial developments, scaling operations across island markets, and securing high-volume digital transactions.

 Moving beyond high-level strategy, G Summit Cebu 2026 featured four immersive, purpose-built innovation experience rooms, offering attendees hands-on exposure to working prototypes of next-generation enterprise technology:

Orchestrated Infrastructure: Live stress tests demonstrated self-healing networks and quantum-safe protocols capable of automatically mitigating hardware failures and security threats without service disruption—a critical feature for 24/7 IT-BPM hubs and manufacturing facilities across the Visayas.

API Hub, a live demonstration showed zero-friction digital identity verification and credibility scoring using telco APIs. While presented as a digital loan scenario, the underlying framework provides instant onboarding solutions for retail, e-commerce, and tourism sectors.

Cyberheist Room, a floor-to-ceiling projected digital grid immersed executives in multi-vector threat simulations, highlighting how proactive, layered defenses protect sensitive customer data and financial transactions across enterprise platforms and hotel chains.

Gemini Agent Force, focused on deployable AI, this zone allowed executives to build custom enterprise AI agents designed to automate departmental workflows, helping BPOs, food and beverage operators, and SMEs resolve operational bottlenecks in real time.

As the Visayas economy accelerates, Globe Business’s summit highlighted a clear takeaway for regional decision-makers: long-term competitiveness will rely heavily on the cohesion, security, and intelligence built into an enterprise's core digital foundation.

 

 

Globe pushes 'Intelligent Transformation' for PH Enterprises at G Summit in Cebu

 CEBU CITY — Despite downgraded growth forecasts and the slowest GDP expansion in five years, Philippine businesses are entering 2026 with record optimism, Globe Business said Wednesday, August 19 at the G Summit 2026 in Cebu.

Speaking before more than 200 enterprise leaders at G Summit 2026 in NUSTAR Resort & Casino, Globe Chief Marketing Officer KD Dizon framed the year as one of "quiet defiance" and called for a shift from buying disconnected digital tools to what she termed "orchestrating intelligence."

"If you open any news feed, the headlines feel quite heavy," Dizon said. "ADB has growth down to 3.8 percent, IMF to 3.9, OECD to 3.2. Our nation's GDP growth came in at 2.3 percent. Reuters reports this as our slowest growth in five years. But those headlines miss the sheer quiet defiance of the Filipino business leader."

Citing a CPA Australia survey, Dizon said 79 percent of Philippine SMEs grew last year — the strongest result since before the pandemic. This year, 89 percent  expect to grow, the highest expectation among countries surveyed, ahead of Singapore and Australia.

"This room is not a side conversation to the Philippine economy. You are the Filipino economy," Dizon told the audience. "The business sector employs about 29 million Filipinos. That is over 60 percent of our country's workforce, and it generates 45 percent of our GDP."

From Digital Tools to 'One Brain'
Dizon acknowledged that companies have spent the last decade migrating to the cloud, automating operations, and building digital touchpoints.

"But the friction still remains," she said. "When an executive needs a clear cross-departmental answer, for many of you, it still means someone has to go and manually extract three, five different spreadsheets. Over 80 percent of data in modern enterprises still sits locked within silos."

The solution, she said, is "Intelligent Transformation" — moving away from fragmented upgrades toward a connected ecosystem where network, data, AI, cybersecurity and APIs work as one.

"Real transformation means looking at your enterprise as a single living organism," Dizon said. "We are no longer here to stack disconnected digital tools. Our true mandate is to breathe life into every technology investment."

She outlined four pillars: resilient network infrastructure to withstand typhoons and outages, open APIs to connect legacy and modern systems, embedded cybersecurity, and AI as a "master conductor" that turns fragmented data into real-time decisions.

"Instead of reading about supply chain friction or fraud in your end-of-day report, you are able to act on it instantly," she said.

Dizon said G Summit 2026 at NUSTAR serves as the launch platform for Globe’s Intelligent Transformation framework, with live "experience spaces" demonstrating how the integrated approach applies to Philippine use cases.

"Globe Business is not just here to sell bandwidth. We believe connectivity is nation building," she said. "Every cell site we fire up, every fiber that we lay down drives development for our country, one business partnership at a time."

She closed with a call for partnership amid economic headwinds and natural disruptions. "Every single year, a stream of typhoons tests every supply chain, every server room, every promise we have made as a business. Yet we get through it the exact same way we always have — through bayanihan. We show up for one another when the ground gets a little bit unsteady. Let us build, let us scale, and let us master that ecosystem together, Dizon concluded. 

New Health Secretary meets Cebu private hospitals to push UHC reforms

MANDAUE CITY— Acting Health Secretary Dr. Edwin Mercado met with officials of Cebu’s major private tertiary hospitals on August 18 to discuss expanding financial risk protection under Universal Health Care while keeping hospitals financially viable.

The dialogue, held at Oakridge Horizons, brought together administrators from Cebu’s biggest training hospitals: Cebu Doctors' University Hospital, Chong Hua Hospital Cebu, Chong Hua Hospital Mandaue, Healthway Cebu Velez General Hospital, Perpetual Succour Hospital, Southwestern University Medical Center, University of Cebu Medical Center, and VisayasMed Hospital.

Mercado, who previously served as PhilHealth President and CEO, said the engagement was meant to get private sector input on key UHC reforms, particularly new payment mechanisms already envisioned under the UHC Act.

A central topic was the "no co-payment policy." Under the UHC Act, private hospitals are required to dedicate at least 10% of bed capacity to basic or ward accommodations.

Mercado said the policy aims to make hospital care more affordable and reduce out-of-pocket expenses for Filipinos. Hospital representatives raised concerns on implementation, sustainability, and reimbursement rates.

The discussion also covered "prospective payment mechanisms" — a shift from fee-for-service to fixed packages that PhilHealth and the Department of Health are pushing to control costs and improve predictability for both patients and providers.

Mercado presented a proposed "shared agenda" between DOH and private providers. Priority areas include specialty care expansion through the Health Facility Development Plan, aligned with the expansion of PhilHealth Z Benefits for catastrophic illnesses.

Healthy Schools and Healthy Communities programs to be jointly implemented with hospitals; health workforce development, including scholarships for health-related courses, upskilling of primary care doctors, and career progression mapping for Doctors to the Barrios toward leadership roles in primary care teams.

"Private training hospitals play a vital role in the country's healthcare system. They provide specialized medical services and serve as training grounds for future healthcare professionals. We need them as partners if UHC is to work,” Mercado said.

Earlier in the day, Mercado graced the opening of Clinica Prime Cebu’s new Cancer Screening Facility at its Mantlewood branch.  The clinic is now accredited as a PhilHealth YAKAP provider and is the first standalone YAKAP clinic in Central Visayas with a dedicated cancer screening facility.

YAKAP, or "Yaman ng Kalusugan Program," is PhilHealth’s primary care benefit package. The event was facilitated by PhilHealth in coordination with Clinica Prime Cebu, Inc. It was originally planned before Mercado’s appointment as Health Secretary, and officials said it reflects PhilHealth’s continuing commitment to work with private providers.

With the country’s health system under pressure from rising costs and post-pandemic backlogs, DOH said stronger public-private collaboration will be critical to meeting UHC targets by 2028. (Photos: Courtesy of PhilHealth-VII)

Special Feature: Biking home from France to Samboan, Cebu

CEBU CITY – Possibilities are limitless for this 20-year-old Filipino-French cyclist Adam Desvaux who embarked in a once-in-a lifetime journey to bike home from France to Philippines and completed this extraordinary solo journey from France to his home in Samboan, South Cebu on August 15, after 13 months, 26 countries, and more than 28,000 kilometers traversing across Europe, Turkey and Middle East, Central Asia, China, Southeast Asia and around the Philippines.

Adam’s arrival in Samboan coincided with his 20th birthday, turning his long-awaited homecoming into a dual celebration with family, friends, and local residents welcoming back the young adventure cyclist.

Some 15 local cyclists joined him from Cebu to Samboan where he was met at his home barangay boundary with cheers, hugs and happy tears from his parents, siblings, friends and the local community waving those “Welcome Home Adam” white flaglets.

The family expressed its gratitude towards Adam’s friends and others for making the trip possible, emphasizing on the uniqueness of the experience and their intention to document it through a video. It was an emotional welcome surprise for Adam and the people cheered “welcome home Adam” and sang happy birthday to him.

“The long wait is over. It was a very emotional arrival surprise for my son, having achieved his once-in-a-lifetime journey—coming home from France to Cebu on his bike!” Mom Rosalie smiles.

Adam described this journey a mix of adventure and a way to return home. He documents his trips on his @gohomeadam, Instagram handle with weekly recaps of countries he’s passing through and the people he meets along the way.

“Solo travel is easier because I can set my own pace.  Everything is mechanical and everything is visible, so you can understand everything on a bike quickly,” Adam said and he likes to ride alone seven to 11 hours per day.

He travels light on his bike with his documents, biking gear, sleeping bag, tent, mini stove, clothes. He does his own bike repairs on the road whenever he has flat tires or something else that needs fixing.

In his Instagram posts in Borneo on his 38^th week of biking as of June 13, 2026, “so close to home,” he wrote.  Adam started his journey on July 8, 2025 with the first leg of 650 km from France to Switzerland.

Adam’s adventurous spirit runs in the family

Adam’s original plan was to bike around the Philippines, but his mom, Rosalie, felt it was too dangerous, that pushed him to dream and aim bigger-- cycle from Europe all the way back to his family’s home in Cebu.

“Adam was an adventurous and curious child from a very young age. He learned to swim by two, climbed trees, and explored various environments with his father.  Adam’s biking skills developed early, influenced by his grandfather, and he continued to bike extensively during the pandemic,” mom Rosalie told this writer, in an interview at her home in Cebu City.

Despite his mother's protective nature, Adam's independence and adventurous spirit led him to participate in sports and consider triathlons. His mother tracked his activities using modern technology, contrasting with her own experiences of worry without communication tools.

Adam's early experiences shaped his love for exploration and physical challenges. Mom Rosalie narrated that Adam's dad would take him to the pool every morning, encouraging him to swim from at the age of two. 

The lad’s curiosity and adventurous spirit led him to explore various environments, including climbing trees and visiting waterfalls, his early biking experiences, influenced by his French grandfather, were a significant part of his development and his dream of traveling the world on a bike, Mom Rosalie said.

Adam’s dad, Fabrice Desvaux, is also an adventurer, having traveled to Africa and other places in the world at a young age; his grandmother traveled to Africa at 16, which adds to the adventurous spirit in the family. Adam and his dad are a pair, often engaging in various adventures together, Rosalie added.

Adam was very active in sports, particularly soccer, from elementary school through senior high school and already expressed an interest in triathlon at a young age, which surprised his mother, Rosalie.

“His adventurous spirit extended to biking, especially during the pandemic when he biked with his cousins and uncles in Samboan, Cebu which improved his biking skills and he often biked farther than his peers, leading to his own adventures,” Rosalie said.

According to Mom Rosalie, Adam explained to her that triathlon involves swimming, running, and biking, which he was already familiar with. His early experiences with biking and soccer laid the foundation for his interest in triathlon.

Adam's mother was very protective and often accompanied him on his biking trips to ensure his safety, but most often he biked without informing his mother to avoid her worry and prevent her from stopping him.

Rosalie said, she would track his location now through the Polar step, which provided her with some peace of mind. She was initially hesitant about his biking trips but eventually allowed him to go as long as he was with a group.  The lack of communication methods in the past compared to now gives her more peace of mind when Adam is on the bike.

Parental support and planning the France-Philippines biking adventure

Despite Mom Rosalie’s initial reluctance, she supports him financially and emotionally, as Adam’s biking ambitions escalate to a plan to bike from France to the Philippines, which she finds dangerous and far-fetched. Dad Fabrice and Adam’s siblings are very supportive to the trip.

Her fears increase as the time for his departure approaches, nevertheless the entire family prepared and supported Adam for a trip to Fontainebleau, France for rock climbing and camping, testing his gear a week before departure.

This preparation helps alleviate his father's concerns and contributes to his own confidence and readiness for the adventure.

Mom Rosalie recounts the emotional farewell of their son, Adam, who embarked on a biking tour from France to the Philippines. Family members were all there to see him off and a local newspaper even covered Adam's plan and send off, on July 8, 2025.

                                      

“We were all running, accompanying Adam as he biked to the start of his journey, feeling both sad and happy. We were actually crying, happy tears, I guess.  Later that day, the family searched for Adam along the canal but eventually confirmed he was far away and resting,” mom Rosalie narrated.

Mapping Adam’s bike home

The first leg: France-Switzerland-Austria-Hungary-Romania-Bulgaria.  It is approximately 3,000 km bike.  Adam, in his Instagram post described the journey around Europe a smooth one because Europe has good roads and bike shops everywhere. This was his fastest section of biking.

Leg 2: Turkey + Middle East. From Turkey-Georgia-Armenia/Azerbaijan or Iran, at approximately 2,500 km.  According to Adam, Turkey is a cyclist hub.  Iran route is faster but one needs permits.  Georgia /Armenia equals mountain rides, hence, slower pace.

Leg 3: Central Asia. Starting from Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan or Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan with approximately 3,500 km.  “The Stans route equals long, empty roads, high mountains, and wild camping,” Adam said in his posts.  This is the slowest section of his leg, also because Visa timing matters here.

Leg 4: China. Xinjiang-Ganzu-Sichuan-Yuman, approximately 3,000 km. Very strict rules here. Foreigners need permits plus sometimes a guide inTibet/Xinjiang. Big distances between towns. More often it is a long ride.

Leg 5: Southeast Asia. Laos/Vietnam-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore with approximately 2,000 km.  Southeast Asia trip is hot, humid, but roads are flat and everything here is cheap and easier logistics. “There’s food stops everywhere,” Adam said.

Leg 6. PHILIPPINES. Ferry from Malaysia-Singapore-Mindanao-Luzon-Ferry to Cebu with about 500-800 km.  This is the last stretch of Adam’s journey with island hopping onboard ferries, riding and waiting for boats.

The Desvaux family led by mom Rosalie and his father, Fabrice backed his ambitious effort, though initially anxious about the hazards of a cross-continental trek, his family supported him financially and emotionally throughout the journey, which Adam documented on his Instagram page (@gohomeadam).

What’s next for Adam? A world tour perhaps, or another kind of adventure?  “I don’t know yet. I’m still enjoying the normal life now,” Adam said.