Jollibee in Edmonton

Popular Filipino fast food chain Jollibee opens in Edmonton to huge fanfare

Slav Kornik | Global News Canada

16 August 2019

The popular Filipino fast-food chain Jollibee opened its first restaurant in Edmonton to massive fanfare on Friday morning — the excitement was so great, a record was set.

Jollibee opening in Edmonton, Canada

Hundreds of people lined up for hours and even days just off Calgary Trail and 38 Avenue in south Edmonton to get the first taste of the restaurant’s food.

The crowd cheered, sang and danced shortly before the restaurant opened.

Jordan Haworth was the first in line after arriving at the restaurant at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, meaning he waited in line for nearly three days —which set a record for the longest wait at a Jollibee opening.

Jollibee store openings have been known to draw large crowds as fans and newcomers alike line up for a chance to try the unique food.

“I’m very very excited. People have been repping it all week,” Haworth, who hadn’t tried the company’s food before, said.

“We have never seen this kind of opening at any of our locations before, probably the [previous] record we had was a 20 hour wait,” JFC North America Philippine branch president Maribeth Delacruz said.

“It was in Manhattan in New York, but somebody waiting in line for three days for the opening is just really phenomenal.”

Others drove several hours to get a taste of Jollibee’s food. The Filipino people who lined up said Jollibee is more than a fast-food restaurant, it’s a part of their native country.

“When you go to a mall with your family, you would eat at Jollibee. You would always eat there.”

The fast-food giant has been in the Philippines for 40 years, with around 1,000 restaurants world-wide.

The menu contains items that may be new to some Canadian palates: known as “the McDonald’s of the Philippines,” the restaurant has diverse offerings such as fried chicken, sweet-style spaghetti sauce and noodles, and peach mango pie.

“I just came from inside and somebody who waited for three days in line, and when she finally got to the counter she was literally crying,” Delacruz said.

The Edmonton restaurant is the fifth in Canada for the company. There are also two in Toronto and two in Winnipeg.

Those in line believe the new restaurant will be a huge hit in Alberta’s capital.

“Especially that it’s just one in Edmonton,” Angel Haddac said.

“And there’s a lot of Filipinos and other people that would like it,” Reyes added.

The company has aggressive expansion plans, with the goal of opening 100 restaurants in Canada over the next five years.

5G Southeast Asia's first

Southeast Asia's First 5G Internet for Homes Is in Philippines

By

Siegfrid Alegado | Bloomberg

‎June‎ ‎21‎, ‎2019‎ ‎

Globe Telecom Inc. will offer next month a fifth generation or 5G wireless broadband for Philippines homes, the first commercially available internet with such speed in Southeast Asia, the company said.

“We made a crucial step in fulfilling our goal of connecting more Filipino homes,” Ernest Cu, president at Globe, said in a statement. Offering 5G speed, which is faster and more secure, will help the company’s 2020 goal of connecting 2 million households to its various home internet products from 1.7 million in the first quarter, Cu said.

The venture of Ayala Corp. and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. will initially offer 5G packages in Pasig City in the capital region and in nearby provinces of Cavite and Bulacan. Globe's share price was little changed at 2,218 pesos on Friday morning.

Globe's statement didn't say which company it tapped for the home 5G. Last month, a Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd spokeswoman in the Philippines said Globe and rival PLDT Inc. both committed to continue 5G initiatives with the Chinese tech company.

PH on Global 2000 list

6 Philippines firms make Forbes ‘Global 2000’ list 

Iris Gonzales
The Philippine Star
17 May 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Six Philippine companies made it to this year’s Global 2000 list by Forbes, an annual ranking of the world’s biggest, most powerful and most valuable companies.



These are the Sy-owned BDO Unibank and SM Investments Corp., Top Frontier Investment Holdings, Ayala Corp., Ty-owned Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Gokongwei-owned JG Summit Holdings Inc.

BDO ranked 1,018 with a market value of $11.2 billion while SM Investments ranked 1,092 with a market value of $21.6 billion.

Top Frontier, the majority shareholder of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., is at 1,196th place with a market value of $1.7 billion.

Ayala Corp. is at 1,236th place with a market value of $11 billion.

Another Philippine giant, Metrobank, occupied the 1,639th spot with a market value of $6 billion.
JG Summit Holdings Inc. rounded out the six companies from the Philippines that made it to the list with a ranking of 1,720th. It has a market value of $8.5 billion.

Forbes said the rankings are based on an analysis of four metrics: sales, profits, assets and market value.

For the seventh consecutive year, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China is the top company on the list, followed by JPMorgan Chase & Co., which overtook China Construction Bank for second spot.
China continues to sit atop the list, however, with Agricultural Bank of China at No. 4 and Bank of China at No. 8, placing the country’s “Big Four” banks all still in the top 10, Forbes said.

“Rounding out the list are Bank of America (No. 5), Apple (No. 6), Ping An Insurance (No. 7), Royal Dutch Shell (No. 9) and Wells Fargo (No. 10),” Forbes said.

In total, Forbes 2019 Global 2000 companies account for $41.2 trillion in revenue, $3.4 trillion in profits, $186.7 trillion in assets and $56.8 billion in market capitalization.

Forbes said that the list is a reflection of the strong performance of businesses across the globe.
Companies featured in the list have seen steady increases in overall revenue, profits and market cap.
Forbes noted that banks and diversified financials had another particularly good year, with the majority of US banks booking higher profits due largely to a recent suite of tax cuts.

The M&A sector also underwent a number of significant business developments, with the $78.3-billion acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T topping the list.

Companies on the 2019 list come from 61 countries, with the United States contributing the most with 575, followed by China/Hong Kong with 309 companies, up from 291 the previous year.