Just in his second week as president of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Reginaldo “Reggie” Cariaso was pleasantly surprised to encounter a different kind of “courtesy call.”
While having lunch with a small group of business journalists at Hexagon Lounge at RCBC Plaza—where his boss, RCBC chair Helen Yuchengco-Dee, happened to have a separate luncheon meeting—Gary Valenciano suddenly popped in.
Clad in a monotone hoodie and sweat pants, Gary V was on his lunch break while then preparing for the musical ‘Joseph, the Dreamer’ (which ran at the RCBC Plaza’s Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in the succeeding weekends).
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He just dropped by to say hello to Mrs. Dee and was introduced to the bank officers and guests.
Needless to say, Cariaso’s interviewers were distracted.
Gary V graciously posed and had a little chat with everyone.
“I’m a bit nervous because I’m doing all the shows,” Gary V told us, noting he had no alternate artist as “Jacob,” albeit it was a limited run of only 10 shows.
“But we may have a rerun and take it to campus,” he added.
Mr. Pure Energy, who is turning 61 in August, still carries a lot of pizzazz in him.
He also shared how he frequently bikes from Metro Manila to his home in Antipolo, Rizal, as part of his fitness routine amid his chronic battle with juvenile diabetes.
Meanwhile, Cariaso was himself happy to take a ‘groufie’ with Gary V to show to his family. It’s not just another working day. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla
Local tech firm spreads wings
From Philippine shores, homegrown tech company CostPlus Inc. is setting its sights on expanding abroad after establishing a presence here.
CostPlus Inc. founder and president Anand Mahtani said the company, through its clean energy solution Kidlat EV, has already energized more than 27,000 homes, schools and community hubs in the country.
Kidlat EV provides solar power solutions to underserved areas. It was earlier tapped by the Department of Education to power off-grid schools.
“It’s not just about electricity,” Mahtani said.
“It’s about enabling education, internet, clean water, and sustainable cooking in communities that need it most. We’ve proven it works here—and now we’re scaling globally to help the 800 million people still without reliable energy,” the official said.
To get the ball rolling, CostPlus joined the Department of Trade and Industry at the inaugural Battery Show Asia and Mobility Tech Expo in Hong Kong this month.
The Philippines hopes to achieve total electrification by 2028, with about P85 billion to P100 billion needed to realize this goal. —Lisbet K. Esmael INQ