Celebrating with smiling stars

The brightest in business and entertainment industry gathered for the Gan Advanced Osseointegration Center’s (GAOC’s) annual appreciation dinner.

At the glamorous event, GAOC president and CEO Dr. Steve Mark Gan welcomed guests that included Jollibee Foods Corp. chairman and CEO and DoubleDragon Properties co-chairman Tony Tan Caktiong and wife Grace, Lamoiyan Corp. president Cecilio Pedro, and former Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez. Also present were PRC Board of Dentistry member Dr. Gloria Bumanlag, Dr. Roberto Garcia, Dr. Melinda Garcia and Mike Balani.

Celebrity friends seen at the event included Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez,  Tirso Cruz III, Gerald Anderson, Enchong Dee, Iñigo Pascual, Carla Abellana, Denise Laurel, Christian Bautista, Gab Valenciano, beauty queen Stephany Stefanowitz, Dingdong Avanzado, Jessa Zaragoza, Roselle Nava, Issa Litton, IC Mendoza, Tippy Dos Santos and stylists Rex Atienza and Jay Sarmiento.

GAOC has been at the forefront of dental practice in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It is known as the go-to dental clinic for local showbiz personalities.

Its philosophy is “It’s not just a smile, it’s a statement.”

GAOC has the most advanced equipment and facilities, as well as well-trained professionals and dentists to provide the best service to its clients.

True financial partners

With its goal to give customers in far-flung areas access to payment services, FinTech company TrueMoney Philippines signed a partnership agreement with CIS Bayad Center Inc.

Present during the contract signing were TrueMoney chief executive officer Xavier Marzan and head of corporate sales Alberto Antig with CIS Bayad Center Inc. president and chief executive officer Manuel Lorenzo Tuason and chief operating officer Francispito Quevedo. 

Tuason said, “Teaming up with TrueMoney gives Bayad Center access to community-based establishments in the rural areas. We all work hard to pay our bills. One way of rewarding Filipinos for paying their bills is giving them access to more convenient channels of payment by bringing the service closer to them.”

TrueMoney, whose shareholders include the C.P. Group from Thailand and Jack Ma’s Ant Financial from China, is the largest and fastest growing financial life platform in the Asian region. From one market nearly two years ago, it is now present in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines. It started operating in the country a year ago and it now has approximately 7,000 centers or partner agents, with continuing expansion across different regions in the country.

“Bayad Center is a top aggregator of payments and billers. TrueMoney, on the other hand, has wide reach and distribution of financial services centers across the country, most especially in the provinces outside the urban areas,” Marzan explained.

TrueMoney, which is regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, is present in the areas including Albay, Bataan, Benguet, Bohol, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro, Camarines Sur, Cavite, Cebu, Davao, Ilocos, Isabela, Laguna, La Union, Metro Manila, Misamis Oriental, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, Rizal, Tarlac and Zambales.

The company’s goal is to be the largest FinTech network in the country, endeavoring to build in just under two years’ time what other similar companies have taken a decade or two to establish. This is consistent with the company’s mission of serving the unserved and unbanked segments of the population, which is over 70 percent of the population in the Philippines. The term “unbanked” refers to adults who do not have their own bank accounts, those who may rely on alternative financial services for their payments and financial needs. TrueMoney’s transactions include money transfer and remittances, bills payments, payments for e-commerce purchases and loading of various products. * (Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)