Julia Barretto returns to romcom

Etiqa teams up with UBX to offer pioneering ‘Insure Now, Pay Later’

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor

INSURETECH advocate Etiqa Philippines has tied up with open finance platform provider UBX to offer insurers an alternative payment of premiums in a more flexible manner to cope up with the increasing cost of living and credit interest rates.

Inflation rate in the Philippines reached 8.6 percent in February of this year—the highest in Southeast Asia. As it weakens the nation’s economic growth, this adds to the burden of ordinary Filipinos in battling higher prices for their basic daily expenses, not to mention the loan interest of those indebted.

WITH millions of followers across different social media platforms (11.4million on Instagram, 3.2 million on Facebook, and 1.27 million subscribers on YouTube), Julia Barretto seems to be on top of her game. At 26, she is a household name and this is something she’s worked hard for.

Julia sees her new movie Will You Be My Ex? as her romcom and drama homecoming of sorts after playing a daring role in Expensive Candy.

“The character asked so much of me. Chris [the character Barretto plays] is a theater actress. She can be a lot. I see doing Will You Be My Ex? as coming home after Expensive Candy. It was exciting because it’s a romcom but it also has drama, which I love very much, and I love that the romance is realistic,” said Julia during the press conference for Will You Be My Ex?

The movie, a Studio Viva and Firestarters production presented by Viva Films and directed by Real Florido, will open in cinemas on June 21.

“I have known Diegs [Diego Loyzaga] for a long time so this was sort of a reunion. The last time we worked together apparently was Wansapanataym, which was in 2014. Because I have known him for a long time, there was no awkwardness. It was always a safe space sa set,” said Julia, who had just come from Italy to attend an event for Golden Goose.

To prepare for her role as a theater actress in the movie, Julia engaged in conversations and attended workshops.

“In my last movie [Expensive Candy], I was very open in how I got in Candy’s shoes. With this role, I think it was a lot of me being in a lot of workshops with Diegs and talking with a lot of our creatives, especially our director [Real Florido] because this film is about two people tackling pain from their past. We really needed to look at the past and present of Chris and Joey. There were no physical preparations required for this role, unlike in the current movie I’m doing.

properly and how to warm up before a performance.

In Will You Be My Ex?, ex-lovers Chris and Joey meet once again and get the chance to rekindle their past and choose to either be friends or give their love a second try.

Aside from being busy with work, Julia also finds

Most days, when she isn’t working, the young actress stays home.

“I’m a taong-bahay. My favorite place is my bed. It is my safe space but when I’m home, I love cleaning and rearranging. I got it from my mom. Sometimes, I see my friends but there’s no place like home.” ■

AI needs a guardrail for monitoring and regulation

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES

THERE is a need for a middle ground that will also play the role of a guardrail to monitor and regulate the growth of artificial intelligence.

In a recent forum on Generative AI during the AI Summit 2023 organized by the Aboitiz group of companies, Cliff Eala, Synerbyte Limited, behavioral strategist told the audience there is no denying that artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay and people must adapt to its coming. “We must embrace the advent of advanced technologies, and at the same time there is a need to put up the necessary safeguards to address the ethical dilemmas,” Eala explained.

“Players will not self-regulate and we definitely need a middle ground,” Eala added. During the forum, Eala also underscored the importance of implementing a comprehensive and robust data privacy for the country as AI will get smarter and smarter in the future. “When AI gets smarter, who’s going to regulate it? asked Eala.

Flip and flex your summer

FROM beach trips to out-of-town adventures with the besties, summer is the perfect time to express yourself with looks that flex your personality from head to toe. It’s the season to get creative and amp up one’s style. Of course, style isn’t only limited to the outfits you’re donning; your smartphone should also be as fashion-forward as you are. From vibrant color options to customizable themes and wallpapers, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 could be an extension of your personal style like never before this summer.

Samsung touts the Galaxy Z Flip4 as the “it” smartphone for the trend-loving and the style-savvy. With a wide variety of colors to choose from, you can always find something that complements your fashion. If bold and vibrant best describe your aesthetic, you can go for either the Bora Purple or Blue colorways. On the flip side, you can also go for Pink Gold or Graphite if you opt for more timeless and neutral tones.

What’s more, the Galaxy Z Flip4 also now comes in Indigo Black and White Gold colors, perfect for those who like to show off more color in their flip phone. The former comes with green and blue glass panels with a black metal frame while the latter features yellow and white glass panels with a gold frame. Choose the color that best fits your personal style and make your flip phone the statement piece to your OOTDs.

Aside from its exterior, you can also

Dr. Donald Patric Lim, chief operating of DITO CME, said AI and other technologies will move forward despite the apprehensions of some quarters. Further, he compared the coming of AI to the emergence of the internet in the middle of the ‘90s wherein it grew despite the resistance of some critics. “The possibilities of AI are here and it’s on us to react to the changes,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. David Roi Hardoon, chief data and AI officer of UnionBank Philippines, expressed optimism personalize your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 with fun customizability features for the cover screen and widgets. Customization is also made secure as the Galaxy Z Flip4 provides a feature that requires unlocking with face recognition and fingerprint prior to changing the settings. The flip phone showcases new types of basic clocks which allows to highlight the background image without blocking any face.

You can now also add widgets to your cover screen. Choose among Music, Weather, Today’s schedule, Next alarm, Samsung Health, Voice Recorder, and Timer. You can also reorder them anywhere on your screen.

The Galaxy Z Flip4 isn’t all looks though— with the latest 4nm Snapdragon processor (it’s pointing out that AI will introduce drastic changes in the Philippines towards a better future. “AI is here and it will make a difference,” he said. “It will create opportunities and new capabilities,” he said. tasks as you go from work to play this summer. the only flip phone with this processor), it’s powerful enough to take on your different tasks as you go from work to play this summer. It works with the long-lasting 3700mAh battery for unstoppable fun and when it’s low, you can plug in for Super-Fast Charging or bypass the cord with Fast Wireless Charging 2.0.

Edwin Bautista, president and CEO of UnionBank, said there is a possibility that regulating technologies such as AI might stifle its growth. Further, he said there must be a good balance between regulating and allowing AI to grow.

These mounting circumstances eventually affect their spending appetite for other needs like insurance premiums if ever they avail of such. With this in mind, insurers are challenged to lower their costs, if not change their pricing, to reach more clients.

“Whether it was about their health, incomes, or properties, Filipinos have battled with different uncertainties in the last three years. This reality has further highlighted the need for insurers to take added measures to bring insurance closer to the average Filipino. This has been the industry’s mission since the beginning,” said Noel Tordesillas, head of e-channel in Etiqa Philippines.

In doing so, the company has taken a cue from the success of the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) scheme, wherein consumers aiming to spread out the cost of big-ticket purchases can get their urgent needs and defer their payments to a later time sans any interest. From only $18 billion in 2020, this business model is seen to grow by 14 percent annually to $44 billion in 2027 worldwide.

“As we join this thrust, we have made it a point to align with partners within and outside the industry who share our vision—to empower more Filipinos to achieve financial security, especially amid inflation, through digital solutions and technology,” he noted.

Through its pioneering “Insure Now, Pay Later” scheme, Etiqa’s policyholders can now settle their premiums on an installment basis in a seamless way thanks to BUx’s end-to-end payment solutions platform and Splix’s transact-now-pay-later platform. With or without credit cards, clients can break their dues into smaller sums. This is even more convenient with the 60,000 payment channels of BUx that allow them to settle their dues via online banking, e-wallets, or over-the-counter.

“While payment and collections are the primary thrust of this partnership, through UBX we can bridge technologies from different industries—fintech to insurtech—for the benefit of the public. Not only that, we were also able to provide a less intimidating payment plan and an additional smooth and touchless payment platform for consumers. We are positive that this process would further ease the long-standing misconception about insurance as irrelevant, inaccessible and expensive,” Tordesillas said.

The Galaxy Z Flip4 is also incredibly durable as it is made with exclusive Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ and an Armor Aluminum hinge frame— Samsung’s toughest aluminum frame. And with 1-year free Samsung Care+, accidents won’t stop you from enjoying an unforgettable summer.

More information is available at the Samsung Experience Store or Authorized Stores nationwide, or via tinyurl.com/ywrj5pd5