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| (Image Source: BusinessWorld/In-Line Forwarder) |
Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) looking to grow and sell their products abroad will now have a one-stop-shop that will empower them to easily find global buyers and deliver international orders as In-Line Forwarder formed a strategic partnership with Thompson Property Management Corporation (TPMC), the official Global Channel Partner of Alibaba.com in the Philippines, to boost Filipino exporters in global trade.
This best-in-industry alliance integrates two vital pieces of the export journey: international market access and total logistics solutions. A global leader for over 26 years, Alibaba.com is now the world’s largest B2B e-commerce platform, connecting buyers and sellers from around the globe. Its enormous scale provides a significant boost for Filipino businesses: the platform has over 50 million active buyers across 200 countries, onboarded more than 200,000 suppliers, and offers over 200 million items. For an exporter, that massive reach translates to a concrete opportunity to bring Filipino products in front of new buyers and markets. But getting their items discovered by customers is only the beginning. Total logistics leader In-Line Forwarder complements Alibaba.com’s digital reach with the logistics innovations and export expertise needed to get products from the Philippines to overseas. Through their team-up, In-Line will provide MSME exporters access to total logistics solutions including seafreight, international air cargo, export documentation, customs clearing, and even product warehousing required to move goods efficiently across borders. The company states, “For our exporters, getting an order is only half the journey. The next hurdle is figuring out how to actually get their products there efficiently, conveniently, and affordably. By combining Alibaba.com’s global reach and In-line’s logistics expertise, we want to make the entire export journey simpler for businesses of all sizes.” Beyond logistics, the two titans also underscored the need to build the export readiness of MSMEs. They will jointly conduct exporter workshops, coaching sessions, and other programs covering international selling, e-commerce growth, export compliance, freight handling, and cross-border fulfillment.
The partnership comes as Philippine MSMEs increasingly look beyond the borders for new sources of sales. While Filipino products have significant potential internationally, smaller businesses still face barriers: getting new buyers, navigating complex export requirements, and managing shipping costs. Their collaboration seeks to address these gaps through an innovative product order-to-shipping export solution. TPMC added, “Our goal is to help more Filipino businesses confidently make the leap from being a local seller to a global company. By linking market opportunities with comprehensive logistics support, we can accelerate the conversion of international buyer interest into an actual sale.” Ultimately, the partnership has a simple shared vision: more Filipino businesses selling globally, and more Filipino products reaching the world. From the Philippines to the world, one shipment at a time.
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Young Descendant Explores The Legacy Of Marcelo H. Del Pilar In Ayala Museum Pop-Up Exhibit
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| (Image Source: Starmometer/Pax Pineda) |
Running on September 4-October 17, 2026 at the 2F Lobby of Ayala Museum’s Diorama Experience Gallery, LOLO MARCELO: THE MAN BEHIND THE HERO (Reflections On The Legacy Of Marcelo H. Del Pilar) bridges the gap bridge the gap between history and personal heritage, transforming Del Pilar from a mere historical icon into a relatable figure whose spirit continues to inspire. Pax Pineda, the great-great-great-grandson of Marcelo H. Del Pilar collaborates with Ayala Museum and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to present a collection of artifacts, letters, and artworks that examines not only Del Pilar’s contributions to the Propaganda Movement, but also the lesser-known truths behind his legacy.
Pineda frames the exhibit as an opportunity to see Del Pilar from a relatable lens: equally as a hero, a journalist, a lawyer, and a husband, a father, and a Filipino who made profound sacrifices for a cause larger than himself. He shared, “I am very grateful to have this opportunity to tell, show, and share my Lolo Marcelo’s story the same week as what would have been his 176th birth anniversary. Last month at NHCP’s HistoEx, Lolo Marcelo’s journey was also shown and discussed in an exhibit there and I’m so happy it was well attended. But I also want to share the other side felt by his family, and how their lives were marked by profound sacrifice. He left his family and his homeland in 1888 to escape persecution and continue his fight for justice in Madrid. He not only edited it, wrote for it, but also ended up financing La Solidaridad when funds dried up leaving him penniless. Yet, his legacy endures. His dedication to the cause of freedom, coupled with his roles as a devoted father and husband, humanizes his storied life.” Ayala Museum curator Tenten Mina adds that MH Del Pilar is particularly interesting and relevant as we celebrate the Year of Diplomatic History and Diaspora during history month 2026. Mina adds, “he endured physical separation from family and loved ones for the sake of the greater good — a sacrifice many Filipinos still make today.” Known by his pen name Plaridel, Marcelo H. Del Pilar was one of the leaders of the Propaganda Movement that fought for reform and equal rights for Filipinos during the twilight years of the Spanish Colonial Era. While his written works, Dasalan at Tocsohan and La Solidaridad are widely remembered by the public as his major contributions to our independence, the personal sacrifices of the propagandist to launch and sustain these efforts are less-known. The exhibit also aims to shine a light on the more intimate dimension of Del Pilar’s life. Born in Bulacan, Del Pilar trained as a lawyer before becoming a journalist, writer, and reform advocate. He left the Philippines in 1888 amid persecution and continued his campaign for reforms in Spain. His commitment came at considerable personal cost, including prolonged separation from his family and financial hardship from personally supporting La Solidaridad. He died of tuberculosis in Barcelona in 1896, far from the country he sought to serve.
Ayala Foundation Senior Director for Arts and Culture Jorell Legazpi shares, “Ayala Museum is more than happy to collaborate with young individuals who would want to share these important stories of Filipino heritage with their peers. Projects such as this illustrate our deeply held belief at the museum that history and culture carry values relevant to each generation and that it is our job to provide a space for these conversations to happen.” The artifacts featured in the exhibition are on loan from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and transported from the Marcelo H. Del Pilar Shrine in Bulakan, Bulacan — a national shrine and museum dedicated to the Filipino propagandist, journalist, and lawyer. Ayala Museum and the NHCP have been long-time collaborators and partners in the promotion of a deeper understanding of the story of the Filipino nation. Ayala Museum Associate Director Aprille Tijam adds, “We envision that this pocket exhibition will be the first of many more curatorial projects that seek to explore significant events and figures in Philippine history not featured within the Ayala Museum’s 60 Dioramas of Philippine history.”
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AG.AL Crowned eSports World Cup 2026 Club Champions
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| (Image Source: Hindustan Times/eSports World Cup) |
Thousands of competitors have traveled to the eSports World Cup 2026 in search of glory and millions in prize money, but in the end there could only be one winner of the Club Championship. The trophy award ceremony celebrated AG.AL as the Club Championship winner while honoring the achievements of each and every player involved. EWC 26 officially concluded with a star-studded trophy award ceremony attended by guests such as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince and Prime Minister His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and France President Emmanuel Macron.
To kick off the show, EWC global ambassador Cristiano Ronaldo and Esports Foundation CEO Ralf Reichert delivered the Club Championship trophy to the stage, followed by a speech from Reichert reflecting on the event’s success and growth. After video tributes honoring third-place Team Vitality and runners-up Team Falcons, President Macron presented the trophy to AG.AL’s representatives. While the crowd watched a celebratory highlight reel of their successful title run, the AG.AL celebrated their victory with the players in attendance. After competing across 18 competitions, AG.AL officially claimed their first-ever Club Championship title, amassing an impressive total of 5,300 points. The Chinese powerhouse delivered unmatched consistency throughout the tournament with six podium finishes including three runner-up results, a third-place finish, and two crucial 1,000-point victories in TEKKEN 8 and Trackmania. The first of those tournament triumphs came during an impressive Week 5 where a TEKKEN 8 championship combined with a second-place finish in KWC propelled the organization to the top of the overall standings for the first time. The battle went down to the wire after Team Falcons mounted a strong counterattack in week 6, claiming 1,000 points in Rocket League and 500 points in Chess to reclaim the lead and leave AG.AL trailing by 300 points heading into the final week of competition. However, the defending champions ultimately fell short, picking up just 200 points in Counter-Strike 2 while unable to score points across the remaining three titles during the last week. AG.AL seized the moment, adding 200 points in CROSSFIRE before delivering the final blow with a dominant 1000-point victory in Trackmania to secure their first Club Championship trophy.
As the curtain falls on EWC 26, another year of thrilling eSports action is officially in the books. AG.AL and this year’s champions can now enjoy their well-deserved time in the spotlight and celebrate their triumphs. Beyond the competitors, it’s also important to recognize the hospitality of the host city of Paris, France which helped make this edition of the EWC a very special one.
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Xsolla Launches Game Biz Institute, An Editorial Platform Where Industry Practitioners Explain The Business Of Games
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| (Image Source: Business Wire/Xsolla) |
Xsolla, a global commerce company, recently announced the launch of Game Biz Institute (GBI), an editorial platform where named industry practitioners and researchers examine the commercial layer of games: direct-to-player distribution, payments, monetization, user acquisition, and retention. Game design has a curriculum. The business of games does not. Engines, pipelines, production, and narrative are taught at hundreds of universities while the commercial machinery that determines whether good work becomes a durable company is still learned through expensive trial and error, usually after the decisions that mattered have already been made. GBI was built to close that gap by publishing what practitioners have actually learned running these businesses.
"Game developers have never had more data and less clarity. The industry produces endless benchmarks, but benchmarks don't tell a studio what to do on Monday morning. GBI exists to close that gap. We asked the people who actually run these businesses, design these economies, and study these players to explain what works and why. Xsolla builds the infrastructure behind game commerce, so we see what succeeds across 1,500+ game teams. GBI is where that knowledge, combined with the expertise of the industry professionals around us, becomes something every developer can use," said Xsolla President Chris Hewish. The launch collection spans indie publishing, virtual economies, discovery, regional growth, partnership management, and long-term live service operations. Contributors include a veteran indie publishing lead on why the "ship faster, market louder" playbook fails in a market absorbing more than 21,000 new releases a year; one of the original architects of the virtual world on the player-developer contract across free-to-play, pay-to-win, and Web3; a market analyst mapping the widening gap between how much players have to watch, play, and scroll and how little time they have to give any of it; an industry association director on what 550 million young Indian gamers and a development scene ready to build its own IP mean for that market's next phase; a business development chief on what 15 years and 170 million downloads of a single title taught her about protecting player trust; the founder of a lean studio behind one of the world's biggest social deduction games; and an operations lead on how distribution became democratized while discoverability became concentrated. GBI also serves as the home for original research including a joint Xsolla and Newzoo study on direct-to-player distribution in PC gaming and dedicated research into the trust, motivations, and spending behavior of gamers across Asia.
Alongside the launch, Xsolla opened GBI to external contributors through a program that compensates practitioners for published work, with revenue tied to the contribution's impact. The platform is actively recruiting studio operators, researchers, and commercial leads with firsthand experience to write for it. "This only works if we stay out of the way. We are funding a room where the people who run these businesses argue openly, under their own names. Some of those arguments will land against our own position, and that is the point," said Xsolla Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Berkley Egenes Early GBI content debuted through an editorial collaboration with 80.lv, with the full platform now live on xsolla.com. New articles will be published on a rolling basis through 2026. For more information about the Game Biz Institute, visit https://xsolla.com/game-biz-institute.
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SM Skating’s Homegrown Filipino Skaters Make History In India With 2 Golds, A Silver, And A Bronze
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| The Philippine Speed Skating Team at the Asian Open Short Track Speed Skating 2026 In Dehradun, India comprising of (L-R) Coach Kevin Villanueva, Hans Buemio, Coach Jimmy Jang, Xsandrie Guimba, Karmelo Dalicana, Zymone Zurbito, Keirsten Fernandez, Jan Gonzales, John Cyrus, Coach Chino Malatapang (Image Source: SM Supermalls) |
Philippine short track speed skating reached a historic milestone as three Filipino athletes brought home four medals — the country’s first-ever podium finishes at the Asian Open Short Track Speed Skating Trophy held in Dehradun, India. Leading the breakthrough performance was 13-year-old Keirsten Layne Fernandez who captured two gold medals in the Junior C Girls category. Fernandez topped the 1,000-meter event with a time of 1:44.307, earning the Philippines’ first-ever gold medal in the competition. She followed her historic victory with another gold in the 777-meter event, clocking 1:19.989 to complete a remarkable two-gold campaign and emerge as the Philippines’ most successful athlete at the competition.
Joining Fernandez on the podium was Xsandrie Guimba, 23, who secured the silver medal in the Senior Women’s 1,000-meter event with a time of 1:52.003. The Philippine medal haul began with the country’s youngest medalist, eight-year-old Zymone Zurbito, who claimed bronze in the Junior F Boys’ 333-meter event. His podium finish marked the Philippines’ first medal of the competition and set the stage for the historic results that followed. Their success also demonstrates the growing depth of Philippine short track speed skating across different age groups — from eight-year-old Zurbito earning his first international podium finish, to 13-year-old Fernandez making history with two gold medals, and senior athlete Guimba competing against some of the region’s strongest skaters. More than the medals, the achievement highlights the growing potential of Filipino athletes in ice sports and the opportunities for homegrown talent to pursue the sport at a higher level. All three medalists share a meaningful beginning — they took their first steps on the ice at SM Skating, the skating brand of SM Sports and Leisure Center, where they learned the fundamentals of skating and began developing their skills. “Every champion starts with a first step on the ice. We hope to inspire every skater to keep pushing forward, believe in their potential, and pursue their dreams,” said Senior Assistant Vice President for SM Sports and Leisure Center Joseph Francis Silva.
Through SM Skating, SM Sports & Leisure Centers continues to provide Filipinos with opportunities to learn, develop, and pursue their passion for ice sports. In partnership with the Philippine Skating Union (PHSU), SM Skating also provides a pathway for aspiring skaters to build their skills through structured training and gain opportunities to progress toward competitive skating. From learning to skate in the Philippines to competing against athletes from across Asia, their journey reflects how access to skating can open opportunities for young Filipinos to discover their passion, build confidence, and pursue excellence on the international stage.
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, SEGA Shine As Brighter As Big Winners Of gamescom Awards 2026
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| (Image Source: Inven Global/gamescom) |
The winners of the 2026 gamescom awards have been announced last August 28, 2026 where the coveted trophies were presented across a total of 19 categories at the gamescom studio powered by IGN. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt made a strong impression with its gamescom presence and picked up three awards. Fans voted the trailer for the remaster and the ‘Songs of the Past’ DLC as the Best Trailer / Announcement at gamescom Opening Night Live, as well as the pin and medallion – available at the DLC booth – as the Best Merch. The jury was also impressed by the Witcher’s show presence and honored it with the Jury Award for Best Booth.
SEGA also took home three trophies. The publisher’s titles won in the categories Best Audio – Alien: Isolation 2 – and Best PC Game – Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000. Furthermore, SEGA’s diverse range of titles was recognized as the Best Lineup of gamescom. Two of the coveted prizes each went to CAPCOM for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, which won the Best Gameplay and Best Sony PlayStation Game categories, and to Ubisoft, which can celebrate winning the Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game award for Rayman Legends Retold and the Jury Award for Best Business Booth. This year’s HEART OF GAMING Award, the Special Jury Award, goes to Games Done Quick (GDQ). The charity speedrun event has already raised over 50 million dollars for good causes in the past. Games Done Quick recently took place in Europe for the first time as part of gamescom 2026 as gamescom GDQ held last August 28-30, 2026 with all proceeds from donations and sponsorship slated to benefit Gaming For Democracy, an initiative that promotes democratic values and social engagement through gaming culture. Here is the complete list of the 2026 gamescom award winners.
ARTS Group
• Best Visuals: METRO 2039 – 4A Games/Deep Silver
• Best Audio: Alien: Isolation 2 – Creative Assembly/SEGA
• Best Gameplay: Onimusha: Way of the Sword – Capcom
• Most Entertaining: Wanderburg – Randwerk/Sidekick Publishing
• Most Epic: Tides of Annihilation – Eclipse Glow Games
• Most Wholesome: Finding Polka – lidlocks/Parco Games
• Games for Impact: SOKO 1977: Anti-Terror Task Force – Paintbucket Games/Federal Agency for Civic Education
PLATFORM Group
• Best Microsoft Xbox Game: Forza Horizon 6 – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
• Best PC Game: Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 – Creative Assembly/SEGA
• Best Sony PlayStation Game: Onimusha: Way of the Sword – Capcom
• Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game: Rayman Legends Retold – Ubisoft
• Best Mobile Game: Where Winds Meet – Everstone Studio/NetEase Games
GLOBAL Group
• Best Lineup (Jury Award): SEGA
• Best Booth (Jury Award): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past – CD PROJEKT RED
• Best Booth (Consumer Award): Arknights: Endfield – GRYPHLINE
• Best Business Booth (Jury Award): Ubisoft Business Lounge
• Best Merch (Consumer Award): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past - Pin & Medallion – CD PROJEKT RED
• Best Trailer / Announcement (Consumer Award): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered & Songs of the Past DLC – CD PROJEKT RED
• HEART OF GAMING Award (Special Jury Award): Games Done Quick (GDQ)
The gamescom awards recognizes the best playable games, trailers and presentations at gamescom. For more information on the gamescom awards, visit www.gamescom.de/en/gamescom/gamescom-award.
