Top 20 Best Technology Brands of 2013

Interbrand, one of the largest branding consultancies in the world has recently released their list of 100 Best Global Brands of 2013 mentioning companies from different sectors including Technology. From there we took all the leading technology brands and compiled them in one simple list.

interbrand_top 20 tech

The tech companies listed below were taken from Interbrand’s 100 Best Global Brands 2013. We included a brief description of each company followed by their corresponding brand value.

1. Apple

apple

Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer, Inc., is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers. Popular products are the Mac, iPod, iPhone (5S, 5C), iPad (4, mini), OSX and iOS (7). Apple also claimed the top spot in Interbrand’s 100 Best Global Brands 2013, passing Coca-Cola in the process.

Brand Value: $98.3 billion

2. Google

google

Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation specializing in Internet-related services and products. These include search, cloud computing, software and online advertising technologies. Products are mostly focused on advertising via AdWords, search engine via Google Search, productivity tools like Gmail, enterprise products with Google Apps, and mobile OS via Android and Chrome.

Brand Value: $93.3 billion

3. IBM

IBM

The International Business Machines Corporation (commonly referred as IBM) is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation, with headquarters in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and markets computer hardware and software, and offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.

Brand Value: $78.8 billion

4. Microsoft

microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational software corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services related to computing. Popular products include Windows (8) OS, Windows Phone (8) OS, Microsoft Surface tablet PCs, and the Xbox (One). On September 3, 2013, Microsoft agreed to buy Nokia’s mobile unit for $7.17 billion.

Brand Value: $59.5 billion

5. Samsung

samsung

Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. Samsung offers a wide variety of products ranging from home appliances, consumer electronics to semiconductors. The company is also well-known in the world of smartphones and tablets with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note 3 as the most popular to date.

Brand Value: $39.6 billion

6. Intel

intel

Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Intel is the world’s largest and highest valued semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. One of their most popular products are the 4th Generation Intel Core processor family and their latest Intel Atom processor for smartphones and tablets.

Brand Value: $37.3 billion

7. Cisco

cisco

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, that designs, manufactures, and sells networking equipment. Products include VOIP phones, high-end routers and switches, network security, and Cloud Computing services.

Brand Value: $29 billion

8. HP

hp

The Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. It provides products, technologies, software, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors.

Brand Value: $25.8 billion

9. Oracle

oracle

Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Redwood City, California, United States. The company specializes in developing and marketing computer hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly its own brands of database management systems.

Brand Value: $24 billion

10. SAP

sap

SAP AG is a German multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. Headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the leader in the market of enterprise applications in terms of software and software-related service.

Brand Value: $16.7 billion

11. Canon

canon

Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational corporation specialized in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, including cameras, camcorders, photocopiers, steppers, computer printers and medical equipment. Its headquarters are located in Ota, Tokyo, Japan. Their most popular are the PowerShot and Digital Ixus series of digital cameras, and the EOS series of digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR).

Brand Value: $10.9 billion

12. Philips

philips

Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Royal Philips, commonly known as Philips) is a Dutch multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate headquartered in Amsterdam. It is one of the largest electronics companies in the world and employs around 122,000 people across more than 60 countries. Products include home appliances, lighting, and medical equipment.

Brand Value: $9.8 billion

13. Siemens

siemens

Siemens AG is a German multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate company headquartered in Munich and Berlin, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company. Products include communication systems, power generation technology, lighting, medical equipment, and home appliances.

Brand Value: $8.5 billion

14. Sony

sony

Sony Corporation, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Konan Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified business is primarily focused on the electronics, game, entertainment and financial services sectors. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets. Popular products include BRAVIA TVs, the PlayStation (4) gaming console, and the Xperia line of Android smartphones.

Brand Value: $8.4 billion

15. Facebook

facebook

Facebook is an online social networking service founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. Most of Facebook’s revenue comes from advertising. The company filed for a US$5 billion initial public offering (IPO) on February 1, 2013, making it one of the biggest in tech history and the biggest in Internet history. As of March 31, 2013, Facebook has a total of 1.11 billion active users globally.

Brand Value: $7.7 billion

16. Nokia

nokia

Nokia Corporationis a Finnish multinational communications and information technology corporation that is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. Its principal products are mobile telephones and portable IT devices. On September 3, 2013, Nokia’s mobile unit was bought by Microsoft for $7.17 billion. Nokia’s current popular products are the Nokia Asha and Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia smartphones.

Brand Value: $7.4 billion

17. Dell

dell

Dell Inc. (formerly Dell Computer Corporation) is an American multinational computer technology company based in Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells, repairs and supports computers and related products and services. As of the second quarter of 2013, it ranked as the third largest PC vendor in the world after HP and Lenovo.

Brand Value: $6.8 billion

18. Nintendo

nintendo

Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Nintendo is the world’s largest video game company by revenue. The company is mostly known for its Nintendo DS line of handheld consoles with the 3DS becoming the best selling console in the United States for four consecutive months as of August 2013. In the same month, Nintendo introduced their latest product, the Nintendo 2DS, which is a version of the 3DS without a stereoscopic 3D screen.

Brand Value: $6 billion

19. Panasonic

panasonic

Panasonic Corporation, formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., is a Japanese multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Japan. Panasonic is involved in the manufacturing of a wide range of products like TVs, professional displays, automotive systems, digital cameras (Lumix), smartphones (Eluga), and home appliances to name a few.

Brand Value: $5.8 billion

20. Adobe

adobe

Adobe Systems, Inc., is an American multinational computer software company headquartered in San Jose, California, United States. The company has historically focused upon the creation of multimedia and creativity software products, with a more-recent foray towards rich Internet application software development. Popular products include Photoshop, Acrobat, Illustrator, Premier Pro, and After Effects.

Brand Value: $4.9 billion

{Interbrand} {Wikipedia}

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Donors skip restrictions, splurge on 2013 bets

ELECTION LAWS ARE PRETTY CLEAR.

Certain sectors are prohibited from making election campaign contributions because of the possibility of conflict of interest. These include entities that have pending government contracts, or need special permits, franchises, or licenses from government agenices. For example, mining firms, public utilities, and broadcast companies are prohibited from making campaign donations because they secure special licenses from the government.

But in the recent May 2013 elections, a careful study of the list of major campaign contributors shows a proliferation of personalities with links to these same sectors that are barred from donating.

In the first of a three-part series on how donors, candidates, and political parties poke holes (or poke fun) at the country’s election laws, the PCIJ looks at how these regulated and restricted sectors have intruded into the wild woolly world of Philippine elections through the power of their purses.

While these sectors are prohibited from making campaign donations, the owners or officers of these companies have found a loophole in the law that apparently still enables them to wield their monetary clout in the political world.

Read part 1 of the story below:

Part 1: Top execs of barred firms funded Senate bets, parties

 

LightUp4FOI – A video montage

LAST SEPTEMBER 27, advocates of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill gathered in front of the Batasang Pambansa to press legislators to enact the long delayed measure.

Lawyers, students, labor leaders, and journalists called on Congress to act swiftly on the bill which gives citizens the right to access information on government contracts, deals, and other documents. The groups say that the bill would be the best proof of the Aquino administration that it is committed to transparency and accountability.

The following is a video montage of Friday night’s gathering, edited by PCIJ’s multimedia producer Cong Corrales using pictures taken by himself and PCIJ platform architect Markku Seguerra. The photos are edited to a catchy tune sung by the FOI Youth Initiative and the UP-CSSP Student Council.

Apple iPhone 5S Review

Once a year, Apple would introduce the new model of their very popular iPhone. This year is a first as Apple introduced not one, but two, iPhone models — the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s. So we bought these 2 models to test and review. Check out our full review of the iPhone 5s below.

We’ve always had this dilemma every time we review an iteration (the S model) of a current iPhone since we first encountered the 3GS many years ago. This year is no exception.

The iPhone 5S looks and feels like the 12-month old iPhone 5. We suggest reading up on our iPhone 5 review here first before proceeding, so we don’t repeat ourselves from time to time.

Take note, some parts of this review will be shortened (like the design, display, etc) as we’ve already discussed them in the iPhone 5 link above.

Design and Construction.

If you’re a long-time iPhone 5 user, you’re not missing anything on the design department. It is the same small, thin and hefty device that Apple did not bother to further polish this year.

First is the slightly elongated dual-LED light at the back of the phone, just beside the camera and a small pin-hole for the noise-canceling mic.

Second is the fingerprint scanner embedded into the physical home button. The old one has a perfectly concave but shallow button with a small, squarish mark with rounded corners at the center; the new one has a ridge around the flat, depressed circular area where the Touch ID sensor is incorporated.

Then, there’s the color variants — the space gray which is slightly lighter then the old black one; the silver which is exactly the same as the white model from last year; and the coveted champagne gold which experience huge demand that it’s selling for twice the retail price (Php60k and higher).

Still, the iPhone 5S (like the iPhone 5) remains to be one of the best-looking and solidly built handset in the market. The combination of glass and aluminum alloy is just elegant and refined.

Display.

In the age of full HD displays, Apple’s marketing term — Retina Display — does not seem to count so much as before. While we agree that a pixel density of 326ppi is already enough for the naked eye, we could not deny we’ve been spoiled with a lot of 1080p displays pushing the pixel density to 441ppi and above.

Once you zoom into the display and look a little closer, you will see the difference. The pixels are more prominent and you appreciate the idea of having a higher pixel density.

Nevertheless, with a small 4-inch display, the 640×1136 pixel resolution (even if it’s even lower than a 720p resolution) will do just fine.

OS, UI and Apps.

Just before iPhone 5S and 5C were released to the market, Apple already seeded out iOS 7 to the older models like the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S. As such, we’re already familiar with the changes introduced with the new OS.

Since the very first iPhone was released, Apple has never strayed away from their original UI and design. After 6 years, it has finally changed significantly. Again, we cannot help but notice that a lot of the new gestures and layouts in the UI were inspired by Android.

Spotlight was moved from the farthest left of the window to the middle of the app list (shown by dragging any empty space in the middle of the screen).

Icons and windows are now flat and uses vectors instead of the old gradient colors. The Status window pulls down from the top while the shortcuts and quick menus are pull up from the bottom. Even the running Apps list was lifted from HTC’s Sense UI.

Don’t get us wrong — we actually liked the new UI of iOS 7. It’s very much closer to Android now and becomes easy to figure out.

We could spend more paragraphs explaining the new UI features of iOS 7, some of them really great refinements of Android and other UIs, but over-all we feel that Apple is making it more complicated to the average user than before.

Before, it was just the icon and the home button. It was so simple a 2-year old and an 80-year old can both figure it out in a matter of seconds. Now it’s swipe up, swipe down, swipe from the middle, left and right, plus the home button. It’s not as dead simple as before.

Multimedia and Camera.

Except for the improvements in the camera, we could have given the iPhone 5S a lower score in the multimedia department.

Compared to the iPhone 5 from a year ago, you don’t get a bigger screen, not even a full HD resolution for watching movies. There were also no improvements done on the audio quality of the speakers.

The feeling is like upgrading your old 32-inch LED TV from 2012 at home with a new 2013 model that has the same 720p resolution and same 32-inch size. On that this time, you can turn it on in just 0.5 seconds instead of a full second and then channel surf twice as fast from before.

Then we move on to the camera. Of all the new features of the iPhone 5S, we think this is the one where it made a good lasting impression – the 720p @ 120fps video recording got the most nod from the people we showed it to. It’s basically a slow-mo feature incorporated in the camera app.

The sample video above shows a number of low-light and evening shots taken at full HD using the rear camera. The quality is quite good and has much less noise.

Here’s the slow-mo version of the video taken above.

The first video shows the recording played at 30fps while this second one is the original 720p @ 120fps. It was quite hard to just lift the slow-mo videos straight out of the phone. You can’t even share the slow-mo on Instagram. You will have to either share it via Email, YouTube, FB or Vimeo to preserve the capture.

Here are some sample photos taken with the iPhone 5S.

With scenarios that there’s ample lighting, we could not spot any improvements compared to the old iPhone 5. Some of the photos above sure do look really great and even the macro shots are actually amazing.

Nonetheless, if it were not for the slow-mo feature, we might not really appreciate what Apple did to the camera of the iPhone 5S.

The two speakers at the bottom of the device is more prominent and the volume is more consistent and even (not too loud and tinny but not too soft either).

Fingerprint Sensor and Touch ID.

The idea of a fingerprint sensor on a smartphone isn’t an novel one. Motorola had the Atrix with fingerprint sensor back in 2011 and the idea did not even caught on to other handsets until the 5S.

The rationale was simple – add a biometric security feature to the iPhone so that users will have easier time unlocking their devices as well as make purchases in the iTunes Store.

The Touch ID was served as an alternative or supplement security feature. You still have the PIN code or the long password as the default measure. The fingerprint sensor comes in as a secondary measure.

Here are the several permutations we tried with the 5S:

1) Directly unlock the phone with a simple PIN code or password.

2) Directly unlock the phone with a finger print scan.

3) If you forgot your PIN code or password , or entered the wrong one 3 times, you can use still use the fingerprint scan to unlock.

4) Completely remove PIN code or password and finger print scan.

There’s actually no option to just use a fingerprint scan and no PIN code. There’s also no option to ask for both PIN code and scan your fingerprint to unlock.

This permutation means you can actually unlock the phone either with a finger print scan or with a PIN code. The same is true with purchasing content directly from iTunes Store – use your account password or run a scan.

We tried to figure out the different scenarios where this biometric scan actually makes practical sense and here’s what we could come up so far:

* Making a long press (around 3 seconds) on the home button to simultaneously wake up the iPhone and auto-unlock it via Touch ID.

* Provide biometric access to the device for up to 5 people without sharing the PIN code or password. The Touch ID feature can store up to 5 different fingerprints. No need to give the password as you can just add their finger prints.

* Eliminate the “Forgot Password” feature and replace it with a biometric scan.

The scanner is very accurate, way better than those biometric login scanners you’ll find in the office’s main door. Based on our repeated tests, we only get about 3 errors in 20 attempts to scan a print.

It’s a nice feature to have but we still think it’s a classic case of a “solution waiting for a problem“. We’d rather that Apple find a work-around to that issue of LTE connectivity getting cut off when receiving or making calls. Or maybe some really cool power-saving feature to extend battery life.

Performance and Benchmarks.

Apple was never the type that would boast the number of CPU cores or crank up the frequency of the chip to insane numbers. So, we won’t delve into the fact that they still use a 1.3GHz dual-core processor.

Instead, we’ll focus on the surprising fact that they’ve developed the first 64-bit mobile OS. We’ve covered this part quite a bit here but in our opinion, it’s an improvement that will never be really felt even by an experienced iPhone user.

The most appreciable explanation we can offer as to the benefits that a 64-bit platform provide over the current 32-bit platform is the ability of the system to handle memory (RAM) beyond the 4GB limit.

This was a huge issue before with desktop computers and laptops – where even if you upgrade the RAM to 4GB or 8GB, the operating system will only recognize 3.5GB.

For the iPhone 5S, we could not find any practical or noticeable improvements because of this shift. Developers will also find it confusing that they’ll have to deal with 2 current models, one running 32-bit (iPhone 5C) while the other is 64-bit (iPhone 5S).

At least Apple gets to brag about having the very first 64-bit mobile OS in the world.

Nevertheless, we had to do some sort of benchmark to see some numerical differences between the A6 chip of the iPhone 5 and the A7 of the iPhone 5S.

PassMark Performance Mobile Test:
CPU: 36,024 (iPhone 5S) vs. 17,568 (iPhone 5)
Memory: 4,146 (iPhone 5S) vs. 2,788 (iPhone 5)
Disk: 13,266 (iPhone 5S) vs.10,213 (iPhone 5)
2D: 2,462 (iPhone 5S) vs. 875 (iPhone 5)
3D: 1,929 (iPhone 5S) vs. 1,647 (iPhone 5)
Overall: 5,069 (iPhone 5S) vs. 2,800 (iPhone 5)

So yes, the numbers clearly show the iPhone 5S got at least twice the performance boost as the iPhone 5.

Call Quality, Connectivity and Battery Life.

The iPhone 5 has been pretty consistent with signal reception when it comes to making or accepting phone calls. Audio is quite good, loud and crisp although we seldom encounter instances when one party could not hear the other despite the line being clear.

We’ve also noticed that when placed side by side the iPhone 5C, the 5S gets a slightly weaker signal and there were even times it could not find an LTE signal when the 5C just beside it hooks up to the network just fine.

As for connectivity, it’s got everything you’d expect for a flagship phone except for NFC. LTE speed is also great and we’re getting results in the north of 15Mbps downlink and 6Mbps uplink.

As for battery life, we’re still a bit disappointed that Apple didn’t improve it on the iPhone 5S. Been using the iPhone 5 alongside the iPhone 5S for a week now and I don’t see any improvements in battery life.

Conclusion.

The iPhone 5S is sill a solid phone but this is mostly because of the advantages derived from the simplicity and robustness of the OS. Apple no longer has monopoly over good design or even impressive hardware.

With the updates introduced to the iPhone 5S, it seems line Apple is ignoring the big strides a lot of the Android handset makers are doing — bigger and better hardware, more computing power, better displays and longer battery life. The iPhone 5S seems to be lagging behind.

It will, no doubt, sell really well. But once you see people willing to pay twice the price for a gold color, then it’s all about status symbol and blind loyalty; not excellent craftsmanship and superiority.

The Apple iPhone 5S is not yet officially released in the Philippines but the schedule has been set sometime in December of 2013. No official price has been set although regional stores in Singapore and Hong Kong puts the starting price at around Php32,000 and above.

Apple iPhone 5S specs:
4.0-inch IPS LCD display @ 640×1136 pixels, 326ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Apple A7 1.3GHz dual-core processor
PowerVR SGX544MP4 quad-core graphics
16GB, 32GB, 64GB internal storage
1GB RAM
DC-HSDPA 42Mbps, LTE 100Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band
Bluetooth 4.0
8MP iSight camera, LED flash
1080p video recording
1.2MP HD front-facing camera, 720p @ 30fps
GPS w/ aGPS support, GLONASS
iOS 7.0.2
112 grams (weight)
123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm (dimensions)

What we liked about it:
* Great performance
* Impressive camera
* LTE support

What we did not like:
* Very expensive
* Same old design
* Gimmicky Touch ID
* Same poor battery life
* Small screen and low resolution

Disclosure: We spent Php45,000 to purchase this 32GB model of the iPhone 5S in Hong Kong.

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Megan Young’s victory: a much welcome break

Megan young is crowned Miss World. AFP photo from YahooMegan Young’s winning the Miss World title is welcome break from all the depressing news that we have been getting the past months.

We so wanted something pleasant after months of pork barrel stories exposing the insatiable greed of Napoles and our public officials. The Zamboanga stories, despite the government’s declaration of ‘Mission Accomplished” are heartbreaking and emotionally draining.

Megan Young provided a lovely respite. And we thank her for that.

We deserve a break.

That’s what those who watched ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert of the music from Disney movies like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, Tarzan, Little Mermaid, Mulan, Alladin and others at the Cultural Center of the Philippines last Saturday felt .

For two hours, we forgot about pork barrel and Zamboanga and traveled to as far away as South Africa and China under the baton of the ebullient Gerard Salonga with actress and TV personality Nikki Gil as our journey guide.
We just wished the screen was bigger for the excerpts from Disney’s animated films.

We need the break because the painful truth is that even as we applaud Megan Young today, tomorrow, we still have to deal with corruption in all sectors of our society. The Mindanao problem is still there.

But that’s the real beauty of being a Filipino. We are a strong and resilient. We will overcome. We just need to re-charge.
***
Another pleasant news is a release sent from the Office of Pangasinan Rep. Gina de Venecia (4th district) that she has been re-elected president of Association of Women’s Legislators, Foundation, Inc. (AWLFI), the official women’s coalition at the House of Representatives.
Newly-elected members of the women lawmakers organization
The other newly elected officers of AWLFI, are: Rep. Ma. Theresa Bonoan (4th District, Manila), Vice President for NCR; Rep. Linabelle Ruth Villarica (4th District, Bulacan),Vice President for Luzon; Rep. Marie Anne Pernes (Lone District, Siquijor), Vice President for Visayas; Rep. Bai Sandra Sema (1st District, Maguindanao), Vice President for Mindanao; Rep. Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales (CIBAC), Vice President for PartyList; Rep. Emi Calixto-Rubiano (Lone District, Pasay City),Secretary; Rep. Elenita Milagros Ermita-Buhain (1st District, Batangas), Asst. Secretary; Rep. Evelina Escudero (1st District, Sorsogon), Treasurer; Rep. Elisa “Olga” Kho (2nd District, Masbate),Asst. Treasurer; Rep. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo (3rd District, Camarines Sur),Auditor; Rep. Sol Aragones (3rd District, Laguna), PRO; Rep. Magnolia Rosa Antonino-Nadres (4th District, Nueva Ecija),Asst. PRO; and Rep. Estrellita Suansing (1st District, Nueva Ecija), Muse.

The AWLFI Board of Advisers are: Rep. Henedia Abad (Lone District, Batanes), Rep. Imelda Quibranza Dimaporo (1st District, Lanao del Norte), Rep. Rose Marie “Baby” Arenas (3rd District, Pangasinan), Rep. Herminia Roman (1st District, Bataan, Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan (Party List, Gabriela), Rep. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo (Lone District, Aurora) and Rep. Ruby Sahali (Lone District, Tawi-Tawi).

Although this 16th Congress has the most number of lady legislators (79) in the history of Philippine Congress, it is still less than one-fourth of the total number (289) of members the House of Representatives.
That’s why De Venecia said, “It’s important that the lady legislators band together to achieve a sense of balance with our men-folks.”

De Venecia rallied her fellow women lawmakers to be resolute in their stand “for gender equality issues, for peace, for education, for environment & sustainable development and for basic human rights.”

She also reminded them to review and consider some 38 house bills filed at the Committee on Welfare of Children chaired by Rep. Aurora Cerilles, and another 21 house measures at the Committee on Women, under the chairmanship of Rep. Linabelle Villarica.
On her first term as president, during the 15th Congress, Rep. De Venecia transformed the 12 year-old coalition into a registered foundation at the Securities and Exchange Commission. She likewise established its official headquarters at Room 219 of the second floor of the South building of the HOR’s complex.

It’s good seeing Gina make her mark as legislature. During the time when her husband, Jose de Venecia, was Speaker, she led the Congressional Spouses in undertaking several projects, one of them building havens for street children and for women who had been victims of rape.

As a legislature, De Venecia continued her advocacy for those in need.Recently she filed a bill seeking the establishment of a welfare institution that will take care of special children or those with autism, and hearing and speech impairments.