by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Fintech, Startups & Global Trade, Philippines Company Stories
⚡ TL;DRThe Philippine constitution reserves majority ownership of land, public utilities, mass media and several other sectors to Filipinos, most commonly through a sixty-forty rule. The intent is national control of strategic assets; the effect has been...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Fintech, Startups & Global Trade, Philippines Company Stories
⚡ TL;DRElectronics account for more than half of Philippine merchandise exports, principally semiconductor assembly, test and packaging performed in economic zones by multinational subsidiaries. The headline figure is impressive and misleading: components are...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Fintech, Startups & Global Trade, Philippines Company Stories
⚡ TL;DRThe Philippines has a hundred million people, among the world’s heaviest social media usage, widespread English and rapidly growing digital payments — and consistently receives less venture capital than Indonesia, Vietnam or Singapore. The...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Fintech, Startups & Global Trade, Philippines Company Stories
⚡ TL;DRMaya began as a payments business serving merchants and consumers, then obtained one of the Philippines’ digital banking licences — which changed the model fundamentally. A wallet holds customer money in trust and cannot lend it; a bank takes...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Fintech, Startups & Global Trade, Philippines Company Stories
⚡ TL;DRGCash reached tens of millions of Filipinos who had never had a bank account, by solving the problem that had defeated every previous attempt: converting cash into digital value. Neighbourhood shops became agents, a phone number became an account...
by Ekrem Duman | Aug 26, 2026 | Founders & Dynasties, Philippines Company Stories
⚡ TL;DRManny Villar built one of the Philippines’ largest property groups by serving the segment premium developers ignored: mass-market and affordable housing for ordinary households, financed substantially by overseas remittances. Volume rather than...
