Recognize Greatness in Nursing — The 2026 Nurse of the Year Search Begins

 

BEST Healthcare Rankings has officially opened its nationwide call for nominations for the 2026 Nurse of the Year Awards, honoring exceptional Filipino nurses practicing in the Philippines. The program recognizes two distinctions: Frontline Nurse of the Year and Servant Leader Nurse of the Year.

Founded and chaired by Guam-based Filipino nurse leader Job Marconi Mascardo, the initiative is a community-driven effort led by Overseas Filipinos to provide meaningful, no-cost recognition to nurses who embody excellence, integrity, and trust in healthcare.

Nominations are open to colleagues, patients, families, community members, and self-nominees across the Philippines — advancing the organization’s mission of Building Excellence through Service and Trust.

Guam — February 2026 — In hospitals and healthcare settings across the Philippines, some of the most profound acts of excellence unfold quietly. A nurse offering reassurance during a frightening diagnosis. A calm yet decisive voice leading a code blue team as they work to restart a patient’s heart. A steadfast advocate speaking up for patient safety when silence would be easier.

These everyday acts of dedication define the spirit of nursing — and they are the inspiration behind the 2026 Nurse of the Year Awards, now open for nationwide nominations through BEST Healthcare Rankings.

Founded on the principle of Building Excellence through Service and Trust, the initiative recognizes two distinct but equally vital dimensions of nursing excellence: the frontline caregiver and the servant leader.

Two Awards. Two Dimensions of Excellence.

Frontline Nurse of the Year

The Frontline Nurse of the Year award honors exceptional direct patient care. It recognizes nurses working in hospitals, emergency departments, community clinics, and rural health settings who consistently deliver safe, compassionate, and evidence-based care.

This distinction celebrates clinical competence, accountability, resilience under pressure, and unwavering patient advocacy. Frontline nurses are often the first to respond in moments of crisis — and their vigilance directly shapes patient outcomes.

 Servant Leader Nurse of the Year

The Servant Leader Nurse of the Year award honors leadership rooted in humility, integrity, and service.

This category recognizes nurses who mentor colleagues, strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, uphold ethical standards, and cultivate cultures of trust within healthcare teams and communities. Inspired by the enduring legacy of Florence Nightingale, the award affirms that true leadership in nursing prioritizes stewardship over status.

Servant leadership is measured not merely by position, but by influence used to uplift others and strengthen healthcare systems.

Recognition Without Barriers

Participation is entirely free. There are no nomination fees, participation costs, or award acceptance charges — reinforcing the organization’s commitment to accessible, merit-based recognition.

Each honoree will receive:

1. PHP 10,000 (pre-tax)

2. An Official Award Certificate

3. Letter of Recommendation

4. Recognition during a Virtual Award Ceremony

Nomination Deadline: October 1, 2026

Virtual Award Ceremony: December 5, 2026

Nominations are open nationwide. Colleagues, patients, families, and community members are encouraged to participate — including self-nominations.

Submissions are evaluated through a blinded, holistic, and evidence-based scoring process that prioritizes excellence in care, integrity in practice, trustworthiness within teams, and commitment to professional growth. Nomination forms are available through BEST Healthcare Rankings’ official Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

Leadership Behind the Initiative

The awards are the vision of Guam-based Filipino nurse leader Job Marconi Mascardo, MBA, MAN, RN, NE-BC, CPHQ, CMGT-BC.

Mascardo began his professional journey as a volunteer nurse with the Red Cross Cebu Chapter before gaining frontline clinical experience in the United States, including service in long-term care settings in Montana. These early roles exposed him to the physical demands, emotional challenges, and ethical responsibilities of bedside nursing — experiences that continue to shape his leadership philosophy.

He later advanced into roles in case management and healthcare quality focusing on process and system improvement. He earned his nursing degree from Silliman University and later completed graduate studies in Business Administration (MBA) and Nursing (MAN) at other institutions. He also holds multiple U.S. board certifications in nurse executive leadership (NE-BC), healthcare quality (CPHQ), and case management (CMGT-BC).

Mascardo has received community recognitions for his leadership, including Distinct and Empowered Filipino in Nursing Leadership by the Philippines Distinct Men and Women of Excellence in Metro Manila, as well as a scholarship award from the Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) in New York. He was also nominated as an Emerging Global Filipino Icon by The Global Filipino Magazine and featured in The Summit Express news.

Through his clinical and leadership experiences — including service during the COVID-19 pandemic — Mascardo observed that many of the most impactful nurses work quietly, without meaningful recognition.

“I’ve seen nurses carry patient loads through difficult seasons,” Mascardo said. “Recognition strengthens morale. It reinforces integrity. And it reminds nurses that their service truly matters.”

As an Overseas Filipino professional, he describes the initiative as a way of giving back to the nursing community in the Philippines — honoring those whose excellence and trustworthiness form the backbone of healthcare.

Excellence in nursing may unfold quietly — but its impact is profound. And it deserves to be recognized.

 

About BEST Healthcare Rankings

BEST Healthcare Rankings—Building Excellent Service & Trust—is an independent, community-based analytics and recognition platform committed to honoring excellence in healthcare delivery. It is not affiliated with any government or regulatory body.

This press release has also been published on VRITIMES

Bitget Wallet doubles tokenized stock offerings, expanding US market access for Filipino investors

 

Bitget Wallet, a leading non-custodial crypto wallet with over 80 million users, has officially doubled its tokenized stock offerings, allowing Filipinos and users anywhere in the world access to more than 200 US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The expanded offerings are made possible through Ondo Finance’s Global Markets infrastructure. This blockchain-based platform brings traditionally traded US stocks and ETFs on-chain, allowing users outside the United States to gain exposure to these assets.

Through this integration, Filipino users can manage a hybrid portfolio of cryptocurrencies and US equities directly within the Bitget Wallet application. This eliminates the need for traditional brokerage accounts or navigating complex international banking intermediaries, effectively democratizing access to global wealth-building tools.

“As markets change, access should change with them. By expanding the range of stocks available in our app, we’re giving users more ways to participate in global markets, without the usual barriers of location, banking access, or trading hours, said Jamie Elkaleh, Chief Marketing Officer of Bitget Wallet.

Previously, Bitget Wallet focused on offering popular technology stocks from Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia. With this update, users worldwide can now access nearly 100 additional US companies, including AT&T, Citigroup, and T-Mobile. These new options cover industries such as telecommunications, banking, and energy.

This global expansion marks a significant milestone in Bitget Wallet’s mission to merge decentralized finance (DeFi) with traditional markets. By broadening its asset catalog, the platform provides a seamless bridge for investors to diversify their digital portfolios with real-world equities.

As the Philippine tokenized market continues its upward trajectory toward 2030, Bitget Wallet’s latest update provides Filipino investors with more robust alternative options to grow their wealth in an increasingly digital-first economy.

This Press Release has also been published on VRITIMES

Rotary Club of New Manila East Becomes First Rotary Club to Win an Anvil Award for a Coffee Table Book Publication

 

Celebrating 40 years, RCNME earned its 40th honor by becoming the first Rotary club to win an Anvil Award for a coffee table book.

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The Rotary Club of New Manila East (RCNME) became the first Rotary club in Philippine history to receive an Anvil Award for a Coffee Table Book when it was honored at the 61st Anvil Awards Recognition Night on January 28, 2026, at Solaire North Grand Ballroom. It is also the 2nd Rotary club to win an Anvil Award in the last 61 years.

The Silver Anvil was awarded to “40 Years: The Rotary Club of New Manila East 1984–2024“, an ISBN-registered publication that documents the club’s four decades of service across health, education, livelihood, youth development, environmental stewardship, and peacebuilding. The book transforms institutional memory into a permanent, measurable record of community impact. The Anvil Awards, established in 1965 by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), are the country’s highest recognition in public relations and communications. A panel of senior industry practitioners evaluates entries on research rigor, strategic planning, execution quality, and measurable results.

The Anvil is RCNME’s 40th award, earned during the club’s 40th anniversary year, a coincidence that caps what the club calls its Ruby Year.

“We set out to honor our past and equip our future,” said Immediate Past President Karlo Benjamin Nisce, who led RCNME during its Ruby Year and spearheaded the publication. “When you document your work with clarity and honesty, the story stops being history. It becomes a blueprint.”

Ruby Year Public Image Chairman Jullian Anisco emphasized that the book was never designed as an awards submission. “This was a documentation effort, not a campaign,” Anisco said. “The recognition validates the discipline behind the work.”

A Record-Setting Year The Anvil caps a Ruby Year in which RCNME completed 80 projects and activities, generating an unprecedented sweep of recognition:

• 34 Rotary International District 3780 Excellence Awards, including Outstanding Club and President with High Platinum Distinction

• 2 Rotary Zone 10A Public Image Awards, placing RCNME above 900+ clubs across the Philippines

• Rotary International Club Excellence Award for alignment with global objectives

• Partner in Service recognition from the Department of Education and Department of Health–QMMC

The government citations from DepEd and DOH-QMMC, are notable for extending recognition beyond Rotary’s internal ecosystem, validating the club’s measurable impact on public institutions.

This press release has also been published on VRITIMES 

Why Smart Money Is Looking First at Electric Moto-Taxis in the Philippines

  

Smart capital in the Philippines is increasingly looking first at electric moto-taxis as the fastest-moving layer of clean mobility, driven by utilization economics rather than vehicle size. With motorcycles completing far more trips per day than private cars, two-wheel electrification delivers quicker payback and scale—now being tested at platform level by operators like Xpress Super App as an early-adoption complement to four-wheel EV fleets.

Manila, Philippines — While much of the electric vehicle conversation in the Philippines has centered on four-wheel fleets and private cars, industry attention is increasingly shifting to where electrification delivers impact sooner: electric moto-taxis. In a country where motorcycles account for a disproportionate share of daily transport activity, two-wheel EVs are emerging as the fastest-moving layer in the clean mobility transition.

The logic is rooted in utilization. Moto-taxis operate longer hours, complete more trips per day, and burn fuel continuously. Electrifying a single high-use motorcycle can displace more daily fuel consumption — and reach payback sooner — than many privately owned electric cars that spend much of the day parked. For capital focused on efficiency and speed to scale, utilization, not vehicle size, is becoming the decisive metric.

This sequencing is now being tested at the platform level. Ride-hailing operators such as Xpress Super App are integrating electric motorcycles into high-volume networks, positioning two-wheel EVs as the early adoption layer within a broader electric mobility portfolio that also includes four-wheel fleets. Rather than replacing EV cars, the approach complements them — allowing platforms to capture faster returns and operational learning while larger EV infrastructure continues to mature.

About Xpress Super App

Xpress Super App is a Philippine-based mobility platform operating across two-wheel and four-wheel transport, built for high-density cities and tourism-driven markets. The company focuses on high-frequency, real-world mobility use cases, integrating ride-hailing with digital services to drive scale and utilization. Positioned as a platform-led operator, Xpress is advancing electric mobility through a portfolio approach—deploying electric two-wheel vehicles as an early adoption layer while continuing to develop four-wheel EV fleets as infrastructure matures.