A lunch for Steve & Ravi

Ever since she took a two-week pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Dr. Vicki Belo has been focusing on her personal spiritual growth.

Recently, Vicki rolled out the red carpet and threw an intimate lunch at her beautiful home for world renowned evangelist and motivational speaker Dr. Ravi Zacharias and ardent follower Hollywood actor Stephen Baldwin.

Vicki was the perfect hostess as she welcomed her very select guests.  Of course, her very good friend Hayden Kho, who is also a Zacharias follower, co-hosted the luncheon.

All were also keenly interested about what Steve, Dr. Ravi, and Hayden had to say over lunch. Inspiring stories flowed from them during our dessert and way after that.

Vicki’s loyal friend and consultant Jojie Dingcong organized the lunch, which featured a lavish buffet catered by Peppermill (which, for the record, is not mine and has no affiliation with this column.). The feast was laden with baked scallops, mixed Thai satay, biryani rice with cashew nuts, shallots and cranberry, US Angus Tomahawk steak encrusted in pistachio, New Zealand baked leg of lamb, and of course the Philippine pièce de résistance, lechon de leche.

Photo ops with the famous evangelist and Hollywood actor ensued. Guests left the luncheon with a happy stomach and a joyful soul.

Celebrating the gift of life

The gift of life is one of the most precious blessings a couple wanting a child could ever have. For some couples who are having problems conceiving, seeking medical help abroad is sometimes taken into consideration.

To help reach more Filipinos and strengthen its presence in the Philippines, Ferring Pharmaceuticals recently opened its office at the Ecotower building in  Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

The formal inauguration was graced by company president and COO Michel Pettigrew, who flew all the way from Switzerland. He was joined by consultant Ralph Diehl, senior vice president for Asia Pacific Alex Chang, regional finance controller BingMei Hao, associate director of business excellence Jareen Yao and regional senior director for Southeast Asia Ming Yip.

Company executives were formally welcomed by Ferring Philippines general manager Jane Villablanca. The company’s philosophy is “People come first at Ferring.”

Pettigrew said, “We live our philosophy every day of the week. We have a respect for all stakeholders — whether the patients, to ensure they get the care they deserve; the medical community or our employees. We expect our employees to take on a lot of responsibility — it’s a great place to work.”

Ferring Pharmaceuticals distinguishes itself by putting people ahead of profit. It all started when Dr. Frederik Paulsen fled from Germany as a student during World War II and eventually arrived in Sweden where he established Nordiska Hormon Laboratoriet, which would later be known as Ferring, in 1950.

Dr. Paulsen and wife Eva became the first scientists to synthesize peptides by producing adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) or stress hormone. This discovery made the company a pioneer in developing and selling pharmaceutical products based on natural, pituitary-produced peptide hormones.

With over 4,500 employees worldwide, Ferring operates subsidiaries in 55 countries and makes its products available in more than 100 countries.

Now, the company develops innovative products in the four therapy areas of reproductive health — urology, gastroenterology, endocrinology and orthopedics.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are about 60 to 80 million cases of infertility around the world.

(For best results, consult your primary doctor. For more information, visit www.ferring.com.)

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