The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Asenso Center, the first livelihood hub of its kind in Grab’s Southeast Asia network, was inaugurated by Grab Philippines and Move It in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology last Thursday in Marikina City.
The Asenso Center is expected to generate 500,000 livelihood opportunities for the Philippine government. The leading superapp said it has already delivered new livelihoods equivalent to 73 percent of its 5-year target, putting the company on track to exceed its goal ahead of schedule. Merchant participation is also rising, with the number of community merchants up 30 percent year-on-year as more local entrepreneurs formalize online.
The one-hectare facility is designed to elevate and professionalize the onboarding of platform workers and entrepreneurs, accelerate AI-enabled earning opportunities for Filipinos, and streamline access to social protection programs via guided enrollment with SSS, Pag-IBIG, and PhilHealth, complemented by micro-insurance and welfare protection from Chubb and AXA.
“Grab is one of the Philippines’ most mature platform-work ecosystems, and that gives us a precise, ground-level understanding of what Filipino platform workers and micro-entrepreneurs truly need to thrive. The Asenso Center turns that insight into action. It opens dignified, digitally powered livelihoods, equips our partners with practical AI co-pilots, and helps families convert opportunity into income at scale,” said Grab Philippines country managing director Ronald Roda.
For his part, DICT secretary Henry Aguda underscored the crucial role of the gig economy in uplifting the lives of Filipinos. He described Grab and MOVE IT partners as the “frontline of the digital economy.” He emphasized the critical role of public-private partnerships in achieving the agency’s goal of creating millions of digital livelihoods in the Philippines.
“In every trip you take, there’s a child who gets to eat, tuition that gets paid, and medical bills that are settled—that’s the future. This is what real change looks like—you are the frontline of the digital economy,” Aguda said.
The Asenso Center embeds AI enablement into the growth pathways of partners, offering mobile-first tools like Merchant AI Assistant and AI Driver Companion, and pairing these with merchant and driver training to ensure that they can leverage these tools responsibly and safely.
Merchants can use a mobile-first “Merchant AI Assistant,” which is an AI co-pilot that aids in day-to-day tasks such as setting up seasonal promotions, automating menu set-ups, producing ready-to-post marketing content, and surfacing demand insights for inventory and staffing. Drivers, on the other hand, access an in-app “AI Driver Companion” for real-time route optimization and demand hotspot guidance – reducing idle time and lifting overall earnings.
Among those leveraging the Merchant AI Assistant is Marvin Catimbang, Chief Operating Officer of Coffee Blanc and a GrabFood 5-Star Eats Merchant-Partner. “The Merchant AI Assistant is an incredible day-to-day help for us, especially in tasks previously done manually, such as generating descriptions for our menu items or updating our store hours. It’s a handy partner for MSMEs like us. The AI assistant has also been very helpful in analyzing consumer insights, which is critical to the growth of our business.”
Grab said platform productivity is also calibrated, so active partners at least eight hours a day can hit family-sustaining income levels. Many surpass that benchmark based on active hours, time of day, service type, and demand patterns.
To align earnings with flexibility in social protection, partners can choose which programs to contribute to and when. At the Asenso Center, enrollment counters for SSS, Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth sit alongside onboarding and skills assessments, and private coverage is available on an opt-in basis, allowing workers to tailor benefits to their needs. For top performers, Grab and MOVE IT subsidize Pag-IBIG contributions and provide free life-insurance coverage in addition to the standard on-trip insurance.