Allyzandra “Ally” Gumatay

BY ALLYZANDRA “ALLY” GUMATAY “It carried the fingerprints of the culture that sent it, and the world that decided it belonged on the keyboard in the first place.” EVERY emoji, the digital age’s minimalist stand-in for a human face or feeling, that was added to the keyboard was a small record of a much larger conversation: about how the human brain processed emotion and ideas, how societies evolved, and how the world decided who or what was represented.

BY ALLYZANDRA “ALLY” GUMATAY BEYOND the shades of blue that guests donned at the Malaya Business Insight (MBI) Weekender’s “Blue Debut” launch party held at Toma Toma, Makati City last July 3, 2026, it was the publication’s vision that illuminated the subdued ambience of the venue — a vision to create pathways for growth, to champion emerging concepts, and to give a platform for stories that were undeniably human.

“Before the clock struck midnight, before the auctioneer took the floor, before the first mystery was unveiled …” WHILE every opening bid would begin with a relic placed beneath the gavel, the avant-garde world found in Malaya Business Insight (MBI) Weekender’s forthcoming illustrated short story series, “The Midnight Auction,” was set to come alive through the illustrations of artist Bow Guerrero.