The Philippine job market is about to get a digital jolt. 

Every January 9, Manila wakes up to a city transformed. Streets close, mobile signals strain, and time seems to slow as millions of barefoot devotees converge for the Traslación of the Black Nazarene—one of the world’s largest religious processions and among the most powerful public expressions of Filipino faith.

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has given the green light to a strategic joint venture between listed conglomerate Ayala Corp. and EMIF II Holding III B.V., clearing the latter’s acquisition of a roughly 40 percent stake in AC Logistics Holdings Corp.