MANILA, Philippines – Volkswagen Philippines has recently partnered with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to further enhance the German automaker’s Child Safety Initiative (CSI) in the Philippines.
With the partnership, the MMDA, specifically its Institute of Traffic Management (ITM) headed by project partners General Manager Corazon Jimenez and her deputy Antonio Pagulayan, will provide actual traffic enforcers who will orient the kids and parents at the CSI’s Junior Driving Course for children. The MMDA traffic enforcers will also act as “traffic aides” along with members of CSI partner Philippine Global Road Safety Partnership (PGRSP) at the driving course.
Both Volkswagen Philippines’ CSI and MMDA’s ITM were launched April this year. The CSI is aimed at introducing early childhood safety awareness to children 4-8 years of age, while imparting important road safety habits to their parents. The Philippine campaign is part of the global CSI strategy of Volkswagen that already rolled out in various countries. The CSI is based on two pillars: The prevention of accidents by teaching and educating parents and kids about possible dangers on the roads, and to emphasize the passive safety devices of modern-day passenger vehicles with special focus on the use of age-appropriate child safety seats. The on-going CSI campaign has, as of November 8, 2015, had 3,878 children and 3,199 adults participate in different Volkswagen dealers, malls, industry shows, and school tours.
The ITM is MMDA’s educational institution for training and continuing education of all traffic management personnel, law enforcers and accident investigators of both local and national government agencies. The institute is also given the authority to grant degrees and issue certificates of training competency to government and non-government personnel involved in traffic management, law enforcement, and accident investigations who have successfully completed training programs and courses.
CSI efforts shift to schools
Meanwhile, after the successful activations in malls, Volkswagen dealerships and industry tradeshows, the CSI gets much closer to kids with its school tours beginning with Manresa Paranaque last October 24. The school tours are arranged with the assistance of Ayala sister company Integrated Microelectronics, Inc. (IMI).
More school tours, mall shows and tradeshow exhibits are lined up for 2016.
Volkswagen Philippines’ CSI has also been recently recognized by local motoring media for its efforts to raise public awareness on road safety, especially among children and their parents. Top Gear Philippines awarded Volkswagen Philippines’ CSI last November 26 as Best Practice in Road Safety Advocacy in its first-ever Stig Awards.
For more information on this corporate social responsibility endeavour of Volkswagen Philippines, contact arnel.doria@volkswagen.com.ph or je.borromeo@volkswagen.com.ph.