Noy makes pitch vs corporate greed

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino on Wednesday made a pitch against corporate greed as he paid tribute to six companies that received awards for corporate social responsibility.

“At this moment, a movement called Occupy Wall Street has caught the eye of the world. In fact, this is a movement that has been picked up by people around the globe. In city streets from America to Athens, people have gathered to express their dissatisfaction with a status quo that they perceive to be unjust, oppressive, and incapable of dealing with today’s realities,” Aquino said during the Asian Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards organized by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and Intel held at EDSA Shangri-La hotel in Mandaluyong City.

“They have been protesting against companies that engage in what they deem to be the usurpation of regulation and, in some cases, democracy itself. We see that these groups of people from different nations all share the same rallying cry: there must be accountability; there must be inclusive growth,” he said.

He said at present, it was a difficult time for everyone in the world to be the head of a corporation, given that companies seemed to be portrayed as the bad guys in this latest global economic and social crisis.

“When one looks at our part of the world, however, this is not the case. While of course there will always be exceptions, here in our region, corporations – especially the ones more active in their humanitarian endeavors – are generally seen in a positive light. The people recognize the value that business can bring to a nation; they see the opportunities and the possibilities, and realize that corporations and individuals can empower each other and partner toward the achievement of a just society,” the President said.

“I believe that this is partly because many Philippine and Asian corporations have been actively engaged in corporate social responsibility activities. Many, if not all, of you present here have made the conscious decision to play a greater role in the communities in which you do business. Realizing that you do not live and work in a vacuum, you have done your best to help ensure that the people living in the societies in which you operate are given the chance to live a more dignified life,” he said.

The six winners of this year’s Asian CSR Awards were lauded for implementing sustainable and innovative CSR programs in the areas of health, environment, poverty alleviation, and education.

Of the six winners, two companies are based in Thailand while the others are based in Pakistan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

Among the winners of the CSR awards were Pfizer Thailand (health enhancement), The Link Management Limited of Hong Kong (environment excellence), Citi Pakistan and Double A (1991) Public Company Limited (poverty alleviation) and Abbott Singapore (education improvement).

On the other hand, the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa of Malaysia received the Intel-AIM CSR Award. The award is given to companies that have well-aligned CSR programs that make their business sustainable.

Aquino lamented that no Filipino corporation won this year and said he would encourage them to excel more so they would be recognized and the Philippines would not be left behind.

But Ramon del Rosario Jr., chairman of the board of advisors of the AIM-Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. Center for Corporate Social Responsibility, said while there were no winners from the Philippines this year, Philippine companies are among those at the forefront in practicing CSR.

“In all the other Asian CSR awards, they have been dominated by Philippine winners,” Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario said many Filipino firms have been successful in demonstrating their social responsibility even at the community level.

“I think we are on the right track. We are very aware of the things we need to keep doing. We have such a wide array of examples of companies doing very good work,” he said. – With Alexis Romero