P-Noy seeks more classroom donations from Philam Life

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino is seeking more classroom donations from Philam Life while thanking the insurance company for its corporate social responsibility and investments in the country.

In a speech during Philam’s 65th anniversary celebration Thursday night, the President said the company was striving not only to fulfill its mandate but was also going above and beyond what was required of it.

“Part of this involves the millions in investments you have made in the Philippines – from the South Metro Manila Skyway Project, to various investments in the energy and utilities industries,” Aquino said.

Last year, the President said Philam spent P15 million for various corporate social responsibility projects, the second largest CSR contribution in the life insurance industry.

“This money helped coconut farmers in Davao improve the marketability of their products, and increased the environmental knowledge and scientific skills of elementary and high school students in Antique. This money paid for the school fees of over 500 schoolchildren in Lamitan, Basilan, and made sure that they had uniforms, books, and school supplies,” Aquino said.

“I would also like to thank you for the 65 classrooms that you will be building as part of your Philam Paaralan program over the next five years. These classrooms will directly benefit over 3,000 students in that time, and thousands more in the future. If I may say so – we will definitely not object if you want to review that proposal and eventually increase that number. All the help we can get to build the 66,000 classrooms (to address the shortage) is greatly appreciated,” he said.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance, if you think that building an average of one classroom a month is too little,” Aquino said.

The President said Philam was one of the companies that saw the development of the country’s democracy – “from its nascent beginnings, to the times when a corrupt few subverted it for personal gain, and the times when we won it back.”

“I am reminded that in the years before martial law, you were actually a victim before the rest of the Filipino people, when a bomb was thrown at your headquarters at UN Avenue. After 65 years, we both have emerged – not in my case though – we both have emerged stronger, more able to serve the Filipino people. Today, Philam Life stands as one of the strongest pillars of the insurance industry, and even the finance industry,” he said.

“Ventures that seek to empower Filipinos will always have my admiration and, more importantly perhaps, support. After all, our administration believes that if we invest in our countrymen and help them stand on their own two feet, we will be better able to ensure success for all: for Juan de la Cruz, for companies like Philam Life, and for the whole country,” Aquino said.

The President said Philam found a way to balance making a profit with fulfilling a noble undertaking: empowering Filipinos to be financially secure and to achieve their goals.

He said Philam had paid P5-billion worth of educational plans since 2004, which translated to thousands of dreams fulfilled for Filipino parents and their children in the past eight years alone.

“The good news is that you will always continue to benefit from the work you do: having empowered the populace, you will then be able to enjoy the benefits of a very extended client base,” Aquino said.