Noy fetes companies with social responsibility projects

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has honored Asian businesses that have contributed to social transformation by carrying out corporate social responsibility projects.

In his speech during the 13th Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (AFCSR) in Makati City on Wednesday night, Aquino said businesses have changed for the better through the years.

He noted that while in the past the businesses only considered profit as their ultimate goal and viewed their responsibilities in isolation from the community, today’s manufacturing facilities are thinking of how to minimize their environmental impact and waste, thus preserving the sustainability of their source materials and enhancing relations with the community.

Several companies were awarded during Wednesday’s event for their contributions to solving social challenges.

The awardees were the Jollibee Group Foundation for its poverty alleviation initiatives; the DOW Chemical Thailand’s DOW Chemical for Sustainable Industry for its works on preserving the environment; the Jollibee Group Foundation for its initiatives on education; P.T. Unilever Indonesia for its health care programs; the Valsad District Cooperative Milk Producer in India for providing livelihood to farmers, and the Magsaysay Maritime Corp. for producing highly skilled seafarers for the maritime industry.

To the institutions being recognized for helping redefine the concept of business, the President said it was clear that corporate responsibility would be good for their ventures.

“After all, your continued growth cannot happen when the environment that allowed you to embark on this business venture is left by the wayside. Your continued profit cannot happen when you manufacture products that are increasingly out of the reach or relevance of your workers,” Aquino said.

“Your shareholders include your employees, consumers and now, the members of the communities in which you operate, thus redefining value not only in terms of profit, but also in terms of the empowerment of others,” he added.

The President cited as an example Jollibee Foods Corp.’s Busog, Lusog, Talino school feeding program, which has been providing lunch for undernourished students in kindergarten and first and second grades. He said the program resulted in 80 percent of the beneficiaries reaching a normal body mass index and a decrease in absenteeism.

Meanwhile, the Farmer Entrepreneurship Program, which aims to support the livelihood of Filipino farmers by linking them to the supply chain of institutional markets such as Jollibee, has helped more than 900 farmers across the country become more productive and have access to a broader market, the President added.

Aquino also commended the awardees for proving that the growth of companies and of the private industry could not be separated from the growth of communities. He said that companies joining social reforms are inspiring him.

“These events never fail to inspire me – and I hope that they have the same if not a greater effect on you and your peers… Through your work, you have already shown that the simplest ideas can bring about the most profound transformations,” Aquino said.

The AFCSR is the largest annual conference on corporate social responsibility in the region. It was launched in 2002 by the Asian Institute of Management-Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. Center for Corporate Social Responsibility, one of the first research centers in Asia to concentrate on corporate social responsibility issues.