Private enterprise with a social conscience

It is more blessed to give than to receive. —Acts 20 : 35

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. —Maya Angelou

The family that perseveres in good works will surely have an abundance of blessings. —Chinese proverb

Ateneo de Manila philosophy professor and Philippine STAR reader Jovi Miroy emailed to ask about the recent spate of headlines involving not a few business people embroiled in either alleged scandalous deals with corrupt politicians or other controversies. I agree that this type of news unfairly paints a very negative picture of businesspeople in general, so I am focusing this column on some of the many examples of private enterprise with a social conscience.

Hans Sy & Ricky Reyes team up to help indigent kids with cancer

Unknown to many, Henry Sy’s 57-year-old son SM Prime Holdings, Inc. president and China Bank chairman Hans T. Sy is a top patron of the Child Haus center for cancer-stricken children supported by celebrity hair salon chain entrepreneur and philanthropist Ricky Reyes. Sy donates in the name of his father, SM founder Henry Sy Sr.

It was Hans Sy’s purchase and donation of a house at 90 Mapang-akit Street, Quezon City (near East Avenue Medical Center and Philippine Heart Center), which gave Child Haus its permanent home.

The Ricky Reyes Foundation and his chain of hair salons have been assisting indigent cancer patients since the late 1990s. Apart from Child Haus in Quezon City, Reyes also supports a center for abandoned and abused kids in Marikina. Reyes sold his 2,300-sqm. mansion with swimming pool in Valle Verde in Pasig City because he said he wants to give more to his philanthropic causes.

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Jose Mari Chan celebrates birthday at halfway home for kids with cancer

Another successful businessman who recently gave support to indigent children with cancer is multi-awarded singer/ songwriter Jose Mari Chan, who celebrated his birthday on March 9 at the Tahan-Tahanan Halfway Home in Quezon City. Volunteer Rogelio Constantino Medina invited Chan and singer Lance Raymundo to Tahan-Tahanan.

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Entrepreneur donates two million free bibles, creates free medical hotline

 â€œIn the Philippines, if you want to get rich quickly, be a drug lord, a gambling lord and a Praise the Lord,” joked Generics Pharmacy founder Benjamin “Ben” Liuson, a legitimate “drug lord” whose drugstore chain already has 1,600 branches nationwide — the most in the Philippines. The company started its new retail and franchising brand in 2007 and last year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue awarded him as the No. 1 taxpayer in Parañaque City.

At a recent dinner at the Forbes Park residence of RFM boss and GoNegosyo advocate Joey Concepcion and later at another lunch meeting arranged by his former high school classmates, Dr. Smile Dental Clinic president Dr. Joseph Dy Lim and publisher Solomon Yuyitung, Generics Pharmacy CEO Ben Liuson gave the STAR an exclusive two-part interview on his inspiring success story. 

Apart from starting the Generics Pharmacy chain concept when he was almost 60, a late bloomer as a successful entrepreneur, the ethnic Chinese entrepreneur Ben Liuson is unique for being a devout born-again Christian who every year donates two million free Bibles in English, Tagalog and Cebuano to the public.

Among the 2013 recipients of his free Bibles include the 33,000 employees of the Philippines’ biggest call-center business Convergys led by Marife Zamora and the 4,000 employees of the Wilcon hardware chain led by self-made Filipino Chinese entrepreneur William Belo. 

The newest corporate social responsibility (CSR) project of Ben Liuson is the 24-hour “Call-a-Dok” free hotline for any medical questions or problems: 555-5333, 0998-555-5333, 0917-559-9995, and 0925-777-7333. RFM’s Joey Concepcion suggested to Ben Liuson that he bring this free medical service online in order to reach more people.

Success strategies behind the phenomenal growth of Generics Pharmacy

Quality of products or services — Any business that wants long-term and sustainable success should maintain its standard of quality. Generics Pharmacy has tied up with scientific and medical centers to continuously ensure the quality control of all its medicines.

Affordability — Liuson said his firm pioneered the wholesale selling and nationwide retailing of low-priced generic drugs even before the lawmakers legislated this sector into law. Ben Liuson said: “Our business itself is corporate social responsibility, because we want to reach more people with low-priced drugs.”

Accessibility — Liuson said that no matter how good a business is, it’s important to make products or services easily accessible to the public. In the case of his drugstore chain, his aggressive expansion policy is guided by this focus — open outlets near a big chain drugstore branch, near a palengke or wet market, or near where there is high foot traffic. He said the most important consideration is location.

Advertising — Liuson is a strong believer in advertising and promotions, whether through newspapers, billboards, TV commercials and others. In fact, he said that his firm was listed by a Nielsen report as No. 46 among the Philippines’ top 500 corporate advertisers in terms of advertising expenditures. He has 80 billboards, making his firm the biggest in this category of advertising.

Corporate social responsibility or CSR —Liuson said that apart from his Christian idealism and the traditional Chinese Confucian teachings as inspirations for his civic efforts, he strongly believes in the idea that private enterprise should have a social conscience and should help social progress.  When people ask him about his success, Liuson quotes the Bible verse from Deutoronomy Chapter 8, Verse 18: “When you acquire wealth, remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth.” Liuson stressed: “This Bible verse means that everything comes from God.”

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SME entrepreneurs help Tacloban students

Not all members of the ethnic Chinese minority are rich; many are middle-class, small traders and professionals. One of the outstanding yet low-key groups of idealistic entrepreneurs is the board of directors of downtown Manila’s Hope Christian High School, led by its chairman, Cecilio Kwok Pedro, also Hapee Toothpaste founder, born-again Christian entrepreneur and vice president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII). The school is run by the equally idealistic principal Angeline Tan.

Unknown to many people, one of the hardest-hit sectors in the typhoon Yolanda disaster was Tacloban City’s ethnic Chinese minority and the SME entrepreneurs of this community. After the catastrophe destroyed their city and wiped away the community’s two Chinese-language schools, many of the students and their families sought refuge in Manila.

Though not among the biggest Chinese-language schools in Metro Manila and despite limited resources, Hope Christian High School principal Tan welcomed the displaced Tacloban students and quickly converted some school facilities into makeshift dormitory rooms. Cecilio Pedro himself helped inspect the dorms, members of the Hope Christian Church, alumni and also parents of the Hope Christian High School donated foods, uniforms and other assistance.

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Businesspeople, professionals and anyone who cares for Philippine arts are encouraged to support an outstanding non-governmental organization (NGO) called Erehwon Center for the Arts Foundation based in No. 1 Don Francisco St., Villa Beatriz, Old Balara, Quezon City, tel. 384-3507.

It is headed by Rafael Benitez and one of their officers is respected art restorer June “Beng” Dalisay. A project of Erehwon is its artist-in-residence program for talented artists. Their Facebook page is www.facebook.com/ erehwon.artworld.7

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Through the efforts of STAR reader and Summit Media’s Cosmopolitan Philippines magazine features editor Krizette L. Chu, I recently made a donation to public school students she is helping in her typhoon-ravaged hometown of Tacloban City, Leyte.  I also referred some friends to support them. I’ve also supported Child Haus and Tahan-Tahanan. It is not true that only tycoons and celebrities can help others; every person can be of help. A quote from Aesop said, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

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