Helping heal our Mother Earth
MANILA, Philippines - True to its commitment to helping address serious issues facing their local communities, General Electric (GE) through its GE Volunteers recently partnered with Meralco to conduct a tree-planting activity at the Malabanban Watershed in San Pablo City. Spearheaded by GE Meters, this collaborative effort was a manifestation of both companies’ desire to give back to Mother Earth through a project that will aid in the continuing efforts in greening and preserving our environment.
Over 200 volunteer employees, both from Meralco and GE Meters, planted hundreds of trees after an exhilarating morning mountain trek. Pleased and proud of the outcome of the activity, Waldo Darvin, GEPMICI general manager, said, “While GE and Meralco have been joint-venture partners in the GEPMICI watt-hour meter facility for over 25 years now, the Malabanban tree planting activity held last June 5 was the first-ever socio-environmental project by the two companies. I laud the Meralco and GEPMICI teams who went out of their way to initiate this very important program for the environment, and thank all of those who participated in this worthwhile effort to help bring back Mother Earth to how it should be. The first step has been taken; GE surely looks forward to working with Meralco on many other environmental and socio-civic projects in the years to come.”
Says Ferdinand Geluz, Meralco South Area ESH chairman, “As the sole electric service company in our franchise area, we used to define our franchise as our “community” or the business environment and society we serve. But now more than ever, the concept of community has expanded because of the climate change phenomenon and the awareness that a company’s existence is affected not only by the community in which it is based but also by the global environment. The tree-planting activity showed our company’s commitment to the community as one of our stakeholders to which we hold ourselves accountable. We are very glad and thankful that we were able to partner with our other stakeholders: our employees, customers (SPC Water District), and supplier (GEPMICI) in this project. I know that this partnership will last a long time because it is, to quote one of our partners, ‘a project that has no end, only a beginning’ as greater challenges lie ahead in helping heal our Mother Earth.”
Meanwhile, Reynaldo Sacdalan, Meralco Safety and Evironment Management head, said that the “trees planted at San Pablo City Malaban watershed by Meralco and GE Meters were the best monuments that a man can erect to his own memory. They speak praises without flattery and are blessings to children and those yet unborn.”
Over the years, GE Volunteers in the Philippines have been engaged in different worthy programs, including regular bloodletting activities, educational projects (assistance in building schools, donating school supplies), beach clean-up, Bantay Pawikan Turtle Hatchling Release, and the Recycling @ GE campaign, among others. In 2009, GE Volunteers in the country were awarded the GE Volunteer Impact Award in the category of Global Community Day. The award was for the La Mesa Watershed tree planting project with GE Volunteers logging in a total of 2,000 man-hours.
The spirit of volunteerism among GE employees has been a vibrant and potent force in its corporate culture for more than a century now. There are more than 150 GE volunteer councils in more than 41 countries around the world. Each council actively pursues projects in various areas where the need is most crucial, including environmental protection, community work, disaster relief, and corporate donations.
