MANILA, Philippines - On the ceiling of the Laoag City Multipurpose Hall, two ceiling fans bear witness to the people’s triumphs, celebrations, and sometimes even misfortunes. From where they are, they can see everything that happens at the city’s amphitheater but most importantly, they see the Ilocano spirit’s undying dedication to progress.
Formerly named Laoag Amphitheater, it is the all-around venue for most major events in the community like fiestas, cook fests, job fairs, and Christmas events.
The SM Food Group, composed of SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket, and Savemore Market, understands how hard it is to endure the heat while cheering for their favorite teams, enjoying festivities, or witnessing major events. The company saw how uncomfortable the heat and so they went to beat the heat. They installed a pair of massive 20 feet fans on the ceiling of the multipurpose hall. These fans are aerodynamically designed to move more air with less energy consumed as possible. Yes, the giant industrial ceiling fans do move slowly, but they are the most efficient type of ceiling fans there is. With profiled blades that provide a quiet and gentle breeze, it effectively regularizes the ceiling-to-floor temperature and keeps the people cool.
Well aware of its capabilities of serving more people than just those who enter their stores every day, the SM Food Group aims to help those who are outside their business establishments as well. Aside from providing local employment and increasing the city’s economic capacity, the company works with local governments and organizations in order to reach out to as many people as possible. They also donated industrial evaporative air conditioners to the St. William Cathedral with the same intentions they had when they cooled the multipurpose hall.
The good deeds are additions to the donations given to the cathedral and the Laoag City General Hospital (LCGH) during the inaugurations of Savemore Market last year and SM Hypermarket recently. The cathedral received a total of P600,000 for renovations and the LCGH received a total of three million pesos for recreating its rehabilitation unit.