When was I chairman and president of Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines Inc. (CCFPI)? I can’t believe it was 25 years ago. It was 1991 when I joined Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. (CCBPI) as corporate communications director and concurrently top person of CCFPI. Of all the jobs I had, I loved most working for Coke, handling its advertising at McCann-Erickson then working at CCBPI. Coca-Cola was a great company to work for because of the spirit within. We were always brimming with laughter even if we had a million things to do to keep our part of the business running.
I was delighted to be invited to the 30th anniversary of CCFPI even if I only knew Cecile Alcantara, the current president who once was the executive director, and Tony Lucero, one of the trustees, who was then the general manager of the Coca-Cola Export Company.
You must understand, Coca-Cola is backed by two companies. The Coca-Cola Export Company is the producer of the syrup. In the old days the syrup was sold in drugstores where there was a soda fountain manned by a soda hop, the then barista. The man who sold the syrup instructed the soda hop to offer it to women who came in after shopping. Splash in ordinary water, he said. But one day some crazy soda hop splashed in soda or carbonated water and it turned out to be delicious. That became the soft drink we all enjoy today.
The other company, now Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines, is the bottler. In its plants the syrup and carbonated water are mixed and bottled, distributed and sold. First the water is purified then carbonated and mixed with the syrup. The bottles are spotlessly clean. I know because I worked there.
Today, the projects of the foundation thrill me. Most impressive is Agos, our local word for “flow.” Agos brings safe water to upland and rural communities that have to walk distances to get water through simple technologies like rainwater harvesting, gravity-fed water systems and the hydraulic ram pump. The program is now four years old and has reached 129 communities or 30,817. Coca-Cola has a global commitment to replenish every drop of water it uses in its beverages back to nature and communities. That’s what this project does.
Then there’s The Little Red Schoolhouse. I claim responsibility for that name. The Little Red Schoolhouse is the name of a pattern in quilting. It is taken from the American schoolhouse during the early pioneering days when multi-level schools were housed in small barns they called The Little Red Schoolhouse. In the Philippines originally this meant a concrete two-classroom building with two bathrooms. Lately they even set up a rather large school building in Marasbaras, Tacloban City to replace a schoolhouse demolished by Typhoon Yolanda.
I chose to give our schoolhouse project the name The Little Red Schoolhouse because, like Coca-Cola, it is truly American. The name has some historical value, like Coca-Cola too has historical value here, associated with the wars. It is an American product we love. It gives us a pause that refreshes. That is all Coca-Cola ever claimed to be.
After I resigned from Coca-Cola I continued as trustee in the foundation. Then one day an American from one of the companies wanted to change the name of The Little Red Schoolhouse to a Filipino one. I explained he could not do that because of the historical value of the name. He had me removed from the board of trustees. I can’t remember his name and he also didn’t stay long with the company after that.
The other worthwhile project is the provision of Minute Maid Nurisha to public schools where there are some undernourished children. Minute Maid is another Coca-Cola company. Together with the Food and Nutirition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Nurisha was created specifically to address iron-deficiency anemia, a major cause of dropping out and poor academic performance in the primary grades. It has reached 1,773 schools and benefitted 269,398 poor children nationwide.
CCFPI has many more interesting projects. Go for Goal, a football program targeted to the youth to teach them values and build confidence. The Coca-Cola Barkada awards for youth organizations that do outstanding work in their schools and communities. The Happiness Program that gives volunteers a chance to visit communities and see how they live.
I am proud to say CCFPI has a big generous heart that shows how big business has two faces: one that faces the public full on like the brand Coca-Cola and the other that doesn’t want to call attention to itself but works deeply in the background, returning the water it uses, sending children to school, making them stronger, helping them manage their lives, learning to be happy.
I am proud that Coca-Cola is part of my personal heritage. I will never stop being proud of that.
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