Mining firm extends educational aid, other services to Mangyans

CALAPAN CITY – Mangyans and other poor but deserving students in Oriental Mindoro are receiving an education and taking a step toward a brighter future, thanks to the efforts of a mining company that has made it a policy to extend assistance to the impoverished communities where it operates.

Crew Minerals (Phils.) Inc., a private company that has invested heavily in its prospective nickel mining projects in Oriental Mindoro, is undertaking the educational and scholarship program as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda. Crew is on the verge of changing its name to Mindoro Nickel.

The firm’s CSR program not only involves education but also includes other social development projects such as nutrition, health and sanitation, livelihood, infrastructure and other community-oriented programs.

Through its community relations office headed by Andy Pestaño, the company has adopted not only many poor Mangyans but also other poor but deserving children and given them an education through scholarship grants.

As of this date, Crew has provided educational grants to three Mangyan high school students in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, and 91 Grade 1 to 6 students and another 10 high schoolers all in Victoria town in Oriental Mindoro.

On top of this, the company also has two scholars in college, one each from Victoria and Sablayan.

Aside from these educational subsidies, Crew also provides, from time to time, medical and health assistance, ambulance with complete medical equipment for emergency assistance patterned after the one in the US, facilities for safe potable water, and other services needed to help improve the quality of life within the area of the company’s future operations.

Interviewed recently, a Mangyan student expressed her gratitude to Crew Minerals for the educational benefits she is now enjoying from the company.

“I want to help my fellow Mangyans to pursue their education in order to liberate themselves from the bondage of poverty,” said Mary Jane Haba, a 13-year-old first-year student at the Macatoc High School in Victoria town.

Mary Jane is one of the 11 scholars whose parents come from indigent members of the Tadyawan-Alangan Mangyan tribe.