CSR: Helping people help themselves!

There’s an old saying, “a crying baby gets the milk.” Ergo, if the baby isn’t crying then the mother would think things were alright. This is exactly what is happening to the folks living in the Banilad area. A few years ago, especially in year 2001 when I was the Chairman of the Cebu City Traffic Operations and Management (Citom) I held meetings with concerned citizens at the University of San Carlos in Talamban because at that time, I already knew that the traffic in that area would get worse. Mind you, this was long before the Sacred Heart School even thought of moving out of their old site in Mango Ave. But no one was crying!

Except for the transfer of the VECO poles, the people I talked to didn’t find that this was a problem that they needed to solve immediately. Back then I asked Fr. Rod Salazar if USC Talamban would agree to move their fence in order to widen the road. I got a negative reply. Today, I heard that USC Talamban is now willing to bring inside their campus road those jeepneys so they wouldn’t block the road. Why not widen the road?

Again, I raised six years ago that Gov. Cuenco Ave. needs to be widened all the way to Pit-Os, which is still a barangay road. I said that this should have been converted into a city if not a national road so funds can be had for widening it. When will this become a priority for our city? We know where our problems are, but the people tasked to solve these problems didn’t do anything because they really don’t know how to solve them!

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I was invited to today’s affair with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) for the turn over of 20 classrooms to five public elementary schools in Borbon, Cebu but I cannot make it due to my taping schedule. Allow me to congratulate RAFI for their great concern for the education of our children. We can only wish that there were a dozen RAFIs in existence, then our troubles with lack of funding for our schools would vanish!

The classrooms in Doña Milagros Osmeña, Laaw, Doña Mary R. Osmeña, Don G. Antigua, and Tabunan elementary schools were repaired and rehabilitated through the School Repair and Rehabilitation Project of RAFI in partnership with the Department of Education-Cebu Province Division, Local Government Units, and Parents-Teachers- Associations. The project that started in 2004 already repaired 84 classrooms in nine municipalities in southern Cebu. RAFI has been repairing school buildings in Northern Cebu since 2005, a total of 174 classrooms in 53 schools in 13 municipalities. Again, kudos to RAFI for their noble endeavor.

Last Tuesday, a national daily came up with a report entitled, “Private Firm’s Social Investments Get Bigger” rising to an average of P2.4 billion annually for “social investments”. During the opening of the three-day Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Expo 2007 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Ms. Marilou G. Erni, President of the League of Corporate Foundations said, “The bulk of this spending was allocated for education, indicating that most of our executives have embraced CSR as a vital part of their company’s operations.”

I learned a lot about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from the Aboitiz Family. As I was writing this column a messenger handed me the 2006 annual report of the Aboitiz Group Foundation, Inc. (AGFI entitled “Growing with Communities.” Their focus is on Education, Enterprise Development, Primary Health and Child Care, Employee-Initiated Projects and other corporate donations.

The joint message of its Chairman Jon Ramon Aboitiz and President Erramon L. Aboitiz said: “The year 2006 was another rewarding year for the Aboitiz Group Foundation, Inc. (AGFI) as it further strengthened its commitment to assists host communities with projects that help people help themselves. Through the Foundation, the Aboitiz Group of Companies allocated P88 million for projects that would help alleviate the plight of its intended beneficiaries. On top of this and through their own initiative, the member companies identified specific needs of their respective communities and directly donated P89 million for various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-related projects, bringing up to P177 million the Groups allocation for social development initiatives.” This is what the Aboitiz Group means by their motto, “helping people help themselves!”

Now if you added RAFI together with what AGFI is also doing, you can see how much the Aboitiz Group of Companies have given back to the Cebuanos. In return, God has rewarded them with a growing Cebu-based business conglomerate that we Cebuanos are all proud of. More power! May their tribe and their businesses increase!