Cementing roads and goodwill

Most everywhere in the Philippines you travel by land, you’re bound to be horrified by three realizations. One, the cemented roads leading to farms are broken up into segments, i.e., one kilometer of cemented road is followed by two or three kilometers of not cemented road, then another kilometer of cemented road is followed by two or three kilometers of not cemented road, and the alternating process goes on and on till you reach the end of the 50 kilometers or so of a supposed cemented road contracted by the government and foreign or private funding agencies. The second realization is that the local government agency reports a fully-finished 50-kilometer road at the specified contract cost. The third is that the national government agency closes its eyes and agrees to the veracity of the report.

This frustrating nationwide experience may be finally put to a stop — and the roads not cemented are finally cemented — with the determination of President Aquino to wipe away graft and corruption from the face of this land. You and I wish him the best of luck as he kicks cheating government officials and private contractors out of business.

Interestingly, I’ve been invited to two events related to road-construction activities. These demonstrated the high quality standards and expectations of two companies that ensure the building of infrastructure that, if their products are put to good use, fulfills President Aquino’s call for a “matuwid na daan.”

The two projects practice corporate social responsibility and involve residents/beneficiaries of concerned communities — in effect improving their quality of life.

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At a Bulong Pulungan session, the topic was Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an innovative and independent US foreign assistance agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty. Created by the US Congress in 2004, MCC forms partnerships with some of the world’s poorest countries, but, only with those committed to good governance, economic freedom, and investments in their citizens. To date, MCC has signed 24 development assistance compacts totaling over $87.7 billion.

The Philippine Compact refers to the grant agreement between the Philippine government and the MCC of the US government which was signed on Sept. 23, 2010 by Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima and MCC chief executive officer Daniel Yohannes, and witnessed by President Aquino and US State Secretary and MCC Chair Hillary R. Clinton. Matthew L. Bohn is the resident country director in the Philippines.

Under the agreement, the Philippines is allotted $434 million aimed at supporting reforms and investments to modernize the Bureau of Internal Revenue, expand and improve a community-driven development project, Kalahi-CIDSS, and rehabilitate a secondary national road in Samar. To ensure that the money is spent correctly, the MCC-P monitors and evaluates the project.

Raising tax revenues and reducing tax evasion and revenue agent-related corruption are for sure relevant topics, but what drew the forum’s interest was the Kalahi-CIDSS project (allotted $120 million out of the $434 million compact assistance), which aims to improve lives in targeted communities through projects falling under the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Also known as KC, this is a community-driven program that enables community members to have the power to plan, choose, implement and monitor their own projects.

The participation of women in infrastructure-building projects, for example, is important, said Ma. Victoria E. Anonuevo, MCA-P managing director and CEO. “Most of the volunteers in the KC project are women and more than just their participation in the assemblies, they are taught such skills as bookkeeping, auditing or even managing warehouses. They are also involved in data gathering so as to better identify the more pressing gender issues within their communities.”

This brings us to the matter of cement-building, as I mentioned earlier. This is the compact’s secondary National Roads Development Project (SNRDP), which aims to rehabilitate a 224-kilometer road in Western Samar and Eastern Samar. “Our investment in the Samar road project is more than just about building roads,” Anonuevo said. “There will be lives affected before, during and after the road project and we want this road project to really help the development in Samar.”

As the road is being built, there will be entrepreneurs manning makeshift stores. The downside in the expected raised revenues is the possible trafficking of women and children. To stave off this negative impact, MCA- partnered with the Visayan Forum Foundation (FVV), an NGO, to make people aware of modern-day slavery taking place in Samar. MCA-P, a signatory to the Covenant to Fight Against Trafficking in Persons, will make sure no officials, employees, contractors, or workers will be involved in or tolerate human trafficking.”

Video clips at the Bulong Pulungan showed the local folk in the process of mixing cement and building a portion of the 224-kilometer road that will spell higher economic revenues for farmers and residents. The road, said Anonuevo, is expected to last more than five years. That’s possible, since the contractors and builders are committed to employing the right cement mix and aggregates, unlike in many places in Metro Manila, for example, where the cemented roads fall apart during a downpour.

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This brings us to another topic of cement - literally the building component, and building a healthy relationship with community residents. These two essentials were brought home by Roland van Wijnen, chief operations officer of Holcim Philippines, Inc., which last week celebrated the 100th birthday of Holcim, one of the world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregates (crushed stone, gravel and sand) as well as downstream activities such as ready-mix concrete and asphalt. The Group holds majority and minority interests in more than 70 countries on all continents.

A feature of the delightful celebration entertainment held at the Global City had a father and son talking about technological progress — among them a well-built cemented highway and infrastructure brought about by Holcim Philippines. Holcim was founded in 1912 in Switzerland, and branched out to different regions by the turn of the millennium.

Its presence in the Philippines goes back to 1974, during which time it was known as Holderbank, and partnered with the owners of what would become Alsons Cement Corp., which operates a plant in Lugait, Mis. Or. In 1998, Holcim acquired shares of a company that later became Union Cement Corp. (UCC), a merger of three companies which had cement plants in La Union, Bulacan and Davao. Four years later, UCC acquired ownership of Alsons Cement. In 2004, UCC was renamed Holcim Philippines, Inc. Today, Holcim Philippines is the country’s leading cement company, with a workforce of over 1,700 in its four cement plants and other facilities.

Wijnen spoke of Holcim’s commitment to sustainability as having been long “a hallmark for all its group companies. It is a mindset born out of the understanding that the company’s operations impact the environment and its communities, and thus ensuring continued economic access must be balanced with these considerations.”

In its centennial year, Holcim has adopted the theme “100 years of Strength. Performance. Passion.” It plans to celebrate this by engaging its employees in doing necessary activities in the communities where the company operates. Holcim Philippines translates this through a campaign called “Sagot Ko ang Bukas,” which was launched March 26. Wijnen said Holcim Philippines is involving its 1,700 employees and inspiring more Filipinos “to make a personal commitment to do something concrete for the benefit of tomorrow’s generation.” Already scholarships have been granted to deserving pupils — for a sustainable future.

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