IN THE cool mountains of Benguet, Paulino Enrique, a cut-flower farmer, wakes up early at the break of dawn to prepare for the harvest of the season. In Davao City’s town proper, Margarita Pulledo carefully arranges freshly baked loaves of bread, ready for sale at a bakery run mostly by persons with disabilities. And in Cebu City, high school valedictorian Junie Valendez readies for his first day as an electrical engineering major--grateful for the opportunity to study, and excited for the countless possibilities the new school year has to offer.
They are just some of the beneficiaries of the Aboitiz Foundation, the corporate foundation of the Aboitiz Group. On Sept. 29, Aboitiz Foundation celebrated its 30th anniversary--three blissful decades of serving and empowering individuals, groups and communities.
Actually, the Aboitiz Foundation’s involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects stretches longer than 30 years. The Aboitiz Foundation’s CSR philosophy, which is deeply embedded in the Aboitiz culture, has been the legacy of the Aboitiz family and its companies for over a century now.
In 2015 the Aboitiz Foundation began implementing CSR 2.0 projects, seeking to go beyond mere one-time dole-outs (CSR 1.0). Under CSR 2.0, the Aboitiz Foundation executes community projects that deliver longer-term benefits, are aligned to the Aboitiz Group’s core competencies, encourage team member engagement, and are scalable initiatives with positive sustainable impact of national scope.
Education remains at the forefront of the Aboitiz Group’s thrust, that of building a progressive society. In 2015, the Department of Education recognized the Aboitiz Group as the Philippines’ biggest contributor to public education.
Flagship projects under education include the purposive college scholarship program and the development of special science elementary schools (SSES) and technical-vocational (tech-voc) high schools. To date, the Aboitiz Foundation has already helped over 32,000 scholars like Valendez and currently supports 50 SSES/tech-voc schools nationwide.