Local firms commit to philanthropy efforts

By Honey Madrilejos-Reyes

BIG businesses in the country remain committed to programs related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) despite the weakening economy.

Integrated media giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., real-estate leader Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and mining pioneer Philex Mining Corp. said they will not reduce the allocations for their respective CSR programs but will even intensify efforts.

At the sidelines of the three-day CSR conference 2008 in Makati Shangri-La Hotel, ALI president Jaime Ayala told the BusinessMirror the company allots 1 percent of its net income every year to CSR-related activities focusing on longer-term projects like energy efficiency, waste management and recycling.

“When you do in total in what I call CSR-related, last year, we spent between P300 million and P400 million. But then I’m counting when we build schools and when we give away land. We do that in the course of our business,” he said.

Even with the high-inflation environment, he said, ALI is spending more on CSR.

“In my mind it’s a fallacy. It’s not that your net income is under pressure so therefore you spend less. You make sure that what you spent really goes to what matters to the community,” Ayala added.

ABS-CBN is also not expecting to cut back on CSR programs.

“Regardless of whether times are tough or good times, our allocation is steady. We cut back on business initiatives but never on CSR,” said president and chief operating officer, Charo Santos-Concio, in a separate interview.

She pointed out that even when oil prices started to impact on the local economy early this year, ABS-CBN pursued the launching of Bayan ni Juan, a charitable institution that helps uplift the lives of Filipino people through culture enrichment, education enhancement, physical development, etc. Apart from this, ABS-CBN also undertakes Sagip Kapamilya, Bantay Bata and Bantay Kalikasan projects.

“We have to stay true to our core value,” Concio said, adding that the company embarked on CSR programs 15 years ago.

Meanwhile, Philex Mining said it is budgeting P30 million this year to help the community surrounding its mining operations. The company has operations in Benguet Province, Negros Occidental, Surigao del Norte and in Zamboanga

According to its president Jose Ernesto Villaluna, they have also signed a memorandum of agreement with a community near a mining site in which Philex will give 1.25 percent of gross output to 600 people.

“That’s around P80 million to P100 million a year and this fund will go to their ancestral domain development fund.

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Due Diligencer

INITIAL ownership. Renato Llamas Reyes, of 815 Torres Street, Mandaluyong City, bought 5.758 million common shares, or 15.4 percent, in Lodestar Investment Holdings Corp. (LIHC). The filing posted July 14 on the web site of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) gave July 1 as the “date of event requiring statement” but did not provide the price and the date of acquisition. Lodestar hit a 30-day high of P12.50 on June 11 and dropped to a 30-day low of P7.80 on June 3. At these prices, Reyes’s LIHC shares had market value of P71.975 million and P44.912 million.