Month: June 2002

The country’s future lies in the hands of leaders who will put the interests of their fellowmen before their own.

This is the belief that drives the Ayala Group’s flagship programs for youth development, the Center of Excellence in Public Elementary Education (Centex) and the Ayala Young Leaders Congress (AYLC), and Globe Telecom’s Academic Achievement Awards. These programs nurture leadership qualities among today’s youth in the hopes of producing principled leaders who have the skills and motivation to make a difference.

Says Victoria P. Garchitorena, president of Ayala Foundation Inc., the social development arm of the Ayala Group of Companies: ” We are convinced that it is our investment in the youth that will propel our country toward sustained development.”

Leaders as servants
Together with Ayala Land, Inc., Globe Telecom, and other donors, Ayala Foundation established Centex in Tondo, Manila and Bauan, Batangas with the aim to raise future leaders from among the less privileged by providing quality education. Moreover, the Centex curriculum encourages these young children to be critical thinkers, servant leaders and nurturers of the environment.

The program has already shown encouraging results. Centex students have consistently performed well in inter-school examinations and competitions, proving that children from impoverished families can perform at par with their private school counterparts given the proper education and motivation.

The Ayala Young Leaders Congress gathers the most promising college student leaders for a three-day live-in conference designed to nurture the youth’s commitment to integrity and principled leadership, foster their nationalism and idealism, and encourage them to become faithful stewards of their country’s future.

Nearly 300 students from all over the country have been part of AYLC since 1999. AYLC encourages these young leaders to develop bonds with their peers to help them remain faithful to their vision when they assume positions of responsibility in government, the private sector, or in civil society. Some AYLC alumni have gone on to lead local and international foundations and organizations that are committed to uplifting the lives of Filipinos and fellow youth. Others have been recognized for their academic achievements and their contributions to the community.

Academic excellence
The Globe Telecom Academic Achievement Awards (GTAAA), now on its 7th year, recognizes excellence in high school science and math, electronics and communications engineering, and electrical engineering. The annual industry-academe linkage program is Globe Telecom’s contribution to nation-building by promoting telecommunications and information technology.

With support from partners Ericsson, Nokia, Tomen Telecom and other leading IT and telecommunications companies, the GTAAA has recognized 106 high school and 94 college students for academic excellence. This year’s awards challenged them to lead the Philippines in a rapidly-evolving, technology-driven world.

Explains Globe Telecom president Gerardo C. Ablaza, Jr: “We are ever mindful of our responsibility not only to provide telecommunications services to the Filipino people but also to contribute to improving the lives of our countrymen.”

One hour may be all it takes to make a difference in the lives of millions of Filipino youth.

Following its successful millennium campaign in 1999, Children’s Hour will once again appeal to every working individual and company to make a donation for the benefit of abused and disadvantaged children. The Ayala Group through its social development arm, Ayala Foundation, Inc., is set to launch the 2002 campaign for the Children’s Hour in August.

Children’s Hour works on the premise that a tremendous impact can be made if every working individual and company donate at least an hour’s worth of their earnings.

In 1999, the Children’s Hour Millennium Fund raised a total of P40 million and benefited nearly 100,000 children and youth through organizations such as the Bantay Bata 163, Child Protection Unit of the Philippine General Hospital, Tabang Mindanaw, International Deaf Education Association, and Tuloy sa Don Bosco Street Children Project. Beneficiaries of the campaign are involved in rehabilitation and prevention of child abuse, educational programs, shelter, feeding programs, and health and medical services.

This year, Children’s Hour steering committee chairman and Ayala Corporation president and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II is inviting other business leaders to champion the cause of the Filipino child through the continued participation of their companies and employees. The 2002 campaign hopes to repeat the success of the Millennium Fund, nearly half of which was contributed by employees through salary deduction. With the commitment of such organizations, companies, and individuals, Children’s Hour will be able to sustain meaningful programs

At the crack of dawn, Aling Ising Valdez begins her morning by strapping two empty containers on her shoulders before leaving the small house she shares with husband Rommel and their four children. She negotiates a steep and narrow path leading to the main road. She must do this fast before her husband and children wake up in time for their morning bath and breakfast. Upon reaching the road, Aling Ising walks a small distance and carefully places her two containers at the end of a long queue of other pails, jugs and basins waiting their turn to be filled with water.

Later, she hands over a ten peso bill to the man supplying the water and then straps the heavy containers to her shoulders to bring back home. This is all she can carry. She must return later and line up again.

“Mahirap talaga, pero kailangang gawin kasi wala kaming pang-inom at pangpaligo. Mahirap na sa katawan, magastos pa kasi malaki ang kinakain sa budget namin (It’s hard work but it needs to be done so we can have water to drink and bathe in. Its physically painful, and eats up a big slice of the family budget),” Aling Ising sighs in dismay.

Water is scarce along the eight-kilometer West Bank of the Manggahan Floodway along the Pasig River. Thousands of residents can only get water from a few sellers who source water from their deep wells and then sell the precious liquid at high rates.

Fortunately, there’s hope for urban poor residents like Aling Ising and her family.

Together with the informal settler communities in its East Zone concession area, Manila Water Company created the Tubig Para sa Barangay program to improve the quality of life in these communities. The program was initially conceived in 1998 to deliver water services to government social priority areas within the East Zone.

Now nearing its 4th year, Tubig Para sa Barangay exemplifies the efficiency and innovation that private business can bring to public service. Since the privatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), the program has provided properly connected water services to thousands of less fortunate city dwellers in Quezon City, Marikina, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Pateros, San Andres and Sta. Ana in Manila. It has eliminated leaks and illegal connections in these areas and as a result improved not only water services but also public health through proper sanitation and hygiene.

Manila Water president Antonino Aquino believes that Tubig Para sa Barangay is also freeing up vital income opportunities in these communities. “The program will help transform the East’s informal settler areas into productive and self-sufficient communities that contribute to nation-building,” says Aquino.

In response to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s appeal to the private sector on poverty alleviation, Manila Water launched at least six major projects under Tubig Para Sa Barangay. These projects have been providing clean, affordable water to some 300,000 individuals in more than 100 communities. The biggest project, the P120-million Manggahan Floodway Water Supply Project, was inaugurated by Pres. Arroyo in September 2001. When completed, it will supply over 15 million liters of water a day to more than 200,000 residents of informal settler communities along the stretch of the canal.

Meanwhile, the West Bank of the Manggahan Floodway has been given a new life. Its 9,000 families can now draw inexpensive, potable water from their own household taps. Gone are the days of lining up to buy prohibitively priced and non-potable water from ambulant vendors or relying on unsafe connections tapped clandestinely to the utility’s mainlines.

According to Aquino, the company’s core commitment to customers like Aling Ising is to make water available to as many households as possible via safe and affordable service connections. Beyond meeting its service obligation targets, Manila Water aims to supply the metropolis’ growing demand.

“Tubig Para sa Barangay will help us realize this commitment much faster,” says Aquino.

They are called “micro-entrepreneurs.”

They are small market vendors, owners of sari-sari stores and small bakeries, tricycle drivers and they are changing the quality of their lives through micro-financing.

BPI Foundation, the social responsibility arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, has been helping these individuals achieve the dreams for the past 12 years. A pioneer in micro-financing, BPI Foundation provides a credit line for non-government organizations and cooperatives that seek to uplift the lives of Filipinos in need.

The foundation’s micro-financing program called Financing Assistance Line (FAL) began in 1989 with a breakthrough partnership with Tulay sa Pag-unlad, Inc., now known as the TSPI Development Corporation. BPI Foundation initially provided the non-profit grassroots organization a P0.5 million credit line. With this support, TSPI successfully implemented programs that allow the poor to start small businesses to meet their family’s needs.

Today, TSPI is considered a leading organizer of small and micro enterprise development. TSPI now has 47,000 active clients, most of whom obtain an average of P5,000 to start up micro businesses such as market stalls, small groceries, and dressmaking shops.

Thousands more have since benefited from BPI Foundation’s micro-finance program, proving that the poor are credit-worthy given the right mechanisms in place. For instance, TSPI’s credit line with BPI Foundation now stands at P4.0 million and has over P15 million total loan exposure at the Bank of the Philippine Islands. Its loan programs record a high repayment of 98.7 percent, even higher than commercial banks.

BPI Foundation has developed several strategies to ensure the success of micro-financing. These include targeting a large number of borrowers and using group lending and group guarantees. It also established sound credit policies as well as checks & balances that are strictly observed. Through BPI’s prudent credit management, FAL has released P55 million in loans to over 2,000 micro to small enterprises via 14 NGOs and cooperatives.

Observes BPI Foundation executive director Veronica Tapia-Merk: “BPI Foundation has proven that micro-finance is applicable in the Philippines in helping the people in their struggle to break out of the cycle of poverty. Today, our commitment to social responsibility remains steadfast as ever.”

Thanks to the pioneering efforts of NGOs such as BPI Foundation and TSPI Development Corporation, micro-finance models are now widely accepted as an effective tool in getting more and more Filipinos out of poverty

At the crack of dawn, Aling Ising Valdez begins her morning by strapping two empty containers on her shoulders before leaving the small house she shares with husband Rommel and their four children. She negotiates a steep and narrow path leading to the main road. She must do this fast before her husband and children wake up in time for their morning bath and breakfast. Upon reaching the road, Aling Ising walks a small distance and carefully places her two containers at the end of a long queue of other pails, jugs and basins waiting their turn to be filled with water.

Later, she hands over a ten peso bill to the man supplying the water and then straps the heavy containers to her shoulders to bring back home. This is all she can carry. She must return later and line up again.

“Mahirap talaga, pero kailangang gawin kasi wala kaming pang-inom at pangpaligo. Mahirap na sa katawan, magastos pa kasi malaki ang kinakain sa budget namin (It’s hard work but it needs to be done so we can have water to drink and bathe in. Its physically painful, and eats up a big slice of the family budget),” Aling Ising sighs in dismay.

Water is scarce along the eight-kilometer West Bank of the Manggahan Floodway along the Pasig River. Thousands of residents can only get water from a few sellers who source water from their deep wells and then sell the precious liquid at high rates.

Fortunately, there’s hope for urban poor residents like Aling Ising and her family.

Together with the informal settler communities in its East Zone concession area, Manila Water Company created the Tubig Para sa Barangay program to improve the quality of life in these communities. The program was initially conceived in 1998 to deliver water services to government social priority areas within the East Zone.

Now nearing its 4th year, Tubig Para sa Barangay exemplifies the efficiency and innovation that private business can bring to public service. Since the privatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), the program has provided properly connected water services to thousands of less fortunate city dwellers in Quezon City, Marikina, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Pateros, San Andres and Sta. Ana in Manila. It has eliminated leaks and illegal connections in these areas and as a result improved not only water services but also public health through proper sanitation and hygiene.

Manila Water president Antonino Aquino believes that Tubig Para sa Barangay is also freeing up vital income opportunities in these communities. “The program will help transform the East’s informal settler areas into productive and self-sufficient communities that contribute to nation-building,” says Aquino.

In response to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s appeal to the private sector on poverty alleviation, Manila Water launched at least six major projects under Tubig Para Sa Barangay. These projects have been providing clean, affordable water to some 300,000 individuals in more than 100 communities. The biggest project, the P120-million Manggahan Floodway Water Supply Project, was inaugurated by Pres. Arroyo in September 2001. When completed, it will supply over 15 million liters of water a day to more than 200,000 residents of informal settler communities along the stretch of the canal.

Meanwhile, the West Bank of the Manggahan Floodway has been given a new life. Its 9,000 families can now draw inexpensive, potable water from their own household taps. Gone are the days of lining up to buy prohibitively priced and non-potable water from ambulant vendors or relying on unsafe connections tapped clandestinely to the utility’s mainlines.

According to Aquino, the company’s core commitment to customers like Aling Ising is to make water available to as many households as possible via safe and affordable service connections. Beyond meeting its service obligation targets, Manila Water aims to supply the metropolis’ growing demand.

“Tubig Para sa Barangay will help us realize this commitment much faster,” says Aquino.

Children and youth in under-served local communities can now hone their skills and talents through the use of information technology.

Ayala Foundation, Inc. (AFI) and Intel Corporation recently launched the country’s first Computer Clubhouse at Mater Dolorosa Parish in East Rembo, Makati. AFI vice-chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II, AFI president Victoria P. Garchitorena, and Intel Philippines general manager Robin Martin joined clubhouse members and volunteers to celebrate the event.

The clubhouse is an after-school learning facility where community youth can explore their ideas and talents and build self-confidence through technology. It is part of a global network of Computer Clubhouses established in 1993 by the Museum of Science, Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab.

Nearly 300 children have joined the Ayala Foundation Intel Computer Clubhouse at Mater Dolorosa Parish since its soft opening early this year. At the grand launch last May 17, clubhouse members proudly presented their computer-generated artworks to their parents and guests. Clubhouse coordinator Maui Salang also announced that two 13-year-old clubhouse members, Maria Roseta Mayorca and Augusto Guevara Lorca, had been chosen to participate in the Teen Summit of the Museum of Science, Boston in July.

Zobel was visibly impressed with the talent shown by the clubhouse members. “I am happy to hear that this clubhouse has made life more exciting, more interesting and certainly more productive for the young people in the Mater Dolorosa Parish. I believe that these children have great potential, given the right tools and a safe, nourishing environment,” he added.

The clubhouse has 30 volunteer mentors, including employees from companies such as Globe Telecom, who show the basics of using gadgets to the children as they explore their own creativity. Even now, children as young as eight years old know how to operate digital cameras and microscopes or edit videos clips on a personal computer. Over 100 artworks created by the children are now displayed at the Computer Clubhouse.

Noted Salang, “Parents say that they feel fortunate to have the Clubhouse because their children can spend time productively here, instead of being in the streets.”

With the warm show of support from the parish and the local community, Intel and AFI have established a second Computer Clubhouse in Cavite and plan to open a third clubhouse soon. Other companies who support the program include Adobe Systems Inc., Autodesk Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company, Macromedia, the LEGO Company, and Haworth, Inc.

The Ayala Foundation Intel Computer Clubhouse is located at Mater Dolorosa Parish, J.P. Rizal Extension, East Rembo, Makati. For more information, contact Maui Salang at 881-3185.