Manila Water Company’s “Tubig Para Sa Barangay” Program received the main award of the Management Association of the Philippines’ 1st Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Leadership Challenge.
Manila Water was cited for the successful and strategic integration of social, economic and environmental objectives into its day-to-day business operations. “Tubig Para Sa Barangay” helps uplift the quality of life of low-income communities by providing them with 24-hour supply of potable water at an affordable rate, while addressing business needs such as high rate of water losses due to illegal connections. Moreover, the program has lessened the incidence of water-borne diseases and improved the overall health and sanitation conditions for over 1.5 million people in poor communities.
Globe Telecom, whose “Bridgecom sa Bayan” was a finalist for the main award, also won in the category Best in Enterprise Development for the program, “Empowering Micro-Entrepreneurs in the Countryside,” for using entrepreneurship and microfinance as a enabler for economic self-sufficiency. Globe promotes values-based leadership and entrepreneurial skills among barangay leaders in communities nationwide and helps micro-entrepreneurs put up new home- or community-based businesses.
The MAP CSR Leadership Challenge searched among the group’s member-companies for the most outstanding CSR programs in in the context of good business management. Nearly 80 percent of the participating companies entered programs related to environment, education, and skills training, and more than 40 percent described their owners or chief executives as the prime movers of corporate social responsibility in the organization.
Winners were announced at the joint League of Corporate Foundations-Management Association of the Philippines general membership meeting on July 8 at InterContinental Manila. Other organizations cited by the awards program include Phinma and Planters Development Bank for the main award; Union Bank, Smart, and Shell for education; Citibank for enterprise development; Phoenix Sun, Philamlife, and Phillips-Gawad Kalinga for sustainable community development; and Far Eastern University for Environment.