THE CONSCIENCE OF BUSINESS

The Philippine Star
08/24/09

Thirty eight years ago, when a handful of business leaders met to form a non-profit organization to help the country’s poor and underprivileged, little did they realize that this initiative would spawn a movement that today would harness the energies of a wide range of people and institutions dedicated to the same ideals they believed in.

Today, what the Philippine Business for Social Progress started has become a symbol that what is more commonly referred to as CSR or corporate social responsibility. The phrase has acquired a hundred different colors and shades, but the ultimate objective remains: helping those who need help.

In spearheading CSR, Philippine business sector over the years has shown its creativity and resourcefulness in developing programs and projects aimed at addressing timely and perceived needs not only of the individual Filipino, but of society at large.

In the early 70s, for example, when the sugar crisis hit hard on farmers whose livelihood were solely dependent on sugar farming, interventions designed to immediately mitigate hunger and hopelessness were quickly implemented.

While PBSP as an organization initiated measures to help find solutions to the problem, several individual companies in parallel began their own programs that sought to help the sugar farmers, the beleaguered industry, and even government.

Over the years, as the country faced different crises, more and more companies have come forward with their own answers. Some had even taken a step further to form their own foundations.

Invading more boardrooms

What was four decades ago seen as fragmented bits and pieces of good deeds that barely made a ripple in the sea of so much need, has now become a revolution that has invaded most of the country’s boardrooms. It is heartwarming to note the extent of resources that is being moved towards helping not only the country’s underserved population, but in addressing problems that have global implications.

According to a report that the League of Corporate Foundations released, an aggregate of more than P4 billion were mobilized jointly by its members and those of PBSP for social investments, the bulk of about 40 percent going to environment and sustainable development projects , and about 30 percent for livelihood, microfinance and skills development.

The big catchphrases last year were climate change, energy efficiency and biodiversity conservation, words that underscored the need for businesses to look not only at their own backyards, but in other countries as well.

Among the concrete responses that companies came up with to the above challenges were projects on reforestation, coastal clean ups, watershed rehabilitation and management, and waste management.

To address that was perceived to be a widening gap between the rich and poor, the business sector also intensified its investments in tried-and-tested poverty alleviation responses, foremost being more training in income-generation and income-augmenting skills.

Programs that sought to improve the quality of education among our youth, as well as addressing the problem of high dropouts likewise received more funding support. Sizable investments were also given to teacher training programs.

To improve the competitiveness of our college students in an increasingly global world, a number of companies focused on the delivery of intensified IT training programs as well as other needed skills.

So much has been done. And yet, so much still needs to be done.

Global problem

The problem of this world is increasingly and urgently becoming our problem too. There is a need to take a closer look at the initiatives that companies in other countries are doing that we may leverage on and collaborate with for greater impact.

Bringing down emission levels, cleaning our seas, waterways, even the air, high-impact energy conservation measures are just some of the activities that could generate added benefits from synergistic partnerships with companies within the Southeast Asian sphere or even beyond.

Migration is also breeding new social behaviors and corresponding challenges. As more developed countries with decreasing populations open their doors to migrant workers, the basic structures of existing societies are put to test.

Filipinos are among the biggest players in this market, and yet the impact of this on the economy is the least studied. Often, as in the case of the most recent financial crisis, we are clueless how this will affect us as a nation. I don’t think our government even has a competent assessment of OFW remittances.

A government that still needs help

Which brings us to the next point: we continue to exist with a government that is hard put to deliver the most basic services that its constituents need to improve their lives. This is partly the reason why CSR continues to be strong in the country.

But no matter how much investments are channeled to the country’s poor, mostly in terms of providing training skills, it would be difficult to expect a quantitative and qualitative leap in the quality of their lives if they remain in the hinterlands without the means to efficiently interact with what we know as civilization.

Business has much more to do

The point here is that business must do more in terms of spurring economic activity. And investing in the big “risky” ticket items – expressways, rail, bridges, ports, ships, even trains – will certainly speed up the delivery of help to those who need it.

One other area that business can make a bigger impact is fighting corruption. As long as the bureaucracy continues to be dragged into the shadows of under-the-table deals, it will never to be able to become an effective vehicle of economic transformation.

It is has never been easy to talk about how to fight corruption. But I believe there are workable and doable solutions that will effectively fight corruption. Business just has to put its mind to it and do it – just as what it did four decades ago.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, SalcedoVillage, 1227 MakatiCity. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.