Fighting the good fight vs poverty

Fighting the good fight vs poverty
Posted: 5:02 AM | Feb. 05, 2006
Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Inquirer

(Published on page B1 of the February 5, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

ON December 16, 1970, 50 of the country's top businessmen put their energies together to fight a common enemy: Poverty. The weapon? Philippine Business for Social Progress.

It's been 35 years since that inaugural meeting at the Hotel Inter-Continental, yet the war against poverty continues, said PBSP and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. chair Manuel V. Pangilinan during the 35th anniversary celebration last week.

Many battles, however, have been won.

For instance, corporations have gone beyond simple check writing and charity work, and now combine corporate social responsibility with their corporate mission and practices, with PBSP as the prime example.

From 1971 to 2005, PBSP provided P5.8 billion in total program assistance, going to 5,649 projects and reaching 3.27 million beneficiaries.

This represents perhaps the single biggest block of private sector funds managed and disbursed by one institution to the poor and marginalized sectors of the economy, making PBSP a model for business sector participation in development efforts in the region.

To build on these successes, Pangilinan said that this year, PBSP would intensify its efforts at poverty reduction in four areas: Area resource management, basic education, information technology, water and health and micro and small enterprise development.

He added that PBSP would continue reaching out to the Armed Forces of the Philippines by providing scholarship and education assistance, a mobile hospital closer to battle areas, barracks for the Presidential Security Group, housing under the Gawad Kalinga program and financial and strategic planning to the Philippine Military Academy.

Fulfilling these ambitious goals would require money, and Pangilinan said PBSP was committed to spend P898.2 million this year, a record high for a single year.

PBSP must do no less as, according to Pangilinan, poverty remained the country's most daunting and toughest challenge.

"Just like our founders 35 years ago, we must continue to be visionaries," Pangilinan said. "And find new ways to harness the resources of the business sector so that corporate activism can indeed become a reality in our country and a model for the world to see."

this story was taken from www.inq7money.net
URL: http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_topstories.php?yyyy=2006&mon=02&dd=05&file=1