Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. on Wednesday unveiled the single largest corporate social responsibility project in the country for victims of Tropical Storm “Sendong.”
In a statement, the country’s largest business group by market value said it would donate P500 million to build 5,000 homes initially for the thousands of families left homeless by flooding last month in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Dumaguete.
“This is our way of sharing our blessings from the heart,” San Miguel chairman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. said. “We want to give our fellow Filipinos hope by providing them the means to start over again. We’re looking at providing livelihood opportunities on top of the houses that we will build for them.”
San Miguel is partnering with Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity to build the houses, and with local government units to help identify relocation sites for the displaced families. Each house will be built at an estimated cost of P100,000.
“More than just building houses, this is about rebuilding people’s lives and building safe communities,” San Miguel president Ramon Ang said.
He hopes the conglomerate’s donation would “inspire more private entities to help in the rehabilitation of the affected provinces.”
Flash floods spawned by the storm left 1,257 dead and 182 missing, and damaged a total of 51,757 houses, according to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Sendong, which swept through northern Mindanao on Dec. 16 and 17, displaced thousands of families.
NDRRMC placed the damage to infrastructure, crops and schools at P1.455 billion.
Flagship project
San Miguel recently signed a memorandum of understanding that will start the process of building the houses with GK and Habitat.
Witnessing the signing ceremony was Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman.
The conglomerate may adopt this housing project, if successful, as its flagship corporate social responsibility program over the long term, company sources said.
The P500-million donation adds to the group’s earlier assistance of P12 million in cash and products—through San Miguel Foundation and Petron Foundation—for the victims of Sendong.
The donations, channeled through various government agencies, government officials and nongovernment organizations, included 480,000 bottles of purified water and hundreds of “noche buena packs.” These were distributed to affected families last Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Employees of various companies under San Miguel also participated in relief operations and organized soup kitchens in over 21 evacuation centers, benefiting 6,000 families from the hardest-hit areas in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
Roofing materials donation
Philsteel Holdings Corp., through its subsidiary Steel Corp. of the Philippines, recently turned over P2.9 million worth of roofing materials as a donation to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for housing projects for the victims of Sendong in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
Philsteel Holdings chair Abeto Uy said the roofing materials would be good for 1,500 core-shelter houses, which he hopes can help many victims have new houses “as a starting point for rebuilding their lives and restoring their dignity. Daxim L. Lucas