DSWD names Uygongco Foundation ‘Best NGO’ in Region 6

Uygongco Foundation Inc. Executive Director, Ma. Pia Paz Gan Uygongco (fourth from left) with UFI staff members.

For its valuable contributions in uplifting vulnerable and disadvantaged children, the Uygongco Foundation, Inc. (UFI) was named ‘best nongovernmental organization’ in Region 6 by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) field office.

The philanthropic arm of La Filipina Uy Gongco Group of Companies, UFI received DSWD’s “Salamat Po Award” for best practices in “uplifting academically challenged children” in Iloilo City and provinces of Guimaras and Capiz.

The Foundation’s major programs include financial assistance to over 600 elementary and high school students in 14 public schools in Iloilo City, Guimaras and Capiz. Select elementary pupils are also beneficiaries of UFI’s daily feeding program to help improve the nutritional status of students and motivate them to stay in school.

“We believe that change for the better is the reason why we exemplify genuine concern, passion, dedication, transparency, commitment and most of all selflessness, for the less fortunate,” said UFI executive director Ma. Pia Paz Gan Uygongco on behalf of her co-awardees.

Last year, UFI became the first DSWD Level II accredited NGO in Region 6 after only six years of existence. The foundation is also accredited by the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC).

Apart from its Adopt-A-School and school feeding programs, UFI also conducts relief missions in disaster stricken areas; builds and equips libraries; distributes story books and grocery packs to indigent students; and hosts special gatherings for young hospital patients.

UFI is the corporate social responsibility arm of Iloilo-based La Filipina Uy Gongco Group of Companies, whose member-firms include Philippines Foremost Milling and Amigo Terrace Hotel and Mall as well as food retail brands like Amigo Sigurado pasta. The foundation takes pride in uplifting the host communities of its companies, seeking to make them self-sustainable through education and community development.