The business community has responded with its own deluge of assistance to the thousands left grieving and homeless by Tropical Storm “Sendong.”

Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Smart Communications on Monday said they had sent up to 2,000 units of bottled water and 300 five-gallon containers of potable water to the flood victims in Cagayan de Oro City.

An additional shipment of 2,000 pieces of 1.5-gallon containers of potable water will follow in the next few days, the two companies said.

Maynilad said it was also sending portable equipment to Cagayan de Oro to produce potable water on site for the evacuees.

“In this time of great need, we gladly extend our expertise and resources to those beyond our concession area,” said  Ricky Vargas, Maynilad president and chief executive officer.

MANILA, Philippines – Our gathering today is called a Summit on Poverty, Inequality and Social Reform. This is not the first time that we have met for such a purpose. One might therefore ask, why another summit?

The idea for this Summit was triggered by two events. First, in case you forgot, this year is the 25th anniversary of People Power. And second, the elections of 2010 which many people thought would not even happen but which resulted in the greatest majority of an opposition vote (48%) in recent history. The message of the elections was change and another Aquino was at the helm of government, with the political capital to make the big decisions for the big changes wanted by the people. What better time than now for self-examination.

People Power enabled us to regain our freedom and to restore democracy. It did not only happen at a highway called EDSA, it happened in every nook and corner of this great country. It was a spontaneous moment of solidarity, like no other, because it was driven by a nobility of purpose that made us proud to be Filipino.

Cebu will be one of the “areas of inspiration” for development in the country next year, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said over the weekend. “Central Visayas is a great area of inspiration. It is a primary example of what we can do and what more can be done for other regions,” Jimenez said in…

MANILA, Philippines — A carbon market fair will be held in early 2012 to link the Kalahan Forest Reserve (KFR) to potential carbon buyers and promote KEF’s agro-forestry system that practices ancient forest preservation techniques. The World Agroforestry Center (WAC) is linking KFR in Nueva Vizcaya with a carbon market which will also aid private…

FOOD manufacturer CDO Foodsphere Inc and pharmaceutical firm United Laboratories have joined forces wit the business group Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in deploying a quick response team to extend assistance to the victims of typhoons Pedring and Quiel in heavily flooded towns of Bulacan. The three organizations took the initiative as a part…

One day six years ago, Noel Percil and Jonah Nobleza separately surfed the internet and discovered there is a non-government organization (NGO) in The Netherlands that conducts a contest among foreigners to find out the best project the NGO could grant initial funding for. Percil was surprised when he was notified by the NGO, called…