Biz and social change
Corporations traditionally exist for their self-interests.
The classic mission of governing corporate boards is to make their stockholders happy by providing them more returns on their investments.
But the concept of corporate social responsibility had changed this old-school role of corporations – from merely profit-churning machines into instruments of social change.
The idea is not entirely altruistic: By helping build an affluent society, companies themselves stand to eventually benefit as people enjoy relative prosperity.
As a growing number of people rise above the poverty threshold, a burgeoning middle class is created with purchasing power to patronize the goods produced and services offered by private companies.
Thus, Rafael Lopa, the executive director of the Philippine Business for Social Progress, believes that presidents and chief executives of corporations need to change their philanthropic strategies and scale up their contribution to make an impact on poverty reduction in the country.
“We in PBSP feel we need to make a shift in how we encourage companies to look at how their philanthropy can be more strategic and a lot of these has to do with shaping a common agenda, not only among the business sector but also the other stakeholders of social change,” Lopa was quoted by a broadsheet as saying in a recent round-table discussion at the Bayleaf Intramuros Hotel in Manila.
Lopa is in charge of running PBSP, a social foundation composed of 252 member-companies that has a P2.2-billion budget for the current fiscal year, covering October 2014 to September 2015. This year, PBSP is switching to a new strategy that highlights collective efforts.
A graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in AB Interdisciplinary Studies, Lopa said the PBSP now believes that companies should adopt a common approach against poverty, instead of taking individual strides that may overlap each other’s initiatives.
Thus, companies that benefit from the country’s rapid economic growth can do more to help address poverty.
“We have been experiencing high growth rates averaging six (percent) to seven percent, but the continuing challenge is how to make the growth more inclusive,” he said.
“The challenge as we see as PBSP is how we engage the companies in the Philippines, being the NGO of Philippine business. We have 252 companies to date that are part of PBSP. How do we engage the business sector in general to really revisit the role that business plays in society, especially in so far as poverty alleviation is concerned,” Lopa says.
PBSP was established in 1970 by 50 business executives, including Washington Sycip, Sixto Roxas, Howard Dee, and Bienvenido Tan. The original founders agreed to donate one percent of their net income before tax to finance the operation of the foundation. This has not been the case lately, with PBSP sourcing nearly 90 percent of its funds from international donor agencies.
Today, PBSP is overseen by a 21-member board of trustees chaired by Manuel Pangilinan of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Paul Dominguez of Sarangani Agricultural Co. Inc. is the vice chairman while Ramon del Rosario Jr. of Phinma Inc. serves as the treasurer.
About 60 percent of PBSP members are major companies while 40 percent are small and medium enterprises. As of January 2014, membership contribution reached only P26.7 million, with most of the P2.2-billion budget coming from international grants and aid.
PBSP seeks to uplift the lives of Filipinos through social development programs that focus on health, education, environment and livelihood and enterprise development. It encourages the business community to integrate corporate social responsibility practices into their core businesses and advocates for the application of business strategies in addressing poverty.