Frenemies on helping mode
AS A general rule, consumers benefit when companies compete to provide better and cheaper services to the market. However, in the case of local calamities—like the Habagat and Tropical Storm Maring—induced rains and flooding of the last three days—the familiar competition among the country’s biggest corporations is also proving to be a boon to the people. One of the earliest off the corporate social responsibility starting block was San Miguel Corp.,which donated 3,000 cases of bottled water and more than 1,500 boxes of canned goods and coffee to flood victims in Paranaque City and the hard hit provinces of Laguna and Cavite. An estimated 30,000 beneficiaries were reached through the San Miguel Foundation. The conglomerate also turned over some P3 million worth of relief goods to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the latter to distribute to critically affected areas. Meanwhile, Petron Corp. chose to focus on Rosario, Cavite (the site of its recently cleaned up oil spill) by donating goods to an estimated 2,000 beneficiaries. The conglomerate also activated its in-house disaster response team, which is equipped with its own speedboats and an amphibious vehicle (bought in the aftermath of the 2009 Ondoy tragedy) for rescue and relief operations. Not to be outdone, SMC’s corporate rival—the PLDT group—also had its own initiatives spearheaded by its Maynilad unit,which sent water tankers to relief centers, responding to the request of its former president, PublicWorks Secretary Rogelio Singson. The Philippine Business for Social Progress chaired by Manuel Pangilinan, meanwhile, is “putting together relief packages,” while Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and PLDT have committed to donate money for relief efforts. According to spokesperson Mike Tbledo, the group has also mobilized helicopters in an effortto get relief goods delivered to the Cavite provincial capital (weather permitting, of course). Finally, the SM group yesterday announced that it was turning its nationwide network of shopping malls into one large chain of dropoff centers for relief goods, which it would then hand over to authorities. Donation bins would be made available in the malls, it said. While employees were not required to report for work, SM said its malls would be manned by some of its personnel to allow those stranded by the rains and floods to “find temporary safe shelter” (similar to what it did during past weather disturbances) .So yes, competition is good –Daxim L. Lucas
Published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, page B3, 21 August 2013