The distribution application of Aboitiz Power Corporation, Davao Light and Power Co. , Inc. (Davao Light), was the Philippine Personnel Sector winner of the 6th ASEAN Rural Development and Poverty Eradication Leadership Award (RDPELA) for the corporate social responsibility systems it carried out. with diverse partners to help people improve the quality of life and the quality of life for others living in their service area.
PREP is a normal biennial occasion of the Senior Officials’ Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication to recognize, inspire and publicize networking and poverty alleviation projects in ASEAN member states.
RDPELA identified Davao Light’s efforts to assist local cooperatives and associations such as Samahan ng possibly iba’t-ibang Kakayahan sa Dabaw (SAKADAB), as well as to create technical and vocational services for the Philippine Department of Education through the e. Lab. project.
“We believe that enabling dignified and sustainable livelihoods and offering opportunities for education and upskilling opens more doors for our Kababayan people to escape poverty,” said Davao Light President and COO Rodger S. Velasco. ” As the incidence of poverty in the Davao region remains quite high at 11. 9% in 2021[1], we hope to make our efforts to reduce this figure through our corporate social responsibility projects with our components.
SAKADAB
Davao Light, as well as the social progression arm of the Aboitiz Group, Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Aboitiz Foundation), have been supporting SAKADAB since 2012, from the moment that Aboitiz workers and other teams and organizations helped build their homes on the network. by Gawad Kalinga.
Since then, they have obtained livelihood materials, gadgets, and education to build members’ capacity with other talents and the sustainability of the cooperative.
Help was most critical during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the members of the consumer cooperative bore the brunt of putting food on the table for their respective families amidst great economic uncertainty. Davao Light and Aboitiz Foundation provided support to SAKADAB’s bakeshop business via the donation of baking materials.
The public distribution service has also taken the initiative to leverage the sewing skills of SAKADAB members to contribute to the cooperative’s income-generating projects. As a result, several members have earned their National Certification or NC II in Technical Education Sewing. and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) after passing a National Skills Assessment, which deems them fit to work or be hired at that company.
SAKADAB also won a P300,000 sewing activity package, which includes 4 sewing machines, as well as other tools, fabrics and supplies.
More recently, the organization gained a completely renovated production facility at Gawad Kalinga’s net paints in Tugbok, Davao City, with increased lighting, ventilation, and more apparatus for product marketing. The facility will serve as the cooperative’s production and painting area for its crafts and sewing businesses.
“We are so grateful and appreciate everything they have done to make our lives comfortable and [our livelihoods] sustainable. . . our talents and skills so that in the long run we can fend for ourselves,” said the president of SAKADAB. Mirasol Magalasin.
Project e.Lab
To date, a total of 43 high schools were beneficiaries of a fully furnished laboratory for electrical installation and maintenance (EIM) under Davao Light’s Project e.Lab. The project was accomplished with Aboitiz Foundation as part of the advocacy to help nurture young minds and encourage careers in electrical engineering, technical vocational livelihoods and the like.
Since those labs have modern apparatus in quantities commensurate with the size of elegance, the best students who enroll in the EIM would no longer have to share wiring forums and other tools. As a result, they can do more wiring activities, and all participants can also do more, as each individual’s skills and progress must be assessed.
“It’s a marvel and a credit to us. Thanks to this [facility], our instructor can share real classes [while we work], unlike before where we had to take turns because we only had one wiring board,” said Oliver Pepito. a top-tier student from one of the beneficiaries, Biao National High School. We can now play simultaneously, which improves our knowledge. »
The e. Lab project provides a hands-on learning environment for students to understand and apply radical electrical installation and maintenance concepts, as well as industry criteria on how to mitigate risks, prevent injuries, and maintain the quality of electrical assets.
Ultimately, the facility can help applicants earn a national TESDA certification and make them more competitive and technically talented professionals.
Future: investing in youth
To complement those efforts, Davao Light and the Aboitiz Foundation have also supported more than a hundred scholars over the years by offering monetary assistance to beneficiaries for tuition, books, uniforms, and miscellaneous expenses.
To date, some of these researchers have been chartered architects; registered civil, mechanical, electrical, and geodetic engineers; Nutritionists; and professional teachers.
“We had other struggles [and] other stories, but we ended up [in] the same [place] and that is the good luck that we have achieved [and recognize] today. Davao Light and the Aboitiz Foundation have helped both one and both both…literally illuminated our future,” Davao Light researcher and architecture board exam winner Jonas Meneses said in a kamustahan session.
“We are so grateful to hear stories about you, your families, and your communities through your professions after your education. You have embodied the aspirations of the Davao Light scholarship program,” Davao Light’s Velasco told scholars at the same event.
The scholarship program is in line with the United Nations’ fourth Sustainable Development Goal, which is to achieve inclusive, equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Davao Light’s nomination for the 6th SPRP is the result of the approval of the Philippine Department of Education – XI and the National Poverty Reduction Commission (NAPC). The country is tasked with nominating two candidates, the other being an NGO or civil society. organization.
On its website, the NAPC said it would coordinate with ASEAN DPRK winners and partners “to explore conceivable avenues to advocate, replicate, expand, imbue, or integrate the winners’ successes into government systems or policies. “
Upon receiving the award at the Sands Convention and Exhibition Centre in Singapore, the Davao Light component of the Philippine delegation was led by NAPC Secretary Lope Santos III, who attended the official dinner of the 13th ASEAN Ministers’ Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication or AMRDPE.
ASEAN, or Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political union formed by the countries of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Spotlight is the segment sponsored by BusinessWorld that allows advertisers to expand their logo and connect with the BusinessWorld audience by allowing them to publish their stories on the BusinessWorld website. For more information, please email online@bworldonline. com.
Join us on Viber at https://bit.ly/3hv6bLA to get more updates and subscribe to BusinessWorld’s titles and get exclusive content through www.bworld-x.com.