"It’s not always about the bottom line."
"It’s not always about the bottom line."
Banish the thought that Big Business is only after the bottom line, that is, profit.
Proof positive that corporate social responsibility or CSR is alive and well in this country is the earnest effort of several business conglomerates to respond to the public health emergency arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
There’s the Ayala group, which has unveiled a P2.4-billion package that includes income support and rent condonation for tenants of shopping malls shut down during the month-long Luzon-wide lockdown.
The package consists of wages, bonuses, leave conversions and loan deferments, primarily for the extended workforce of partner-employers so they may continue to be paid for the duration of the quarantine period.
Ayala Malls has agreed to provide a rent-free period for malls that are not allowed to operate during the community quarantine from March 16 to April 14. This will translate to around P1.4 billion in rent condonation to give merchants of these malls financial relief so they can in turn provide the much-needed financial support for their employees during this period.
The package also includes P600 million in salary continuance for displaced workers from construction sites, shuttered malls and retail space of Makati Development Corp. and the Ayala Malls group.
Globe Telecoms has also earmarked P270 million for its retail store support staff and vendor partners while all other Ayala companies will reserve another P130 million in personnel-related financial support.
For its own employees, Ayala will continue to provide salary continuance and financial support where possible as most of these employees will be getting their mid-year bonuses normally paid in April starting today through the end of March.
SM Supermalls has also indicated that it would waive rent for its tenants nationwide from March 16 to April 14. The country’s largest mall operator said this would offer tenants “some relief during this trying time, so that they can in turn lend more assistance to their employees.”
“We share our tenants partners’ concerns over the unfortunate situation and will waive rental charges for those affected and unable to operate during this period,” SM Supermalls said.
The SM group earlier said it had allocated P100 million to provide protective equipment and supplies to hospitals to fight the spread of COVID-19.
The Gokongwei group said it allotted P100 million to support health workers fighting the pandemic.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Corp. wants to produce 70-percent ethyl alcohol at one of its facilities and distribute the product for free to communities through their local government units.
Aside from ethyl alcohol, the company will also donate to local government units its own brand of disinfectant powder, which is safe for humans and can easily be deployed as extra protection against the virus.
The rationale for this is that while hand-washing is still the best defense, hand sanitizers with 70 percent alcohol can be the next best option where soap and water are not available.
According to SMC head honcho Ramon Ang: “We have the means and capability to produce this, and make it available for free to LGUs and public hospitals. We are working on getting the necessary clearances from the relevant government agencies to produce this for public use. We ask that they help expedite clearances.”
SMC subsidiary Ginebra San Miguel Inc. has already begun initial production of the alcohol over the weekend, for use in its facilities and for thousands of employees, initially. He gave the assurance that SMC can produce as much as half a year’s supply of food products with its existing inventory of raw materials.
SMC production facilities will run around the clock so that grocery shelves will remain well-stocked with its food products: “As far as the food supply is concerned, we have the capability to produce enough for everybody and deliver to supermarkets,” Ang pointed out.
SMC is already working on distributing food donations to poor communities where daily paid workers have been especially hard hit. The company has also committed to supply food to public hospitals and select government centers.
“We will operate our food facilities 24/7,” the SMC president and CEO said. “This isn’t about making profits. We have a responsibility to make sure that food is made available to as many people as possible.”
For its part, Metrobank and GT Capital Holdings group of the Ty family have pledged to provide P200 million to fund initiatives directly supporting the fight against COVID-19.
The fund seeks “to manage the disruption and provide meaningful assistance to customers, employees, and partners who most need help in these difficult times,” Metrobank said.
The banking firm said aside from the assistance already being extended to affected customers and displaced employees, they will support the production of test kits developed by the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) and the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline health workers.
We are glad that our some of our big business enterprises have found common cause in helping the government address the COVID-19 crisis. We commend them for their compassion and willingness to assist those adversely affected by this emergency.