PBSP Supports Guimaras!

In response to the oil spill that happened in Guimaras in August 2006, the Philippine Business for Social Progress - Visayas Regional Office, pledged to support the affected families with the following initiatives:

1.Contribute to the attainment of the Goals of the Provincial Government of Guimaras by presenting PBSP’s rehabilitation response.

2.Mobilize and coordinate the support coming from PBSP member companies, CSR partners and local and international donor agencies for livelihood rehabilitation and other projects.

3.Interface and work with the Provincial Government, Local Government Units and other Government Line Agencies of Guimaras in implementing the livelihood rehabilitation program.

4.PBSP will propose its ARM framework in the implementation of the rehabilitation and poverty reduction program in Guimaras ARM.

5.PBSP will build the capabilities of local peoples organizations and non-government organizations.

The livelihood rehabilitation program that PBSP developed was then called the GUIMARAS AREA RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (GARMP). The GARMP aims to ensure the economic survival of 4,019 affected fishing families in 25 barangays from the Municipalities of Nueva Valencia, Sibunag and San Lorenzo, thru the implementation of sustainable livelihood projects .

PBSP-SMC Feeding Program in Brgy. Tayud

The Visayas Regional Office (VRO) of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), in collaboration with the Coalition for Better Education (CBE), held a joint feeding and medical mission activity in Barangay Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu. This was one of the three SMC Project Access communities, which is also CBE's adopted barangay under its iN.CUBE Project. The area is also VRO's beneficiary community of the Project i.BUILD.

The activities were held at the grounds of Tayud Elementary School. PBSP tapped SMC's food division which provided for the "pospas" good for 300 pre-school and school-age children of Tayud; while CBE brought in the South Western University's College of Medicine, Pharmacy, MedTech, Dentistry, Optometry and Nursing to provide free medical, dental, and optical check-ups. Further, free medicines and blood typing for almost 500 residents of the barangay were given and done.


During the opening program, a MOA was also signed between SWU and Tayud LGU formalising the partnership and making SWU's extension program exclusively for Tayud. Significantly also, Mr. Bryan Perilla, Supervisor of the San Miguel Foods Corporation, committed to support other activities of the barangay. Ms. Girlie Garces, VIXCOM member and SMC's Communications Officer, also graced the occasion and even volunteered to distribute the "pospas" to the children.

The said activity is a concrete example of the interplay/collaboration of the Business-Goverment(DepEd)-LGU-Academe-NGOs linkage.