Motolite-PBSP Balik Baterya Program

Project Balik Baterya commences
By: Ma. Bernadette Parco
Cebu Daily News
17 November 2008

The cabinet at the back of the garage or informal junk shops are no longer the only places where you can store used motor vehicles or used lead acid batteries.

The Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP has formalized a tie up with Oriental and Motolite Corp. through the Balik Baterya program.

PBSP member companies can donate their ULABs, which would be collected by authorized Motolite personnel, to the program for recycling.

The collected ULABs are shipped to Philippine Recyclers Inc. (PRI) located in Marilao, Bulacan where these are converted into pure lead, lead alloys and plastic chips. The sulfuric acid from the batteries is also treated.

The ULABs should be disposed of properly because these contain lead, which is toxic. Used electrolytes also contain dissolved lead.

These motor vehicle batteries contain sulfuric acid, which is corrosive and contaminated the soil and water when spilled.

Ingestion or inhalation of these chemicals can cause anemia, high blood pressure, kidney problems, infertility, miscarriage, and nervous system damage.

Children, if exposed to these harmful chemicals, may suffer from neurological disorders like learning disabilities and short attention span.

The practice of sending ULABs to informal recyclers and junk shops is prevalent. But remember, these shops do not practice proper pollution control measures.

Breaking batteries could cause contamination of our water and drainage systems such as canals, rivers, creeks and wells.

Moreover, improper battery recycling is a violation of Republic Act No. 6969 or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990 as specified under the Department Administrative Order No. 29 of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

PBSP, which is the largest corporate-led, nonprofit, social development foundation in the country, conducted its first series of collection last October 17, 20 and 21.

According to Maria Luisa B. Largo, PBSP Membership and Corporate Involvement Program officer, about 9.6 tons or 9,600 kilos of ULABs were hauled from Lear Automotive Services (B.V.) Netherlands – Philippine Branch, Lear Automotive Services (B.V.) Netherlands – Philippine Engineering and Technology Center, Fairchild Semiconductor and Petron Corporation – Mandaue Terminal.

The following Petron gasoline stations in the following sites accept ULABs: barangays Banilad and Talamban, Natalio Bacalso Avenue, B. Rodriguez Street in Cebu City, North Reclamation area and barangay Guizo branches in Mandaue City. The Petron station along M.L. Quezon Avenue in Lapu Lapu City also accepts ULABs.

Also included are Wellmade Motors and Development Corporation offices in Lapu Lapu Street, Cebu City; Tipolo, Highway, Mandaue City; and Lawaan, Talisay City.

The program is aimed at providing support to selected schools.

“In the first year of the implementation, 100 primary schools in the province of Cebu will be benefited. The proceeds of the Balik baterya Program will be used to establish 300 learning resource centers in primary schools in the Visayas,” said Largo.

Companies are urged to establish learning resource centers through collecting at least 100 ULABs, which has an initial donated value of P40,000. Each learning package contains books, instructional materials and a bookshelf.

At present, there is still no equivalent amount for the 9.6 tons of ULABs that were collected. The amount will be determined by Motolite and PRI, added Largo.

PBSP’s Buhisan watershed rehab project gets support

PBSP’s Buhisan watershed rehab project gets support

Cebu Daily News
First Posted 10:13:00 08/31/2008

Property developers Landco Pacific Corporation (Landco) and its partner, Genvi Development Corporation joined the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in the Central Visayas to help the PBSP in their advocacy to rehabilitate the Buhisan watershed in barangay Buhisan, Cebu City.

Representatives of the two realty firms signed a memorandum of agreement with the PBSP for the “Save the Buhisan Watershed” project late last month.

Landco and Genvi agreed to provide P350,000 to PBSP for the purchase of indigenous tree species for the period August 2008 to July 2010.

Employee volunteers from the two companies will conduct occasional visits to the site to monitor the trees planted.

The PBSP will assign a reforestation site within the Buhisan watershed and forest reserve where Landco and Genvi can plant trees.

Landco executive vice president Francis Ceballos said the company's partnership with PBSP is part of Landco's efforts toward the welfare of the community and the environment, especially those where their projects belong.

Landco is the developer of Monterrazas de Cebu, a 200-hectare premier mountain development that transverses barangays Labangon, Guadalupe and Banawa in Cebu City.

Microsoft NGO Day 2008

September 26, 2008 (Friday)
8:30AM to 5:00pm
Salon de Madrid, Casino Español de Cebu, Cebu City

A forum for non-profits aimed to maximize their potentials

to achieve their goals for nation building.




Mr. Jose Antonio Aboitiz
Chairman
PBSP in the Visayas

Keynote Speaker


Financial Management:
On Earned Income

Speaker:
Mr. Gulliver Go
Consultant for Business Development & Non-Profits



Financial Management:
Microsoft Tools

Speaker:
Mr. Boy Bawal
Sales Operations Director for Southern Philippines
Microsoft Philippines





Fund Raising:
Teaching The Joy of Giving

Speaker:
Ms. Mayan G. Quebral
Executive Director
Venture for Fund Raising


Fund Raising:
Using Technology in Fund Raising

Speaker:
Mr. Enrico Ibana
Infobuilder Technologies, Inc.

Project Management:
Realities in Project Management

Speaker:
Mr. Rene Fortuno
Manager -
Product Development and Management Service
Training and Consulting Group
PBSP


Project Management:
Microsoft Project Management Tool

Speaker:
Mr. Edwin Leoncio
Technology Specialist
Microsoft Philippines


New Media In Fund Raising:
Digital Marketing Using Silverlight

Speaker:
Mr. Jericho Matawaran
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
Microsoft Philippines


Working With Microsoft

Speaker:
Ms. Laurie Mae Rivera-Moreno
PR and Community Affairs Manager
Microsoft Philippines



New Media In Fund Raising:
Using Ammado.com

Speaker:
Mr. Joeri Gianotten
Director for Asia Pacific
Ammado.com


Working With Microsoft

Speaker:
Ms. Audrey Ong
Microsoft Singapore



Mr. George Parilla of Microsoft Philippines welcomed the participants of the Microsoft NGO Day 2008.



Ms. Dianne Therese Rallon, Board of Director of the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water, hosted the NGO Day.

Tabunan Tree Planting - A Rivet on Corporate Social Responsibility

Employee volunteerism is a valuable demonstration of a company’s proactive efforts toward sustainable community development. By involving its most important asset – its workforce – the company widens public awareness about social development issues and fosters the culture of cooperation or bayanihan. In PBSP’s experience, the concept of employee volunteerism is translated to actual activities like environmental rehabilitation, community outreach in the form of tutorials, feeding and medical missions, and free business advising to micro and small enterprises. The text that follows was written by Mark Salvador of Fairchild Semiconductor who had an opportunity to plant his own tree in Tabunan - site of one of Cebu’s last remaining forests. Read on and enjoy!

Tabunan Tree Planting - A Rivet on Corporate Social Responsibility
By Mark Salvador of Fairchild Semiconductor

And after six years of employment in Fairchild Semiconductor (FSCP), I was finally invited to engage in the annual tree planting activity organized by the company’s Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Committee. The activity was held in the mountainous area of Tabunan, Cebu City on an overcast Saturday, August 30, 2008. For my first outdoor immersion in corporate social responsibility, I planted one mahogany seedling and took pictures.

The event was held in association with Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP). PBSP is a non-profit consortium of corporations. It is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, leading the advocacy on the practice of corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility is the business sector’s obligation in involving itself with the efforts of improving the quality of life among the poor. PBSP as an advocate of this philosophy focuses its programs on integrated area development, technology management, capability building, enterprise development and local governance.

A memorandum-of-agreement exists between PBSP and FSCP for this yearly activity - FSCP to provide funds and planters and PBSP to take charge of the site preparation and seedlings. A PBSP representative is assigned to the participating company. Danny Cabantug voiced this event for PBSP.

We assembled in FSCP at around 7:15AM. After 30 minutes, four vehicles headed off to Tabunan from Lapu-lapu carrying about 45 participants. When we reached the designated stop, we descended a slope to our adopted area for tree planting.

In the Filipino setting, a short prayer always commences most activities.
Danny and Boy Wahing then explained the rationale of the activity, site selection and the ground rules. PBSP has prepared around 700 to 1000 mahogany and pili seedlings. Tabunan is part of the Central Cebu Protected Area and a recognized natural watershed.
Reforestation is being done to achieve 50% forest coverage for watersheds such as this one. PBSP also tapped the locals of the area to prepare the holes for planting. After the short orientation, the planting (and the clicking) officially began.
Shiela Oyao, a fellow engineer, paused and posed for this shot.
They all cramped in a row to fill the frame for this shot. Maricel Gudes (second from the last) is a regular visitor of this site and the one who invited me to this activity. She is joined by Nelson Montañez, Eva Igot (another blog visitor), Susan Alazas and Lupe, a line inspector I only know by nickname.
Jinky Arevalo, the chair of the EHS Committee, with trowel and seedlings in hand also granted me a pose.
The planters eventually ran out of holes. Danny instructed the locals present in the area to make some more.
When it seemed that all the holes were filled in with seedlings, the group (inherent to Filipinos) decided it was time for picture taking.
And shutters closed and opened. Practically, I could not give in to their requests as much as I want to. After a while, some decided to have refreshments. Coconuts were abundant in the area and were sold at an overwhelmingly low price. The locals obliged.
After several minutes of poses, we all headed back to our vehicles. We descended further down the valley to Tabunan River where we took our lunch. When I saw the river and the footpath ascending towards the opposite mountain, I recognized that it was the same river we trekked a month ago when we scaled down Mount Manunggal.
We trekked upriver to reach another FSC adopted spot. Underneath a tree opposite the area was the lunch site.
The dry area underneath the tree was quite small so the seating positions were constricted. Lunch was served and eaten in proud Pinoy style: using hands.
The cool waters of the river made lunch refreshing and prepared the group for the walk back to our vehicles. When I said that I will take a picture along the footpath, Susan, Eva and Genisa turned back and smiled for the camera.
I was surprised to see a watermark in the bank of the river. So before finally leaving, I took some pictures of the wooden post. I was able to take one picture with a truly candid shot. The rest had poses. Louelle Lumauag graced this shot.
So after five hours and one seedling later, I was safely back in Lapu-lapu, culminating the activity with a fruit shake, siomai and tempura. Thanks to Maricel Gudes, Roric Magdayao and Jinky Arevalo for my participation in this activity!

To justify the lone seedling, my environmentalist friends told me that the role I played to this rivet of corporate social responsibility is not purely that of a planter, but that of a scribe - to document and help facilitate the awareness that corporations also have obligations to fulfill and to contribute, not only to its employees but to society as a whole, in many different forms - be it one seedling at a time.

Let the world discover your experiences and thoughts on Corporate Social Responsibility. Email your articles and photos to PBSP at jmcubijano@pbsp.org.ph.

PBSP’s Buhisan watershed rehab project gets support

Cebu Daily News
First Posted 10:13:00 08/31/2008

Property developers Landco Pacific Corporation (Landco) and its partner, Genvi Development Corporation joined the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in the Central Visayas to help the PBSP in their advocacy to rehabilitate the Buhisan watershed in barangay Buhisan, Cebu City.

Representatives of the two realty firms signed a memorandum of agreement with the PBSP for the “Save the Buhisan Watershed” project late last month.

Landco and Genvi agreed to provide P350,000 to PBSP for the purchase of indigenous tree species for the period August 2008 to July 2010.

Employee volunteers from the two companies will conduct occasional visits to the site to monitor the trees planted.

The PBSP will assign a reforestation site within the Buhisan watershed and forest reserve where Landco and Genvi can plant trees.

Landco executive vice president Francis Ceballos said the company's partnership with PBSP is part of Landco's efforts toward the welfare of the community and the environment, especially those where their projects belong.

Landco is the developer of Monterrazas de Cebu, a 200-hectare premier mountain development that transverses barangays Labangon, Guadalupe and Banawa in Cebu City.

Battery recycling project helps ecology, students

July 19, 2008 10:18:00
Bernadette Parco
Cebu Daily News

A battery manufacturer and distributor firm launched in Cebu a campaign to collect and recycle used lead acid batteries.

The Balik Baterya campaign is Oriental and Motolite Corp.’s flagship project for corporate social responsibility that would benefit the ecology and public school students.

“We wanted proper disposal and recycling to prevent toxic material from being ingested by animals, plants and from contaminating our water supply,” said Noly Cayabyab, vice president for corporate social responsibility.

Lead acid batteries are the ones used in motor vehicles and industries.

For every donation of a used battery, payment of P325 to P500 will be made by Oriental and Motolite Corp. to the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), with proceeds to be used for the improvement of education services of public elementary schools.

The donor can even specify which area the education assistance can be focused on.

The firm is one among 25 companies which joined the PBSP Visayas Corporate Social Responsibility Expo held at the SM Cebu from July 17 to 20.

The expo called "A Better Life: PBSP's Celebration of Corporate Social Responsibility" includes a photo exhibit, lectures, the relaunch of a coffee table book project and the Visayas launching of the Motolite Balik Baterya Program.

Levi S. Villanueva, vice chairman of the PBSP in the Visayas, said the expo shares a wide range of experiences of companies engaged in CSR.

In his speech opening the expo, he invited the public to also see products of PBSP-assisted cooperatives and companies in the ongoing Best Visayas Trade Fair at SM City.

Learning sessions were held on enterprise development, corporate-community partnerships and health options in the workplace.

In the battery recycling project, proceeds will go to textbook donations, organizing teacher training seminars and remedial reading camps.

A deed of donation will be issued for the used batteries and this can be translated to tax credits for the donor company.

Cayabyab said the PBSP and Motolite will set up drop off points and arrange for the the hauling of the used batteries.

These batteries will be sent to the Philippine Recyclers Inc. (PRI), which converts the batteries into pure lead, lead alloys and plastic chips while the sulfuric acid in the batteries are treated. The PRI will then issue a Certificate of Treatment to the donor company.

In the Visayas, the focus is on the setting up of learning resource centers in the name of the donor company that would collect 100 ULABS and a donated value of P40,000.

Used dry cells that contain nickel, cadmium, and mercury, the kind used in appliances, are also accepted.

However, there is no cash value to be exchanged because the Philippines lacks the technology to recycle the batteries.

“We will only be able to store them,” said Cayabyab to keep them from contaminating the ecology.

During PBSP's CSR celebration, nine (9) Metro Cebu companies and organizations signed a memorandum in support of the Motolite-PBSP Balik Baterya Program. They are: Airlift Asia - Cebu; Cebu Daily News; Fairchild Semiconductors; Lear Corporation - Philippine Engineering and Technology Center; Petron Corporation; Shangri-la's Mactan Resort & Spa; Union Bank of the Philippines; Villa del Rio Homeowners' Association; and Wellmade Motors and Development Corporation.


Mr. Rito Apas, Mandaue Terminal Manager of Petron Corporation and member of the PBSP Visayas Executive Committee, helped launch the Motolite-PBSP Balik Baterya Program.