CitySavings gets recognition anew from DepEd for Teacher Care Initiatives

City Savings Bank Inc., UnionBank’s thrift subsidiary, which has ramped up its Teacher Care initiatives, recently earned another recognition from the Department of Education.

DepEd held its Partners’ Appreciation Ceremony last 13 December at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City, where the department gave a plaque of appreciation to CitySavings.

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, who led the ceremony, expressed gratitude to all public and private partners for the educational support they provided the department.

“I welcome you all to explore partnershipswiththeDepartment of Education. Together, let us rebuild a stronger, resilient, and adaptable basic education system in the Philippines,” the Vice President, said.

Committed to helping the teaching community, CitySavings has strengthened its Teacher Care initiatives through various corporate social responsibility programs this year.

Over the course of the year, CitySavings distributed learning and teaching resources nationwide to 580 beneficiary schools, divisions, and regional offices. Its various programs, namely Project ₱er@parasyon, which promotes financial literacy; Project

Pink, which focuses on breast cancer awareness; and Project #BetterMe, advocating better mental wellness, have reached over 4,000 attendees from DepEd.

CitySavings also expanded its National Economic Development and Values Formation program, a webinar series with the University of Asia and the Pacific. The series equipped more than 400 school heads from Visayas and Mindanao with the skills to help revitalize character-building and values formation in schools.

A significant highlight of CitySavings’ 2022 Teacher Care initiatives was its support for Brigada Pagbasa. The DepEd program, under “Hamon: Bawat Bata Bumabasa” (or the 3Bs Initiative), responds to the call to intensify advocacy for reading. With the Office of the Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs and Partnerships, CitySavings supported outreach programs in the Visayas, specifically in Bohol last 18 November and Aklan last 24 November, with donations of laptops, TV sets, sanitation essentials, reading materials, and learning and teaching kits to geographically isolated last-mile schools.

On 5 October, CitySavings also joined the National Teachers’ Day activities at Bangued, Abra, which closed the month-long celebration. At the NTD, the Bank raffled off motorcycle units, laptops, tablets, and gift certificates to show its appreciation for Filipino teachers.

The year 2022 has been a banner year for the Bank’s Teacher Care initiatives. CitySavings will continue to provide relevant, accessible, and sustainable CSR programs to enable educators to teach and touch the lives of learners nationwide.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF CITYSAVINGS DEPED Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs and Partnerships Atty. Gerard Chan (third from left) hands over a plaque of appreciation to CitySavings, led by Salary Loans Business Head Julian Aboitiz (third from right). Also present: DepEd External Partnerships Director Edel Carag (left), CitySavings Reputation and Brand Management Head Paula Ruelan (second from left), Branch Operations Group Head Linda Flor Hortezano (second from right), and External Relations Head Atty. Roel Eric Garcia (right).

IN response to the call to intensify the advocacy for reading, CitySavings supported the outreach programs of the DepEd Office of the Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs and Partnerships in Bohol and Aklan by donating laptops, TV sets, sanitation essentials, reading materials, and learning and teaching kits to geographically isolated last-mile schools.

TEACHERS from the Cordillera Administrative Region who joined the National Teachers’ Day celebrations last 5 October in Bangued, Abra pose by the motorcycle display at the CitySavings booth. Motorcyle units were among the many raffle prizes sponsored by CitySavings.