ABOITIZ GROUP

“The Aboitiz Group is an organization that puts sustainability at the core of our growth strategy, anchored on our philosophy that we can do well by doing good, always making the right long-term decisions that balance the interest of people, planet, and profit.” – Erramon Aboitiz

PHILIPPINE STAR: What has your group contributed toward nation-building?

ABOITIZ EQUITY VENTURES PRESIDENT AND CEO ERRAMON ABOITIZ: From investing to meet infrastructure demand to providing innovative solutions to empower small businesses, we have and continue to leverage our capabilities to drive change for a better world by advancing business and communities.

We anchor our actions and decisions on the time-honored values of integrity, teamwork, innovation, and responsibility that characterize the Aboitiz Way, the critical element and secret sauce to our organization’s success over the last 100 years. Our values and culture keep us firmly focused on fulfilling our purpose and brand promise.

The Aboitiz Group is an organization that puts sustainability at the core of our growth strategy, anchored on our philosophy that “we can do well by doing good, always making the right long-term decisions that balance the interest of people, planet, and profit.” ABOITIZ FOUNDATION

Under our ‘‘People bottomline’’ is corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is driven by the company’s corporate foundation, the Aboitiz Foundation.

We partner with our neighboring and host communities to promote inclusive growth, specifically in the areas of education, enterprise development, and environment. In 2018 alone, the foundation implemented more than 1,800 CSR projects amounting to P419 million, reaching nearly a million direct and group beneficiaries.

One of the best definitions of a progressive nation is having an accessible quality education. Aboitiz spent P191 million or 45 percent of its total CSR budget last year on education-related projects. Our goal is to provide access to holistic and inclusive quality education that will result in further education, gainful employment, and entrepreneurship.

Aboitiz has been recognized by the Department of Education as one of its biggest givers.

This year, Aboitiz donated $10 million – a landmark endowment – to the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Scientific Research Foundation to support AIM’s degree programs, professorial chairs, student loan programs, as well as site and facilities improvement at the newly renamed Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship – a move that the Institute believes will address the demands of an emerging knowledge and technology economy in Asia.

GLOBAL CONCERNS In a country that is prone to disasters, Aboitiz is also doing its share in increasing the capability of the local government in disaster preparedness. Through our Weather-Philippines Foundation, we aim to build a “weatherwiser” nation, espousing a preventive approach to disasters rather than a reactive one.

We continue to pursue the alignment of each of our social responsibility goals with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals of SDGs and the Philippine Development Plan to respond to larger and global concerns on education, poverty reduction, climate change, responsible consumption, disaster risk preparation, and multi-sectoral partnerships.

On the environmental front, the Aboitiz Group has been the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ key partner in conservation initiatives that are heavily tied to climate action through our A-Park, an annual tree-planting initiative that supports the government’s National Greening Program.

The Group is also maintaining a Pawikan Center in its Cleanergy Park in Davao City that helps save the endangered hawksbill turtle or pawikan.

PHILIPPINE STAR: What does the Aboitiz Group want to see or dream for this nation?

We envision a thriving Philippines where we continue to lead, influence, and drive change for the betterment of our stakeholders, which include not only our shareholders but also our fellow team members, our fellow Filipinos, our communities, and our nation.

The Aboitiz Group is committed to always lend a helping hand to our fellow Filipinos who are in need of prompt assistance. At the heart of the support we give and driven by the value of responsibility, we made sure that our programs were the kind of assistance that would make a significant impact on the lives of our countrymen.

ON THE BUSINESS FRONT Our power generation projects are part of our continuous exploration of solutions to meet our country’s growing energy requirements while being guided by our balanced mix strategy: expand our balanced mix portfolio of renewable and thermal power.

Our banking and financial business, UnionBank, is leveraging technology to bring greater financial inclusion for millions of unbanked Filipinos.

Our food business Pilmico’s recent acquisition of a majority stake in Gold Coin – a major animal feeds producer operating in 11 countries – not only spreads Pilmico’s footprint internationally but also fulfills our promise of being partners for growth to impact more lives and industries. As our partners become successful, families live better lives and our communities advance, which ultimately, results in positive change to our society and inclusive economic development.

Our infrastructure is gaining ground in our long-term goal of advancing the lives of Filipinos across the country through innovative and sustainable infrastructure solutions in water, airports, digital infrastructure, and cement manufacturing spaces.