MANILA, Philippines—What business does a telecommunications firm have engaging in a corporate social responsibility that is far detached from its main business line?
For Globe Telecom Inc., the benefits of its financial support for the Global Xchange Program (GXP) are not immediately evident for these are long term in nature.
Recently, the Ayala-controlled firm strengthened its partnership with international volunteerism and advocacy groups resulting in another successful run of the program, with the stated goal of developing youths into active global citizens.
Now on its fourth year, the GXP volunteer exchange program gives both Filipino and British youths a unique opportunity to become better global citizens through learning, reflection, volunteerism and community action.
Globe, through its corporate social responsibility program Globe Bridging Communities (Globe BridgeCom), financially supported GXP as a “national kabahagi” making the company a major partner.
Globe also supported the program by providing SIM cards and load to volunteers and also by sharing ideas and expertise in community relations during the activity sessions.
International groups managing GXP include Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) Philippines, VSO Bahaginan and the British Council.
This year, a team of nine Filipinos and nine British youths were chosen to take part in the Iligan-Newham exchange. The volunteers went to the cities of Newham in the United Kingdon and Iligan, the Philippines for three months each, to live and work on global citizenship projects aimed at raising awareness of the development and diversity within their host communities.
According to Globe Community Relations head Jeffrey Tarayao, the Globe-GXP partnership provided an opportunity for Globe to have a better understanding of young people’s perspective of development at both national and international levels.
“The youth, as a very important stakeholder of Globe, must be offered every opportunity that will inspire and enable positive change in their own communities,” Tarayao said.
For Globe, these opportunities may be in the form of technology, skills development and collaboration—“three very important enablers that GXP offers to all its partners,” he added.
Tarayao said that since youth development is one of Globe BridgeCom’s cornerstone corporate social responsibility programs, the partnership with GXP offers the company an important model for engaging and involving young people of every age and race to work together—a crucial template for today’s sustainable youth development programs.
GXP also offers an international perspective of development work where other CSR programs of Globe can benefit from,” he said.
With the partnership of Globe and GXP, the telecommunication firm continues to reinforce the educational thrust of its CSR program, and initiating more youth development programs with GXP that aimed at increasing its positive impact to more young people and communities around the world.
Meanwhile, Globe gave a counterpart donation of P75,000 to complement Global Xchange Programme Team 71’s fund-raising efforts for displaced communities in Lanao del Norte due to the ongoing armed conflict in the region.
By supporting them in this endeavor, “we want to strengthen the volunteers’ passion for service and encourage them to be always active and relevant in any community they may be,” Tarayao said. “This essentially is what GXP is all about.”
The chosen conduit for Globe and GXP Team 71’s rehabilitation initiative for these communities is Balay Integrated Rehabilitation for Total Human Development Inc. (Birthdev), a nongovernment organization that specializes in psychosocial intervention to children, women and men survivors of armed conflict and disasters.
Their services include community and individual emotional recovery sessions, community education, capability-building activities to people’s organizations, educational assistance and research.
The organization is headed by executive director Cristina Lomoljo, a psychologist by profession and mentor of two of Team 71’s volunteers who were placed under her supervision.
The combined donation of P100,000 from Globe and Team 71 of the GXP will specifically be used to fund Birthdev’s on-going community trauma healing sessions where emotional recovery experts provide counseling and stress debriefing for members of the communities raided by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in several municipalities in Lanao del Norte, such as Kolambugan, Munai, Kauswagan, Linamon and Maigo.
GX Team 71 program supervisor Jay Neil Ancheta expressed his optimism that through this donation, Birthdev and other members of the Mindanao Emergency Relief Network who are skilled in emotional recovery and stress debriefing, would continue and step up their “much needed intervention” for these communities.
