Little ray of sunshine

Suntrust Properties, through its “Bentengkyu: Benteng Taon, Benteng Saya” program, continues to spread love and happiness through a series of activities.

Charity begins at home.

For any other company born in a time of crisis, it would have been fairly difficult to adopt this oft-repeated dictum. But for trusted home developer Suntrust Properties Inc., it almost came naturally.

The litmus test came early —during its inception, in fact, when Suntrust needed to let go of some of its people.

“It was the worst period. Sales were not picking up, collection was hard, and we only had one project to sell. We had to let go of some of our people but without first ensuring that they have enough to tide them over,” recalled Suntrust president Atty. Harry Paltongan.

“I had to make our people fully understand why we initially had to let them go. I told them that like an overly booked passenger aircraft, some had to deplane to ensure that we can properly take off. (When we regained our footing), we then decided to rehire most of the people that we initially had to let go,” Paltongan explained.

It was thus evident that at the onset, Suntrust already took to heart the mantra that charity indeed begins at home, and it continues to do so 20 years after.

Suntrust seeks to recognize and give thanks to the people behind its success.

Paying it forward

Today, Suntrust Properties is taking huge strides in enjoining everyone to practice the same mantra through different programs that “pay it forward” and which, at the same time, would enable employees to realize their own blessings.

Such programs dovetail with the company’s commitment to go beyond the business of building homes and become one the country’s most reliable partners in nation building.

So as Suntrust Properties marks its 20th year, it hopes to give back and put the spotlight on the people that it believes were truly instrumental in the company’s enduring success.

“The number of projects that we now have in our portfolio serves as a testament to the little successes that we have reaped over the years. But we are aware that this would not have been possible if not for the cooperation and hard work of our people and those who work for us. We have managed to
expand our horizon because of the unrelenting effort and cooperation that these people have put in,” Paltongan related.

“Thus we believe that it is only right to give them proper recognition and credit. And while this isn’t something new for us as we have long conducted activities to help uplift the lives of the people who are part of the Suntrust family, we aim to take it a notch higher this year by involving everyone in the company in the ‘Bentekyu’ Suntrust campaign,” he said.

Spreading happiness

Suntrust Properties, through its “Bentengkyu: Benteng Taon, Benteng Saya” program, continues to spread love and happiness through a series of activities that serve as an avenue for the company to recognize and give thanks to the people behind its success—workers and the so-called “Suntrustees.”

Among the activities under the said campaign include the “Bentengkyu Suntrust Moments: Kwento ng pasasalamat at pagbibigay pugay sa ating tahanan” which showed a series of personal Facebook testimonials by employees. In here, they shared how being part of Suntrust Properties changed their lives.

The Benteng Saya Caravan meanwhile saw Suntrust
employees visiting project sites and bringing surprises for construction workers and direct sellers. More specifically,
employees distributed snacks, grocery packages, and shirts, and even conducted games.

The Benteng Saya Caravan also visited Dr. Trinola Montinola Elementary School in Bacolod last August 11 and Union Elementary School in Tagum City (August 19) to distribute school supplies to the students.

Employee-initiated

The best part of this campaign, however, is the Benteng Hiling, wherein the employees gave their own contributions to grant the simple wishes of workers at their construction sites.

“We initially proposed to grant 20 wishes for our anniversary. However, we realized that this number is too small compared to all the blessings that we have received through the years. So we decided to (level) up the game and grant 20 wishes each month,” Paltongan shared.

“Also, we didn’t even request for a company budget for the wishes to be granted. The employees (officers, managers, staff) and Suntrustees (sales force) realized the beauty of this project as they personally volunteered to fulfill the wishes of our workers. Seeing the faces of our workers is indeed priceless,” he further disclosed.

Among the wishes granted were safety shoes, reading glasses, refrigerator, and a few groceries to jumpstart a small sari-sari store business.

“We are posting an episode of Benteng Hiling on our Bentengkyu Suntrust page to share the beauty of sharing and hopefully, inspire others to do the same,” Paltongan concluded.