Driving change for a better world

Erramon I. Aboitiz, Aboitiz Equity Ventures president and CEO

Last week, leaders and stakeholders of the Aboitiz group came together for a historic two-day summit to discuss how they can work together to achieve the group’s ambitious purpose and brand promise, which is “to drive change for a better world by advancing business and communities.”

It is a lofty ideal, but one that the group, which began in the late 1800s as a simple family enterprise trading hemp in Palompon, Leyte, is committed to live up to.

This not only through various corporate social responsibility programs but, more importantly, through the products and services that each subsidiary of the growing group provides.

These are vital as the Philippines continues to grow despite headwinds, and is making some progress in bringing down the poverty level from almost 22 percent.

But more needs to be done and the Aboitiz Group is conscious of the vital role that it has to play to help ensure that economic progress will be felt by the majority, not just the already prosperous top 1 percent of the population.

Erramon I. Aboitiz, president and CEO of the flagship Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., said in a speech to open the two-day Advancing Business and Communities Summit that the group has always believed it can do well by doing good, by making long-term decisions that balance the interests of people, planet and profit.

Sustainability is not a mere buzzword, but an integral part of the Aboitiz business strategy.

“Simply put, we agree that financial gains should translate into meaningful benefits for society, creating shared value in the long run. Sustainability is the singular thread that weaves through the fabric of our company’s history, which shows our constant pursuit for opportunities. We are always on the lookout for opportunities that not only help accelerate our country’s economic growth per se but, more importantly, become catalysts of positive change through our products and services,” Aboitiz said.

He shared that since the time of the Aboitiz forefathers, the group has always found itself driving change for the betterment of not just the business, but the nation as a whole, from connecting islands and facilitating trade through shipping to developing frontiers like Davao and Cotabato through electrification.

Today, it is providing a balanced mix of energy sources to power economic progress and drive down the cost of electricity.

“Perhaps the best kept secret, we are among the largest renewable energy producers in the country with a capacity of over 1,700 megawatts, giving electricity distributors and end users the power of choice and an option for renewable energy; this is our contribution to the national government’s renewable energy program,” Aboitiz said.

Investments in these infrastructure projects are matched by similar investments in corporate social responsibility projects across the group.

Aboitiz said that over the past 10 years, the group has allocated P4.2 billion for CSR-related activities and programs spearheaded by the individual subsidiaries with a combined workforce of some 31,000 servicing over eight million customers.

Among the projects is a P500-million contribution to the National Greening Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the A-Park initiative.

So far, six million trees have been planted over 5,500 hectares, putting the group on its way toward achieving its goal of planting nine million trees by 2020.

“These are just some of the initiatives where we have introduced change for a better world while conducting our business with the highest regard for society’s best interest and trust.  While we did not formally articulate this in the past, our journey has consistently been characterized by a desire to bring about positive change for all our stakeholders. This gives us purpose in everything that we do,” Aboitiz said.

“We consider it a great honor to be recognized as among the country’s biggest givers in the area of CSR and corporate citizenship. This, we attribute to the legacy of giving back that our forefathers led by Don Ramon have ingrained in our organization,” he added.

Thus as it goes forward, Aboitiz reminded the men and women of the group of why and how the group should go about its business.

The group’s purpose, he said, is to take advantage of its formidable strengths and leadership position to fulfill the mission of creating long-term value for all of its stakeholders, guided by the core values of integrity, teamwork, innovation and responsibility.

“Along with our ‘why,’ we also ask ‘how can we make a difference every day by living that inspired purpose and making it real?’ This is how we will drive change for a better world: by advancing business and communities, our ABCs,” he said.