Top exec discovers what life is all about

ROSA with Virlanie kids and adults helping

Rosa Miller came to the Philippines during one of the most challenging times in its economic history. The Asian currency crisis had reared its ugly head and local companies that had borrowed heavily in dollars saw their debt burden balloon and their revenue stream slow to a trickle.

While 3M Philippines had a healthy balance sheet and did not come anywhere close to seeking temporary relief from paying its creditors, it faced its own share of challenges in getting local companies and individuals to continue buying its wide range of industrial and consumer products despite the economic turmoil.

Thus, as the new managing director for 3M Philippines in 1998, Miller certainly had her hands full and her calendar was filled with meetings called to stave off the worst of the effects of the widespread currency crisis that started in Thailand and swept throughout the region.

Her packed schedule, however, failed to prevent Miller from planting the seeds of what would eventually become the corporate social responsibility program of 3M in the Philippines.

Miller—born to an Italian father and a Peruvian mother—tells SundayBiz in an interview that it was soon after she came to the country, when the company car she was traveling in was approached by a young street vendor peddling sampaguita garlands. She did not buy the flowers, nor did she give the vendor any money. But she did give her a sandwich, which the street urchin happily accepted.

As she traveled more around the city as part of her work, she saw even more boys and girls on city streets under the heat of the sun and even in the middle of pouring rain. The sight of so many working boys and girls—which was unusual for her having spent most of her life in the United States—so moved Miller that she was driven to do something about it, her busy schedule notwithstanding.

The Chemical Engineering graduate from Arizona State University with an MBA from St. Thomas University in Minnesota could not bear to just look the other way.

So she quietly—and in her own time—looked for a group that was involved with street children and her solo quest led her to the Virlanie Foundation, which has been focused on helping disadvantaged children in the Philippines since its founding in 1992.

It was practically love at first meeting for Miller and Virlanie, which had a small office then. For Miller, the biggest attraction was the concern that the Virlanie officers and volunteers showed for the street children who badly needed their help, and Virlanie was only too happy to partner with somebody passionate about helping the children.

Since that first meeting with Virlanie in 1998, Rosa had set aside part of her weekends and even Monday afternoons during her stint in the Philippines for her visits to Virlanie Foundation. She not only forked out part of her pay from 3M but, more importantly, time to teach the children skills, some as basic as washing hands properly to prevent the spread of diseases.

It did not take long for other staff members of 3M Philippines to notice that Miller was always in a hurry to leave the office on Monday afternoons. It was only after some got up the nerve to ask her driver and assistant what she was up to that the rest of 3M learned about Miller’s special relationship with the Virlanie Foundation.

“Suddenly employees started knocking on my door, asking if they can come with me to Virlanie,” recalls Miller

“Suddenly, employees started knocking on my door, asking if they can come with me to Virlanie,” recalls Miller, who was only too happy to bring along her crew to Virlanie and encourage them to share their extra time and resources with the underprivileged kids under the foundation’s care.

The bond between Miller and her staff members was strengthened by the frequent visits to Virlanie, and she would like to believe that the close ties contributed to how 3M Philippines was able to weather the Asian crisis and come out stronger with a healthier bottom line.

Her success in steering 3M Philippines through turbulent times did not go unnoticed, which was why she was plucked out of the Philippines after just two and a half years to take on a bigger regional role.

Miller says she was initially hesitant to leave because of her involvement with Virlanie, but then her staff members were quick to assure her that 3M Philippines would carry on the responsibility and even elevate it to the corporate level so that funds could be provided to Virlanie in a timely and systematic manner.

“I told them to better keep it going and that I will watch them from Minnesota,” Miller says.

It has been 11 years since Miller left the Philippines, and she has been true to her word to keep in touch with 3M in the Philippines and the foundation that has become close to her heart. She also never fails to send over money to Virlanie from wherever she is posted.

Miller, now the 3M vice president for Latin America and Global Services Channel, is also heartened by the fact that the people who used to work for her here have also held up their part of the bargain and have continued to support Virlanie Foundation.

3M, which posted $107 million in sales in 2010, has also expanded its CSR work to include other sectors apart from helping street children.

Aside from Virlanie, 3M Philippines and 3M Philippines Export Inc. donated nearly P1.5 million worth of 3M products to help build The Mind Museum, which is set to open in March 2012. The Mind Museum is the Philippines’ first world-class science museum.

3M Philippines and 3M Philippines Export Inc. likewise partnered with Haribon Foundation for a reforestation project, committing to plant 10 to 12 hectares of native trees by 2015.

On Oct. 8, the company and its employees and family members planted 1,250 seedlings in Tanay, Rizal.

“CSR is now part of the DNA of the employees of 3M Philippines,” says Miller, adding that her successors are happy to update her regularly on how the Virlanie children are doing.

Miller got the rare chance to see for herself how the children are growing up in a safe and loving environment during a recent trip to the Philippines, which she was able to squeeze into her tour of the region as part of her global responsibilities.

“When I learned that I was going to the region, I told the office that I wanted to spend a weekend here in the Philippines and it was wonderful,” says Miller, who spent a day at Virlanie where she got to talk to some of the children and learned how Virlanie continues to grow through the generosity of both local and foreign donors.

“It is wonderful to see these developments because we spend so much time killing and hating each other… it is nice to see pockets of people in the world who want to help others,” says Miller.

She says seeing children, some of whom were badly abused before being brought to Virlanie, finally have smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts never fails to encourage her to continue doing what she can for them, even if she is now so far away from the Philippines.

For Miller, helping other people have a dream or a vision of a better future is what life is all about.