San Miguel Foundation at 25:

Bringing "Profit With Honor" To Life

Perhaps nowhere is San Miguel's deeply held philosophy of "Profit with Honor" more evident than in the San Miguel Foundation -- champion of the corporation's social development efforts and direct link to the communities where San Miguel lives and operates.

While other Philippine corporations have belatedly come to realize that they can no longer operate solely for business reasons, San Miguel has long recognized social development both as a responsibility and essential for competitive advantage and corporate survival.

As a corporate policy, San Miguel strongly believes in contributing its fair share toward the improvement of the quality of life in our host communities. In the Philippines, where the poor constitute the majority of the total population, the corporate foundation is the heart of the corporation, breathing life into communities by providing opportunities for people to better their lives.

At the same time, San Miguel pursues its community work with a business perspective, encouraging entrepreneurship to create an environment conducive to business and economic growth for the country. The community is recognized as a vital partner, with whom the corporation needs to engender a symbiotic win-win relationship.

The significance of these reciprocal ties has long been stressed by SMC Chairman Andres Soriano III who maintains that, "a business enterprise can survive and prosper only with the community's support and goodwill."

From Gifts to Partnerships

Created in 1972, the San Miguel Foundation is a non-stock and non-profit corporation formed purely for charitable, civic and humanitarian purposes.

For the past 25 years SMF has helped countless communities, evolving from the dole-out or gift giving orientation to more long-term partnerships for development. SMF has supported more than 150 projects in collaboration with the Philippine Business for Social Progress, USAID, the A. Soriano Foundation and other foundations. Its projects are predominantly joint endeavors, with the divisions and subsidiaries as its primary clients. Projects range from livelihood generation, disaster management, environmental protection and agri-based scientific research.

The SMF is currently managed by the Social Development Desk of the Corporate Affairs Office.

Success Stories

Across the broad spectrum of SMF-funded projects, there are numerous success stories.

A case in point would be the SMF-funded watershed reforestation projects in Mananga in Cebu, and Talisay in Negros Occidental which generated livelihood for the communities, instilled environmental values and helped replenish lost forest cover. The projects showcase the multi-sectoral effort to protect the environment involving the government, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and the immediate communities.

SMC's Reforestation Program, which took root in 1991, won an Anvil Award of Merit from the Public Relations Society of the Philippines in 1995.

The SMF is an advocate of multi-sectoral partnerships with cooperatives and other agencies, and has helped set up a number of cooperatives in the country. Among the most successful is the Calamba Producers Cooperative, which was jump-started by San Miguel Packaging Products. The cooperative is now a totally independent and flourishing T-shirt and rag-making enterprise.

In tandem with San Miguel Brewing Philippines, the SMF developed a cooperative network in Davao, Negros, Panay, Bohol and Nueva Ecija as an alternative mode of distribution for San Miguel products. They also introduced viable micro-enterprises to the Liliw Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Laguna, designed to augment the income of its 47 farmer-members. The projects, which were implemented by the PBSP, ranged from tilapia propagation, pig dispersal, lanzones growing, to credit facilities.

The SMF and the San Miguel Food Group piloted a corn production program in La Union in 1994 with a marketing tie-up arrangement with farmer cooperatives, averaging an annual yield of six to seven tons. The success of the corn contract growing program led to its expansion to other areas such as Bicol, Tarlac, Cebu and General Santos. To date, it continues to attract participation from other farmer cooperatives to supply yellow corn to SMFG for B-Meg feeds.

On the education front, the SMF funded the PBSP-initiated Science Laboratory Project, which initiated the installation of laboratories in identified public secondary schools to contribute to their science curriculum. The labs come complete with running water, gas and electrical connections, cabinets, storage facilities, tools and a safety shower for use during emergencies. This project directly benefits around 3,000 students per school year nationwide. Some of the sites are Barangay Granada in Bacolod City, Barangay Tipolo in Cebu City, and Opol Municipality in Misamis Oriental.

The SMF has sponsored 35 college scholars in the fields of agronomy, micro-biology and engineering. More than 150 out-of-school youths at the Don Bosco Technical School in Tondo have been given a new hope for a better and productive life.

The SMF has supported a host of other projects, such as the Scrap-to-Art Contest, Eye Care, Operation Smile, Books for the Barrios, livelihood projects such as broiler production and shrimp processing, earthquake rehabilitation, housing for lahar-affected residents, scholarships with Don Bosco Technical School, and campaigns for the protection of the ozone layer.

Thanks are not slow in coming. Operation Smile, which SMF supports, is a private, non-profit volunteer medical services organization providing reconstructive surgery and related health care to indigent children and young adults. "San Miguel is one of the leading corporations involved in this humanitarian endeavor. We overshot the target in this year's medical mission, and close to 1,000 children were benefited by the program," said Cathy Vigilia, its national mission coordinator.

"We will finally be able to realize our goal with the concerted efforts of government and the private sector in protecting the ozone layer," said Undersecretary Delfin Ganapin of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, acknowledging San Miguel's contribution during the project's launching in Bacolod City.

New Vision and Mission

Recent changes in the corporate structure and worldwide trends in corporate giving prompted the SMF to refocus its vision and mission to more vigorously align its social development programs with the San Miguel Group's business objectives. The present SMF board of trustees is composed of Antonio T. Climent, chairman; Alberto A. Manlapit, vice-chairman and president; Albert M. de Larrazabal, treasurer; Alfredo R. Villacorte, comptroller; and Pablito Perez of Roco, Bunag and Kapunan Law Office, secretary.

With its new character, the SMF centers its programs on a paradigm which focuses on, Environment and Entrepreneurship. Ideally, this should further promote sustainable development and socio-economic progress through the leveraging and channeling of funds, technology and people resources, and networking, as the Foundation's updated mission statement declares.

SMF's education component aims to accelerate the development of education through programs such as the expansion of the Science Laboratories, the training of teachers in selected areas, book donations to identified public schools, and support for school-based agriculture and science and technology projects.

Environmental conservation being one of the most vital issues today, SMF will target the conservation and protection of water resources through reforestation and watershed management in critical areas in proximity to SMG major facilities. The Foundation will also continue to forge public-private partnerships with the government and foreign agencies to champion environment-related causes.

In its entrepreneurship component, SMF's community relations program is envisioned to nurture business-building partnerships with target communities through sales and distribution tie-ups with communities and NGOs; source, process and distribute raw materials and other services; conduct training and organization building; and institutionalize a process for the sharing and practice of business management skills by the beneficiaries.

Foundation for the Future

The Foundation intends to pursue a three-pronged strategy of synergy, business-unit leadership, and a "Profit with Honor" orientation.

To promote synergy, programs will be formulated, implemented and monitored on a multi-business unit level in collaboration with the communities, local government units and NGOs involved. Concerned business units will be at the forefront in maximizing the business, social and reputation-building returns of the programs.

More to the point, SMF will give tangible meaning to SMC's corporate philosophy and help realize its vision of becoming Asia's Best by strengthening the Group's reputation as a responsible corporate citizen.