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THE Philippines, alongside Indonesia, has the most sophisticated and
successful Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, an
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) official revealed
Wednesday.
Corporate social responsibility is practiced
when a company considers what is beneficial to society as well as to
the environment through their business.
Dr. Filemon Uriarte, executive director of the
Asean Foundation, has said that among countries in the region, the
Philippines is a good model for CSR because Filipinos are genuinely
helpful by nature.
The foundation, which has given around $20
million in funding for various poverty alleviation projects, has
been mandated by the recently signed Asean Charter to promote
government and private sector collaboration to reduce socioeconomic
disparity in the region.
“The challenge in promoting CSR is to convince
companies that it [CSR] does good in image building and boost
revenues at the same time,” Uriarte said.
In recent years, many companies have launched
CSR programs to various groups, in particular to the communities
where they source raw materials or operate in.
These programs are said to give companies a
“social license to operate” by generating goodwill in the
community and integrating livelihood programs with social
development.
Uriarte also assured that the CSR campaign would
be well funded not only by the Asean but other countries such as
Japan and Korea.
A study on how CSR can help reduce poverty and
help in development will be done. Hopefully, these results will help
us to spread the knowledge on CSR to our neighbors such as Cambodia
and Myanmar, he said.
-- Kendrick Go
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