CLARK FREE PORT—A shoe manufacturer based here, which exports its products to seven European countries, is hiring members of indigenous tribes from Pampanga and Tarlac as part of its corporate social responsibility.
Asian Sports Apparel Philippines Inc. (AsaPhil), which makes at least 10,000 shoes daily, hosted a recent job fair at San Martin, Bamban, Tarlac, Human Resources Manager Christian Joy S. Dayrit said. She added that San Martin is an Ayta village.
Dayrit said the company hired 30 Aytas on the spot during the job fair.
“We produce world-class shoes. We decided to hire Aytas because we believe in their capabilities and ability to adopt and learn if given chances,” Dayrit added.
She said their shoes are exported to Germany, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.
AsaPhil started its operations in this freeport in March 2014 with 300 workers. It initially produced 1,000 pairs of shoes, said Ma. Imee A. Buan, AsaPhil administrative manager. She said as of June 2016, they have 1,100 employees. Sonny Dobles, consultant of AsaPhil, said they are giving the Aytas the minimum salary for regular workers prescribed by law. “AsaPhil wants to help and motivate the Aytas by giving them a relatively high salary considering they are new and just starting. The company wants to help to the full,” Dobles said. “The company believes in giving back something to the community, especially those who need more help.”
Dobles added that the people behind the company want to make Aytas “feel they belong to mainstream society and are not discriminated.” AsaPhil uses China’s technology to make shoes for all ages and gender. Its shoe types are waterproof, and are used for trekking and running. They also make sandals.
Dobles said they now have at least 50 Ayta workers and “more will be hired.”
Oscar Dizon, head of the Ayta tribal chieftains in Bamban, lauded AsaPhil for “their noble intention and really beneficial help.”
Dizon, speaking in the Ayta dialect, said many of his fellow Aytas used to do farm work and they each earn “P500 weekly or P2,000 monthly.”
N ow, he said, they each earn P10,000 every month.
“I hope the other locators at Clark do the same thing,” Dizon said. There are 82,000 workers and 820 locators at the Clark Freeport.
Image credits: Joey Pavia