PR Matters
By Abigail L. Ho-Torres
TO say these are extraordinary times is an understatement. All of us have had to adjust to this “new normal” almost overnight, following the imposition of community quarantine schemes all over the country.
Our health-care workers are overworked and in dire need of personal protective equipment (PPE). Day-wage earners suddenly find themselves at home, with no means to earn. Employees of companies deemed essential soldier on, amid uncertainties and absence of public transport services. It is during these times when companies really need to walk the talk when it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR).
And walk the talk they did. Without prompting from the government, the country’s biggest conglomerates set in motion a web of aid, which benefited not just our health-care frontliners, but also their employees and the general public.
Much-needed PPE and virus specimen collection kits were donated to hospitals. Relief goods were distributed to those who cannot fend for themselves—mostly day-wage earners, residents of blighted communities, and senior citizens without pension. Media companies and industry associations initiated their own donation drives so they can help provide the needs of the less fortunate.
Smaller companies and brands pitched in as well: restaurants gave hot meals to medical frontliners, with some even opening their space to the homeless; some made do-it-yourself face shields for health workers; others produced alcohol and disinfectants—deemed rare commodities now—for donation to health-care facilities and local government units.
Utility companies also suspended billing for a month, to provide some reprieve to the public, as we all battle this global pandemic. The list goes on and on.
Charity begins at home
The very same companies that quickly gave aid and continue to offer help—most of them providing essential goods and services themselves—have shown that they know how to take care of their employees as well. Many of them advanced the payout of the 13th-month pay and midyear bonuses, and allowed work-from-home arrangements even before the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine.
In Maynilad, the company that I work for, shuttle services are provided for mission-critical employees who have to report to the office and who have no personal vehicles. Company physicians do their rounds in the different facilities to check up on employees, and ensure their health and well-being. Vitamins and PPE are also provided.
This care and concern spills over to employees of third-party service providers, which include janitorial, fleet, maintenance, and security services—all considered essential to the company’s day-to-day operations. Although not direct hires of the company, Maynilad makes sure that their needs are also well taken care of. There is now a donation drive in the company for the benefit of these service providers. Employees can participate simply by submitting a salary deduction form over e-mail.
The company’s care for its employees—all in keeping with its holistic approach to CSR—has rubbed off on the employees themselves. A group of employees conducted a fund-raising drive to buy grocery items for some outsourced janitors and drivers, to help them cope with the current crisis. Personnel from two business areas also raised funds among themselves to buy bicycles for 19 of their teammates.
The show must go on
Being a provider of a basic service, many of our employees still need to report to work: to ensure smooth and incident-free plant operations, to manage inventory of materials needed in water treatment and production, to take water samples and analyze them in the lab, to make sure that our customers get safe and affordable water in their homes.
Work with our community livelihood partners also continues. Our community in Tondo produces alcohol and disinfectants, which they either sell or donate to hospitals and other end-users. Maynilad will be purchasing some of their output, and will donate these to selected government frontliners and blighted communities. Another community in Quezon City is making reusable face masks that can be used in nonmedical settings.
As one Maynilad top executive put it: “We are essential workers. Our people are fearful for themselves and for their families. However, their sense of duty is stronger than their fear.”
And this is the case not just for Maynilad employees, but also for other utility personnel who do not have the luxury of performing their jobs from the safety of their homes. The same goes for the men and women manning grocery aisles and cashier booths, the tireless delivery personnel and food service crews, our uniformed men and women manning the checkpoints and maintaining peace and order nationwide—and many others like them who enable us to stay safely confined in our homes while waiting for the curve to flatten. They are, like our health workers, frontliners in this fight against Covid-19.
This is a battle we are all fighting. Cliché as it may sound, but we are all in this together. CSR shines during times of crisis. It is also during these times when the Filipinos’ bayanihan spirit really comes alive.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Abigail L. Ho-Torres is AVP and head of Advocacy and Marketing of Maynilad Water Services Inc. She spent more than a decade as a business journalist before making the leap to the corporate world.
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