Industry News

The winners for the 3rd SPMJ "Driven to Serve" Awards, which was spearheaded by the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists, were officially awarded.

The "Driven to Serve" Awards recognizes the most outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR projects among the local car manufacturers and importers. This year's competition gathered a total of entries submitted by six auto manufacturers and importers including Ford, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen. The categories were divided into four, namely: Education and Training, Environment, Community Development and Road Safety.

For Education and Training, Toyota and Ford earned Gold awards respectively.

Through its social arm, Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation, Toyota bridged the gap between the automotive industry's need for competent technicians and the academe's need for partners who can provide students with hands-on experience to augment theoretical education from the school.

Ford Motor Philippines' CSR program has been helping underprivileged youth to acquire the skills to improve their lives. For three years now, the program has graduated 83 students who took the 15-month course at the Don Bosco Technical Institute- Technical Vocational and Education Center in Makati City. A new batch of 35 scholars started on the course in June 2018 and are expected to graduate in October 2019.

Meanwhile, Isuzu and Nissan bagged Silver awards.

Isuzu Philippines Corporation's CSR program provides free education for the highest competency level and a guaranteed job after graduation. Now on its 10th year, the Isuzu-TESDA Auto Mechanic Training Center in Tacloban, Leyte has graduated a number of students who are all now gainfully employed.

Nissan Philippines Inc. partners with the Habitat for Humanity for its CSR program. The Center for Creative Leadership developed the Habitat Young Leaders Build toolkits which has various modules - eight for leadership and two for sustainable communities. It provides leadership skills and a platform for the youth to contribute to the realization of sustainable development goals by identifying and implementing community projects.

On Community Development, Toyota earned the Gold award with their Medical and Surgical Program. Since 2005, the medical program had donated to the same hospital a cardiac monitor, ECG machine, suction apparatus, defibrillator machine, nebulizer machines, wheelchairs, and hospital stretchers.

Meanwhile, Ford, Nissan, and Mitsubishi won Silver awards respectively.

Ford's CSR program on Community Development, which started in 2013, has been committed to helping communities after a super typhoon named Yolanda brought wide destruction to many places in Central Visayas in 2014 by providing easy access to clean water.

Meanwhile, Nissan's Hygiene Awareness Promotion project has expanded the awareness on hygiene from a personal habit to a community responsibility of more than 1,000 families, or a total of 6,565 people, living in 12 Habitat of Humanity (HfH) communities.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines has responded to the government's call to support "Task Force Bangon Marawi" by donating 26 motor vehicles that were assigned to various agencies working for the rehabilitation program in the area.

For the Environment category, the Gold awardees are Toyota and Nissan respectively.

Toyota Motor Philippines, through the Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation, adopted the three-kilometer stretch of the Riparian Zone of Quiaoit River at Quiling Sur, City of Batac. Under the company's care, the area has since bloomed into a forest of 1,800 fruit and forest trees.

Nissan Philippines Inc. another partnership with Habitat for Humanity provides a simple solution to problems during rainy and dry seasons. Nissan educates residents to become more aware of harvesting rainwater that can be used for a future need. The project aims to assist sustainable development of communities by providing access to water.

For the Road Safety category, the two Gold awardees are Volkswagen and Ford respectively.

Volkswagen Philippines' Child Safety Initiative Campaign is presented through play, lessons on the value of awareness on safety to the future road users. In 2017, the program which first targeted kids 4 to 7 years old, moved to Phase 2, the Steps to Safety program, directed to children aged nine to 12 years old.

On the other hand, Ford Philippines' Driving Skills for Life, which highlights family safety and is offered for free, trained more than 3,000 drivers in Luzon, Metro Manila, Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao in 2018. The initiative is in response to a recent survey conducted by Ford Asia Pacific that showed 43 percent of parents have been in an accident, or a near-miss, or know someone who had been involved in a traffic accident due to distracted driving.

The entries were carefully judged by six notable and distinguished personalities from the business, academe, and transportation sectors, who served as the panel of judges.

Congratulations to all winners!