Journal # 19: Initiative to Take Action

August 9

            Our country has suffered greatly for the past couple of days.  A lot of Filipino citizens lost their homes due to the flood.  However, I am glad to share that DLSU students have been taking initiative to help our brothers and sisters.  By donating food such as rice, canned goods, dried fish, etc, and non-food such as clothes, plastic sheets, sleeping mats, blankets, etc, many Filipinos will have a better life.  Monetary donations can also be accepted.  I hope that this devastating event in our country will open the eyes of every single Filipino to take better care of our environment.  The picture below is the poster made by DLSU USG, entitle Sagip Metro 3.

Journal # 18: Bagyong Helen

August 7

            Bagyong Gener just left our country a couple of days ago, but now Bagyong Helen is here.  Last night, it was raining extremely hard and a lot of DLSU students were stranded in school due to the flood in Taft.  This is horrible! My thesis group was supposed to go to RCBC Plaza in Makati to meet our thesis adviser last night.  Good thing we did not push through with the meeting or else we would have been stranded in Makati! Instead, we are all currently stranded in our thesis mate’s condo.

            I woke up early today because of the sound of the rain.  As much as I want to go back to sleep, I couldn’t anymore because I was so bothered with everything that is happening all around our country.  Twitter, Facebook, and the news in the television shows the high floods in different places.  One even said that this could be “Ondoy Part 2”.  That statement scared me! In times like this, we are all worried about our Filipino citizens.  I guess what we can do right now is pray to God for the safety of everybody here in our country. 

            This picture absolutely scared me to death. I hope no one gets hurt from this horrible typhoon. L

Journal # 17: Triple Bottom Line

August 6

            During our class today, our topic revolved around CSR and the environment. The Triple Bottom Line approach absolutely struck me the most throughout our discussion.  I came across this lesson in the past, and I believe that every company should live up to this in order to reach sustainability.  This Triple Bottom Line is made up of three factors: economic, ethical, and environmental.  It can also be related to “People, planet, and profit”.  It is evident that the goal of every company is to gain profit; however, they must consider two other things, such as the equity and fair business practices and practicing sustainable environmental practices. 

On top of this, we discussed in class that our mother Earth is forgiving and it can heal itself given time.  But despite this, we must realize that we are the ones devastating our surroundings and we should be considerate of our actions. We must always remember that if we do not take care of our environment, we will lose all our resources.    

Journal # 16: NO COSORES

August 1

            We did not have any COSORES class this week.  But instead, we were tasked to watch The Inconvenient Truth and answer several questions regarding the film.  I actually already watched this film when I was still in High School, and I can honestly say that it’s a great movie to watch because it shows us the alarming realities of our world today.  Global warming is extremely controversial nowadays, and every human being must be fully aware of what is happening in our environment because these changes are due to human influences.  We, humans, are mostly responsible in producing greenhouse gases that drastically worsens global warming.

            In our worksheet, we were asked about what ways we can reduce our individual effects on climate change and I would like to reiterate/quote my answers in this post:

“I believe that every human being living in this world must be fully aware of the consequences of his or her actions, particularly in relation to global warming.  I extremely agree with Al Gore’s statement, “I felt that what we take for granted may not be here for our children”.  If each person continues performing actions that contributes to the devastation of our environment that affects global warming, the future generation are the ones to suffer.  Global warming is deeply worsening every minute here in the Philippines, and so, we must take responsibility in mitigating the effects of global warming in our country for the sake of our future generation and our environment.  With that, we need to reduce our individual effects on climate change.  In reality, there are numerous things that we can do to help fight global warming and climate change.  Three ways are as follows:

We need to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Every person should reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables.  We should be disciplined and purchase items that will not harm the environment.  We should recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans.  Doing this can help us save carbon dioxide annually. In addition, we should also segregate our waste by differentiating food waste, which can be composted, from those that can be recycled. 

Save electricity and fuel.  If ever we are not using any of our appliances, we should always unplug them to save our electricity.  We must learn how to use the “off” switch because by simply turning off the lights, television, computer, etc can reduce global warming.  As much as possible, it is best to use natural lighting during daytime.  In addition, we can save fuel by simply walking or biking to our destination to save fuel and at the same time, it is good for one’s health.  Also, you can simply adjust your driving style to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. When purchasing a car, we must consider its energy and fuel-efficiency.  Regular maintenance also helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions.

Conserve water.  We should always turn off the faucet when not in use.  Leaving the faucet running for at least a minute amounts to 9 liters of wasted water, which is very precious for our world.  One can also take quick showers to lessen the consumption of water and energy.”

We can actually do numerous things in order to save our world.  However, it is always best to be fully educated with what is happening first, and then we can start taking action. As a matter of fact, it is not difficult to be environmentally friendly, we just all really have to be disciplined and be mindful of our actions at all times. 

Journal # 15: Program Flow – Visit at RAC

July 22, 2012

           

            Two days ago, we visited RAC and I already made a journal entry about it however, I just simply wanted to post our program flow for the entire day.      

12:00-1:30 Journey to the Venue

1:30-1:40 Set-up of place and introduction

1:40-2:40 Pastillas Making

2:40-3:00 Pastillas eating and discussion

3:00-3:30 Break time and interaction with the kids

3:30-3:45 Intro of next activity and set-up

3:45-4:45 Egg painting

4:45 -5:15 Awarding of Best eggs and discussion

5:15-5:35 Clean Up

5:35-6:15 Talk with personnel and kids, review of today’s events and the kids’ reactions; discussion of plans for next meeting

            I can honestly say that those 6 hours spent at Reception and Action Center made me realize how lucky I am to be in this state of life.  Before we conducted this service, my group already decided that we will conduct activities that will cater to improving the living conditions of these unfortunate Filipino citizens.  We were extremely touched upon seeing the smiling faces of the children at the center, and seeing how much they are enjoying while learning value-added activities from us.  I can say that we were able interact with these less fortunate individuals and create a lasting relationship and memories with them.

            Our project objectives are as follows and I will explain how we were able to achieve each of these through our visit at RAC:

•              To interact with and learn from the children in Reception and Action Center

o   All of the activities we prepared for the children at RAC allowed us to fully interact with them and create a good relationship with them to make them happy.  As we spoke to them, we were able to learn how difficult their lives are and how they cope with their daily life.

•              To be able to impart knowledge and offer Lasallian service to the people living in Reception and Action Center through tutorial sessions

o   We were not able to hold tutorial sessions during our visit, however, as much as possible, we integrated everything that we have learned in school in the activities we held for them.

•              To be exposed with the realities of our country and truly understand the importance of helping our society

o   Having a mini discussion with the children opened up our eyes towards the realities of our country.  It is through their life stories wherein I realized how unfortunate these people are and how much they need my help to at least, improve their state of living.

•              To enhance the living conditions of the individuals living in RAC through donated clothing and toiletries to impose good personal hygiene

o   We donated some toiletries and clothing to the children in RAC.

•              To teach the children value-added activities that can be their source of income in the future

o   We were actually commended by the administration of RAC because they saw that our activities were actually value-added. It does not only provide fun and laughter among the kids but they have important lessons to be learned, as well. 

Journal # 14: VISIT CANCELLED :(

July 21, 2012

            My group was supposed to visit RAC again for the second time today; however, we had to cancel our activity due to the storm.  We already planned everything for this visit.  We had all the games and activities in mind, along with the food, prizes, and give-away for the children.  The time of our visit was supposed to be from 9:00 am until 12:00 noon.  In fact, we already promised the children in RAC that we will visit today and they were all excited for this day.  As a group, we decided to accommodate more children tomorrow since we will be having interactive games, which will for sure be extremely fun.

Unfortunately, when I woke up at 7:30 am, I was shocked to see how hard the rain was.  On top of that, Taft was already flooded, as well!  As much as I did not want to cancel our service learning visit at RAC, my group decided to cancel it because we were worried about our safety too.  Our parents were worried about us since there might be a possibility that we can get stranded in Manila, due to the rain and flood.  The picture below shows how flooded Taft gets when it rains extremely hard.

            It made me realize how horrible the state of our country is in.  It seems as if the Filipinos do not even care about our environment.  First of all, I think that the government is the main person to blame for the flooding in the Philippines.  They already know that our country is always hit by horrible typhoons, and so, they should take the initiative to improve our water management.  Our dams should be maintained properly or constantly improved, so that they will not easily collapse, which may result to flooding.  Also, come to think of it, our roads would not be flooded if we, Filipino citizens, are responsible enough to take care of our wastes.  A lot of people just throw their garbage in the roads, which blocks the flow of water upon draining.  We really need to work on this as soon as possible because this is ruining our surroundings.

              

           

Journal # 13: Reception and Action Center Visit

July 20, 2012

            This is a life-changing day for my group!  We spent our entire afternoon at the Reception and Action Center (RAC) wherein we conducted value-added activities for the children living in that shelter.  It is located at Lions Road, A.J. Villegas St. (formerly Arroceros) Ermita, Manila, which is adjacent to the LRT Central Station.  The location was very convenient for us to go to because it is near De La Salle University.  Therefore, as soon as we finished our school activities, we immediately went to RAC.  When we got there, I immediately met up with the officer-in-charge of RAC.  She was very accommodating and she made sure that everything was ready for us to conduct our activities.  They prepared the room and the tables and chairs that we will be using for the entire afternoon. 

            Here are pictures from showing the venue:

            Prior to the activity day, I called Ms. Chris (officer-in-charge) and she asked me how many children can we accommodate.  My group decided to accommodate around 20 kids, preferably girls because girls usually do the activities that we were planning to do.  And so, when the room was all set up, all 20 girls came down from their rooms upstairs in their purple shirts.  Everyone seemed so eager and excited to meet us.  As they were going to their seats, I actually felt like crying.  I just felt so bad for each one of them and yet, I do not know exactly what to do to help them.  However, I know for a fact that our visit in RAC will enhance their lives at some point.  We may not be able to change their situation, but I know that we will, indeed, be touching their lives as well. 

            As planned, we taught them how to make pastillas.  Grace, my group mate, is very inclined in making pastillas, therefore, she was the one who handled this session.  The rest of us assisted the children with the ingredients (Nido powdered milk, sugar, condensed milk).  As soon as everyone finished making their pastillas, we all bonded and interacted with the girls while eating.  Some little boys joined us in our activities as well, and so, we made more pastillas for them to eat.

            Afterwards, we also conducted an egg painting activity.  For this, we prepared prizes for those who will be able to have the best output.  My group mates and I saw eager each person is to win the game.  Here are some of the painted eggs the kids made:

           

While we were doing this activity, we had more time to interact with the children and talk to them about how they are doing and what they are feeling.  This made me extremely sad for them.  My first question to them was “Ano pa gusto niyo gawin?”  One kid answered me saying, “Gusto ko makalaya dito!”.  Another one said, “Para kaming nasa bilangguan”.  Most of them really want to leave the place to be with their family.  I thought this place is a temporary caring shelter.  Why do most of the children not feel the care that RAC is giving them?  Despite all those comments, one boy told me that he was already released by RAC months ago, however, he decided to come back because this is the only place wherein he gets to eat regular meals. 

Another topic that we talked about with the children was about their admission.  Based from the children’s responses, they are currently in RAC because either they were caught doing drugs (solvent) in the streets or they did something bad, like stealing.  They informed us that their life in this place was quite sad because no one really visits them.  With that, they were very happy upon seeing us visit them.  Even if we only had several activities, we were still able to put smiles on their faces and made them learn something new that they can use in the future.  The officer-in-charge of RAC even commended us for conducting activities that were value-added. 

I believe that this service learning does not only help the children from RAC but also, helps us improve as Filipino citizens.  My entire group realized that what we did is only one-step in helping our unfortunate brothers and sisters.  We hope to help more people in the future and eventually, I believe that we can still continue to make a difference in our country.                  

      

Journal # 12: Planning Stage

July 19, 2012

            For the past months, my COSORES group has been planning for our Service Learning Project.  We kept in mind that it is vital to help the unfortunate Filipino citizens and teach them something that will be beneficial for them in the future.  With that, we officially decided to choose Reception and Action Center (RAC) as our beneficiary.  This place is a temporary caring shelter for displaced people.  Last year, I actually went to this center for a project that I headed for BMS.  For some reason, the children living in this place really touched me and made me realize how lucky I am as a person, living in a good home with my loving family.  Below is a picture of myself and a little girl that I became attached with during my visit last year in RAC:  

From yesterday (July 18) until today (July 19), my group finalized our plans for our visit tomorrow (July 20).  When I contacted the RAC, they informed me that the children are not studying in school and therefore, we decided that tutoring them would not be a good idea.  As discussed with the center, we did not have to conduct our first session with the kids wherein our focus was to tutor them with their current studies.  Thus, we focused on our idea, which is to conduct value-added activities for the children.  Our main ideas were to teach them how to make pastillas and have an art session, particularly painting.

My group made sure that all the necessary materials are all set for tomorrow for us to have a successful service-learning project.  Here are some of the pictures of our materials for the activity. 

Journal # 11: Realities in the Philippines

July 12, 2012

            For today’s lesson, I was struck by our topic on “Unequal Access to Integral Human Development”.  Unfortunately, here in the Philippines, poverty is at its peak, which means that many people do not have opportunity for integral human development.  I know that there are Filipinos who are extremely rich, such as Henry Sy, Lucio Tan, Enrique Razon, John Gokongwei, etc.  With that, I kept wondering why can’t they share most of their money to the unfortunate Filipinos.  Yes, they probably donate money and perform charitable acts but I believe that it is not enough.  All of them live in mansions, which costs millions and millions of money so why not give more to the poor, which can eventually improve the status of our country.

The realities in the Philippines should awaken the Filipino people and make them realize that they need to do something to help our own country.  It should be a must for corporations to plan and execute Corporate Social Responsibility Activities that will enhance the living conditions of the Filipino citizens living under poverty.  They should have the initiative to uplift human development.  The unfortunate Filipinos survive their daily lives looking for money for their basic needs, while the rich people keeps on gaining money and purchasing goods that are unnecessary for their daily lives.  With all these in mind, I realized how lucky I am to be in my position right now and that in the future, I will surely be involved in activities that will help in uplifting the lives of the Philippine society who are suffering from lack of opportunities.

This PowerPoint slide is, indeed, shocking for me to see. 

In the future, I hope that we can change the shape above to this picture below, which is aiming towards greater justice for all the Filipino people. 

Journal # 10: Competition in the Petroleum Industry

July 9, 2012

            My dad has been working under the petroleum industry ever since he graduated college.  First, he worked for Shell and eventually moved to Total Philippines.  As of today, he has already retired from his job but he now manages a gas station for Total.  With that, I grew up usually hearing about the price increase and the price fixing of gasoline.  My parents were able to emphasize to me that these changes significantly affects our daily living.  Thus, during our COSORES class for July 9, I was engrossed with the topic of monopoly and oligopoly because I can somehow relate to some parts of it, particularly in terms of the price fixing.  Every time we travel, my dad constantly compares the prices of gasoline (unleaded, diesel, and the like) and checks whether each company follows through with the price fixed for the day.  Honestly speaking, there are some companies, who do not abide by this, which I believe can be quite unethical because it becomes unfair for other gas stations. 

    

            The petroleum industry is, indeed, a crowded and mature market.  My familiarity with Total, Shell, and Chevron (the company that I interned last term) made me realize that this industry still has several unethical practices.  Fortunately, they do conduct Corporate Social Responsibility Actions; however, all of them must be strict when it comes to following price fixing.  This dilemma revolves around ethics and therefore, it is really up to the owner of the respective gas station whether to follow or not.  In my opinion, the area head for the company must be alert at all times and make sure that each retailer is observing proper ethical courses of actions.

Journal # 9: Good News Monday

July 2, 2012

            My group presented for the Good News Monday today and we tackled the following news articles:



1.  The “Go Green Program” of Kraft Foods Philippines won the Gold Award of Enviornmental Excellence at the recent Global Corporate Social Responsibility awards held in Boracay.  The program reduces, recovers, and recycles previous resources, particularly by upgrading its water recycling facilities by using reverse osmosis and ultraviolet (UV) light to treat the water Kraft uses.  It removes impurities from the water and recycles it, lowering water consumption and at the same time, it enables the company to preserve resources.  The water is, then, used in watering the plants and cleaning the production area.

2.  Friends of Hope, Inc., led by Nanette Medved and Ricky Gomez, is a non-profit organization that aims to empower students through better education.  The organization sells Hope in a Bottle, which is a 500ml purified drinking water.  For every bottle sold, 100% of its profit goes to building classrooms for unfortunate children. 

From this, I came to a realization that every organization needs to look at the needs of their different stakeholders and implement CSR activities for the benefit and fulfilment of the company.  In terms of Kraft, they focused on helping the environment.  In my perspective, each one of us really needs to help the environment because as our population increases, our consumption level increases, and thus, the faster our resources depletes.  In the Philippines, clean water is quite scarce, and so, I truly admire the innovative program that Kraft has established. 

Meanwhile, Hope in a Bottle is, indeed, a great way to improve education in our country.  I believe that giving hope for the Filipino youth with no proper education will enhance the status of our country.  They are the ones who can make a difference in the future, thus, they must be given importance and support by buying the water bottles sold by the different retail partners of Friends of Hope, Inc.

Journal # 8: Making a difference

June 30, 2012

For two weeks, I have been interviewing applicants for our Junior Officer Training Program in BMS and one of our questions is “If you were to do one thing that would make an impact, what would it be?”  The most recurrent answer is to simply give back to society, help the environment, and/or be of service to the less fortunate ones.  Honestly, I am extremely happy upon hearing these answers from numerous applicants because I believe that it is important to be service oriented or mainly put others above one’s self.  If I was asked the same question, I would most probably answer it the same way.  However, I will be more particular with my answer and say that I want to make an impact by sharing what I have to the Filipinos who do not have shelter and proper hygiene.  I have to admit that I have a weak spot for street children, homeless people, and individuals making a living by selling in the streets.  Thus, our service learning project is connected to this population.

My main point is that I am pleased to hear that I am not the only one who feels like there is a need to help our country (society).  At least, our generation is now starting to be more conscious about the environment and their self. This is a good sign for our country because today’s generation will be our future.  In five to ten years, they will be able to gain top managerial positions in the future and so, they will be the ones to implement CSR activities in their companies.  Our small deed as a student actually makes a big deal in building one’s career since being successful relates to the one’s fulfillment.

Journal # 7: Human Rights in the Workplace

June 27, 2012

            The working conditions of all the employees must be a safe and comfortable place for people to work because having a good working environment will enhance their performance and work output.  One of the stakeholders of a business is its employees; therefore, it is the responsibility of the management to ensure that the rights of its employees are properly implemented.  I believe that this has a great effect on the employee’s loyalty towards the company since they will eventually feel the presence of CSR and how they are given importance.

             I have interned in two multi-national companies already and I was able to view how Nestle and Chevron give importance to its employees by ensuring work-life balance in their daily working lives.  Moreover, both companies’ environment are suitable to work in and at the same time, I find it as a place that can help the employees lessen their stress and workload.  As a matter of fact, in Chevron, the Quality Control Manager roams around the workplace almost every week to check the working environment for every department.  There was one time wherein I accidentally left the box for the envelopes that I was using, and I was immediately notified to fix it right away to avoid workplace hazard. 

            This is, indeed, related to our class because it Corporate Social Responsibility also enhances human rights, labor rights, and labor standards in the workplace.  By focusing on improving the working environment of the employees and practicing proper business ethics, the company can attain better results from its employees, thus, positively affecting the performance of the entire company.  

Journal # 6: The Social Contract

June 25, 2012

            I have to say that I am not a fan of the economic model of CSR because it simply focuses on the notion that the social responsibility of business managers is to pursue profit within the law.  It refers to producing goods and services for the demands of the society.  On top of this, we also discussed that, “There is a social contract between business and society involving mutual obligations that society and business recognize that they have to each other”.  Meanwhile, as we started discussing the Philanthropic Model of CSR, I became more focused since I believe in the importance of this model.  Every business must realize that they have an obligation to give back to society and go beyond the narrow obligations of law and economics. 

            I am not saying that businesses must not focus on earning profit but instead, I am hoping to see every company earning profit (as included in their vision) and at the same time, contributing towards the betterment of society.  Therefore, I mostly agree on the Stakeholder Theory, which gives importance to all the stakeholders of the company.  It is best to have a good relationship with all the stakeholders for a company to achieve success. 

            Due to my fondness towards the Stakeholder Theory on Corporate Social Responsibility, our original topic for thesis revolved around this.  I was hoping to learn more about this theory and have a better understanding on CSR, since it is quite a broad term and each person has a different definition for it.  Unfortunately, my thesis mates and I decided to change our topic because not all of us had the heart for such topic.  Despite that fact, I still want to discover more about the Stakeholder Theory because I know that it can help me in the future when I enter the corporate world.  That is why I enjoy having this class since it is very practical and it is easy to understand.       

Journal # 5: Parable of the Sadhu

June 20, 2012

            We discussed the Parable of the Sadhu by Bowen McCoy for today’s class.  The story revolves around groups of men, with different nationalities, who dream to reach the top of the Himalayas.  As they were on their mountain climbing expedition, they found a Sadhu dying of cold.  Each group contributed something to help the Sadhu, however, at the end of the day, they simply just left him near a rock under the sun and pointed the easy trail toward the hut.  None of them actually brought the Sadhu back to the village for proper medical assistance.  As long as they knew that he was still alive, they just left him there to fully recover on his own. 

            Throughout our discussion as a group, we believe that the best alternative course of action that McCoy and the rest of the people in the expedition should have done was to bring the Sadhu all the way down to the village to seek for proper medical assistance and continue with their expedition the following day.  By doing this, all of them will be able to survive and at the same time, the people undergoing the expedition will not have to suffer because of their conscience leaving the Sadhu behind.  In my view, upon making relevant decision, we must think about the lives of other people, as well.  In this parable, each group of travelers just did what they can do for the sake of being able to say that they were able to help out the Sadhu.  They did not want to sacrifice their expedition for the sake of the Sadhu and this made me realize that in real life, same thing also happens. 

Relating this story to the corporate world, the main lesson here is that every person needs support from a team.  If a person cannot find such support, it will be difficult for him or her to know how to act.  In other words, the management of a company should realize that they must be sensitive towards the needs of each employee, in order to shape, direct, and focus them for the benefit of the group.  We should all act as a teamplayer and think of ways on how to help one another in order to achieve success.  As early as now, I make sure that I am able to help other people as much as I can because I am sure that it will benefit me in the future, at some point.  We all need as much support as we can get, therefore, we must start by supporting other people, as well. 

Journal # 4: The iPod Dilemma

June 13, 2012

            We started the class with an ethical dilemma regarding an iPod that was left inside a classroom.  This dilemma really got me thinking whether if I was in the position, what will I really do?  It is easy to say that I will give it back to the owner, but in reality, I am sure that the Devil will make a way in tempting me to steal it.  However, come to think of it, I realized that my parents brought me up well by establishing good ethical values, particularly the value of integrity.  If I was in that position, I will most probably look the owner of the iPod by asking the people around.  I am positively sure that whoever left it will find come back for it.  Honestly, I would not surrender it to the Discipline Officer because there is a chance that the student who left it might get an offense.  But, I will absolutely make sure that the iPod will get back to its real owner because I, myself, know how horrible it feels to lose something expensive. 

            Once we graduate and enter the real world, there is a very big possibility that we can lose something more significant or something that is extremely valuable for a company that we are in.  There can also be times wherein we will find information that can be an advantage for our company, but at the same time, it can ruin the reputation of another company.  With that, we must know how to weigh the consequences of our actions at all times, no matter how big or small it is because it can greatly affect our future.  We tend to be blinded by our own wants and needs.  Thus, we must always keep in mind that our decision in life also has an effect on other people and so, we need to be sensitive and considerate at all times. 

            In connection to our COSORES class, making an ethical decision includes determining the facts, identifying the ethical issues involved, identifying the stakeholders involved and consider the situation in their point of view, consider the available alternatives, consider how a decision affects the stakeholders, make a decision, and monitor and learn from the outcomes.  By looking at this process makes everyone think that it is only applicable to businesses, however, this is also valid in making everyday decisions in life.  One must always think about how a decision affects the people around us.  I believe that upon making a decision, one must look at it at a utilitarian perspective and think about the common good for the society.  Thus, as I live my life, I see to it that my family, friends, and colleagues are not negatively affected by my actions. 

Journal # 3: Responsibility to Society

June 11, 2012

            One line that struck me the most throughout our class in COSORES today would be “Business people are people first”.  For me, this really says a lot towards how we should prioritize our responsibilities as a human being.  I learned that as a person, we have to live in our own communities, with our families, neighbors, and friends.  With that said, we must take care of our environment and start believing in good ethics and social responsibility.  Today’s class also tackled the so-called Moral Compass or the dynamics of ethical principles.  Each company must realize that they have the responsibility to give back to society because if they help others, it will somehow come back to them at some point.  However, they should not focus on the return on their social investment but simply think about how it can improve the lives of other people.  On top of that, they should keep in mind that in order to do so, they must keep in mind to think of the following: care, justice, individual rights and the common good (utilitarianism).

            Ever since I started having my internships (Nestle and Chevron), I tend to be more focused on Corporate Social Responsibility.  I realized that big companies make huge amounts of money, and so it really won’t hurt if they help our society.  Without them, no one will be purchasing their products.  If our society is suffering, consumer demands will lessen, which will have a negative effect on their profit.  My point is that businesses should be at least generous in sharing their blessings towards the less fortunate Filipinos.  Moreover, they must also try to improve our environment since it can somehow be of their own benefit in the future.  If every employee are taught proper values that are practiced by their respective companies, our country can still be a better place. 

Personally, I believe that the Philippines still has a chance to develop as long as all the Filipinos are willing to help out.  Having classes similar to COSORES will awaken the minds of Filipino students towards the reality of our country.  Therefore, they, too, can take small actions for the betterment of the Philippines.  Each person should take this type of class seriously because it is truly through proper education where we can enhance everything around us.  

Journal # 2: Service Learning Proposal

June 9, 2012

            Our service learning proposal is due on June 13, 2012 and my groupmates have suggested the following:

• 1.    Invite all the contractual employees of De La Salle University, who lost their jobs due to their end of contract and those who are currently working, and provide a seminar or workshop for all of them care of HAPINOY (http://www.hapinoy.com).  This can serve as a lesson for them on how to alleviate poverty and providing them a venue for personal growth and business training at the same time.
• 2.    Have a tie up with World Vision by providing them a booth inside De La Salle University and allow them to introduce their program, “Sponsor a Child”
• 3.    Help out in St. La Salle Pre-school since this institution makes a difference on the lives of the kids living around De La Salle University by providing them quality education.  
• 4.    Make an awareness program on the fertilizer products that Starbucks give out in their branches, while devicing a plan to recycle their plastic frappe cups.
• 5.    Conduct a fun run in association with a bigger organization.
• 6.    Be an ate/kuya to an orphan (Brother Sun Sister Moon outreach program).  This is an interaction with the kids through EconOrg.
• 7.    Conduct a socio-civic activity at Reception and Action Center, wherein we can hold tutorial sessions and interactive activities for the children living in that institution. 

Out of all the different suggestion, we decided to go with my activity, which is to conduct an socio-civic activity at Reception and Action Center (RAC).  Last year, my organization, the Business Management Society, held an activity at the same institution and I was the project head for this.  With that, I pretty much know the procedures in holding activities for this institution and at the same time, I have the contact person for RAC, which will make it easier for us to coordinate with them.

The vision of RAC is: “The center is a temporary shelter and clearinghouse that caters and recognizes the needs, rights, dignity and potential of the less fortunate and displaced children, youth, adults, elderly and families responding to the Buhayin ang Maynila Program.”  Seeing people with no shelter truly breaks my heart.  It saddens me because I feel like our government is not entirely helping our countrymen to improve their lives and alleviate poverty.  Thus, I became attached to this institution since they serve the neglected individuals around Manila.  Unfortunately, the people living in RAC do not have proper hygiene and grooming, and so they need our help in enhancing their home life services. 

I believe that this service-learning project is a stepping-stone for me in helping our society.  I have been interested in the topic of philanthropy I tend to think of ways on how to be able to contribute in enhancing the quality of life of other people, especially other Filipinos.  Even as a student, I know that I can be of service towards others.  I just need to look for the perfect organization that will cater to this. 

Journal # 1: Defining is the Best Way to Start

June 4, 2012

The main topic for today is Ethics and Business.  Throughout the entire class, we tackled the definition of ethics, which is the “activity of examining one’s moral standards or the moral standards of society and asking how these apply to our lives…reasonable or not”, and its different systems.  Afterwards, relating it to the values of an individual.  Today’s lesson made each of us more aware of the diverse paradigms, rules of conduct and its negative consequences if not followed.  All of these areas tackled are the basic notions for discussion to understand the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility. 

In my perspective, relating ethics to business can sometimes be contradicting because businesses tend to focus on improving their financial performance and sometimes disregarding ethics.  I feel like there are numerous corporations that conduct unethical operations to achieve higher profit, and in return, they execute philanthropic activities to redeem their reputation in the society.  With that, I believe that the values that their company has deemed to recognize are not properly established.  Every employee should be taught good ethics upon entering a company because it provides a solid foundation for them to have great decision-making skills, in terms of ethical behavior. 

    

Ethics is about doing the right thing and making the best decision for the benefit of the entire humankind.  With all of these in mind, I now believe that performing ethical business practices will help achieve a successful business.  This can be an advantage for a company because it helps in improving the relationships built with the different stakeholders.  Once a company makes an unethical decision, they are immediately burdened with risks.  Thus, it is vital to eliminate self-interest upon making decisions and focus on the good values established by the company, which are all expected by the stakeholders.  Having good ethics means having a good business because one is lessening the risks involved in running their operations.  I believe that keeping that in my mind will truly benefit me in the future, as I give importance to giving back to the society or simply emphasizing on the philanthropic responsibility of a company.