PLDT
Subictel Tree Planting Program - A Wow Experience!
 Wrapped
the whole day of June 17, 2011 (Friday) was a dampening mood
with a mixed of glorious feeling. Heavy air and humidity prevailed,
downpour was more of a drizzle coming from a darkened sky,
a perfect time to sit and relax or pull-out a blanket and
snuggle with a soothing sound of a mellow music. In the midst
of busy preparation for the next day’s CSR Activity
(Corporate Social Responsibility), Sales and Marketing people
utter the revised rebus rhyme, “Rain Rain Come Today
but not on Tree Planting Day, Need to get up early next day
and climb up a mountain way”.. A tease of Typhoon Egay’s
coming; the qualm eyes window the worries of PLDT Subictel
volunteers who managed to wear a hopeful smile.
Favored with good weather the
next day, June 18, 2011 (Saturday) was very conducive for
the Tree Planting Activity of PLDT Subictel. Whew…answered
prayer! Preceding day was at prior thought to be a barrier
but was later realized a blessing bringing perfect precipitation
and refreshed atmosphere.
To climb the mucky foot of Mt.
Sta. Rita, the volunteers from PLDT Subictel mobilized as
early as 5 AM with full support from Mr. Rossano C. Danoog-
PLDT Subictel COO and with active participation of PLDT CBG,
PLDT SME, PLDT Malate, PLDT OPNS, MNTC, SBMA Ecology and SBMA
Media Production, carried the objective to demonstrate commitment
in creating social and economic benefits to Freeport, whilst
contributing to greater environmental sustainability within
the zone. In a fast-tracked tree planting activity, the group
hit the target of planting 50 seedlings of native and fruit
bearing trees.
 Depicting
the importance of environmental awareness, Mr. Dennis Magbatoc,
President of PLDT Subictel led the hike and matched the activity
with the theme: Plant More Trees Today for Greater Subic Bay.
“With this environmental program and related initiatives,
we empower our employees to become active partners of sustainable
development and be good stewards of Subic’s resources
to make it more inviting to investors, which in the long run
will benefit all of us and the generations to come”,
Mr. Magbatoc emphasized. “In every possible way, the
company wishes also to pass-on blessings to our indigents
via CSR activities which we did through gift-giving December
of last year and hopefully another on the last quarter of
this year”, Mr. Magbatoc added.
While Typhoon Egay temporarily
held-off its rain to give this noble endeavor a chance, the
group made the most of the morning at which after planting
was indulging into a funny word-guessing game Pinoy Henyo
twisted with Charade. Category encompasses words that have
something to do with Tree.
Worthwhile, Overwhelming and
Witty, a WOW experience indeed. Sealed with Memories, Stamped
with Care, the pictures say it all!
He who plants a tree Plants a hope.
~Lucy Larcom, "Plant a Tree"
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 SBMA
well on its way to getting PLDT "fibered"
In
every way possible, Subic Bay, one of the country’s
best ports and investment hubs available, is gearing for an
infrastructure and capabilities revamp. Its fabled cargo handling
facilities are up for reinvestment and upgrades, the first
in a decade. There are even more investors willing to jump
in, as world-class infrastructure commitments are delivered
on.
One of the key improvements
in the infrastructure picture is the eventual total upgrade
of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to PLDT’s
fiber-optic Next Generation Network (NGN). In PLDT Senior
Vice President and Head of CSMG Eric R. Alberto’s words,
development at SBMA hinges on “capacity first before
opportunity”.
“We would like to applaud
Administrator Arreza and his staff for doing a marvelous job
in Subic, and in spite of the global economic turmoil, they
managed to generate P6B in investment last year. We would
like to be a partner to further those investments. We will
caravan investment programs by developing infrastructure in
growth areas for particular industries where Subic will be
globally competitive,” he remarked during the latest
SBMA-PLDT contract signing as partners in Subic’s further
development.
 PLDT’s
Alberto cited Thomas Friedman’s book, “The World
is Flat”, naming ICT (Internet Communications Technology)
as absolutely imperative for global competitiveness. It is
particularly true for SBMA’s target industries that
include “cutting edge” healthcare, retail and
trade, tourism related industries, as well as logistics and
maritime related businesses.
According to Alberto, the Subic-Clark
corridor will be one of the key areas of growth and development
for the future national economy over the next 5 to 10 years.
As Clark is already fully PLDT “fibered”, Subic
is following close.
Arreza agreed with Alberto’s
views and projections adding that there are specific plans
for further development. “We have recently cleared a
17-hectare area which we would like to develop into an IT
park and I think having the right infrastructure would help
Subic attain that objective,” the SBMA administrator
said.
He also expressed optimism that
SBMA’s partnership with PLDT would continue to be a
long and fruitful one, originating back to 1995 when PLDT
was one of Subic’s first investors. “We have already
begun to promote Subic and Clark as the same destination so
that as Eric said, any spill-over growth between the two would
certainly benefit the entire region. I’m very happy
that PLDT is our partner in this.”
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