More laudable auto industry CSR projects

This is indeed a very long weekend as the country gives way to the all-important ASEAN Summit. We take this opportunity to welcome all the leaders of our neighboring countries and fervently wish that crucial issues affecting the region will be threshed out productively. With our Philippine President’s turn to host this summit, we hope we can lead the way in creating more respect over each other’s sovereignty in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea.  This, I think, is the prayer of many Filipino families in these crucial times.

Many families also find this long weekend as the perfect time for a family getaway, and my educated guess points to a destination by the beach. The Philippines is certainly not short on this, and while our family made plans for a beach getaway too early on for a later date (not knowing about this very long weekend), we wish the Pinoy family a great bonding time, a great swim in our world-famous beaches, and lots of boodle fights on long tables laden with the ubiquitous adobo, inihaw na baboy/isda, itlog na maalat, manggang hilaw with bagoong and whatever else was prepared in your kitchen.

To everyone else who opted to stay in the metropolis during this long weekend, enjoy our traffic-free metro roads for these next few days!

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I would like to share with my valued readers another great CSR program of one of the biggest automotive companies in the country that earned a Platinum Award in the recent ‘Driven to Serve Awards’ of the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ) recently held at the Ceremonial Hall of Marriott Hotel in Resorts World Manila complex.

 Santa Rosa City in Laguna counts itself lucky to have Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) as one of its corporate citizens that have found a permanent home in this city.  And Brgy. Pulong Santa Cruz in Santa Rosa is luckier that TMP has chosen it to be the home of the Toyota Motor Philippines School of Technology or TMP Tech for short.  For those not in the know, this is a world-class technical institution that provides specialized education to deserving and qualified young students.

The quality education offered at the TMP Tech is run by highly-trained instructors at this school which offers a two-year Toyota General Job Automotive Servicing Course and a two-year Specialized Toyota Automotive Training Program. What makes this more than a skills-only type of education is the fact that their curriculum includes the TESDA National Certification for Levels 1 to IV. General education subjects and foreign language training as well are added to the Toyota-specific technical courses, making for a more well-rounded curriculum.

This corporate social responsibility program of Toyota Motor Philippines has earned for it the Platinum Award in the first ‘Driven to Serve Awards’ in the Community Development category. The company also offers a liberal scholarship program to deserving scholars in partnership with the TMP Foundation, GT Foundation and the Toyota Dealers Association. To date, two hundred nineteen young Filipinos have been given these scholarship grants, whether as full scholars or recipients of financial aids.

The much-needed skills training and general education for two years is good news for any family whose child is lucky enough to be granted a scholarship at the TMP Tech or otherwise accepted as a student. But what does this really mean? Because these students are immersed in high-level Toyota technologies and value system, the graduates of a two-year course are given priority by TMP for employment by local and global companies in the Toyota dealer network.  No wonder they have included foreign language training in their courses as well, just in case the lucky student graduate lands a job in any Toyota company or dealership in a foreign country. Upon graduation, they earn the opportunity to join not only a local dealer outlet in the Philippines, but also Toyota dealerships abroad.  Just to be clear on this, graduates of the two year Specialized Toyota Automotive Training Program are already employed in Toyota’s extensive dealer network in Saudi Arabia. This was made possible by the partnership agreement between Toyota and Abdul Latiff Jameel Imports and Distribution Co., Ltd. in Saudi Arabia.

While some 219 students have received scholarship grants and/or financial aid from TMP Tech, the school has produced 405 graduates since it opened in 2013. Of this, 287 are from the Toyota General Job Automotive Servicing Course and 118 are from the two-year Specialized Toyota Automotive Training Program whose graduates are ready for employment in Toyota’s dealership network in Saudi Arabia.

The foreign employment is not limited to Saudi Arabia though. Toyota has recently added Australia, Canada and other Commonwealth countries to their expanding options for more foreign job opportunities through their recent partnership with the Chisolm Institute. This is an Australian-registered training organization and through this partnership, TMP is aligning its curriculum to Australian standards. Once the graduates attain the Australian requirements for competency, TMP Tech graduates may look forward to gainful employment in the aforementioned countries within Toyota’s vast dealership network.

For a very young CSR program that started only about four years ago, so many positive developments have been introduced in the TMP Tech program. Sta. Rosa, Laguna is where TMP operates with a world-class manufacturing plant where the very popular Vios car is made and assembled. Most if not all of their employees are from the area, so the company considers Sta. Rosa as their community. The TMP Tech in Brgy. Pulong Sta. Cruz in the city of Sta. Rosa is the company’s commitment to their corporate social responsibility in the area where they operate.  It is an important landmark that is a testament to the symbiotic relationship that they fostered here.

Mabuhay!!!  Be proud to be a Filipino.

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