The Asian Century looms/ Metrobank's corporate social responsibility

With the headlines in Manila about Sec. Rico Puno’s attempt to break into the late Sec. Jesse Robredo’s flat as soon as it was known that his plane had crashed, President Aquino’s ability to speak for the Philippines with Premier Hu Jintao is weakened.

News like this spreads very quickly. It will not be limited to Filipinos either. Through social media and traditional mainstream media, the usual SWS announcement that the President achieved the highest net satisfaction rating will not matter. It is the speculation on just what the break-in was all about that would be on center stage.

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Nevertheless, it is good news that there will be a meeting between President Benigno Aquino III and Premier Hu Jintao. This would be an occasion for sensitive diplomacy and we can only hope that our President will be up to par with his Chinese counterpart.

Unfortunately, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario’s statement that he viewed China’s assurances of freedom of navigation with “guarded optimism” was not helpful. Even if it were true that it was not enough for China to make a statement of assurance, a true diplomat would have left it at that. That is the essence of diplomacy. What would he have lost if he praised it as a step in the right direction? The trouble with the foreign secretary is he tends to speak like a “press release” rather than as the country’s chief diplomat.

He should learn from Japan. It is on top of two conflicts in the South China Sea, one with China and the other with South Korea, but it refrains from incendiary remarks or anything that would ruffle good relations despite serious issues.

“While Japan will assert what she should assert, it is not our intention to stoke up hard line domestic opinion which will be detrimental to national interest of both countries.” No grandstanding, just hard facts and a willingness to find solutions.

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The most significant news to come out of the Apec meeting is on Russia and its pitch to be a Pacific Power. This bears watching and the Philippines should be ready to make best use of its entry into our region. To Russia, hosting the summit was a big step. One would presume that it could have hosted the APEC meeting in Moscow or Saint Petersburg.

But it spent millions of dollars to make the outback port of Vladivostok ready to receive the world leaders in the Pacific.

“Russia will try and use the chance of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation forum summit to change its image and appear not only as a European country but as an Asia-Pacific state,” said Vasily Mikheyev of the Institute for the World Economy and International Relations.

It will be interesting how China, Russia and Japan will compete to enhance their presence in the region despite territorial conflicts. There will be huge economic opportunities that will open up when the three compete for the favor of countries in the region.

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Gennady Ovechko, Russia’s envoy to Apec said “The potential is huge — Russia is looking to diversify its exports of natural resources at a time when the expanding Asian economies are hungry for oil and gas imports. Russia has long looked on Europe as its main foreign commercial partner and turned its back on Asia…”

But the woes afflicting the eurozone appear to have made Russia rethink its stance and realize that a rebalancing toward the east was inevitable.

“The rhythm of economic growth in Russia will depend on that of Apec,” Russian Finance Minister Anton Silunaov said ahead of the Apec leaders’ summit.

“It’s a sign not just of a desire to increase the quality of life on Russia’s eastern borders but also a desire to consider its eastern territory as an interface between Asia, the Pacific and Russia,” added Dmitry Trenin of the Carnegie Moscow Centre.

Putin has created a new ministry dedicated to the Far East to show how seriously it wants to be part of the Asian century, the report added.

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After inching through traffic, I finally arrived at Metrobank’s 50th anniversary celebration at the Shangri-la Makati expecting no more than another George Ty party. Everyone who is anyone in politics and business is invited to meet friends, partake of good food and wine. For a columnist, this was a good occasion for small talk with unguarded politicians.

It was not an ordinary George Ty party. With prominent guests and the bank officials, GT as he is fondly called by the Metrobank family, took the mike and said what would the piece de resistance of the evening — he pledged a donation of P1 billion to the GT-Metro Foundation.

Other corporations give donations to charitable causes also. The difference was the flourish with which GT made the donation. By announcing it before the country’s movers and shakers it became more than just a donation. To me, it was equivalent to launching a movement in the business world. Instead of vying merely on contests on who are the richest businessmen in the Philippines or which are the most profitable corporations, why not a race on corporate social responsibility? It can do both. After all as GT said, one has to make money first before it can give it away.

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The P1 billion will go to the projects of GT-Metro Foundation (GTMF) that range from health disaster relief and environment causes.

“With this generous pledge of donation of P1 billion, we feel even more committed to ensure that we channel the philanthropy of the Ty family towards initiatives that are relevant to the priority needs of our nation,” said GTMF executive director and Metrobank Foundation president Aniceto M. Sobrepeña.

The foundation is well known for its annual awards for teacher and police excellence. The good news is that it will also open a recognition program for journalists. It will work with Probe Media Foundation to recognize journalists who have produced quality work as role models. It will be known as JOY for “Journalists of the Year.”

Its work in helping education will continue through various vehicles and partnerships. The list of beneficiaries is long but as I have said earlier GT’s grant of P1 billion is good, but more exciting is how he made the pitch for corporate social responsibility. It should be given the widest publicity possible to help change business and industry attitudes in the Philippines.