Philex turns over fund for ‘Pablo’ victims to PLDT-Smart

MANILA, Philippines - Now is the time to reach out and help.

Philex Mining Corp. senior vice president for human resources Benjamin Garcia (right) and the company’s senior vice president for corporate affairs, lawyer Michael Toledo, turned over the money raised during the “Tulong Kapatid MVP Telethon” aired on TV5 to Esther Santos, president of PLDT-Smart Foundation, at the PLDT offices in Makati recently. The foundation was tasked to coordinate with the other companies in the group on how to utilize the fund.

Philex Mining and its partners and employees were able to raise P11 million out of the more than P110 million in cash and pledges collected during the six-hour “Tulong Kapatid,” a collective effort by the companies under the MVP Group to help victims of typhoon Pablo that recently hit the Davao region, particularly Compostela Valley. The group’s parent company, First Pacific, and its chairman Antonio Salim and Manuel V. Pangilinan, who chairs the companies under the MVP Group, together donated P35 million out of the P88 million raised by the group. The rest of the over P110 million came from TV5 viewers and supporters who either called in or texted by pledges through their Smart and Sun cellphones.

“Helping our fellow Filipinos during disasters has always been a part of our corporate social responsibility program,” Toledo said. Stressing that the MVP Group has taken a holistic approach to giving aid, Pangilinan said the money will be spent for relief goods, medicines, housing, infra reconstruction and livelihood for the victims of Pablo.