DMCI Power wins top CSR prize in Asian tilt

November 25, 2021

Off-grid energy player DMCI Power Corporation was adjudged as the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative of the Year in the Asian Power Awards for its community livelihood project in Tugbo, Masbate.

Besting over 100 entries from across the Asia Pacific region, DMCI Power organized and empowered housewives from its host community to form Panaderya sa Tugbo, a bakery business that provides employment additional income and affordable food to over 8,300 residents in the area.

“We believe in women’s empowerment. With the right opportunity and enough support, we know they can uplift themselves and those around them,” said Antonino E. Gatdula, Jr. DMCI Power COO.

In addition to sponsoring the training, equipment, ingredients and other supplies of the Tugbo womenpreneurs, DMCI Power launched the Piso Pandesal para sa Pamayanan (One Peso Bread for the Community) project to support the fledgling business.

Funds donated by the company and its employees were used to purchase pandesal which were then distributed for free to students, teachers and healthcare workers during its Brigada Basa and Malusog na Simula, Matatalinong Bata community projects in Masbate. Nearly 250 people benefited from the initial project run.

To sustain and expand access to livelihood opportunities among Tugbo womenpreneurs, DMCI Power is also organizing the Tugbo Women’s Organization. Composed of 60 housewives and unemployed women, the cooperative aims to develop sustainable microenterprises in the community.

Aside from Panaderya sa Tugbo, the organization has put up a rag production business similar to the one launched by DMCI Power in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. DMCI Power was also awarded the Asian Power Awards CSR Initiative of the Year for its Rags-for-Profit program in Oriental Mindoro last year.