By Emmie V. Abadilla
Philippine Airlines (PAL) recently renewed its commitment to protect the Philippine eagle by supporting the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), a non-profit environmental conservation organization which ensures the survival of this endangered raptors.
Through the airline’s ‘Mabuhay Miles with a Mission’ program, a joint project of its corporate social responsibility arm PAL Foundation and frequent flier program Mabuhay Miles, PAL donated an additional one million miles to PEF for the foundation’s travel needs.
The new miles will also help PEF in its mission to spread awareness on the importance of preserving Philippine eagles and their forest habitat.
Furthermore, a number of PAL passengers donated their unused flight miles to support the Foundation.
“We are grateful that our loyal customers have unselfishly shown the genuine heart of the Filipino”, says PAL President and COO Jaime J. Bautista, who is himself committed to protecting the eagles.
“This is a critical time for our national bird and support is needed now more than ever,” Dennis J. I. Salvador, PEF Executive Director, underscored.
“PAL’s donation of a million Mabuhay Miles will benefit efforts that work to protect the Philippine eagle,” he elaborated. “We thank PAL and its loyal patrons for supporting our mission, helping us reach out to more people, specially the Filipino youth, encouraging them to participate in the protection of our national bird and our forests.”
In 2016, Philippine Airlines and the Philippine Eagle Foundation forged an agreement to help preserve the national bird as part of the airline’s commitment to environmental conservation.
PEF was then under the chairmanship of Carlos G. Dominguez, who is now the country’s Finance Secretary.
As its initial gesture of support, PAL donated one million miles for PEF to carry out its programs and adopted baby eagle “Sinag.”
For three years now, the PAL Family has provided for Sinag’s needs by extending financial support as part of its “Buong Pusong Alaga” service.