HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE
 

Our MB Sustainability Forum, held at the University of the Philippines Biology Auditorium in late November may be done and dusted, but I’d like to think the takeaways and lessons learned still reverberate with our physical and online audiences. There was so much to absorb over the two days, and it’s only fitting that I use this column as an additional “exclamation point” to the exercise, acknowledging the effort that went behind its mounting, and thanking all who played their part in having made the two days such a success. 

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte was such a wonderful, engaging, returning firebrand. She opened our Forum the previous year, and it’s great to have her support, as she’s so effective in setting the tone of the two days; reminding us that as we listen, we also have to be resolute, and channel that attention into positive action. This year, she went on the attack, citing how plastic waste remains such a pressing “crisis point” issue, and she castigated those big companies and multi-nationals who speak of Sustainability and Green initiatives, while being complicit in perpetuating our sachet culture, a major contributor to plastic waste.

Another returning speaker at this latest iteration of the Forum was Chico Sy, whose best takeaway, as far as I was concerned, was his exhortation to always do it right the first time, so you’re not saddled with “puwede na 'yan,” and having to fix, make “tapal,” what goes wrong later on. That for him is the essence of being inefficient, the opposite of sustainable. And that’s an attitude we should adapt as part of our “sustainable” consciousness. He’s seen his father, Hans Sy, also an engineer, push for this mindset, as part of the SM value system. 

I spoke to Chico during the SM Aura Christmas tree launch, pleading/goading him to return as SM Prime’s speaker and so happy he succumbed to the “pressure.” Eschewing the lecture format, Chico opted for a fireside chat, and I saw the students in attendance hanging on every word.

Also a returning speaker was Ayala Corporation’s Jaime Z. Urquijo, and we loved his expounding on the historical perspective of the company, and it’s embracing sustainability. Noteworthy is how it permeates and trickles down through the conglomerate, so you see it championed in Ayala Land, Globe, BPI, renewables provider ACEN, and all the way to AC Health and AC Mobility. 

Thanks to Cary Lagdameo of Damosa Land, flying in his team from Davao for the Forum. Along with Chico and Jaime, Cary exemplified how seriously members of the controlling families of these corporations champion sustainability. And I liked how the UP faculty members who joined the panel discussions mentioned this to the audience. 

It’s easy to talk sustainability in the classroom and refer to it in the academe; but how appreciative were the students of listening first-hand to how sustainability is practiced and made part of the DNA of a company’s regular operations. These were case studies of a different level. And the professors were profusive in thanking the Manila Bulletin for making UP an academic partner, and bringing these speakers on campus. 

The other participating companies get my eternal thanks as well, and you know who you are. I hope we continue on this journey in the years to come — as we all agreed there’s still so much to be done in the name of awareness and understanding. To Issa Litton and Sam Thurman for hosting the sessions, and to Issa’s 1Lit agency for handling the Recognition Dinner of the second day. — a big thank you! 

Leslie Araujo and Jaime Misalucha, and all the MB team members involved in the Forum, you know how much Irish Lorenzo, Jordan Tan and myself rely on you, and I share with you the collective sigh of relief that’s it’s our third year, now in the rear view mirror — and on to 2025! 

There was a comment made by a student on how sustainability was like the new, expanded, and improved version of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). That’s equally right and wrong. Wrong because let’s appreciate that the old CSR was an afterthought. As in, “We’ve made money, and so now let’s give back, and identity a cause or advocacy that we can direct allocated money for.”

With sustainability as practiced by the companies who joined the forum, it’s embedded in their corporate DNA, a factor in their decision-making process, and done with conscious intent and purpose, without losing sight of profitability. After all, a company perpetually losing money gets shut down, no matter how noble it’s commitment to sustainability. Thus, the sustainability of today is practiced with a keen eye on the bottom line. A takeaway that was equally important for the students to absorb — that’s sustainability in the real world.