Event | Balik Baterya Program by Ford, Motolite and PBSP

Ford-Motolite-PBSP MOU Signing

Car batteries are among those I think a bit hard to dispose or it has to be sold to right companies for proper disposal or recycling. Just like for example, you own car battery and has lost power, it cannot be disposed as easy to a trash bin. Sometimes, if you know how it works, you can still use those batteries, recharge it and be an alternative source of power during brownout. So, it's a good news that Ford, together with, Motolite and PBSP form a partnership for a sustainable way to dispose used car batteries.

Here's the story of the event...

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Ford Philippines, Motolite, PBSP partner for Balik Baterya Program
The partnership aims to promote environmental sustainability by recycling used batteries

MANILA, Philippines – There is no safe level of lead exposure. Lead is toxic and harmful not only to the environment but to the health as well. However, lead is still used for products such as batteries. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, around 86% of the total global consumption of lead is for the production of lead-acid batteries.

Photo of Used Batteries

 
With a large number of batteries being produced each year, proper disposal and recycling of batteries is also a concern. To help address this problem, Ford Philippines together with Ford dealers nationwide, Motolite, and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) forged a collaboration to recycle used lead-acid batteries (ULABs) through the Balik Baterya Program.

“Through the Balik Baterya Program, we are able to bring to life Ford’s global commitment on environmental sustainability in the Philippines, and work with our Ford dealers and like-minded partners such as Motolite and PBSP to reinforce this advocacy. At the same time, the program provides an opportunity for our dealer partners to create and even expand their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs to support more beneficiaries,” said Ford Philippines President and Managing Director Michael Allen Breen.
 
One of Ford’s dealerships, the Laus Group, has taken a step forward in being the pioneer dealer group to implement the Balik Baterya Program early this year. “Being in the business of automotive dealerships, we knew that the PBSP’s Balik Baterya Program was a great way for us to create a positive impact, as we push to incorporate sustainability in the way we do business. It is our hope that through this program, we are able to affect change in our communities by pioneering sustainable business practices, geared towards promoting progressive development not just in the countryside but nationwide that is now shared by all,” said Laus Group Dealer Principal Lisset Laus-Velasco.
 
15 YEARS OF GIVING OLD BATTERIES NEW LIFE
 
Launched in 2006, the Balik Baterya Program is Motolite’s flagship CSR initiative advocating for the proper disposal and legitimate recycling of ULABs to protect the environment from hazardous wastes. The collected used batteries are reprocessed and recycled for commercial use. The proceeds from the used batteries are then used to fund development projects for communities in need such as provision of new classrooms, school desks, books, and supplemental feeding for children.
 
“Around 5,825 tons of ULABs is what the Balik Baterya Program partnership with PBSP has been able to recycle. More so, these wastes transformed to the greater goal of advancing communities through funding social development programs,” said Corporate Citizenship and CSR Manager Khairon-Niza Magundacan.
 
To date, the program has generated around P147 million pesos which supported and implemented around 169 projects nationwide. These projects benefitted at least 115 public schools and communities.

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This is indeed a good news and will really help the environment. I hope you like this story as well!

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Event & Lifestyle | Making Community Pantries More Sustainable in the Philippines

Community pantry concept in the Philippines sprouts like mushrooms because of the ongoing battle against hunger amongst unfortunate families. This is also spreading fast because there are areas in the country wherein continuous stricter community quarantine classification are being implemented. Many families are unable to sustain the need for food, thus the need for a more sustainable approach of the concept should be place to address the concern.

Here's a story from the Municipality of Valladolid, Negros Occidental through the National Anti-Poverty Commission:

Community vegetable and Peking duck farms: Valladolid’s long-term version of community pantries

While community pantries are sprouting like mushrooms all over the country this past few months, the National Anti-Poverty Commission’s Kasambayanihan volunteers in the coastal municipality of Valladolid, Negros Occidental have been quietly tending to their communal vegetable gardens and Peking duck farms to help alleviate hunger and provide livelihood to impoverished families.

 

One of these hardworking residents is Ernesto Araneta, coordinator of the Communal Vegetable Farm Project in Barangay Paloma created under the Poverty Reduction through Rural Development (PRRD) program of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

 

As a NAPC Ka-Sambayanihan volunteer, Ernesto leads the community in planting various vegetables such as lettuce, pechay, string beans, and alugbati from seeds provided by the Commission in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA).  The crops are grown organically through organic fertilizers and pesticides also supplied by NAPC.

 

Aside from harvesting for their personal consumption, the team is able to earn as much as P3,000 a week from the sale of their produce.

 

“Malaking tulong sa amin ang pagkakaroon ng communal garden.  Nakakapag harvest kami ng dalawang beses sa isang linggo.  Pinamahagi namin ito sa mga kasamahan namin sa Ka-sambayanihan para magkaroon sila ng kabuhayan,” he said.

 

Like Ernesto, David Rigonel, NAPC municipal focal person, is also helping Barangay Bayabas but this time, through Peking duck production.

 

 “Itong Peking duck ay nakita natin na hindi lamang itlog ang mapapakinabangan pati na rin ang karne. Simple itong alagaan.  Pabayaan lang silang umikot-ikot sa bakuran ng bawat benepisyaryo at bigyan ng tirang pagkain.  Siguradong mangingitlog na kaya walang masyadong gastos.  Pwede ring ipagbili ang karne dahil mahal ito,” David said.

 

NAPC provided the barangay with an initial 100 Peking ducks which the team is raising.  The target is to provide each family beneficiary at least 15 ducks to take care of in their own backyard for continuous production.

 

“We are pleased to see these community efforts taking off and this inspires us more to work harder in order to bring down the country’s poverty incidence, enhance food security, and strengthen rural-urban agro-economic value chains,” said NAPC Secretary and Lead Convenor Atty. Noel K. Felongco.

 

In 2019, Felongco and Valladolid Mayor Enrique Miravalles signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the implementation of a P3-million poverty alleviation project in the municipality.

 

The budget for the Integrated Community-Based Agricultural Production and Processing Facility includes P2 million for the construction of physical infrastructures and procurement of equipment, P500,000 for hauling support and provision for vehicles, and PHP500,000 for capital infusion relative to the conduct of livelihood projects.

 

Valladolid is one of the seven priority areas for the implementation of the PRRD prototype projects which include Majayjay, Laguna; Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya; Cebu City; Calbayog City, Samar; Talipao, Sulu; and Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.

 

Underprivileged families in the country most often live in rural areas with limited access to education, health, and roads and transportation to bring their produce to the market.  Many also live in conflict areas and places prone to natural disasters.

 

Thus, the NAPC has developed the Sambayanihan: Serbisyong Sambayanan, a five-year development framework from 2019-2023 to offer opportunities for people to lift themselves out of poverty and achieve a better life.

 

The framework provides guidance in carrying out a climate-responsive, culture- and gender-sensitive, and convergent and participatory anti-poverty strategy in response to the administration’s goal of bringing down the country’s poverty incidence from 21.6 % in 2015 to 14% by 2022.

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Indeed, such stories should be an inspiration to other areas in the country especially to some local governments, hopefully, they can replicate to address further poverty.

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