Ayala Foundation works with Lio Sibaltan weavers.
Sixteen percent of Filipinos are considered poor and not able to meet their basic needs despite a growing Philippine economy3.
Poverty unreasonably limits the ability of people to contribute to a stable economy and society, which is necessary to sustain our growth as a business and the development of our country.
Through Ayala Foundation, we work to address extreme poverty especially in communities surrounding our areas of operations. We employ a holistic approach in designing and implementing our programs, from capacity building for our beneficiaries, to making products of value, and to finding them the markets to realize economic gains of their efforts.
Ayala Foundation became the first organization to receive a Social Value Certificate, following a stringent two-year examination process. This proves that their approach to deliver social value meet international standards.
Below are three highlight programs that have been effective in poverty allevation:
El Nido Community Development Program
This was designed to enable communities to better participate and access opportunities in the booming economy of El Nido, Palawan.
We partnered with businesses, local government, and community folk to implement nine livelihood projects including vegetable farming, tricycle operations, traditional weaving, and cashew nuts and cocoa production.
We worked with educational institutions to provide senior high school students on-the-job training opportunities in the hospitality industry to boost their employability upon graduation. We also held job fairs to make it easier for job seekers to access employment opportunities in our properties in El Nido. During disaster emergencies, such as the flood in 2018, we supported affected families by providing relief packages, medical assistance, and repair kits.
We assessed the effectiveness of our interventions using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology. Our finding showed that the economic value created for our beneficiaries is 26 times more than the funds we spent on the projects.
MDC Greens Ornamental Farm
This project targeted families relocated to Calauan, Laguna who were victims of Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, and those displaced by the Pasig River Rehabilitation Program. We trained our beneficiaries on farming to enable them to grow ornamental plants and organized them into a cooperative. Their 35-member cooperative now runs a five-hectare ornamental plant farm that supplies Makati Development Corporation’s landscape projects.
This year, we have realized a 10 percent increase of their income to ₱7,700 per month. We continue to assist the community to bring their project to scale by linking to more markets to ultimately bring them out of poverty.
Iraya-Mangyan Development Program
The project for the indigenous community in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro focused on skills training and education. Ayala Foundation worked with the community to preserve its weaving tradition while generating economic benefits for themselves. The beneficiaries were enabled to produce woven nito products, accessories, and beaded bags. They were also trained to offer eco-cultural tour guiding services. These activities generated approximately ₱4.7 million in 2019 and ₱4.2 million in 2018. The Iraya-Mangyan beneficiaries received ₱1.6 million out of the total earnings in 2019. The program generated 118 jobs in 2019, a 48 percent increase from 2018.
Additional support we provided the community were: educational assistance to 303 students, feeding programs for 281 students, and free medical consultations to 6,790 patients.
We see how these three community programs have improved the lives of our beneficiaries. Ayala Foundation’s SROI study showed that these are highly effective models for creating social value and addressing poverty. We continue to look into opportunities to replicate these models in more areas where we have market presence.
