What can you do with one billion pesos?

An inside look at corporate social responsibility and the digital divide.

By Heinz Bulos
June 2003

icture these scenes in your mind: a
class o blind teenagers learning
how to sur the Internet, hundreds
o out-o-school youth making their
personal \eb sites, a boy rom the Iugao
proince winning a spreadsheet
preparation design contest, kids in a
museum interacting on a science project
with kids across the globe, underpriileged
high school students training to be system
administrators, and public school teachers
adding computer literacy in the
curriculum.

1hese scenes are happening eery single
day een as we go about our lie checking
e-mail, preparing PowerPoint
presentations, accessing the company
intranet, doing spreadsheets, querying
databases, reading \ord documents,
searching or MP3s, and inadertently
downloading the occasional irus.

I you elt pleased when you read the irst
paragraph aboe and elt, well, nothing
when you read the second, then there`s no
need to explain the digital diide. \hen
the things that we ind mundane sound
noel when applied to the disadantaged
sectors o society, something obiously is
wrong.

In the past ten or so years, both the
goernment and priate sector hae been
righting this wrong. 1he last ie years in
particular saw a jump in actiity in
bridging the digital diide: the chasm
between the technology haes and hae-
nots.

A rich history of CSR
he Philippines has, in act, a rich,
long history o organized
philanthropy and institutionalized
giing. As early as 1952, leaders o welare
agencies that supported post-war relie
and reconstruction work expanded their
social work through umbrella
organizations such as the Philippine
National Committee o the International
Council on Social \elare.

In the social and political turmoil o the
sixties and seenties, seeral social
organizations were ormed. 1here was the
National Secretariat or Social Action in
196, the Philippine Business or Social
Progress ,PBSP, in 190, the Bishops-
Businessmen`s Conerence or luman
Deelopment in 191, and the
Association o loundations in 192.

1he PBSP, in particular, is noteworthy or
pioneering what is now termed as
corporate social responsibility ,CSR,,
being second only to the ground-breaking
Diriaevao 1otvvtario ara ta Covvvviaaa o
Venezuela, which was ormed six years
earlier and became a model or PBSP. It
was only until 1982 that Business in the
Community ,Bi1C,, a pioneering initiatie
by the business community, was set up in
the United Kingdom. 1oday, there is a
prolieration o CSR initiaties worldwide.

In the Philippines, because o the
pioneering eorts o the likes o PBSP,
the concept and practice o CSR
continues to grow. \e are, in act, a world
leader in CSR, oten cited or our
sophistication in social deelopment.

1he original 50 corporate members o
PBSP contributed a modest P5 million in
P 1
its irst year in 190. Last year, donations
rom more than 160 members topped P4
million. Add the grants and other
donations it raised, and the amount totals
P223 million. 1he League o Corporate
loundations ,LCl,, ounded in 1992, had
a combined asset base o P4 billion, rom
its membership o 42 corporate
oundations and eight corporations, as o
1998. 1he consolidated contribution o
LCl and 6 other industry associations
rom 199 to 2002 amounted to P.6
billion.

1he Synergos Institute reported in a 2001
study that the Philippines had some 56
oundations in 2000, around 36 percent
being corporate oundations, and up rom
22 oundations in 1980.

1he same report noted that in certain
countries like the Philippines, a more
institutionalized, more deelopment as
opposed to charity-oriented philanthropic
ethos is emerging, among many wealthy
indiiduals and corporations.`

An earlier Synergos report in 1998 on ciil
society resource organizations ,CSRO, in
Asia also lauded the Philippines. It
pointed out, O the ie countries
sureyed, the Philippines has the longest
and richest history o corporate,ciil
society partnerships. Lmerging rom a
Christian tradition, corporate philanthropy
has gradually shed its charity` character
and taken a more proessional approach
and is increasingly reerred to as
corporate citizenship`.`

Iocusing on education
ducation remains a aorite sector
or CSR actiities, according to a
report by the Ramon V. del
Rosario, Sr.-Asian Institute o
Management ,RVR-AIM, Center or
Corporate Responsibility. A surey o 122
companies using 1999 igures indicated
that the bulk o assistance goes to
education ,23,, social serices ,13,,
organizational support ,11,, health
,10,, culture and arts ,8,, and support
or goernment programs ,8,.

1he LCl also reported that 82 percent o
its members contributed to programs
related to education, ollowed by
entrepreneurship deelopment ,38,,
community deelopment ,35,,
enironmental protection ,33,, and in
housing and related serices ,33,.

According the AIM study, 18 o the
respondents indicated that schools and
educational institutions remain the major
channel or corporate giing, ollowed by
oundations ,16,, and trade, ciic, and
proessional organizations ,14,.

Lducation is likewise a priority area or
expansion o corporate giing programs,
along with the enironment and health.
Guillermo Luz, Lxecutie Director o the
Makati Business Club, who also heads
ConnectLD.ph, a priate sector
consortium in support o the
goernment`s PCs or Public Schools
Project ,PCPS,, notes, In the past, a large
portion o education support went to
uniersities, proessional chairs, and
indiidual scholarships.`

\ithin the sector is the ast-growing I1 in
education segment, the ocal point or
eorts in bridging the digital diide. 1here
are two aspects o this: one is computer
literacy, i.e., learning how to use
computers, and the other is computers in
education, i.e., using computers to learn.
Bridging the digital diide is about equity
in access to inormation, through the use
o technology. 1his requires inestments
in inrastructure-the computers,
peripherals, local area network, Internet
connection, multimedia equipment. It also
requires training and support.
L

\hile some actiities are aimed at
proiding access to inormation
technology to other sectors o society,
such as armers, the disabled,
entrepreneurs, and local communities, the
lion`s share goes to the youth sector. 1his
is perhaps the hottest sector in corporate
philanthropy.

PBSP is a pioneer in this segment, starting
its Computer and Science Laboratory
program or public high schools back in
1993, right ater it established its Center
or Corporate Citizenship ,CCC,, when
the term digital diide` was not yet
trendy. PBSP Lxecutie Director Gil
Salazar recounts one o the tasks o the
CCC was to identiy major issues that
aect the lies o lilipinos. One o those
areas was education.` PBSP did a study
that cited another study, which pointed
out that the Philippine education system,
particularly the math and science
curriculum, is lagging. 1his prompted the
oundation to make education a top
priority.

Among multinational companies, IBM
Philippines has been doing its part or
decades. 1oday, companies such as Intel
Philippines, Microsot Philippines, and
Citibank, as well as corporate oundations
like Ayala loundation, Coca-Cola
loundation Philippines, and Mirant
Philippines loundation are at the
oreront in promoting computer literacy
and proiding access to inormation
technology among the underpriileged
youth.

Noteworthy are newly ormed priate
oundations, particularly the loundation
or Inormation 1echnology Lducation
and Deelopment ,lI1-LD, and
ConnectLD.ph, the priate sector
counterpart o the PCPS project, which is
spearheaded by the Department o 1rade
and Industry ,D1I,.

Dita Maralit, who heads D1I`s Oice o
Special Concerns, which oersees the
PCPS project, lauds Intel Philippines,
which has been most unselish,`
Microsot Philippines who gae ery
generous discounts`, AMA and S1I which
oered ree training or teachers.

Luz lists Ayala loundation, Microsot,
Intel, Citibank, Coca-Cola, and the
Sarmiento loundation as some o its
biggest donors.

lI1-LD is the only oundation dedicated
to this area o I1 in education. Its projects
include Pilipinas SchoolNet, a network o
schools that leerage the Internet or
learning. It also seres as regional
secretariat o the e-ASLAN 1ask lorce
and project manager o Coca-Cola
loundation Philippines` ed.enture
project, a pan-Asian initiatie. lI1-LD
likewise trains the teachers or the
ed.enture project. It`s also inoled in
the Oracle Academic Initiatie and is
collaborating with the Ateneo Center or
Lducational Deelopment on an educator
training program.

Coca-Cola has so ar contributed >350
thousand to the ed.enture project, and is
adding >650 thousand or the second
phase. liteen ully-equipped, Internet-
connected, and air conditioned computer
labs in public high schools hae been
built, selected by lI1-LD in coordination
with the Department o Lducation.
liteen thousand students, teachers, and
administrators hae beneited rom the
program. And six hundred public high
school teachers and administrators hae
participated in workshops introducing
them to educational telecollaboration.
1hirty ie more beneiciary public high
schools are targeted up to 2004.

Other companies and oundations actie
in supporting I1-related social projects
include Citibank, Sun Microsystems,
Cisco, PLD1, DotPl, Sarmiento
loundation, lort Boniacio Deelopment
Corporation, Cemex Philippines, Insular
Lie, lSBC, and LxxonMobil.

1he computer labs projects hae been a
aorite outlet or social projects because
they are tangible. Unlike scholarships, or
instance, where there is a long gestation
period and it`s diicult to immediately see
the eects, computer labs projects are
high-impact and high-proile.

Doing well by doing good
he idea o corporate philanthropy
is not exactly a new phenomenon.
Companies, particularly
conglomerates, hae long acted as paternal
igures to employees and the communities
they sere.

But the concepts o corporate citizenship
and corporate social responsibility-that
corporations should think beyond their
immediate community and assume
responsibility or social causes-are only
airly recent.

1his is, in a way, an aberration, as it is the
goernment`s role to cure social ills,
including the deteriorating public
education system and the digital diide.

\et, it`s no dierent rom indiidual
citizens who, gien the capacity to gie
and the assumption o responsibility to
help the community, go out and gie to
charities, olunteer their serices, and
een orm their own oundations. As legal
entities, with rights and responsibilities
similar to indiiduals, some companies
hae decided to become good corporate
citizens.

1he message is that proits and social
responsibility are not mutually exclusie.
1he phrase doing well by doing good` is
the mantra or corporate do-gooders.

1here`s a strong indication that there is
indeed a sincere motiation behind
corporate giing. 1he AIM study conirms
this. At least or the surey respondents,
the top reason or their giing to social
causes is response to national issues`
,34,, ollowed by geographic presence
,32,, CLO`s ision ,30,, and response
to national emergency ,25,. In other
words, companies gie largely because o
urgent social needs that they can help
meet, whether these are ongoing issues,
which are likely in tune with the CLO`s
ision, or national emergencies. Many o
them also gie to the immediate
community where they are located.

Mario Deriquito, Ayala loundation
Director or the Center or Social
Deelopment, says o its own computer
laboratory program: \e based \outh
1ech on a goernment study o DLCS
,Department o Lducation, Culture, and
Sports,, which showed that o the more
than our thousand public high schools,
only 30 hae PCs and 2 hae Internet
access. \e elt we needed to do
something.`

Mae Riera, Marketing Communications
Manager at Microsot Philippines explains
the company`s decision to start its
Connected Learning Community ,CLC,
program: \e saw the need or these
schools to hae computers. Since we`re an
I1 company, the best place to help is the
one closer to home.` She adds, Our
corporate oice was really looking or
community programs. \e hae a stake
here and we wanted to do our share to
help.`

1
Luz stresses, It`s not our core business
but we do it because we eel there`s a
social need. I they`re doing it or PR,
there are other ways to do it.`

Interestingly, a sizable 18 percent reealed
in the AIM surey that their motiation
or giing is that the beneiciaries are their
target consumers. 1his actually makes a
lot o sense. In act, I1 companies ought
to be supporting I1 causes. Intel, IBM,
Microsot, Sun Microsystems, and the like
pursue social causes related to their
business, although they do hae projects
beyond it.

Also, 16 percent indicated that their
motiation is or public relations and
image building. Much as companies deny
the PR angle-and, to be air, most
companies indeed do not consider this the
primary motie-they do not shy away
rom publicizing their good deeds. I the
eorts are sincere, there`s particularly
nothing wrong with doing that. Ater all,
9 percent o the surey participants
beliee in the signiicance o being iewed
as good corporate citizens. And that is
good business.

In act, IBM Philippines transerred
responsibility or its community relations
to Bernadette Nacario, Country Manager
or Marketing partly or that reason.
Nacario says, 1he end in mind is to hae
mind share.` Obiously, companies want
its internal and external publics to know
that they are doing their part in helping
the community. 1here are no anonymous
corporate donors.

Are we doing enough?
espite the laudable eorts o a
number o corporations and
oundations, as well as some
goernment agencies, there is still much to
be done. 1he D1I pegs the number o
public high schools at 3,956 when they
started the PCPS project. Now, that has
gone up to
4,53. 1hey originally targeted a 54 PC
penetration rate based on the original
igure, but that has been reised to 51.
Still, that`s up rom a mere 29 o public
high schools with computer acilities. And
with the 600 to 800 PCs installed by the
Department o Lducation and the
Department o Science and 1echnology
outside o the PCPS project since 1996,
there are now approximately 3,000 public
high schools with computer labs, and that
has more than doubled the penetration
rate.

Still, there are more than 1,500 public high
schools nationwide that do not hae
access to a computer and the Internet. In
act, a good number o those may not
een hae access to electricity! 1hat
requires at least P900 million or the
computer labs, which can go up to P1.5
billion i we want to include a LAN
connection and Internet access.

\e`re not een talking o public
elementary schools and projects or the
out-o-school youth, the disabled, and
local communities. Raising P1.5 billion
certainly is a daunting task. 1hat`s hal the
2001 net income o 1exas Instruments
,1I, Philippines, the largest I1 company
in the country based on reenues. Put in
another way, it`s hal o the 2001 rerevve.
o IBM Philippines, six times the reenues
o Microsot Philippines, and seenty ie
percent o the net income o Intel
1echnology Philippines.

1he D1I is working on another grant,
albeit slightly less ambitious. Let`s say, or
simplicity, that`s another P600 million.
Add the estimated aggregate planned
contributions o P60 million rom
Microsot, Coca-Cola loundation, and
Ayala loundation, and include P40
million that can be raised rom other
D
corporations or good measure. 1hat`s
P00 million. 1hat`s less than hal o P1.5
billion.

Looking at our own backyard, the I1
Resource 2002-2003 sourcebook pegged
the combined net loss o the top 500 I1
companies at P.9 billion. 1aking out the
aggregate losses o our sectors
,telecommunications serices,
telecommunications equipment, sotware,
and online serices,, the total is a net
income o P24 billion, or some P34 billion
in beore-tax income, assuming a 30 tax
rate. I we apply 1 to their beore-tax
income, as prescribed to PBSP member
companies, we can raise around P340
million in donations. And we`ll hae our
P1 billion und, still short o the target,
but enough to close the gap. So, i only
more I1 companies do their part, the
progress in bridging the digital diide can
be accelerated.

O course, it`s not as easy as it sounds.
Getting 500 companies to, say, sign up as
PBSP members ,only ten come rom the
IC1 industry,, or join the ConnectLD.ph
consortium ,only ourteen rom the IC1
industry are project partners and seen are
contributors, is not that simple. Certainly,
there are those that are not yet at a leel
where they can aord to be altruistic. And
others that are perhaps indierent. And
or those that hae made a decision to
gie back to the community, they do so at
their own pace and preerence.

1he 1998 Synergos report concluded,
1hroughout the region, the research
identiied interesting examples o
corporate inolement in social
deelopment. 1hese take a number o
orms. lirst is the case o where the
corporation establishes its own
oundation or CSRO.there is a tendency
or corporate oundations to manage and
implement their own programs rather
than gie grants to third parties to carry
out projects. 1he second case is where the
corporation chooses to transer resources
to a CSRO to implement certain
programs.`

1here is a general ramework or
understanding the types o corporate
CSROs. One is where the CSR arm is
lodged within the company and CSR
projects are directly related to the core
business ,e.g. Microsot Philippines,. 1wo
is where the CSR arm is lodged within the
company but CSR projects are vot directly
related to the core business ,e.g. Citibank
Philippines,. 1hree is where the CSR arm
is lodged outside the company
,oundation, and CSR projects are directly
related to the core business ,e.g. PLD1
loundation,. lour is where the CSR arm
is lodged outside the company
,oundation, but CSR projects are vot
directly related to the core business ,e.g.
Coca-Cola loundation,. In many cases,
howeer, companies and oundations
hae a mix o related and unrelated
projects in their portolio.

Another way o looking at CSROs is their
nature: there are those that are exclusiely
grant-making, exclusiely operating, and
both grant-making and operating. In the
1998 Synergos surey among 4 CSROs,
around 18 o oundations in the
Philippines are exclusiely grant-making
,e.g. Mirant Philippines loundation,, 26
exclusiely operating ,e.g. lI1-LD,, and
56 both grant-making and operating
,e.g. PBSP,.

1hen, there are those that proide
donations in cash or kind, serices, or
both. 1he AIM report noted that an
oerwhelming 3 o its respondents
gae cash donations, 21 gae in-kind
donations, 3 in time and technical
expertise, and 1 in acilities used. But
there`s a growing trend towards proiding
serices. IBM Philippines, or instance,
plans to make the ratio o cash donations
to serices 30:0, according to Richard
Burgos, IBM`s Communications Manager.

Luz says, 1here are dierent modes o
giing. Some companies take the lead in
adopting the school. Some proide a
component, such as the LAN. 1he telcos
proided the connection, but not the
equipment.`

Big Blue handles its community relations
in-house, almost ad hoc in act. IBM
maximizes employee olunteerism with its
IBM Club by getting them to support
social causes in terms o cash donations
and olunteer work. It gets unding both
rom headquarters and a portion rom the
local operations. It gies out donations in
cash and kind to arious NGOs and
goernment agencies as well as operates
its own social projects. It`s a ounding
member o PBSP, and as such contributes
regularly to the oundation`s unrestricted
unds.

It also takes a dierent strategy with its
KidSmart program, which targets younger
kids. Instead o setting up computer labs
to pre-schools or grade schools, IBM
donates a \oung Lxplorer unit to
magnets` or children, such as the Ayala
Museum, Museo Pambata, Philippine
Science Centrum, and the Philippine
leritage Center, which are requented by
busloads o grade school students. Burgos
notes, It`s non-traditional and the impact
is greater, as more students are exposed.`

Microsot Philippines also goes its own
way, setting out on a homegrown project
rom scratch and learning along the way.
Riera notes, Lach country does its own
initiaties. lor us, we decided the best
sector is education.` At the same time, it
participates in ConnectLD.ph ,donating
to some 19 schools, and the PCPS project
,proiding the sotware,. And it recently
passed on management o its Connected
Learning Community ,CLC, project to
another oundation, Learn.ph. She points
out that it doesn`t matter how companies
pursue their social programs: Lach has
its dierent way, as long as you`re helping.
Our dream is that other companies
replicate what we`re doing. `

Intel implements both global and local
initiaties, operating certain projects ,Intel
1each to the luture, and passing the
management o some to other
oundations ,Ayala-Intel Computer
Clubhouse,. It works with the goernment
,D1I, Department o Science and
1echnology, and priate oundations
,ConnectLD.ph,. lunding comes rom
either the parent company Intel
Corporation, or rom the local site, Intel
1echnology Philippines.

Chit Ventura, who handles regional public
aairs and community inolment or
Intel, explains, \e do proide unding
or projects outside Intel`s own initiaties.
lor example, we unded DOS1 projects
like the Mobile I1 Classroom and Project
RISL ,Rescue Initiaties in Science
Lducation,. Most o the projects that we
und support our goal, which is to
improe science and technology education
in the country.`

1he Ayala loundation can be described
similarly. It operates its own projects like
\outh 1ech and iLink and those o others
such as the Intel Computer Clubhouse
and Nokia`s text2teach project. But it`s
also a major supporter o ConnectLD.ph,
unding around hal o the 100 or so
computer labs o the consortium.
Deriquito notes also why Ayala
loundation decided to initiate its own
computer literacy projects: Beore \outh
1ech, we were looking at those projects
also ,o PBSP, Intel, Microsot, etc., and
looked at what we can do dierently. \e
emphasized connectiity because we hae
that resource through Globe ,1elecoms,.`

1he oundation gets regular unding rom
the Ayala Group o Companies, based on
the budget set by the oundation. It also
seeks outside grants to augment its unds.
Some o the oundation`s diisions such
as Ayala Museum and the lilipinas
leritage Library are expected to generate
income, and their expenses are more or
less the same eery year. So the bulk o
the donations go to its Center or Social
Deelopment. Its Lducation and
Inormation 1echnology core program
receies 60-0 o unding support,
emphasizing the oundation`s priorities.
\outh 1ech, or instance, gets some P
million a year.

Coca-Cola Philippines has its own local
oundation but gets others to manage its
ed.enture ,lI1-LD, and Little Red
Schoolhouse ,PBSP, projects. Mirant
Philippines does it similarly, appointing
PBSP to operate its oundation`s Project
Big Star initiatie.

ConnectLD.ph does not manage unds
directly but mobilizes resources. Luz says
either companies learn about the initiatie
by word o mouth and come in to oer or
they approach companies that hae
allocated a budget or CSR and hae
identiied education as a priority.

So, to each his own. \hile it may be ideal
to hae only one umbrella oundation, say
PBSP, lI1-LD, or ConnectLD.ph doing
all these similar projects under one roo,
that`s not how it goes.

Companies and oundations dier in that
some hae their own niche. IBM
Philippines, or instance, is more
concerned with early childhood and the
disabled. No one is ocusing on this,`
Burgos stresses.

1he ed.enture labs are mostly in and
Cebu and Visayas area or instance.
Deriquito says they make sure not more
than one oundation is sering a single
school and make sure they are proiding
dierent equipment.` PBSP is looking at
armers and small and medium enterprises
or its I1 projects.

1he book, Our Legacy`, published by
PBSP, noted the increasing trend o
corporations to start their own
oundations. Other companies hae built
oundations as a means o expressing their
social responsibility. 1his direct
inolement in societal deelopment is
important to many corporations and
companies. 1here is a need to see the
company`s ownership o the programs
that their oundations implement.`

\hile PBSP is let to explore means and
ways to make an impact on marginalized
groups as a collectie initiatie o
business, indiidual members retain their
own abilities to ocus their programs on
their own corporate priorities. 1hose
priorities may either be communities that
are directly aected or touched by
company operations or disadantaged or
special sectors that the company eels are
in need o assistance.`

\hat is important is that corporations
take the initiaties themseles. Many
corporations and companies who are
members o PBSP hae done just that.
Many hae committed their membership
in the loundation while others hae taken
on a separate trail to pursue their
initiaties. PBSP remains a releant
inolement to the members who
recognize that, as a collectie, it extends
the impact o their contributions beyond
the areas o their interention.`

Salazar admits that there was a decrease in
membership contributions in the late
eighties and early nineties when there was
a sharp increase in the number o
corporate oundations ormed, such as the
Petron loundation and the Shell
loundation. 1he immediate impact is
that a ew members withdrew ,rom
PBSP, and there was reduced giing.`

PBSP responded by reducing the amount
members are required to gie the
oundation rom 40 o 1 o pre-tax
income to 20 o 1. It also introduced
the idea o restricted contributions, which
allowed members to pinpoint speciic
projects to support. Salazar says,
Members will increase their donations i
they hae the lexibility on where to put
their unds.` Now, PBSP gets roughly hal
each o total contributions rom both
restricted and unrestricted unds. But it`s
all or the best, he notes, as more
companies are doing more. And Salazar is
proud to say that many o the newly
ormed oundations came and learned
rom PBSP.

As such, there has been ortunately a lot
o cooperation and synergy among them,
without necessarily surrendering their
autonomy. ConnectLD.ph, or instance,
works with Intel, Microsot, Ayala, PBSP,
and lI1-LD. Coca-Cola works with lI1-
LD and PBSP. Intel with Ayala. IBM and
Mirant with PBSP. And so orth.

1here is a common practice among
CSROs o leeraging their unds to raise
more unds. Ayala loundation, or
example, used its unds to urge the Oice
o Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr. to lodge
part o his country deelopment und
,CDl, to DOS1. It also tapped lilipino-
American groups by challenging them: I
you want the high school in your proince
to be included ,in the computer labs
project,, you put in this much, we put in
this much. So the P million ,we put in,
multiplies,` recounts Deriquito.

iLink is jointly unded by Ayala
Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation
on a 50:50 agreement. Ayala loundation
also unds Cisco bundles worth P600-
P00 thousand per school.

PBSP uses its unrestricted unds as
counterpart to certain projects. Salazar
says the role o its member companies is
to be a magnet. 1heir unrestricted
contributions are a regular, consistent,
recurring source o reenues`, which
PBSP can use as a leerage in getting
additional contributions rom non-
members. In act, the bulk o its support
now comes rom grants and other
contributions. O the P223 million in total
support it receied in 2002, less than 12
came rom unrestricted member
contributions. 1he biggest grant, P145
million, came rom an international
source, the InterChurch Organization or
Deelopment Cooperation ,ICCO, ,
Luropean Union ,LU,.

1he likes o Microsot and
ConnectLD.ph also require beneiciary
schools to put up a counterpart in terms
o cash, plus the room, so that they can
hae a greater sense o ownership o the
project. Usually, the local goernment unit
,LGU, and Parents-1eachers Association
,P1A, help raise the unds.

\hat`s most interesting is that these
projects, in act draw, ierce market
competitors together. In some instances,
Ayala loundation had to tap the serices
o rials Digitel and Bayantel to proide
the connectiity in those areas not sered
by Globe. 1he PCPS project brought
together Sun Microsystems and Microsot
as well as AMA and S1I.

ConnectLD.ph`s project partners include
competitors such as Bayantel, Digitel,
Globe 1elecom, Islacom, and PLD1,
Inocom and Sky Internet, Microsot and
Sun Microsystems, AMA and S1I.

Are we doing it right?
course, some people might
argue that we ought to ocus on
basic education issues, such as
proiciency in math and science beore we
een talk about computer literacy. \et,
those two can go hand in hand. 1hey are
not mutually exclusie. 1he same goes or
the lack o classrooms, the scarcity o
qualiied teachers, the outdated
curriculum, and so on.

It`s important to note that while eery
sector o society deseres access to
inormation technology, the ocus on
public high schools is appropriate, in that
computer literacy prepares public high
school students or work. Ater all, a lot
o jobs increasingly inole some orm o
technology use. Besides, Maralit notes,
computer education is now a benchmark
or public schools.`

Luz explains that support or education
was scattered among priate and public
schools. \e set out to ocus on public
schools. Grade and high schools are
critical areas because they receie less than
uniersities.`

1here`s also the issue o sustainability.
1hese PCs are good or, at most, ie
years. \ill that require a new round o
donations and logistical support In all
cases, these projects were implemented
with the objectie that the schools and the
community sustain the operation o the
computer labs.

D1I ound out that teachers, school
administrators, out-o-school youth,
community members, the Parents-
1eachers Association, local goernment
units, and goernment oicials also use
the computer labs. Microsot`s computer
lab in Bondoc has such a ast Internet
connection that people outside the school
regularly go there to use the computers.

1he computer labs or the schools hae
also become computer labs or the entire
community, where outsiders gain access to
their usage. Some like Ayala and
Microsot hae, in act, encouraged this
trend, arguing that usage is being
maximized. Deriquito notes that their
iLink project was borne out o Project
\outh 1ech, when members o the
community started using the schools`
computer labs.

\et, there`s the danger o accelerating the
wear and tear o the computers when
eeryone in the community uses them.
But computer training or teachers and
administrators oten include training on
maintenance. 1he schools, ater the
warranty expiration, are expected to end
or themseles. Riera says, \e make
sure that they can sustain them. \e gie
training on using the computers and
technical troubleshooting.`

1he schools, and the community, are
likewise expected to ind ways to generate
some reenue to support the computers
upkeep and een upgrade, by charging
non-students or access, doing undraising
actiities, or getting donations rom the
local community.

Besides, the computer labs can sere as a
catalyst or community deelopment,
Maralit explains, or instance, that schools
located in communities with no electricity
but want to participate in the project are
prompted to ind ways to get inancial
support. Leryone beneits once a local
oicial or rich donor inance the
O
electriication o the school and in,
extension, the entire community.

Another important issue is usage. Are the
labs being used at all Are they being
maximized

Usage is now the key,` says Luz. 1hat`s
why ConnectLD.ph has shited its ocus
on content and training. 1racking usage
includes looking at the olume and time
used in accessing the computers. Luz says,
\e want to make sure they`re going to
use it or learning and teaching.` 1he
challenge is to get the students to start
using the Internet or e-mail and research.
1hrough collaborating with students rom
other schools, they may know how
dierse their cultures are.` le adds, 1his
can be a nation-building medium. It can
hae a business application. 1here are
huge possibilities, but it doesn`t happen
oernight.`

Ayala loundation has a one-year
monitoring and ealuation tool or Project
\outh 1ech. It looks at actual usage o the
acilities as well as the kind o access they
proide to students. Deriquito says, \e
look at the impact on students. Do they
embark on I1 projects Are they more
interested in I1` Still, it`s not as easy as it
sounds. lor the Cisco project Ayala
supports, Derequito notes the low
employment rate o the irst batch o
graduates, although the oundation has yet
to pinpoint i the reason is the poor
economic condition and discouraging job
market or the eectieness o the
program.

IBM has benchmarks or all its projects.
Nacario says that or KidSmart, the
measure includes the number o students
and teachers exposed. She adds they also
look at the eects on the children and the
linkages with other groups that result
rom the project.

1he D1I sent out a monitoring orm to
all beneiciary schools to determine usage
and technical problems. So ar, it has
receied eedback rom 61 rom Luzon-
based schools. A total o 110 thousand
students use the PCs. But it has captured
only usage o the labs, not the eect on
the perormance o the beneiciary
schools and indiidual students. Maralit
acknowledges that gien time to assess,
we can ealuate the school`s perormance
and eect on the economy.` But it might
take one to three years, she adds.

At best, there is anecdotal eidence o the
project`s success. Maralit proudly says,
1wo o our schools won in the national
Cyberair or public and priate schools.
1he Antique National ligh School won
irst place and will go on to compete in
the international competition. 1he
Zamboanga National ligh School won
second place.` She adds that an Iugao
boy was a proincial winner in a
spreadsheet preparation contest. Indeed,
these are notable achieements, gien that
these students receie the PCs or only a
year.

Microsot also looks at similar measures,
such as the number o students who use
the labs and the number o teachers
trained. It also takes note when students
win in computer-related contests or i they
get scholarships.

Luz obseres it`s beginning to see
progress, as when \eb sites deeloped
by public school kids can compete with
priate school kids. Both now hae access
to the same thing.`

But he admits measuring the perormance
o schools and the students is diicult,
especially with the remoal o the
National Secondary Achieement 1est
,NSA1,. 1here`s no standardized test. At
some point in time, there has to be some
measurement. \e won`t know i their
perormance improed.`

So, the most critical issue is this: are all
these eorts in bridging the digital diide
working

1he AIM report noted that 68 o the
respondents hae no system or
monitoring projects unded and hae
no system or ealuating them. 39 do
not een plan or reiew their corporate
giing. At least, with the companies,
goernment agencies, and oundations
working on the computer laboratory
projects, they hae measures on usage and
the number o students and teachers
trained.

\et, the most important measures o all-
impact on academic perormance and
leel o computer proiciency-hae yet
to be captured.

But, o course, this isn`t to say the
admirable work and inancial support o
the people and organizations inoled in
this endeaor are wasted. lar rom it.
Giing hundreds o thousands o students
and teachers access to computers and the
Internet indeed brings tremendous
opportunities and possibilities. 1hese
organizations should be emulated. But the
greatest gratiication comes with knowing
that not only that they`e made sincere
eorts in bridging the digital diide but
that those eorts-one billion pesos
worth-hae made all the dierence.



SIDLBARS:

PROIILLS IN PHILAN1HROPY:
Department of 1rade and Industry
Lxecutie Director: Dita Maralit,
Director, Oice o Special Concerns
Project: PCs or Public Schools Project
,PCPS,
Inestment: P600 million
Number o schools: 966
Number o students: 300,000
Number o teachers: 4,980
In the pipeline: a new grant rom the
Japanese goernment, but with smaller
packages

On the goernment side, the most high-
proile initiatie is the PCs or Public
Schools Project` ,PCPS, o the
Department o 1rade and Industry ,D1I,,
spearheaded by Secretary Manuel Roxas
II. 1he other departments pursuing a
similar undertaking are the Department o
Science and 1echnology and the
Department o Lducation.

But it`s the ambitious PCPS initiatie that
is making the most impact. Maralit, who
oersees the project, calls it the single
biggest purchase o PCs in the
Philippines, i not in Asia`.

Maralit said that Sec. Roxas wanted to
promote the country as an I1 destination,
realizing that I1 can be a competitie
adantage. But a major impediment was
the deteriorating quality o education.
1here was an apparent need to strengthen
I1 skills in our human resources.
Increasing computer literacy among public
high school students seemed too costly an
undertaking. loweer, Maralit points out,
1here were existing programs by DepLd
and DOS1 but we needed to hurry.`

1he opportunity came when ,then,
President Lstrada went to Japan, and the
Secretary with him,` Maralit narrates. 1he
Japanese goernment gae a P600 million
grant to proide PCs or one thousand
public high schools, or roughly twenty
PCs per school. 1he package also included
two inkjet printers, a modem, an external
CD-ROM drie, and an installation kit. By
the end o 2000, the proposed project was
approed, and the unds were released
ie months later. 1he D1I started
bidding by lots soon thereater, which was
completed by December 2001.

A task orce was also ormed to establish
the criteria or identiying beneiciary
schools, which was assigned to the
Department o Lducation. About hal
came rom Luzon and the rest rom
Visayas and Mindanao, which was
relectie o the total number o schools
in each area. By this time, howeer, the
P600 million grant was enough or only
994 schools, as the dollar exchange rate
had drastically changed by the time the
D1I deliered the equipment. 1he
department was able to look or additional
unding or 2 schools, to make a total o
996 schools, or around 19,920 PCs.

In the irst year o its implementation,
4,980 teachers and school personnel hae
passed two-day training on basic PC
operations, troubleshooting, and
maintenance. 941 master teachers
completed the Intel 1each to the luture
Program, who, in turn, trained 19,069
school-based teachers. Oer 300 thousand
students hae learned to do word
processing, spreadsheets, and
presentations in a recently introduced
computer education curriculum by the
Department o Lducation.

lortunately, the Japanese goernment was
happy with the way the project was
implemented and with the results. Maralit
says, \e submitted a proposal or phase
two. And it`s now approed in principle.`
loweer, this time, the package is smaller,
with around 10 PCs per school, while or
the bigger schools, D1I is considering
additional PCs.

Maralit is most proud o the integrity and
transparency o the project, a rarity in
goernment. \e were careul during the
bidding, een now, especially as we hae
to make them ,suppliers, comply with the
warranty.`

PROIILLS IN PHILAN1HROPY:
ConnectLD.ph
Lxecutie Director: Guillermo Luz
Project: PCs or Public Schools Project
,PCPS,
Inestment: P100 million
Number o schools: 103 ,wired 19 PCPS
schools,
In the pipeline: a partnership with the
Philippine Normal Uniersity to set up
computer labs

1he priate sector counterpart to the
PCPS project was ConnectLD.ph, a
consortium o companies and
oundations. 1he objectie was ar more
modest: target 100 public high schools on
top o the PCPS project, while connecting
part o the standalone computer labs o
the PCPS projects to a local area network
,LAN, and to the Internet. In total,
ConnectLD.ph has raised some P100
million rom the priate sector and local
communities or the 100 schools ,about
P800 thousand rom the consortium and
P200 thousand rom the beneiciary
school`s local community as required
counterpart unds,.

Makati Business Club Lxecutie Director
Guillermo Luz, who spearheads
ConnectLD.ph, notes, \e`re complete
as ar as targets are concerned. \e`e
done 103 schools on our own.` It also
helped out around 19 schools belonging
to the PCPS project get connected to a
LAN and the Internet. It inished training
o master teachers or 94 ConnectLD.ph
schools and implemented
telecollaboration projects, usually
collaboratie science projects shared by
arious schools, or 41 ConnectLD.ph
schools.

le adds, \e`re looking at a partnership
with the Philippine Normal Uniersity or
a lab school. It`s important because it
trains all teachers in the country. All
graduates become public school teachers.`
1his allows ConnectLD.Pl to monitor
where they`ll be deployed. ConnectLD.ph
plans to equip the uniersity`s grade and
high schools with PCs and Internet
connection.

PROIILLS IN PHILAN1HROPY:
Philippine Business for Social
Progress
Lxecutie Director: Gil Salazar
Projects: Computer and Science
Laboratory Project, Project Big Star ,as
project manager o Mirant Philippines
loundation`s computer labs initiatie,
Inestment: P35 million in 2002
,including P1 million rom Mirant,
Number o schools: 20-

One o the earliest oundations to proide
computer labs to schools is the Philippine
Business or Social Progress ,PBSP,, a
world pioneer in corporate social
responsibility, haing been ormed in
190. PBSP began building standalone
computer labs in 1992 as a special
program.

PBSP Lxecutie Director Gil Salazar
admits that its computer labs program is
modest, haing built a little more than 20
labs: 1he objectie is not so much to
lood the country with computer labs but
to set up models so other groups
including the goernment can ollow.`

So ar, it has raised P35 million or such
projects, including P1 million rom
Mirant loundation or its Project Big Star,
a two-year program created to equip seen
campuses o the Philippine Science ligh
School with computer labs.

PBSP is also inoled in setting up
telecenters or speciic sectors, such as the
larmers Inotech Center. In 2002, PBSP
allocated around P10 million or its I1-
related social projects.

But its seenth 5-year plan that was
updated last year called or I1 as a
priority. Salazar says PBSP is ater two
things: low can we make use o I1 to
acilitate the deliery o serices to
beneiciary programs and how
beneiciaries can beneit rom I1.`

PROIILLS IN PHILAN1HROPY:
Ayala Ioundation
Lxecutie Director: Mario Deriquito,
Director, Center or Social Deelopment
Projects: Project \outh 1ech, iLink, Intel-
Ayala Computer Clubhouse, UP-Ayala
1echno Park, BridgeI1 text2teach
Inestment: P28 million since 2000 ,or
\outh 1ech,
Number o schools: 58
Number o students: 29,000
Number o teachers: 400
In the pipeline: 30 \outh 1ech labs and 4
iLink kiosks

1he Ayala loundation, one o the earliest
corporation oundations, haing been
established in 1961, has also been actie in
helping bridge the digital diide. As early
as 2000, it already had Project \outh
1ech, which likewise sets up computer
laboratories in public high schools, with
complete packages, including Internet
access, which became the template or the
ConnectLD.ph project.

Mario Deriquito, Ayala loundation
Director or the Center or Social
Deelopment, says, \outh 1ech was
borne out o the need o public high
schools. It`s based on a goernment study
which showed that o the more than our
thousand public high schools, only 30
percent hae PCs and 2 percent hae
Internet access.`

It`s targeting 100 schools and so ar, a
total o 58 schools hae receied Project
\outh 1ech laboratories, beneiting 29
thousand public high school students and
400 teachers.

Realizing that members o the local
community are using the school`s lab,
Ayala loundation decided to maximize
the reach o the project by extending its
use. So, it launched a new program called
Internet Learning Kiosk, or iLink, to
complement Project \outh 1ech, with an
initial P4 million rom Ayala Corporation
and Mitsubishi Corporation Manila, or
pilot acilities in Manila, Caite, Cebu, and
Cagayan de Oro.

1his year, it plans to set up 30 more
\outh 1ech labs and 4 more iLink kiosks.

In 2001, Ayala loundation orged a
partnership with the Uniersity o the
Philippines to build the UP-Ayala 1echno
Park, a community o technology-based
entrepreneurs. Its other partnerships
include the Ayala-Intel Computer
Clubhouse, sering as project manager,
the Jaa Research and Deelopment
Center with UP, Sun Microsystems, and
Mirant loundation, the Cisco Academic
Network, unding Cisco bundles, and
Barangay.Net, handling the secretariat o
the project.

Its latest participation in education is
text2teach, a BridgeI1 initiatie, pilot-
tested in the Philippines in 40 public
elementary schools. Lach school gets a
1V set, a Nokia knowledge box, a satellite
dish, and cell phone. I a teacher wants to
discuss a topic, say, olcanoes, she`d send
a text message to Pearson, a content
proider, which uploads the material to a
serer managed by Nokia and transmitted
by satellite, stored in the set top box, and
iewed on the 1V set. Ayala loundation
deeloped the curriculum and trained 80
teachers, sering as project manager

PROIILLS IN PHILAN1HROPY:
Microsoft Philippines
Project lead: Mae Riera, Corporate
Communications Manager
Projects: Connected Learning Community
,CLC,
Inestment: P50 million since 1999
Number o schools: 22
Number o students: 25,000
Number o teachers: 300
In the pipeline: 5 labs

Microsot Philippines has its Connected
Learning Communities ,CLC, project,
which is actually a homegrown project
started by Sam Jacoba in 1999. Riera
says, 1he irst couple o years, we literally
went around,` going as ar as Samar,
interiewing schools. Like Ayala
loundation and ConnectLD.ph,
Microsot proides Internet access with its
PC labs, plus a scanner, printer, digital
camera, and, o course, Microsot
sotware.

Riera says, \e`e been doing it or our
years. \e started with one school. \e
ound out that i there`s no training and
connection, it doesn`t work.` So,
Microsot added training or both teachers
and principals ,300 teachers and 400
parents hae been trained,. So ar, the
CLC projects boasts o 22 schools in
really remote areas`, spending some P50
million since 1999 and beneiting some 25
thousand students.

PROIILLS IN PHILAN1HROPY:
IBM Philippines
Project lead: Bernadette Nacario,
Country Manager, Marketing
Projects: KidSmart Larly Learning
Program, 1ryScience, Computer Lyes,
Lxcite Camp
Inestment: P9 million in 2002 ,including
P5 million PBSP member contribution,
Number o institutions: 50
Number o students: 400,000
Number o teachers: 200
In the pipeline: 20 KidSmart beneiciaries,
a partnership with the Philippine Normal
Uniersity to set up computer labs

IBM Philippines also has a long history o
corporate philanthropy, being a ounding
member o PBSP and the irst I1
company in the country, although likely,
they`e been doing it een long beore,`
notes Richard Burgos, Communications
Manager, who, until recently, handled
IBM Philippines` community relations or
three years.

Central to IBM`s community relations
initiaties is the Kidsmart Larly Learning
Program. IBM proides what it calls its
\oung Lxplorer, a personal computer
encased in Little 1ikes` urniture and
loaded with Ldmark educational sotware,
targeted at preschool children by
proiding such computers to day care
centers, pre-schools, and children
museums. Nacario, who`s Country
Manager or Marketing and now heads
IBM`s community relations, says that 40
institutions hae gien donations to this
program, with 200 teachers trained and
200 thousand students exposed.

Another global program us 1ryScience, a
\eb site ,www.tryscience.org, deeloped
in partnership with the New \ork lall o
Science and he Association o Science-
1echnology Centers. 1he site eatures
interactie exhibits, experiments, lie \eb
cameras, irtual ield trips, science in the
news, and a special Discoer Lxtremes`
adenture at Star 1rek`s Starleet
Academy. IBM Philippines has been
putting up kiosks linked to the 1ryScience
site or children with no access to the
Internet rom home or school.

ComputerLyes, on the other hand, is a
local project or the disabled. Already on
its third year, the ComputerLyes program
trains blind students how to use the
computer and the Internet. And, o
course, IBM Philippines, in a joint enture
with SM loundation, built two I1
colleges, the Asia Paciic College ,APC, in
1991 and Last Asia College in 1992.

Last year, IBM Philippines spent P4
million or its local projects, aside rom its
P5 million unrestricted donation as PBSP
member.

Its latest project is Lxcite Camp. Nacario
and Burgos explain that the ocus o this
initiatie is on to get high school girls
exposed to the idea o pursuing an I1
career. 1his is basically a mentoring
program, with the girls gien the
opportunity to know how it`s like to work
in an I1 enironment. lor the irst camp,
students rom Assumption College will
participate.

IBM is also planning to support the
Philippine \omen Uniersity, a premier
teacher training institution, chosen
primarily or its research capability.
Burgos explains that IBM will set up
computer labs in the in-house pre-school
that will beneit students and expose new
teachers to new technology.

1his year, the company plans to gie
\oung Lxplorer units to 20 institutions. It
will also support the Bantay Bata project
o ABS-CBN loundation or a children`s
illage.

PROIILLS IN PHILAN1HROPY:
Intel Philippines
Project lead: Chit Ventura, Public Aairs
Projects: 1each to the luture, Intel
Philippine Science lair, Ayala-Intel
Computer Clubhouse, Mobile I1
Classroom and Project RISL
Inestment: >20,000 or each Clubhouse
Number o clubhouses: 3
Number o students: 25,000
Number o teachers: 35,000

Intel Philippines, on the other hand,
implements global initiaties under its
Intel Innoation in Lducation program,
including the Intel 1each to the luture
and the Intel Computer Clubhouse.

Ventura notes that Intel has initiated
social projects since it established its plant
in 194, albeit not as large scale.

1he Intel 1each to the luture program
has trained 35 thousand teachers in using
computers or instruction. Lach master
teacher is committed to train 20
participant teachers in their respectie
schools. It consists o a 10-day training o
40 hours lecture and 40 hours hands-on
exercises. Ventura adds, More
importantly, we hae proided a model on
IC1 integration in the curriculum, which
can be adopted by the Department o
Lducation.`

Intel Philippines also resered three
computer clubhouses o the 100
clubhouses Intel Corporation pledged
worldwide, proiding unding o around
>20 thousand per clubhouse. Dubbed the
Ayala-Intel Computer Clubhouse, with
Ayala loundation as project manager, it`s
intended to proide a sae, ater-school
acility or underpriileged youth to
deelop creatie pursuits using the
acility`s technology. Around 385 kids
regularly go to the current two clubhouses
in Makati and Caite.

Apart rom its global projects, Intel
Philippines supports other related
programs. Ventura explains, \e do
proide unding or projects outside
Intel`s own initiaties. lor example, we
unded DOS1 projects like the Mobile I1
Classroom and Project RISL ,Rescue
Initiaties in Science Lducation,. Most o
the projects that we und support our
goal, which is to improe science and
technology education in the country.`

She adds, 1ogether with the Department
o Lducation and the Department o
Science and 1echnology, Intel Philippines
has sponsored talented and award-
winning students to the Intel International
Science and Lngineering lair ,Intel ISLl,.
Last year, the Philippines scored three
major wins in the international eent:
Second Grand Award Indiidual Category
in Microbiology, lirst Grand Award 1eam
Category in Physics and the Intel
Lxcellence in 1eaching Award which was
won by Dr. Josette Biyo, Asia`s irst
recipient o the accolade.`