Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Philippines:

EDC is Lauded for Corporate Social Responsibility after Typhoon Yolanda (Philippine Star)

Energy Development Corp.'s relief and rehabilitation efforts in Leyte should be the model for companies who desire to practice pro-active Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) whenever there is another natural calamity.

The real test [in recovering from natural disasters like Typhoon Yolanda] comes not in the willingness to donate money because that is the easiest part. But the company must accept that it is confronted with a situation where it must use its own human and intellectual resources in order to bring assistance to an environment where there is often a lack of social, physical and communications infrastructure. Business firms and non-governmental organizations need a model, or at the very least, a case study on how to practice real CSR in Yolanda-type of situations.

It is for this reason that I would recommend the story of Energy Development Corp. (EDC) and its relief and rehabilitation efforts in Leyte as the model for companies who desire to practice pro-active Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) whenever there is another natural calamity.

EDC is a Filipino company which is one of the world’s largest producers of geothermal energy. Its largest geothermal plant is located in Leyte. It is a pioneer in the renewable energy sector. The company has also become a multinational with investments in geothermal operations in Chile, Indonesia and Peru.

EDC’s Leyte geothermal production field straddles the Yolanda battered towns of Kananga and Ormoc City. This field is considered the world’s largest wet steamfield.

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