Manila Electric Company - Corporate Responsibility Campaign of the Year

Company: Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), Manila, Philippines
Company Description: The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is the largest electric distribution utility in the Philippines powering a total of 5.6 million customers in its 9,337 sq. km. franchise area. Covering 31 cities and 80 municipalities, Meralco services approximately 25% of the total Philippine population located in the social, political and economic center in the Philippines.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Corporate Responsibility

Nomination Title: One for Trees: Helping Farmers Survive the Pandemic Through Sustainable Reforestation

In 2019, the Philippines' largest private-sector electric distributorManila Electric Company (Meralco) launched an environmental advocacy program called "One for Trees" to help nurture more trees in Philippine forests and watersheds in a sustainable way -- with a target of planting and nurturing at least three million trees in the next six years. In 2020, despite setbacks due to the COVID-19 crisis, the programenabled itspartner farmers to plant 87,271 trees, provided much-needed income for them and their families in the process, and openedup livelihood opportunities to help them weather through the healthcrisis.

According to data from the Philippine government, only about 24% of the Philippines' forest cover in the 1900s remains to this day. In an effort toaddress this, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) led a nationwide reforestation campaign dubbed the "National Greening Program (NGP)" in 2011.Unfortunately, despite the program's expansion in 2015, the Commission on Audit(COA), in its 2019 report, found that itmissed keytargets citing several factors including the lack of social and economic incentive on the part of people's organizations and local communities tapped to plant and nurture trees. It also proposed greater participation by the private sector to widen the reach of the program.

As part of its sustainability journey, Meralco expressed its commitment to contribute to the restoration and protection ofPhilippine forests by launching the "One for Trees" campaign -- its name derived from the code 1-4-3, which colloquially translates to "I Love You (I Love Trees, in the campaign's context)." To ensure that its long-term investment in the program leads to impactful results, the company designed the campaignsuch that it would address not just an environmental concern, but also the equally important social and economic needs that make reforestation truly sustainable.

To pilotits campaign, Meralco partnered with GreenEarth Heritage Foundation (GreenEarth), a non-profit organization thattrainslocal farmers in organic agroforestry, employs them,and provides technology access so they could process their produce into a more valuable product, thereby boosting their income. With the support of GreenEarth, a farming community in San Miguel, Bulacan provincehave developedanexport-quality powdered tea out of moringa (locally known as "malunggay"), which were sold in organic markets in several malls in Metro Manila. Due to financial constraints, expansion remained a challenge for GreenEarth. However, with Meralco's reforestation program, the farmers can both sustain their income (as tree farmers/nurturers)anddiversify their products since the programis hinged on an agroforestry framework.

For Meralco, GreenEarth wasan ideal partner for the following reasons: (1) itreceived an endowment of a 100-hectare agroforestry site on the foothills of the Sierra Madre, the longest mountain range in the Philippines -- eliminating the risk of the site being used for a different purpose; (2) its farmers are not only sustainably employed, their families are also provided free housing and education; (3) its community is self-sustaining -- which proved to be an advantage during the pandemic.

Despitethe pandemic, One for Trees' farmers were able to plant87,271 trees, and received an investment from Meralco ofmore than USD169,300 for 2020 alone, plus another USD150,000 in 2021 for the continued nurturing of the trees for three years, ensuring a higher survival rate.

1. EMPLOYMENT OF OUT-OF-WORK LABORERS
Due to restrictions on mass gatherings beginning March 2020, the farmers had to wait for these to be eased before they could startseedling propagation and planting site preparation. To make up for the unexpected delay, One for Trees employed more local laborers from the nearby community includingthose who lost their jobs to the pandemic. From35 farmers, the number of farmer-beneficiaries grew to more than 70 by the end of 2020.

2. COLLECTION OF INDIGENOUS SEEDS
Unable to access traditional sources of seeds and seedlings for propagation in the nursery due to the limited supplies during the pandemic, One for Trees encouraged the farmers to source out their seeds naturally: collecting seeds from naturally growing (indigenous) trees in the area. This workaround had economic benefits for them since what used to be an expense of procuring seedlings became an added income forthe farmers since they collectedthe seeds, and grew most of the seedlings.

3. CONSTRUCTION OF RAINWATER TANKS
To ensure that the seedlings survive during the dry season, One for Trees appropriated a budget for the construction of a concrete rainwater collection tank for every 500 seedlings planted. More than 170 tanks were constructed in 2020.

To take advantage of the high demand for healthy food options during the pandemic, the farmers also grew organicvegetables alongside the trees planted the year before (when the campaign was launched)and sold their fresh produce in Metro Manila.

1. A CNN Philippines Feature on the One for Trees Campaign
TV Network CNN Philippines aired a segment on its "Business Matters" public affairs programfeaturing the "One for Trees" program. It followed the experience of one of the beneficiary farmers who hopped from one planet-destructive job to another before finally finding the mission to become a champion for the environment as One for Trees tree caretaker. It was aired on national free-to-air television in December 2020. The feature generated PR value worth USD562,500.

Link to Aired Segment:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KThd4ww8vLACNXYtB_AIxQuhD2S3UycQ/view?usp=sharing

2. One for Trees Report "A Newfound Hope for the Planet" in One Meralco Foundation's 2020 Annual Report
The 2020 OMF Annual Report was released to the stockholders of Meralco and to the publicin May 2021 during the company's annual stockholders' meeting.The 'One for Trees' section in the report is found on pages 34 through 39.

Link to Annual Report (PDF):
https://meralcomain.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/2021-05/omf_2020_annual_report_for_web.pdf