People’s lives have been changed with free education and training, community development, and Covid response. Initiatives have reduced the human footprint in the environment, and more programs have focused on making our roads safer.
These are the direct results of 17 outstanding corporate social responsibility programs (CSR) funded and conducted by companies in the motoring industry.
In a simple recognition ceremony held via Zoom last April 6, 2022, the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ) named the recipients of the 5th Driven To Serve Award in the automotive and motorcycle divisions.
The award recognized the outstanding CSR programs in five categories: education and training, community development, road safety, environment, and Covid response.
Isuzu’s Heart and Smile program which supports the Isuzu-TESDA Automotive Mechanic Training Center since 2008, was recognized with the highest honor of the Driven To Serve platinum award in the education and training category. The school has graduated more than 300 young scholars, all of them gainfully employed at Isuzu and other automotive companies, and a few as entrepreneurs with their own shops.
Nobuaki Kosugi, general manager, sustainability department, Isuzu Motors Limited, Japan, accepted the award and gave the acceptance speech. The school is a special project funded and supported by IML Japan.
The gold Driven To Serve trophy for the same category was awarded to Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation for its basic education support for the Pulong Santa Cruz Elementary School in Santa Rosa, Laguna. To support the new hybrid schooling that was implemented due to the pandemic, Toyota donated computers for the teachers and printed lesson materials for the students to be able to learn through the online-hybrid method.
Other awardees in the following categories were: Community Development category in the automotive division: Gold for Ford Group Philippines’ Building Healthy Communities; and silver for Project SHARE (Suzuki Helps, Aids and Rebuilds); Road Safety category in the automotive division: Ford Group Philippines’ Driving Skills For Life (gold); Honda Cars Philippines’ Teen Smart- Road Safety for Teens (silver); and Suzuki Philippines’ Suzuki Safety Scouts (silver); In the motorcycle division, the silver DTS award was given to Suzuki Philippines for their Suzuki Safety Riding Webinar project; Covid response, automotive division, the following projects were recognized with the gold DTS award: COVID-19 Relief Philippines (Ford Philippines); and Mobility Support to COVID-19 Healthcare Frontliners (Toyota Motor Philippines); The silver DTS award was given to Honda Cars Philippines’ Assistance to Medical Frontliners during Pandemic; and the Suzuki Philippines’ Libreng Sakay Program for Healthcare Workers.
In the motorcycle division, Honda Philippines Inc.’s “Honda Foundation’s donation of 104 motorcycles to the Philippine Red Cross and donation of construction supplies to typhoon-affected houses in Catanduanes” was recognized with the gold DTS award. Suzuki Philippines’ “Suzuki lends Raider J Crossover to Medical Frontliners” project was awarded the bronze DTS.
For the environmental awareness and preservation category (automotive division), Honda Cars Philippines’ Bantay Baterya and Bantay Langis project was cited with the gold award.
The zoom awarding ceremony was attended by top executives of the motoring companies. Among them were: Hajime Koso, IPC president; Masahiko Nakamura, HCPI president and general manager; Ronald Gaspar of Toyota Foundation; and Ms. Josie Gonzalez, Ford Philippines.