LUCKILY, while surfing channels, I caught an interview of a friend, Walter Brown, the president of Philex Mining, who turned an otherwise plain-jane business chat into a more interesting one stressing what their company does vis-a-vis the environment. From what I heard, and from what I know of the company from its past history, we actually have a mining company that walks the environmental talk.
One of the biggest violators of environmental concerns is usually the mining industry. Philex, per Walter Brown, builds total environmental concern into its business and operating plans. They don’t react to problems of this nature; they anticipate them and put plans into motion that either neutralize or eliminate the more negative aspects of mining. They end up with more trees than found in the original areas. Tailings ponds are built way beyond specs and, hopefully, follow what is practiced abroad by way of putting in proper safeguards to prevent both spillage and leaching. Their employees are cared for as human beings, not as chattel. Even their work with tribal and local groups is planned beforehand, knowing full well the various problems they are up against in trying to navigate these potentially treacherous areas, many of which extend into the political realm.
All in all, it was an interesting talk. Not that I expected less from the man, knowing that Walter’s basic core human virtues and spiritual values do not allow him to play the game in the cheap or tawdry manner that some others do.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Dear JMJFernandez,
Very well said - I pray that those people take up the challenge as we know -this would be “going against the grain” of busines practice.
Your added article on the “walking the environment talk” re/ white sand beaches being “carted away” was very revealing as I heard this comment when I visited the white sand at Ja-saan, Misamis Oriental- which at this time was reduced to a mere less than a hectare- but did not believe such activity can be pursued at length. But again, thanks to your foresight and vigilance then as OIC-GM of the Tourism Authority.
January 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Dear Benny P,
Wouldn’t this world be a much nicer place if many more top company honchos or govt leaders cared more for their fellowmen and for the environment? Most top executives tend to look at these at Expense items, failing to consider that, for example, uplifting entire communities leads to more prosperous people and, ergo, better spending power in the marketplace. As the famous proverb says, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
January 1st, 2008 at 12:12 am
Kudos to writers like you and to company presidents like Walter Brown. This just goes to prove that business can still prosper & profit with a built-in system that does not harm the environment. If only Philex’s example is replicated throughout the industry or better still all through the businesses community - we would perhaps leave a better legacy for the future generations.