THE RECENT survey on corruption in Asia released by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) places the Philippines as the sixth most corrupt country in Asia in 2008. This is already a marked improvement from the country’s performance in 2007 when it was ranked the most corrupt country in the region then.

Bagging the title in 2008 is Indonesia, followed by Thailand, Cambodia, India and Vietnam. Perceived least corrupt in the region is Singapore, followed by Hong Kong, then Australia. (See story here.)

I first witnessed corruption as a young girl when I saw a jeepney driver slipping a P20 bill in between his driver’s license and LTO registration official receipt and handing this over to a policeman apprehending him in one of the major thoroughfares of Quezon City. When the policeman handed back his license and the jeep sped off, the driver chuckled and boasted to us passengers how he got away with just a P20 bill.
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BUSINESS ethics call for corporate social responsibility (CSR) where public interest is given top priority. One Filipino company has been showing the business world the way to do it, and it’s not just through talk, but through action.

At Lamoiyan Corporation, maker of Hapee Toothpaste, about 30 percent of the employees are hearing-impaired. Other people with similar handicaps are also accommodated. But realizing that there are still many more people outside the company needing help, Lamoiyan took it upon itself to support three schools and 14 centers that provide basic sign language courses to the hearing-impaired. Upon graduation, some students are sent to college as scholars, while others are hired by the company.

“The hearing-impaired number close to 500,000 in the Philippines. Only 40,000 of them get schooling,” revealed Dr. Cecilio K. Pedro, Lamoiyan Corporation president, in a short speech delivered during the Leadership Conference Series 2 presented recently by De La Salle University, PLDT-Smart Foundation, and Smart Infinity at Sofitel Philippine Plaza. (The main speaker during the said conference was former British prime minister Tony Blair.)
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HURRAY FOR PIGS. Swine wastewater is put to good use in the 1.1-megawatt biogas waste-to-energy project at Robina 12 Farm in San Miguel, Bulacan. A project of Hacienda Bio-Energy Corporation (HBC) and Philippine Bio-Sciences Company, Inc. (PhilBIO), the said project, which uses biogas recovered from advanced anaerobic digestion, is the largest biogas renewable energy project in the country.

In fact, the project is expected to capture gases equivalent to approximately 42,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually, which would otherwise be released to the atmosphere, further hastening global warming.

According to PhilBIO, the Robina 12 Farm project uses the next generation Covered In-Ground Anaerobic Reactor (CIGAR) technology. This ensures higher quantity and quality biogas. “The CIGAR is coupled with an on-site electric power generation plant utilizing the captured biogas (tested at 70 percent methane gas by volume) as fuel to generate electricity,” says PhilBIO in a statement.

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Today’s generation, dubbed Generation Q, is described as well-educated, passive, less radical, not socially engaged, but with high-paying jobs. But they are also optimists who will always have hope for the future. “How do we get our customers to give back?” asks Paolo del Rosario, marketing director of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Philippines, Inc.

“Sometimes all one needs is a start,” says del Rosario. This is what led CBTL to design a program to help spark the passion of this generation and stimulate the spirit of giving. Dubbed 12 Cups with The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: Give In to Giving, the program allows customers to get involved or help out in any or all of the 12 handpicked non-government and charity organizations involved in different causes.

“We want this holiday season to be what it’s about—giving. We tried to come up with different representation of organizations. There’s bound to be something that would be close to your heart,” says del Rosario.
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It’s Intellectual Property Rights week. Every last week of October has been named Intellectual Property Rights week by Presidential Proclamation No. 79.

Contrary to what most people think, intellectual property is more than just about battling pirated software and fake designer bags. It covers any creation of the mind—copyrights, trademarks or brands, patents, industrial designs, and undisclosed information. So that includes written works, audio visual creations, music, inventions, and distinctive marks, among others.

Have you protected your trademark already? How about copyrighting that catchy jingle or that unique product design? Think of them as your assets–and they are, intangible and valuable–that need protection. As we can see, they’re fairly easy to copy. Safeguarding IP assets is thus vital to ensure that artists, inventors, and innovators benefit from their creations.

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