(Acknowledgments)
My friends, in my capacity as Vice President and Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, I often travel around the country to check on the government’s different housing programs. During these sorties, we usually have lunch or dinner in restaurants. And when we would order Coke along with our meals, oftentimes, the waiters tell me, “Mr. Vice President, there are different kinds of Cokes. Which do you want? We have Royal Cokes, Sprite Cokes, and Coke Cokes.”
Humor aside, this shows how influential Coca-Cola has been. The brand has become the name for any carbonated softdrink and in some cases, is even a measure of progress. In fact, it has been said that civilization is measured by Coke’s reach.
Now that Christmas is fast approaching, homes across the country will once again be busy preparing for their holiday feasts. And of course, Coke is sure to be a presence in many a banquet. Last Christmas it was my delight to learn that Coca-Cola Philippines itself made Christmas much more memorable for three of our kababayans. I am referring, of course, to your “The OFW Project” that we first saw on YouTube.
I was truly moved by the short feature that you produced. As the welfare of OFWs remains one my foremost duties, I was happy that you showed the rest of the country the faces behind the millions that work overseas in order to build better futures for themselves and their families.
While business is often driven by numbers and bottom lines, I am glad that Coca-Cola used its influence to focus the public’s attention on those who choose to endure great personal hardships so that others can live more comfortably. I am thankful that the project gave them the chance to come home to be with their families for Christmas, the ultimate gift any OFW could probably ask for.
The video also inspires those of us in government to work harder so that overseas employment becomes a choice rather than a necessity: the financial gain from an offshore job comes at a cost that can at times, be most difficult to bear and it remains my most fervent prayer that no father or mother will have to sail so far to find a decent job.
Moving towards this goal, I am glad that Coca-Cola is a committed partner in making the Philippines a better place to live, work and do business in. Your four key programs reflect your deep sense of corporate citizenship to bring happiness to your stakeholders. And your Little Red Schoolhouse Program, in particular, deserves special mention.
There is much that we can do to help people carve a decent life for themselves, but no greater tool for this purpose exists than education. Many of us here can personally vouch for this and I am thankful that Coca-Cola as an organization has chosen to give back to the country that has strongly embraced Coke, through investing in the education of our children.
I am also heartened by your efforts to economically empower our women, especially the sari-sari store owners and operators through your 5by20 STAR Program.
As Presidential Adviser on OFW Concerns, I am aware that most of the remittances sent by our Global Filipinos are used by their loved ones at home as capital or seed money to put up their own sari-sari stores. Obviously these are to be alternative sources for augmenting their incomes. In fact, most OFWs who decide to return home and stay for good turn to their sari-sari stores and develop these to become their main source of livelihood.
And while many have said that the sari-sari store is borne of the “isang kahig, isang tuka” or hand-to-mouth mentality of Filipinos, I choose to live positively – as your slogan urges us to – and believe that these iconic stores came to be because of our ingenuity and ability to find opportunity in the face of adversity.
Your 5by20 Star Program is the perfect complement to the existing programs of the government to help returning nationals engage in business and entrepreneurship. The P2-billion Reintegration Program, the National Reintegration Center for OFWs and the Department of Labor and Employment’s Livelihood Assistance Program are just some of the most prominent examples our preparation for our returning overseas workers for reintegration into our country.
Your company has also contributed immensely in promoting social awareness and civic involvement among our youth. I would like to single out your indispensable assistance to the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, of which I am the chairman, and by doing so you have helped in molding the character of over two million Boy Scouts, who will, without a doubt, grow up with a commitment to serve others and to stake their claim in the shaping of our nation’s future.
My friends, When I was a much younger man, I remember your slogan: Coke adds life. This year, you have used the slogans Open Happiness as well as 100 Taon Na Saya Sa Coke. In seeking to remain true to the slogans that capture both your identity and your mission, I ask that you continue to invest in our youth and our men and women. You have made a world of difference in the past century and those years give us much to remember and celebrate. I am certain, however, that all of us look forward to a new century of innovation that waits to be carved out.
“A brand is a living entity,” Disney’s Michael Eisner once said, adding that it is the product of a thousand small gestures. If Coca-Cola has lasted this long in the Philippines, I believe it is because of much more than the products you make. I think it is because your corporate culture is keenly aware that people are behind every aspect of business and that sincerely caring for people is good business. I am supremely confident that Coke as a brand and as a responsible corporate citizen shall continue to wield this most human touch, and for this reason, will remain the true companion of each household and community it enters.
You can’t beat the real thing, so they say. I wish you more victories in the next 100 years.
Congratulations to everyone.
Mabuhay kayong lahat.