Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation
Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation (TMPF) pursues CSR projects that manifest the sincere commitment of Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) to support the communities where it operates. Despite the challenges throughout 2020, TMPF strived to sustain its social and humanitarian projects in education, health, environment, and community service.
Disaster Response
During the first month of the year, the country witnessed the eruption of Taal Volcano, which not only caused the closure of businesses in the vicinity, but also forced hundreds of families to evacuate to safer grounds.
TMP swiftly took action and pledged Php2 million as aid for evacuees in regional relief centers in Batangas and Laguna. The company announced the donation during its annual media thanksgiving event, which was scaled down to allow TMP to reallocate resources for the victims of the eruption.
Community Service in the time of Covid-19
As a result of the pandemic, TMP focused its community service initiatives on how it can help make the health and economic situation more tolerable for the communities it serves. Immediately after the first stringent lockdown was implemented, the company moved swiftly to provide mobility support and special assistance to its customers.
To help health care workers travel to and from their places of work while public transportation was suspended, TMP coordinated with various local government units and hospitals to utilize company-owned vehicles as shuttle for doctors, nurses, and other frontline workers serving in various health care institutions
Dozens of Toyota vehicles were mobilized to help bring urgent care to patients, while TMP also lent some units to volunteer groups who distributed personal protective equipment (PPE) to various hospitals.
TMP also partnered with the Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF), an independent non-profit organization aimed at enabling mobility for all, to provide sanitized, just-in-time transportation services for the health care frontliners of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
Collaborating with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in its ‘Free Ride for Health Workers Program,’ TMP and TMF provided ten free shuttle vehicles equipped with the free SWATRide booking app for the daily use of around 200 health care workers of the PGH.
In coordination with the DOTr, TMP provided the SWATRide booking app for point-to-point (P2P) buses plying the UP Town Center – Glorietta 3 route from July to October.
TMPF also provided in-kind donations to health care workers and families that needed support. Various PPEs, including isolation and surgical gowns, as well as surgical gloves, were donated to the Santa Rosa Community Hospital, while sacks of rice and grocery packages were distributed to hard-to-reach areas and communities, including the Toyota Santa Rosa Gawad Kalinga Village, which is home to more than 150 families.
Realizing that pandemic-related work suspensions came with widespread financial hardship for displaced workers, Toyota Financial Services Philippines (TFS) extended the payment terms for its customers. Likewise, TFS also extended expiring insurance policies under Toyota Insure and warranty coverage for Toyota vehicles. The company also provided a 30-day grace period for Toyota vehicles scheduled for periodic maintenance services. Toyota Mastercard credit card holders were also given Petron fuel rebates in the latter half of April.
TMP also partnered with the Department of Health (DOH) to support the government’s efforts to address the mobility needs of healthcare workers. In line with this, the company donated a total of 30 Vios units to various public hospitals in Metro Manila and Laguna.
Toyota also donated a total of 43,000 face masks, made through its in-house production initiative, to its supported communities. The beneficiaries included Pulong Santa Cruz Barangay Hall, Pulong Santa Cruz Elementary School, and Toyota-City of Santa Rosa-Gawad Kalinga Village in Laguna. In Batangas, face masks were turned over to the Lian Fisherfolk Association, TMP’s partner for environment related CSR activities.
The company constantly updated its digital platforms to make information readily available online and to ensure that it continues to address its customers’ needs despite the pandemic-related mobility restrictions.
Environment
Despite the economic challenges brought about by the pandemic, which forced many organizations to refocus their strategies toward survival, TMP continued with its CSR initiatives for the environment.
In February, TMPF partnered with the University of the Philippines (UP) Marine Science Institute (UPMSI) for the construction of an educational exhibit and training center at the UP Puerto Galera Biodiversity and Environmental Research and Outreach Center in Oriental Mindoro. TMPF committed a total of Php2.9 million for the new training center and the creation of modules on the protection and preservation of the Verde Island Passage, the acknowledged Center of Marine Shorefish Biodiversity and the main source of livelihood for two million locals.
TMP also made an agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the local government of Lian, Batangas to clean-up, rehabilitate, and preserve a ten-hectare mangrove plantation area along the coastline. Under the agreement, TMP committed to plant 25,000 mangrove seedlings by 2023 and provide necessary resources to protect marine life and biodiversity in the area, while helping provide livelihood for the local community.
Throughout the company’s annual Toyota Environment Month in June, TMP conducted activities to promote environmental awareness, while integrating the new normal through online environment seminars and contests. The company also conducted a tree-planting activity with select team members at the Toyota Forest in Santa Rosa, Laguna, where a total of 200 seedlings were planted.
Education
Throughout 2020, TMPF continued to support its adopted school, the Pulong Santa Cruz Elementary School (PSCES) in Santa Rosa, Laguna, as it transitioned into the new normal mode of learning. With pandemic guidelines disallowing lower education levels to hold faceto-face classes, PSCES shifted to online and modular learning.
TMPF also donated 46 brand new laptop computers that to PSCES teachers can use for their online classes. In addition, approximately 4,000 printed learning modules were donated for the use of students in kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2.
To further support PSCES in its efforts to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in their community, TMPF provided other useful items such as thermal scanners, face shields, alcohol, antibacterial and germicidal soaps, disinfectant sprays, bleach solutions, disposable gloves, foot baths, spray tanks, and mops.
Awards
In 2020, TMP and the TMPF received awards for their outstanding CSR programs from the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists during the 4th Driven to Serve Awards ceremony. At the virtual event, TMP garnered two Gold Awards, one for its Vegetable Garden Project at PSCES, and another for the nationwide Start Your Impossible: National Mangrove-Planting and Coastal Clean-Up Activity, which engaged TMP employees and Toyota dealers across the country. The automaker also received a Silver Award for its Breast Cancer Awareness Project for the female faculty and staff of its adopted school.