ASG Speech at the United Nations New York (Sept. 8, 2011)
I.
II.
III.
Introduction
Who is SM?
SM’s 4-pt Strategy in Promoting a
Non-Handicapping, Barrier-Free
Environment
1. Creation of committee on disability affairs
2. Planning
3. Training
4. Information Campaign
a. employees
b. tenants
c. general public
d. Phil. Retail Association
e. League of Corporate Foundation
f. Katipunan ng Kapansanan sa Pilipinas Inc.
g. Dept of interior & Local Govt
h. Senate Committee on Social Justice
Welfare & Rural development
i. APCD/ United Nations Bangkok
1. UNESCASP/ APCD High Level
Stakeholders Workshop on
Improvement of people with
disabilities & a barrier-free
society through networking &
collaboration
(june 16-18, 2007)
2. High level Inter-Governmental
meeting on the Mid-Point Review of
the Asian and Pacific Decade of
Disabled Persons, 2003-2012
(UN Bangkok, Sept. 19-21, 2008)
3. Senior official’s meeting on south-toSouth Cooperation on Disability.
“Inclusive Business Development for
Persons with Disability”
(UN Bangkok, Aug. 19-20, 2010)
4. APCD/Round Table Discussion on
Inclusive Business Environment
(UN Bangkok, June 28-29, 2011)
j. National Public Relations Congress
(Sept. 16-17, 2008, Hotel Intercontinental)
IV. SM Cares
1. Program on breastfeeding
2. Program on disability affairs
3. Program for the environment
4. Program for the youth & children
5. Program for women
6. Program for senior citizens/ elderly
7. Program for the ofw/ sm global pinoy
8. Program for tourism
9. Program for teachers/ educators
10. Program for social entrepreneurship
11 .Program on volunteerism
IV.
Other efforts
1. Unicef
2. SM Foundation
3. NGO;s
v. Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
Distinguished Guests
Ladies & Gentlemen
Good Afternoon!
My name is Annie S. Garcia representing the SM Supermalls..
We are truly honored to have been given this wonderful opportunity to join this forum
and share with you,
the initiatives of the SM Supermalls
on how we promote accessibility and provide a barrier free, non-handicapping
environment
and help create job opportunities for them.
First & foremost, we would like to take this time to thank the officials of the United
Nations for giving us the opportunity to
share with you today our program.
We take special note of the interest and encouragement given to us by our friends in
** The National Council on Disability Affairs
** Dep’t of Health
**Dept of Interior and Local Govt
**Mr. Akii Ninomiya, formerly with the Asia Pacific Development Center on Disability
**the UNESCAP
**Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) ,
**Unicef
**World Health Organization
We are grateful for having been given the special privilege
to share our program
in a Global Platform.
This has emboldened us to continue forging ahead.
I am privileged to serve the shopping center Management Corp. as President.
We are the operator of the SM Supermalls wholly owned by SM Prime holdings, a
publicly-listed company of the SM group of companies.
The SM Group is chaired by Mr Henry Sy sr,
our founder.
His eldest daughter Tessie Sy Coson is the Pres. of the SM group of companies
while his son mr Hans sy is the President of SM Prime Holdings.
(click)
After 26 years of existence, SM Supermalls today operates 43 shopping malls in the
Philippines we are currently enjoying an average occupancy rate of 98%.
Apart from all our SM cities and
SM supercenter malls,
it is worth mentioning that we are also operating another mall called the Podium which
is a joint venture with the international company called Keppel Singapore.
Collectively, we have 4 million square meters
of gross floor area
and attract some3.5 million people daily
across the country.
Our Targetted Market is primarily the Filipino Family coming from
the broad B & C segment of the middle class market and the upscale middle class.
The SM Supermalls has to date over 15,000 tenants!
(click – image of moa)
China
Our corporate direction towards owning up to our responsibilities on accessibilities goes
beyond Philippine operations.
We are currently operating 3
SM City malls in china.
Two malls are in the Fujian province, specifically in
Xiamen city and in Jinjang.
In 2006 we opened our third mall in china situated in the Sichuan province right in the
heart of the city of Chengdu.
We ensure that they too are in full compliance of codes respecting the rights of the
physically challenged.
In fact SM City Chengdu recently was given an award of recognition for their work with
the PWD’s.
(click - corp. vision)
CORPORATE VISION
As part of SM’s Corporate Vision,
we are committed to contributing to
a) National Development and
b) Maintaining Leadership in the
Shopping Mall Industry.
SM’s corporate strategy remains focused on 3 things:
1. increasing revenue generation,
2. reduction of costs and expenses,
and
3. increasing the efficiency in
operations to continuously be the
driver of growth of shareholder
value.
(click – view of crowd)
We have the privilege of serving millions of people daily but
we know that this comes with great responsibilities.
We are always continuously searching for ways to improve our service levels to our
customers.
(click – photos of lame/ blind/ happy walk)
Our experience has shown that physically challenged customers do come and visit our
malls with family members and friends
to enjoy family bonding time
and shopping pleasure within our facilities.
(photo of happy walk)
(photo of white cane day)
We realize that we have the responsibility to take care of every customer who walks into
our malls.
(click)
(photo of “role of sm in promoting ..”
HOW DID SM BEGIN PROMOTING A NON-HANDICAPPING ENVIRONMENT?
This is our story….
Several learning experiences in the past towards recognizing the needs of persons with
disability were noted in our malls.
This was enough for us to have began seeking guidance from experts.
We consulted heads of various organizations such as…
The Philippine Autism Society,
The Down Syndrome Society,
The National Council on Disability Affairs…
and some of our local government agencies.
Soon we found ourselves in a sea of divergent views and this opened us to new
directions & approaches.
Slowly, we realized that
we no longer just saw ourselves as mall administrators handling retail stores working for
profit.
We began to enlarge our duties
& started to integrate the role of being Public Servants as well.
We then quickly mapped out our strategy
and established
a 4-point program on how to achieve this.
1st Point of our Program –
Establish the Committee on Disability Affairs
One of our first realizations
was the need to create a Committee
that would handle cases on Disability Affairs within our business environment across the
country.
We wanted to transform our malls to becoming a non-handicapping environment.
The Program on Disability Affairs under the Umbrella Program of Corporate Social
Responsibilities of the SM Cares was created.
From the onset this successful program has been ably handled and chaired by my
colleague who is with us here this afternoon, our Vice-President for Operations,
Engineer Bien Mateo. He made sure he had a representative in every mall across the
country to assist him in carrying out the objective of the Program.
(click – design & planning stage)
2nd point – Design & Planning
The all important 2nd step
was to get our people to actively participate in the design & planning stage
of the construction of our new malls.
Our Managers started voicing out the need for the environment to be friendlier towards
the PWD’s.
In complying with the provisions of the Magna Carta for the disabled,
all our shopping centers should be made accessible to PWD’s.
This covers mall facilities such as
1) arrival and parking areas,
2) walkways & ramps
3) public phones & signages
4) entrances,
5) doorways,
6) corridors,
7) stairs,
8) elevators/ lifts,
9) toilet facilities,
10) drinking fountains
11) cinemas and IMAX theaters
12) Planetarium at the Science Discovery Center
12) foodcourts
13) dressing rooms
(click – photo of avp in construction site/ building)
Our architects and design teams started placing greater emphasis
on implementing the Accessibility Codes.
They now make sure
that the requirements are incorporated
into the design of every new shopping mall
that we construct precisely because we want a safe environment for the PWD’s.
Our newer malls have implemented the elevated pedestrian pathways on roads that
serve as humps for cars to slow down.
These same humps are also there to ensure
that these are accessible to the PWD’s that are crossing our road networks.
We have certainly realized that any financially sound company with responsible officers
and resources
can easily accomplish things like these.
But the SM culture is just like many other companies in that it always strives to level up
and achieve
more than where we started from.
We did many things in this Phase of our transformation:
1.We have learned to look back at our older & existing malls and began to upgrade our
facilities for the PWD’s.
(click – jimmy, ninomiya, hss, sr)
2.Moreover, SM began reaching out and interacting & learning from various
governmental agencies and NGO’s.
It is with great pride that we share with you all
our highly spirited & collaborative work
with the National Council for Disability Affairs in our country.
We would like to make special mention of the efforts of our blind architect friend,
Architect Jimmy Silva, and his colleague Architect Armand Eustaquio.
We are fortunate that in doing work for
The National Council for Disability Affairs,
They have also included visits to our shopping malls and have shown patience &
professionalism.
They have so generously given of her time and effort in providing us with directions/
guidance.
They have not only conducted numerous
seminars for our executives and Mall Managers and Security Officers
but have also shared their time educating our tenant store employees and thousands of
service personnel nationwide.
(click)
The changes that we have put in place
have resulted in recognition by no less than the President of the Philippines
who has conferred on some of our malls the highest award in this endeavor known as
the Apolinario Mabini Award.
These awards sit proudly in our offices as a testament of our commitment
and as a constant reminder for us
to continuously serve the PWD’s
in our business environment.
Proudly, we report that this year, the SM Supermalls has won 26 out of 32 Apolinario
Mabini Awards on being “best handicapped friendly malls” of the year,
(click – training)
3rd Point - Training
As our work for the PWD’s evolved from mere compliance to codes/ordinances in our
new and old malls,
we now found ourselves beginning point no. 3 of our program
of trying to make the SM Supermalls Barrier Free and a non-handicapping environment.
We began & spearheaded
projects nationwide
in support of our thrust
in caring for persons with disabilities through
numerous training sessions.
The orientation and training
of our staff
is done through various methods.
We conduct
1.regular training sessions for executives, managers, staff, tenant employees and
service personnel on how to assist persons with disabilities .
To make these training sessions meaningful, resource speakers from various
organizations are invited to share information about the physically challenged such as
the blind, the deaf and even those who are mentally challenged such as those that
suffer from autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and down-syndrome.
Tenant employees and service personnel
who are assigned to work in any SM Supermalls
have first to view a video
regarding our program for PWD’s
before they can be given an access or entry card to our malls.
(click)
2.Secondly, we also conduct quarterly general formation for all front liners such as
security guards, janitors & cashiers.
These early morning sessions tackle many mall operational issues.
However, we began to include the concerns on accessibility during these gatherings
and
have in fact requested our guest resource speakers from various ngos and
associations to address our service personnel directly.
It is in these sessions that we ingrain in all of our service frontliners,
the value of maintaining a non-handicapping environment that is truly safe & accessible
to the PWD’s.
(click)
3. thirdly, we conduct quarterly accessibility audits of all facilities for the pwd’s.
4.we have long established a working committee addressing concerns of the pwd’s
inside our malls.
Each mall has a team member assigned to the committee on disability affairs so that
concerns can be addressed properly, promptly and correctly.
They meet regularly to ensure that malls conduct physical evaluation & inspection of
our facilities for the pwd’s in accordance to standards.
They move around the country and review the design aspect of these facilities from the
point of view of pwd’s & make recommendations to undertake necessary improvements.
(click)
Point 4 – Information Drive
This now brings us to point No. 4 of our presentation…driving information on
accessibility to the general public who patronize our malls.
We have started to build awareness
so that shoppers also may understand
and lend their support to accessibility by: (click)
a.keeping the PWD’s access free at all times
b.giving priority to the PWD’s in elevators, lifts and ramps through proper installation of
signages.
c.teaching shoppers the importance of respecting
facilities for PWDs as
exclusive features such as designated parking slots, comfort rooms, cinema
seats/spaces.
(click)
d.all our cinemas are now retrofited with wheelchair
amongst the best seats of the house.
slots conveniently located
e.All the drinking fountains in the foodcourts are designed to be accessible to people in
wheelchairs.
f. in coordination with the telecom companies, some payphones in our malls were
replaced to make it accessible to pwds.
(click)
g.supermarkets & hypermarkets have established priority check out lanes for the pwd’s
alongside with senior citizens.
h. the SM dept store has, likewise,
began to retrofit some of their fitting rooms to allow access of those customers on
wheelchairs.
i.shoppers discover special store concepts in our malls which have provided
employment opportunities for the blind such as the massage & spa store concepts in 3
of our malls.
(click)
j.the SM Foundation together with local government agencies have held several job
fairs for PWD’s.
(click)
k.SM Supermalls has also showcased
challenged.
special musical talents of the
physically
We have also hired photographers who are deaf to cover photo shorts of events in our
malls.
We have also employed deaf elevator operators across our malls natiowide.
(click)
l.
in July 2007, we expanded the training of our people on how to assist people
with hearing impairments, basic sign language ,workshop has been added to the
training module of our frontliners.
m) in July 2007, we addressed the league of corporate foundations and shared with
them our initiatives.
with the altruistic view that other companies could innovate and include the PWD’s in
their respective programs on corporate social responsibilities.
n.on february 2008 we issued a circular to all our
tenants informing them about
republic act 9442
which require stores to extend courtesy discount of 20% to
PWD’s.
EFFORTS WITH THE PHILIPPINE
RETAILERS ASSOCIATION
In 2008, we were given the opportunity to present our program on PWD’s to the entire
body of the Philippine Retailers Association.
While we are one in the retailing industry, we are also each other’s fiercest competitors.
However, we stressed that the challenge of providing a barrier-free and inclusive
business environment for PWD’s,
is beyond business competition.
We believe
it is a service to our own people,
for the good of our own communities and our country.
We spoke to them about our Special customers…
the customers who need greater understanding,
the ones that need our eyes,
our ears,
our legs,
our minds,
our strength
and more importantly our hearts!
We expressed our belief that business is part of the process of human development.
We are happy to share that
our colleagues
in the Philippine Retailing industry have taken
to adapting measures
to support our views
for PWD’s right to a barrier-free and inclusive environment in their businesses.
Moreover, as part of our campaign to effect a positive change in the attitude of the mall
goers and the community towards them
we have changed yearly commemorative celebrations of PWD days to
all year-round activities in all our strategically located 37 shopping malls around the
country
to promote an inclusive environment.
When we do these celebratory activities
for the PWD causes
simultaneously and nationwide,
we know we create ripples
and make a statement
and hope that others may take their cue
and do their share.
SENSORY FRIENDLY FILMS
The SM Supermalls has pioneered the “sensory friendly movies”
in our SM Cinemas in collaboration with the Autism Society of the Philippines done
exclusively for persons with autism and their families.
The sound system is toned down
and the pilot lights are turned on for the entire duration of the movie.
Many families with special children have told us
that until then
they have never had
the opportunity to watch a movie for fear the other movie-goers will not appreciate the
behavior of their special children inside the cinema.
But today they can enjoy that wonderful bonding time
just like everyone else.
Seeing the happiness on the faces of family members who have participated in these
“sensory friendly movies” is so rewarding for us in the SM Supermalls.
It makes our resolve stronger to find other ways to bring them happiness and good
cheer in our malls which we strive to be an inclusive environment for them.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Another recent innovation
is the activity on PWD integration through photography.
In working hard to look for other means to assist the PWD’s get integrated we met a lot
of like-minded individuals who generously shared their personal time and effort in
pushing forward our goals.
The SM Supermalls Program on Disability Affairs has collaborated with
Philippine Master Photographer John Chua,
who had started his advocacy in 2007
when he began regular exhibition of photographs entitled “Photography With a
Difference” or PWD.
Together with sponsors
who lent many of their
Point-&-Shoot cameras for
children with autism, they were able try their hand at taking photos
ably supervised by their families.
The photos they took were subsequently printed and exhibited in our shopping malls for
the public to view and appreciate.
Because of the success of such photography activities
we have attracted many other individual photographers and clubs who have volunteered
their time and services to the diff. PWD groups and the SM Supermalls Program on
Disability Affairs.
We try to sensitize as many people as we can to the fact that PWD’s and their families
have the same right to be happy
in doing things and enjoying places just like everyone else.
BOWLING
Our SM Bowling Centers
now provide
bowling ball roll guides
so that PWD’s on wheelchairs
can join in on the fun.
Additionally, we have also added Lane Guide Rails
for the visually impaired
who wish to bowl as well.
ICE SKATING RINKS
In our Ice Skating Rinks
special sleds have been provided
for PWD’s who wish
to experience gliding on ice
& feeling the snowflakes fall on their faces!
SCIENCE DISCOVERY
Our Science Discovery Center
built an exclusive bridge access
for wheelchair users
so they may enjoy the shows
inside the planetarium .
All these Sports and recreational facilities have been provided so that PWD’s in our
business environment may enjoy..
Just like everybody else.
SM AS PWD GROUPS HOME OF CELEBRATION
Our Malls have become regular venues for PWD organizations celebrating their
different advocacies.
The Angel’s Walk for autism and the Happy Walk for the down syndrome
are early morning parades
held at the Mall of Asia annually.
Crowds of over 5,000 people
come and celebrate the safe, barrier-free and inclusive environment
with their families and friends.
If only to emphasize
that we have become
a venue for commitment,
just recently our malls hosted
the celebration of the
National Disability Prevention Week
with various PWD organization
of different disabilities all together!!
We are grateful that
all of our activities for PWD’s
have been greatly received
and that such efforts somewhat contribute
to their integration into community.
Creation of other committees/ CSR under SM Cares
In addition to our program for PWD’s, we wish to take this opportunity to share with you
our other social corporate initiatives in caring for the Filipino family.
We have established various committees to focus and safeguard their different needs.
We have also now integrated them with our program on corporate social
responsibilities. We now have
IV. SM Cares
Program on
Breastfeeding
2.
Program on Disability
Affairs
3.
Program for the
environment
4.
Program for the Youth & Children
5. Program for Women
6. Program for Senior
Citizens/ elderly
7. Program for the ofw/
SM Global Pinoy
1.
8. Program for tourism
9. Program for teachers/
educators
10. Program for social
entrepreneurship
11 .Program on
volunteerism
Committee on Breastfeeding
It used to be that breastfeeding mothers who went to our malls with their babies would
have to go to our comfort rooms to breastfeed them.
After a discussion with a local ngo called the children for breastfeeding and nurturers of
the earth, we decided to innovate and set up breastfeeding stations in our malls
To date we have already set up 36 breastfeeding stations nationwide with the rest to
follow within the year.
Now breastfeeding mothers out shopping in our malls can feed their babies or simply
express milk in clean, secure & comfortable environment when the needs arise.
This move is in support of the needs of the filipino families that shop in our malls.
(click)
Committee on Women’s Affairs
The committee on women’s affairs handles interests on health, wellness, and rights of
women in our society.
(click)
Committee on Elderly Concerns
The mandate of the Committee on Elderly concerns is how to make sure that the elderly
or senior citizens are safe & comfortable when they are in any of our SM malls and that
their privileges can be fully enjoyed in our drugstores and restaurants amongst others.
Showing them the respect and care they deserve can be a truly enriching & rewarding
experience.
(click)
Committee on Children’s Welfare
The committee on children’s welfare ensures that the needs of the young ones are
attended to when they visit any of our malls.
This committee ensure that we promote the talents of children in a safe & positive
environment and that their rights are protected in our malls.
We heighten the awareness of the general public thru our malls on these rights of the
children and hope to foster better citizenry.
(click)
Committee on the Environment
The sm supermalls has spearheaded a number of environment-friendly programs for
many years now.
These include programs on
**energy efficiency
**solid waste management
**clean air
**water conservation
SM’s commitment to the environment is solified with an institutional partnership with
denr who provide technical assistance so that we can promote and implement
environmental programs.
(click)
Committee on OFW / SM Global Pinoy
Of our 90M population, over 11M Filipinos work overseas.
While all their $18.5B remittances to their families back home has definitely helped the
economy of our country, this diaspora has left an indelible mark of disunity on the hearts
of parents, spouses and children who are physically separated for long periods of time.
This Committee seeks to provide avenues of family reintegration and strengthening of
ties thru services given of communication via video conference calls and internet in
specially designed lounges in every SM Supermalls across the country.
CONCLUSION
Distinguished delegates,
today we have come together for a variety of reasons.
We believe we have been invited here today
so that may learn from you but also perhaps so we may share with various government
representatives
from many different countries
how we in private sector
try to make positive contributions
to the attainment of
Millenium Development Goals
by making PWD’s a part of our business...
by embedding the goals in our very own operations!
We are glad to have been given this opportunity to share
our work-in-progress
in making our shopping malls
a barrier-free and inclusive environment.
Our goals have long been set
which is to delight
every PWD and their family’s malling experience.
Yes it is about business
but yes
it is also
the SM Supermalls Corporate Vision and Mission to
reach out to our customers with special needs or PWD’s
because they too are our customers!
Ladies and gentlemen we want to achieve the higher and more altruistic & rewarding
goal of all which is to be contributory
in providing PWD’s a barrier-free and inclusive society
so that they too may find happiness.
The SM Supermalls shall continue to collaborate with organizations working with these
same goals such as APCD, JICA, UNESCAP together with other local, national and
international organizations that have the PWD’s as stakeholders.
We believe that collaboration is key to attaining our goals which is why forum such as
this is important.
What has essentially has happened to us since we began getting (click) involved with
accessibility, was...
…..a change in our ……attitude.
We realized that as we seriously took our program for the PWD’s one level higher after
another,
we acquired a new outlook
which has enhanced profoundly
the quality of our business.
We have had to teach ourselves on how to see things differently…
We began searching for more ways to inject greater understanding on the needs of our
varied shoppers…
how to reach out to everyone especially the PWD’s.
It has opened more avenues for our company and our people
to express and contribute our brand of hope
in this world
as we go about with our business and daily life.
We ask our people to face the realities of the PWD’s visiting our malls
and not to be indifferent or afraid to show individual and collective acts of concern and
kindness.
For it is in doing so that we make happiness, kindness and love come alive for our
physically challenged brothers
simply by making them know they are included and welcome in our malls and not just
accomodated,
where they can be safe while negotiating and enjoying the place with greater ease and
comfort.
Customer service, after all, is our business.
While we may provide the venue for PWD’s to enjoy the benefits of of our business
environment in the mall, it is also our hope that with the spirit of inclusion in the built up
environment, they can be integrated further into the workforce
In our efforts to try and achieve excellence in our services,
we recognize that there will always be some mistakes that will be committed and we will
continously face obstacles along the way.
But with every challenge we shall face,
will be met with a strong resolve to help us get closer to our goals.
we will not tire in making good our work.
(click)
What we, at the SM Supermalls remain committed to, is to have adopted…..
a new perspective
a new principle
a new vision
where persons with disabilities are important and productive members of society.
We commit to continously find ways and means to help them while they are in our
environment for in doing so we believe we are expressing the most powerful and
humane part of business organizations ….
Hopefully our efforts may lead others to offer and give equal importance if not more for
the PWD’s
(click)
We believe that private sector, such all of us in this room, have related mechanisms that
can support the objectives of the local government to move forward on disability and
development.
Private sector companies work hard to be the leader of the industry they are in.
Our business’s competitive nature of drive us all to excel, lead and innovate.
It is our belief that if more businesses speak of their csr’s then even other’s may follow
the lead or innovate.
If we all did something for pwd’s
then we, as an industry, would be contributing significantly to national development on
a totally different level.
Our collaboration with them would translate to activities which would run parallel to and
support local government efforts for this often neglected sector of society.
Furthermore, if pwd organizations approach companies such as ours and vice-versa,
and seek each other’s attention,
we shall all be rewarded, as we have been, with good relationships and
networking…and more!
for ladies and gentlemen,
all these are part of our bountiful harvest in this life.
Serving the PWD’s in the Shopping Center business was once seen simply as an
opportunity for Customer Service, but today having PWD’s in the malls is recognized in
our business as an opportunity to go beyond service & business…but rather an
opportunity to SERVE our people , to serve our country!
In working with PWD’s
we have seen & discovered that the road of life
that we use at work
is no different from the road we seek to one’s personal salvation.
We learned more significant ways to live our lives while working…by being helpful to
others and by always living a life of gratitude.
In closing,
allow me to quote a story
that the Reverend Desmond Tutu once told about
an old movie called
THE DEFIANT ONES.
In one scene, two convicts chained together had escape!
They both fell into a ditch with slippery sides.
One of them clawed his way up
near the top
and
was just about to make it.
But he could not!
His mate
to whom he was chained to
was still at the bottom
and dragged him down.
The only way they could escape to freedom
was to be together!
One convict was black while the other one was white:
a dramatic parable of their situation in South Africa.
So as the story goes...
The only way they could survive is to be TOGETHER,
The way to one’s personal salvation in this world
Is to help one another
and in doing so
meant being Together!
... black and white!
A great lesson ladies & gentlemen...
Isnt it ??
that the only way we can choose to live our life well
and be truly human
is
to help and love one another ...
rich and poor,
big and small,
young and old,
strong and weak,
able and differently -abled
government & private sector!
Differences are not intended
to separate,
to alienate.
We are different
precisely in order for us to realize our need to help one another!!
That we are not complete w/o being the other.
When we recognize our
common humanity,
that we belong together,
that our destinies are bound up and even intertwined in one another’s,
…that we can survive only together,
then we can live in harmony and PEACE
together as members of one human family!
Our journey as a corporation
is that of the Filipino people
who mark each day with hope and celebration!
We will continue to find opportunities
to use our strength in business
yes….first & foremost for business!
But more importantly
we also know
that we must constantly find our strength also
in behalf of others.
The SM Supermalls, has evolved from being just a shopping center to being
*a venue for change
*a venue for challenge &
commitment
*a venue for hope.
We would like to play
a more meaningful role
of being
THE PREFERRED PLACE for business of course...
to being the way of life for the community we serve,
to being a partner
of social and national development
in our country.
EMPOWERMENT
We know that it is truly all about understanding, communication that can bring about
empowerment.
To borrow the quote of
Mr. Frederick Miller of Suva from the Islands of Fiji as shared with us on June 2007
at the convention held at the United Nations in Bangkok
“Empowerment is not a Gift
It is a process of
Total Human Development
that has to be earned
in order to be owned.”
We believe this is why forums such as this one today
is truly significant in the General World Order because as stressed
‘empowerment is a process’
and today WE are all part of the process.
(click)
Today, we have presented to you our simple blueprint on how we empower the decision
to accessibility…..
“Be a man for others”….
“Embrace that belief”….
“And just do our share”...
Thank you very much to the UNITED NATIONS for inviting the SM Supermalls to
present in this forum because today our voice is also heard.
I am Annie Garcia representing the SM Supermalls from the Philippines.
-----end------