Moving Forward, Adapting to Change

The year 2021 remained for PSFI, as challenging as 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic has continued to impact and affect the lives of most Filipinos as it has for the rest of the world. However, we continued to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable in the country through strengthening partnerships with the government, other NGOs, private institutions, and most importantly our host communities.

Approaching our 40th year in service to the Filipino people, we looked back at our programs and where we started in 1982, from our humble and modest beginnings, we have grown into a foundation that has helped the lives of millions of Filipinos. Aside from leveraging on the success of our pioneer programs such as Sanayan sa Kakayahang Industriyal (SKIL) and Movement against Malaria (MAM), which has garnered international acclaim and support from the Global Fund, we continue to create program that address the current needs of our fellow Filipinos and expanded our activities to more rural areas amidst the on-going pandemic.

As we went deeper into the pandemic in 2021, Pilipinas Shell remained steadfast and determined in its commitment to move the Filipino Forward. Challenges, sustained and new, with the gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions, continued to test our capacity to bring people where they needed to go, deliver essential goods, and power progress with our communities.

We have firmly stayed on course because we know that what we do makes a positive difference to our consumers, stakeholders, communities where we operate, and our economy – thus, our country.

This ethos is echoed in the endeavors that we do through our social development arm, Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. (PSFI). The Foundation has not only continued to carry out Pilipinas Shell‘s social investment programs in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), it has taken a step further by crafting Inputs to Impact Journey, its five-year strategy to better operate in the new normal.

Each year carries along change and Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. (PSFI) expects the same. Change has remained constant especially in the last couple of years, and the Foundation has continued to prepare and adapt to be able to deliver our commitment to the communities that we work with.

2021 is the year we were sought to truly embrace the new normal. The pandemic was no longer new, giving us the nudge to recalibrate our ways of working. We became more focused and used this time to reflect on our strategies and see how we will be able to further contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) more efficiently and effectively, thus the realization of PSFI’s 2021-2025 Strategy: Inputs to Impact Journey.

Anchoring on this, we continue to explore ways to strengthen our journey by the incorporation and measurement of environmental, social and governance investments in our programs, as well as integrating climate change into our activities.

The Philippines is among the most disaster-prone countries in the world. According to PAGASA, more tropical cyclones (TC) enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) than anywhere else globally. An average of 20 TCs enter the region each year, with around eight to nine crossing the country1. Coupled with the pandemic, the effects of these natural disasters have been amplified – with everyday Filipinos bearing the brunt of the impacts. As these issues recur and persist, PSFI continuously shows up for its communities. Our programs seek to bring much-needed relief to benefit those affected in the short- and long-term.

PSFI applied learnings from previous programs and structured the disaster response process from three pillars: 1) working within our fenceline communities, 2) assessing the needs and situation, 3) aligning with and securing funding support from the Shell companies, and 4) tapping into our partner organizations.

Nutrition and Food Security Amid the Pandemic The Philippine food inflation rate reached 6.2% in March 2021. According to the Social Weather Stations, one in five Filipinos did not have enough food on their table in 2020, which is double the record before the pandemic. About 22 million Filipinos suffer from food insecurity and are not able to produce sustainable meals, therefore resulting to chronic undernutrition. With the periodic lockdowns imposed due to COVID-19 and the typhoons that flooded areas of the country, farmers are left with washed-out farms and skyrocketing food prices.

Building Up Better, Healthier Lives Now more than ever, access to healthcare has become a growing concern across the country as individuals and families around the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic. Communicable diseases such as tuberculosis have long plagued the Philippines, which has been ranked as the 8th leading cause of death in the country as of 2018. With the novel coronavirus, better measures must be taken and institutions must be strengthened to better protect Filipinos.

Capacity-building, funding, and overall improvements to regional healthcare were cited by the Oxford Business Group as necessary for uplifting the current state of health and safety in the country. Doing so will not only help us better cope with COVID-19 but also prepare for and prevent future diseases and health crises.

Learning Amid Adversity

The Philippines is experiencing an education sector crisis as one of the five countries in the world that have not resumed on-site learning since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The disparity between students’ access to technology has proven to be a major roadblock in continuing education, as many do not have the resources they need to consistently participate in online learning.

On the other hand, the country’s fight against COVID-19 continued throughout 2021, with several waves of infection dampening chances for children to safely return to schools. Education and the economy were both disrupted as activities throughout the country were brought to a halt. Unemployment meant parents would have further difficulty in funding the studies of their children.

The World Bank Global Electrification Database shows that in 2019, approximately 95.6% of Filipinos have access to electricity. However, a study by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADB) shows that while supplying electricity to the cities, rural areas are being left behind. Despite the improvement of access to electricity in the country, the growing demand for electricity still remains. The Philippines is still suffering from energy insecurity and supply remains to be relatively scarce. There is an exponentially growing demand for electricity, although the supply is relatively scarce. Power outages are fairly frequent and the electricity rate is comparatively high.

Resilient Communities for Inclusive Growth Climate change is a global concern. At the heart of this concern is the Philippines, the most vulnerable country to the climate crisis, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace in 2019. The changes in the country’s climate patterns result in extreme weather conditions that cause longer and more severe droughts, threats to biodiversity and food security, public health risks, and endangerment of women and indigenous peoples.

Motivated by our commitment to building communities resilient to the changes and impacts caused by climate change, PSFI implements the LiveWIRE Ecobrick Project – a program aimed to protect the environment from further pollution and support the Cagayan de Oro’s waste management directive. In partnership with the Macajalar Wharf Porter’s Association, it collects and repurposes plastic waste from communities to create alternative construction materials, focusing on alleviating environmental concerns and providing livelihood opportunities for the members of the community. The EcoBrick Hub in Brgy. Macabalan is central to this program. PSFI demonstrated the capabilities of the EcoBrick Hub in the Oro BEST Expo 2.0, promoting sustainability through using Ecobricks as a durable and eco-friendly alternative construction material that reduces plastic waste.

In 2021, we continued and expanded our programs for our host communities despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, such as in Tacloban, Tagbilaran, and Pasacao. For instance, we executed various programs and activities under the Anibong and Yolanda Recovery and Rehabilitation Program (ARRP) in Tacloban City such as LiveWIRE, SKIL, Gulayamanan, BiyaHero, Ani Para sa Bayani, deploying additional teacher fellows, establishing a beach forest, and constructing more housing units and an EcoBrick Hub. ARRP was implemented to respond to the devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda in the City. Eight years later, PSFI has created a strong relationship with the communities and continues to work with them.

While collaborating has always been key to PSFI’s overall strategy, the past two years underscored the importance of forming and leveraging partnerships to overcome adversity and deliver quality programs. This is particularly important in providing disaster relief, where we need to respond urgently. During the disaster response to Typhoon Odette, we worked with Benita and Catalino Yap Foundation (BCYF) and the Cordillera Career Development College (CCDC) to identify the needs of communities – allowing us to assist 91,270 individuals.

PSFI has made it a priority to provide our farmers with the support they need and deserve. We have launched programs such as Roots to Shoots and continued the operations of Shell Training Farms, including the Palawan Eco-Agro Park, to aid them throughout, from training farmers to marketing their produce. We partnered with the Ayala Foundation, an established farmers federation, and the El Nido LGU for the El Nido Food Terminal Project, which serves as a venue for farmers to sell local products and reach communities in El Nido and surrounding areas. To improve our farmers’ access to information, PSFI worked with Chektec to introduce the OkCheck mobile application. This allowed them to undergo PSFI’s training on the application, helping them acquire sustainable farming methods and solutions to farm cultural management and operations challenges. Overall, our programs aim to capacitate our farmers to improve their quality of life.

Improving our operations means that we can serve Filipino communities better. Our Input to Impact Strategy has been a major milestone, which will guide our efforts in the next five years to make the most impact. We improved our virtual communication to better reach partners and operation sites and launched the PSFI website to enhance transparency and spotlight the inspiring stories of our communities. These improvements contribute to a holistic system – which ripples into empowering Filipinos and creating lasting change.

PSFI has made it a priority to provide our farmers with the support they need and deserve. We have launched programs such as Roots to Shoots and continued the operations of Shell Training Farms, including the Palawan Eco-Agro Park, to aid them throughout, from training farmers to marketing their produce. We partnered with the Ayala Foundation, an established farmers federation, and the El Nido LGU for the El Nido Food Terminal Project, which serves as a venue for farmers to sell local products and reach communities in El Nido and surrounding areas. To improve our farmers’ access to information, PSFI worked with Chektec to introduce the OkCheck mobile application. This allowed them to undergo PSFI’s training on the application, helping them acquire sustainable farming methods and solutions to farm cultural management and operations challenges. Overall, our programs aim to capacitate our farmers to improve their quality of life.