TURNING OUR VISION TO REAL IMPACT

Emerging from the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, the year 2022 couldn’t be much brighter as we reach an important milestone in the organization’s history. This year, PSFI celebrated 40 years of being in service and responding to the needs of the most vulnerable in the country. Beginning in 1982 and starting with only five (5) programs, we have grown the organization to cover more provinces and reach more people through different programs focusing on nutrition and food security, health and safety, education, energy, livelihood, the environment, and immediate response. 

Since we started, our vision has always been to move Filipinos further by giving them access to opportunities that result in palpable impacts. Our desire is to make a difference in the lives of individuals so that they may reach their full potential and empower communities to be resilient as they face the challenges ahead. 

Over the years, we have worked with farmers, schools, health professionals, private and public offices, non-government organizations, children, students, and individuals to realize our vision. We developed partnerships and networks that allowed us to expand and reach more beneficiaries. Each year since its founding, PSFI has continued to prove its commitment, thus garnering substantial support from prominent organizations to continue and expand our programs. 

Today, PSFI continues to carry out the US $22.3M grant from the Global Fund (GF) for the HIV PROTECTS program, which has been seen through on account of over 2 decades of success of the continued Malaria grants. This year also marks another vital expansion of the organization as we receive a grant of 300M PHP from our new partner, Bloomberry Cultural Foundation. Bloomberry is helping us expand impact in the aspect of nutrition, through our Roots to Shoots program (3-years), and in education, by supporting students who are aiming to become medical professionals (5-years), on top of our support to students in STEM. 

Amidst an atmosphere of global and local macroeconomic uncertainties, the year 2022 saw the re-opening of the Philippine economy.  The Philippine government lifting mobility restrictions was very much welcomed to spur economic activities and demand recovery.  However, economic optimism was muted by the surge in Omicron cases in Q1, the Russia-Ukraine war, record-high inflation, and Philippine peso depreciation.

For Shell Pilipinas, it was a year to focus on disciplined business delivery, reliable operations, and innovative opportunities in our continued commitment to create value for all our shareholders.

We are committed to becoming a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in-step with society and government. The strategy and plans we have in place reflect our commitment to operating responsibly for our shareholders, while making impactful positive changes to society. As we grow, adjust and expand our businesses, we stay true to powering the country with high quality products and services including Shell fuels, lubricants, and bitumen and contributing to a low carbon world.

In 2022, we achieved a market-leading milestone by introducing Shell Recharge – the country’s first high performance Electric Vehicle charging station. What’s more, it runs on electricity from 100% renewable energy sources.

Shell Pilipinas continued the partnership with Pilipinas Shell Foundation (PSFI) as its social arm, powering lives and livelihoods, delivering benefits to communities, helping build strong relationships with stakeholders to support an inclusive energy transition and enable our social license to operate.  PSFI extended wider reach to deliver social benefits to communities where Shell operates and responded to the needs of beneficiaries outside Shell’s areas of operation.

Two years after the onset of the pandemic, PSFI remains strong and progressive in delivering its different projects and reaching communities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The past few years were difficult, but the challenges we faced allowed us to grow and taught us to adapt quickly to a constantly changing environment. 

We still experienced the tail-end effects of Covid-19 this 2022 but refocused on tailoring our systems on the return back to normal by shifting to more face-to-face events. While some activities were conducted online, we at PSFI were glad to transcend digital screens for more personal connections. 

We also set up better internal processes for tracking our progress for the improvement of the Foundation and to better serve our communities. This improved system can be seen in our 2022 report, wherein we present to you our 2025 targets for each thematic area, including our yearly progress. More than for transparency to our stakeholders, monitoring and evaluating our progress each year shows our continued commitment to our beneficiaries and the drive to exceed expectations as we go beyond set targets. 

This year, I am also glad to celebrate, together with all our stakeholders and partners, the 40th anniversary of the Foundation. Apart from sharing our milestones for the last four decades, our event: Moving Further: A Celebration of 40 Years of Progress – was also an occasion to put our beneficiaries in the spotlight. They are the real winners and heroes of this journey. Their stories of success – some of which are told in this report– give us more reason to innovate and move further. 

Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. (PSFI) established the Shell Training Farm in Bombon, Camarines Sur in 1991 to assist low-income smallholder farmers in the Bicol Region. With the same intent to support farmers in Luzon, the Foundation established the Shell Training Farm in Pililla in 2008. The operations continued on and this 2022, the program was able to reach over 700 farmer beneficiaries.

This year, 336 farmers were trained in Integrated Farming Bio-Systems (IFBS), 124 were upskilled in business management, financial management, and food processing, and 100 rice farmers were trained in producing high-quality inbred rice and in farm mechanization in Bombon site. The training provided by the Shell Training Farm resulted in a 53% increase in farmers’ income and a 56% increase in farm production among the trained farmers who received farm inputs. In Pililla, 172 farmers were trained in IFBS. Eleven staff and crew of 2 Shell mobility stations in Cavite also acquired skills in urban vegetable gardening under the Pililla micro-farm project. Initially, they were able to harvest 172 kgs of vegetables.

As additional support to agricultural communities, Shell Training Farms also link farmers-beneficiaries to potential produce buyers to increase their sales and income.

Operating in seven (7) provinces, the BiyaHERO program is an umbrella program providing various training and seminars on safety and emergency preparedness. The program aspires to organize and develop community volunteers to become BiyaHERO Mentors who serve as community first responders during incidents and emergency situations. Different BiyaHERO programs reached children, young students, community residents, community leaders, and Barangay and City officials this 2022. In Batangas, a Ceremonial Turnover of over 100 copies of an Instructional Manual on Road Safety for Children was conducted last October 28, 2022, at Batangas State University. PSFI handed the manuals to the Department of Education (DepEd) – Batangas City, as reference manuals to educate elementary to senior high school students on road safety.

Meanwhile, in Pasacao, a training for Bantay Dagat, and fisherfolks association members was conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard Regional Office-Bicol. The training provided the participants with the knowledge, confidence, and skills necessary in water survival, life-saving techniques, boat handling operations and preventive maintenance, and marlinspike.