Stories of inspiration

PSFI and San Isidro Solar Power Corp. Forge Partnership to Empower Farmers and Fisherfolk in Leyte

Taguig City, Philippines | July 7, 2026 – Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. (PSFI) and San Isidro Solar Power Corp. (SISPC), a subsidiary of Greenlight Renewables Holdings, Inc. (GRHI), formally launched a new partnership through the ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the Sustainable Initiatives and Projects for Agri-Fisheries Growth and Development (SIPAG) program at ORE Central, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. 

The partnership marks the beginning of the first social investment initiative under the Shell Joint Venture partnership, bringing together PSFI’s expertise in community development and SISPC’s commitment to creating shared value in its host communities. Through SIPAG, the partners aim to improve food security and strengthen the livelihoods of approximately 100 farmers and fisherfolk in Barangay Daja Daku, San Isidro, Leyte by providing capacity development, sustainable agriculture and fisheries interventions, market support, and enterprise development opportunities. 

The Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Darlene C. Arguelles, President of Greenlight Renewables Holdings, Inc., and Sebastian C. Quiniones Jr., Executive Director of Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. Witnessing the signing were Jaime Del Rosario, Chief Legal Officer of SISPC, and Raiza V. Cusi, Program Director of PSFI. 

In his remarks, Quiniones reflected on the significance of the partnership and the deeper meaning behind the program’s name. 

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In Filipino, sipag means diligence. It is the quiet determination of the farmer who rises before dawn to cultivate the land. It is the resilience of the fisherfolk who faces uncertain waters to provide for a family. Today, SIPAG comes to mean something even greater. It represents what can be achieved when organizations come together with a shared commitment to empower people, strengthen livelihoods, and create opportunities that endure.

Through SIPAG, PSFI and SISPC reaffirm their shared commitment to empowering communities, strengthening local livelihoods, and creating sustainable opportunities that enable farmers and fisherfolk in Leyte to build a better future for their families. 

For more than four decades, PSFI has worked alongside Shell and various development partners to implement programs that improve lives through education, health, sustainable livelihoods, enterprise development, and community capacity building. SIPAG builds on this experience by equipping farmers and fisherfolk with practical knowledge on integrated farming systems, climate-resilient agriculture, sustainable fisheries, entrepreneurship, and leadership, helping them become more productive and economically resilient. 

Over the next 12 months, the program will roll out a series of interventions, including integrated farming biosystems training, sustainable fishing sessions, business planning workshops, enterprise development activities, leadership enhancement, and continuous monitoring and evaluation to help participating communities build resilient and sustainable livelihoods. 

Quiniones concluded by emphasizing that the success of the partnership will ultimately be measured not by the agreement itself, but by the lives it transforms. 

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The true measure of this partnership will not be the signatures we place on these pages. It will be the farmers who achieve better harvests, the fisherfolk who secure better livelihoods, the families whose futures become brighter, and the communities that become stronger because we chose to work together.

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