Singapore Air hikes scholarship giving
Businessmirror.com
SINGAPORE Airlines recently gave out free tickets to 80 children—their tickets out of abuse.
“Someday, some of you will become teachers, politicians or even airplane pilots. Hopefully, one or more will work with us and say ‘I was a SIA scholar,’” SIA Ltd. Philippines station manager Kevin Tan told 35 of the new batch of children the airline awarded with scholarships for primary education for school year 2010-2011.
With the other 45—in Bicol, Cebu and Davao—Singapore’s flagship carrier’s grants brings it to nearly 900 children. They are as young as 4 and as old as 18, who were rescued from physical or sexual abuse or abandonment by the Bantay Bata program of ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.
“Though there are many poor children needing this kind of help, we think the kids of Bantay Bata may need a little bit more, considering what they went through,” SIA marketing communication and services manager Rita Dy told the BusinessMirror.
While she declined to admit it, Dy has been the advocate for this SIA program, which has become the airline’s expression of corporate social responsibility for eight years running.
“They went to us at a time when we really needed help in innovative services for children we rescued,” Girlie Aragon of ABS-CBN Foundation told the BusinessMirror.
Aragon, program deputy director of the Lopez family’s philanthropy group, said that SIA “didn’t just write a check and left the money to us.”
The check was for P5 million, which sponsored the elementary education of children.
By the seventh year, in 2009, SIA has sponsored a total of 815 grants: 352 in Manila; 222 in Bantay Bata’s Children’s Village in Norzagaray, Bulacan; 156 in Davao; 84 in Cebu; and, one in Bicol.
Of these, 118 graduated from elementary school.
For the new batch on the program’s eighth year, Dy said they are giving P1 million more.
Aragon said the grant covered uniforms, school supplies, miscellaneous school fees for field trips and school projects, meals and transportation.
Each child gets a P1,000 cash allowance, given to their guardian or parent every month.
The change in behavior of children is noticeable, Aragon said, since “they know that somebody is backing them up.”
She added that the children and their parents worry less on their next meal or getting to school or having a notebook and pen.
“They are more focused on their studies. Some of the children even graduated with honors,” Aragon said, noting that only two were unable to continue with studying because one teenager got pregnant while another struggled with the psychological scars of abuse.
“Remember these are children that went through very, very difficult experiences. It takes a lot of hard work to make them appreciate life more than to keep them in school.”
Knowing they helped Bantay Bata accomplish these tasks are some of the intangible benefits to SIA, Dy said, which is why despite the business downturn, she ensures a budget is allocated for the program.
“Even when the numbers were down; when revenue was bad, especially in the last two years, we still try to find a way to continue helping.”
Indeed, the airline wasn’t spared from the financial crisis that hit the world beginning with the economic recession of the United States in 2008.
Based on the airline’s financial statement submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), consolidated profit for fiscal year ended March 2009 dropped 46.33 percent to $1.146 billion.
Improved sales of its operations in its Europe and Southwest Pacific areas, however, propped up the big revenue declines in East Asia and Americas.
Sales only dipped by less than a percent (0.89 percent) to $15.17 billion in the airlines’ 2008-2009 fiscal year.
“We try to give even when we can’t afford to give,” Dy said.
She added that tax rebates and the good image the donations reflect on SIA—“clients love us for that; we’re getting very good feedback”—are significant but not reasons why they continue donating for scholarships.
To note, the recipient, ABS-CBN Foundation, is exempt from income tax.
Five years ago, the group created Bantay Bata (child watch) Endowment Trust Fund that the foundation told the SEC it uses “for endeavors dedicated to the protection of children and the youth.”
The allowance for decline in value of marketable equity securities held by the trustee bank managing the investments amounted to P2.733 million and P1.7 million as of December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively.
Bantay Bata was established as a hot-line child-rescue service that has evolved to provide comprehensive direct children services for abused children, from rescue and rehabilitation (therapy and counseling) to “reintegration.”
The program maintains a home for rescued children and a “Children’s Village” in Norzagaray, Bulacan.