Category: Advocacy

Coming from the success of last year‟s first disaster resilience forum, Cebuana Lhuillier once again gathered stakeholders to push for disaster preparedness among Filipinos. With a mission to equip society‟s most vulnerable sectors against the onslaught of calamities, the nation‟s biggest names in disaster management, risk reduction, and post-disaster rehabilitation convened on August 9 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel for the ‘2017 READY Disaster Resilience Forum – All Sectors In: Making Everyone Disaster-Resilient’.

In partnership with the Insurance Commission, the Climate Change Commission, and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), the event was organized to serve as a platform to discuss measures on disaster resiliency for MSMEs, the agriculture sector, and high-risk communities. It is also a venue to educate the public about the role of microinsurance in disaster preparedness. The convenors and partners of this year‟s forum see microinsurance as a vital preparedness tool, which helps protect Filipinos from the harsh effects brought by calamities.

“In the past twenty years, the number of natural calamities and disasters that ravaged our country has affected the lives of millions and impacted 80% of the local economy. To live with the effects of these natural disasters has become the new normal to many Filipinos. We, at Cebuana Lhuillier, together with our partners, the Insurance Commission, the Climate Change Commission and GIZ, believe that now, more than ever, is the best time to work together to formulate strategies that will help us inform, empower, and protect millions of Filipinos against the continuous onslaught of natural disasters,” Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier shares.

Citing the importance of disaster preparedness, Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions Vice President and Group Head Jonathan Batangan emphasized the broader objective of the forum. “For the second year of the DR Forum, our goal is to reach out to the most vulnerable sectors of society. As a business with a mission towards social change, we go beyond shaping a nation that is not only financially-included, but also financially-protected. By providing them with the proper knowledge and understanding on the risks posed by natural disasters and the ever-changing climate; and by highlighting the important role of microinsurance in mitigating risks, we are on track in building disaster-resilient communities,” he said.

Divided in three parts, the event featured a range of speakers from public and private institutions known to have deep involvement in disaster risk reduction and management. Kicking off the panel sessions were DTI Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya of the Regional Operations Group, Mr. Adel A. Tamano, Vice-President for Public Affairs and Communications of Coca-Cola Philippines, and Ms. Sandra Montano, Founder of Community Health Education Emergency Rescue Services (CHEERS) for ‘Business Unusual: Disaster Resilience for Micro Enterprises’.

Leading the second discussion, ‘A Ready Culture in Agriculture: Disaster Resilience for Farmers and Fisherfolks’, were Mr. Jimmy R. Loro, Senior Advisor of GIZ-RFPI Asia, Mr. Jose Luis Fernandez, Philippine Representative at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and Mr. Norman R. Cajucom, Senior Vice President of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation at the Department of Agriculture. For the third and final panel session, Dr. Renato U. Solidum, Jr., Undersecretary at the Department of Science and Technology and OIC at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PhiVolcs), and Mr. Ramon J. Santiago, Disaster Risk Reduction Management Adviser to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Head of the Metro Manila Crisis Monitoring and Management Center, discussed the topic ‘Inclusive Preparedness: Disaster Resilience in High-Risk Communities’.

Besides the session speakers, the forum also featured Insurance Commissioner Atty. Dennis B. Funa and Climate Change Commissioner Frances Veronica R. Victorio as keynote speakers, while Mr. Michael Rellosa, Chairman of the ASEAN Insurance Council (AIC) Education Committee and Founding Trustee of the Microinsurance Agents Association of the Philippines, and Ms. Cathy Yap-Yang, anchor and managing editor at the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), served as moderators.

This year‟s event sustains Cebuana Lhuillier‟s disaster resilience advocacy, which was launched in January 2016. The forum held last year was followed by a series of road shows in key cities Baguio, Cebu, and Davao to cascade insights and learnings. Midway through 2016, Cebuana Lhuillier introduced a new product called the Alagang Cebuana Plus (ACP) Gold. The introduction of the ACP Gold coincided with the launch of another project called „National Pilipino Protektado Day‟ (NPPD), which provided free microinsurance coverage to one million Filipinos across the country.

Other initiatives rolled out under Cebuana Lhuillier‟s disaster resilience campaign include the launch of Cebuana Alerto, an Android app that provides real-time disaster-related information, the formation of the Microinsurance Agents Association of the Philippines (MIAAP), an organization founded to promote the interest and welfare of microinsurance agents nationwide, and the introduction of Claims Rapid Action in a Disaster-Stricken Area Operations (RAPIDO), an initiative that enables Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions (CLIS) to immediately process and settle claims right at the site where a disaster had just occurred.

Annual event contributes more than three million hours of service since launch

Citi celebrated its 12th annual Global Community Day on June 10, with more than 4,600 Citi volunteers in the Philippines joining the efforts of nearly 100,000 of their colleagues,family and friends in 500 cities in 91 countries and territories to engage in service activities in their local communities. In the days leading up to and including GlobalCommunity Day, Citi volunteers participated in more than 1,500 service projects ranging from urban revitalization to mentorship and job skills training, literacy and education,environmental conservation and disaster relief.

Global Community Day offers a wide range of opportunities to work alongside community and non-profit partners to help improve our cities and neighborhoods.

“Citi’s annual Global Community Day is an important event for our firm and one I always look forward to,” said Citi CEO Michael Corbat. “It provides an opportunity to deepenour relationships with communities we serve, which is absolutely vital to our business success. And it shows the impact we can have when our people show up in force—nearly 100,000 strong this year.

”Leading by example, CEO for Citi Philippines Aftab Ahmed volunteered on back-to-backweekends starting June 3. Together with hundreds of volunteers, they helped UpperBicutan National High School get ready for opening of classes by cleaning classrooms,painting chairs, and covering textbooks with plastic to be good as new. On June 10, he showed support for persons with disabilities by joining their Freedom Walk in QuezonCity Circle with nearly 300 volunteers.

“I am heartened to see the strong interest and enthusiasm among our employees,allowing us to set record participation year after year. I know that Citi employees make a difference every day in the communities where we live and work. However, with Global Community Day, we are able to unite across businesses and across the world and really demonstrate the difference a global bank can make,” said Ahmed.

Since the inaugural Global Community Day in 2006, Citi volunteers have contributedmore than three million hours of service to Global Community Day projects in hundredsof cities. This year, Citi volunteers led hundreds of community projects across the world,some of which included:

Asia Pacific

Across Asia Pacific, there were more than 250 volunteer activities including: 

In Australia, volunteers led workshops for young people from the Brotherhood ofSt. Laurence’s “Creating Futures for Youth” program to help improve their employability.

In China, Citi participated in events that delivered financial education through fungames to children and senior citizens. 

In Japan, volunteers were participating in events to improve the environment, brighten the lives of children with serious illnesses and raise awareness to promote diversity and workplace equality.

Latin America and MexicoAcross

Latin America and Mexico, there are more than 100 volunteer activities including:

In Mexico, volunteers engaged in a range of activities from donating, packing and serving meals to delivering financial education. Citi’s CEO Mike Corbat volunteered at the Emiliano Zapata primary school helping to revitalize learning spaces and joined volunteers at the Food Bank Association to help distribute nutritional food to families in need. 
Citi Venezuela is celebrating 100 years in the country, and as part of Global Community Day, volunteers revitalized the green spaces of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Together with the Red Cross and the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, Citi volunteers in Haiti were contributing to the reforestation of Canaan in Croix-des-Bouquets by planting 3,000 trees and facilitating an environmental awareness session at a local school on the importance of preserving the environment and recycling.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

Across Europe, Middle East and Africa, there were nearly 500 volunteer activities including: 

Across the United Kingdom, Citi volunteers participated in sustainability-related efforts, helping deliver career ready programming for young people, and redecorated a primary school to improve the learning environment. 

In Greece, volunteers revitalized a children’s summer camp to ensure children have a safe and clean place to play. 
Volunteers in Romania beautified the green area of Fundeni Hospital by clearing trash and putting up a playground, a small greenhouse and a picnic area for hospitalized children.

North America

Across the United States and Canada, there were nearly 700 volunteer activities including: 

At Citi’s global headquarters in New York City, Citi teamed up with Feeding Children Everywhere to assemble over 200,000 healthy meals to help combat hunger, beautified and cleaned up green spaces along the Hudson River, assembled and distributed bicycles for low-income youth, and wrote ‘Thank You’ letters and packing hygiene kits for veterans.
In New Jersey, Citi volunteers created costumes for children in local hospitals, made a difference for young people and veterans by conducting mock interviews for professional IT jobs, and planted at the Wagner Farm Arboretum, a farm that helps increase environmental awareness.

In Canada, Citi volunteers hosted mock interviews to help youth increase their employability, cleaned the parkland behind Hershey Centre, built a home with Habitat for Humanity and prepared and served meals for those in need.To learn more about Citi’s citizenship efforts across the globe and to review the 2016Global Citizenship Report, visit http://citizenship.citigroup.com..