When I was invited to witness this specific school-chair turn over event, I immediately agreed. Why?
First, I get to see Quezon City Hall again which was one of my favorite “tambay” places when I was in high school. The QC Public Library was the nearest library we could visit way back then when we have research projects when I was studying at Quezon City Science High School.
View of the Quezon City Hall
Statue of Manuel L Quezon
Places of Worship in Quezon City
Second reason was that I get to see Mayor Herbert Bautista. I’ve seen him only on TV and I thought it will make me proud to shake hands with the most powerful man in the city I live in.
Mayor Herbert Bautista at the podium
Mayor Herbert Bautisa, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, the City Fire Marshal, and QC councilors
Mayor Herbert Bauitista, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte and the Boy Scouts of the Philippines
Third reason, but the most important one, was that it touched my heart to learn how Robinsons Supermarket tries to make a difference for public school students by donating new school chairs. I’ve seen so many news about schools who have broken chairs and some schools don’t have enough chairs for their students. I remember my eldest daughter, when she took her MTAP exams in one of the public schools in QC, not all of them had chairs. Good thing was that we came in early and my daughter was able to get her seat. How can a student be able to learn well in school if he or she doesn’t even have a chair to sit in or write on?
The best thing about this project is the chairs are made from recycled plastic materials. Envirotech Waste Recycling Inc. use 30 tons of recycled plastic materials to produce 1,500 plastic chairs. This is truly a win-win project.
Chairs from Green Fund Project – made of recycled plastic materials
The goal of Robinsons Supermarket is to be able to donate 11,000 chairs as part of their Ecosavers Project. It’s also part of their commitment to use their Green Fund to support children’s education while saving the environment at the same time. Robinsons Supermarket’s Green fund comes from P2 that shoppers pay whenever they don’t bring their ecobags and just opt to choose plastic bag.
As Mayor Herbert Bautista said, that this is actually to discourage Filipinos in using plastic that’s why our government required the supermarkets to charge a fee whenever they give out plastic bags. But since there are many of us who still forget to use ecobags, the funds of the supermarket increase. Since 2012, Robinson Supermarket gathers a total of P27,785,770 throughout their stores. Filipinos are so hard-headed right? But at least, this money goes to the Green Fund.
The first batches of chairs, 1,500 in all, were turned-over to Pasong Tamo Elementary School, in a simple ceremony held at the Quezon City Hall. The ceremony started with a national anthem and a short speech by the city mayor. Present in the event were the city vice mayor, the city counselors and Robinsons Supermarket General Manager Jody Gadia. I was honored to see them all personally. Mayor Herbert was very formal as he discussed the Ecosaver project and the campaign against plastic. But his comedic persona also showed up later in the ceremony. I thought it was so cool to be able to listen to the mayor of the city and see him in person, how we actually talks to his councilors and constituents. The councilors did not say anything in the program except for Councilor Kate Coseteng.
The QC Orchestra – the band which provides the music of the national anthem during the flag raising ceremony
Robinsons Ecosaver and Green Fund Project – with the students of Pasong Tamo Elementary Schools which is the first recipient of 1,500 chairs
(L-R) Ms. Tess Magno, Regional Operations Manager (Robinsons Supermarket), Ms. Angela Totanes, Marketing Manager (Robinsons Supermarket), Mayor Herbert Bautista, Quezon City
There were student representatives and some teachers also who were present during the ceremony and picture taking. I could feel their excitement for the new school chairs that will be delivered to their school. I wish that this project by Robinsons Supermarket will be accomplished very soon and better yet, that the campaign to protect the environment and bring better educational facilities to public schools be widened.
me with Mayor Herbert Bautista
To know more about Robinsons Supermarket Ecosavers Project and Green Fund initiatives, like Robinsons Supermarket at Facebook or visit the official website at www.robinsons-supermarket.com.ph
I love reading about this kind of good deeds. Kudos to Robinson’s for such act. I grew up studying in a public school and minsan talaga, kapos ang chairs kasi marami ng sirang chair na hindi agad napapalitan. And you know naman public schools. Sa isang classroom 40 or 50 pataas ang number of students. So 11000 chairs can really make a huge difference!
nice invention and campaign, mababawasan na plastics materials sa mundo magagamit pa ng nangangailangan
I love green initiatives like these! Eco-friendly is the way to go. I guess I feel strongly about our environment nowadays because of the weather we’re getting lately. It’s alarming.
Great use of the Green Fund! 🙂 Indeed this will be helpful to the local schools, plus it serves to educate the public on the best usage of recycled materials.
It’s really nice seeing big corporations doing something great for the public and for the environment. Graduating from a public school myself, I have seen first hand the things that the school offers. I hope there will be a lot more of them coming up with initiatives such as this.
I’m a Robinsons fan so I’m happy they’re doing this! I hope they continue and help other schools as well – especially schools in remote areas that don’t usually have access to basic services. Other corporations should follow suit, too!
What an early Christmas gift for the students! It’s nice to know that a big corporation did this.
I like this initiative of Robinsons and in partnering with QC government for this endeavor. I hope more schools would benefit and may this continue even if management would be changed.
What a great initiative from Robinsons and QC local government! Kudos! 🙂
Good of Robinsons to support this!
This is a very nice initiative nga. This will help kids become more aware of saving the environment.
Way to go QC! I hope there will be a lot of initiative like this from the government to help the students and also we get to save our environment.
Wow! Kudos to Robinsons Supper market. This is very special gift sa mga public school na kulang ang mga chairs.
grats to you all.. hope this is just the beginning of the journey of giving and a lot of school will benefit
Salute to Robinson’s and everyone involved. I love projects that support education for kids!
Wow, I was not aware of this Robinsons Supermarket advocacy! Kudos to them for reaching out to public schools in the country. This beautiful initiative makes me proud to do my grocery at my local Robinsons Supermarket! 🙂
Wow! That’s where my P2.00 goes! From now on, hindi na ako manghihinanyang sa P2.00 ko. 🙂
So nice of Robinsons to fund this notewortfhy campaign! Looking forward to seeing their future projects.
An excellent initiative. Robinsons Supermarket always comes up with positive campaigns and I love to shop there!
This is such a great project! Plus, the use of recycled materials can really help a lot in reducing the waste of the city.
Great campaign by Robinson’s.
I’m sure the students are excited on their new school chairs plus its environmental friendly. Galing!
It’s nice to know that big companies like Robinson’s know how to pay back. And I also like the fact that they are recycling materials, its hitting two birds with one stone! Win win!
It is great to support worthy causes such as this. I’m sure the beneficiaries of the project are very grateful.