AUGUST 2018 This concise video explains the significance of the three interconnected, self-actualizing hexagons in the brand-new logo of PharmAsia-Cuvest, Inc., which was introduced during the celebration of the company's 30th anniversary.
JUNE 2018 The public school nearest to the Gawad Kalinga (GK) housing community in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, is just five kilometers away, but because of inadequate public transportation and the resulting need to walk this distance during the perilous rainy season, it might as well have been 50—many uneasy parents here had consequently elected not to enroll their children in school at all.
PharmAsia-Cuvest, Inc. President Guillermo Cu Unjieng, Dan Oñate, and Denise Vanderhurk—partners at the Aksyon Agad Foundation (AAF), whose advocacy is to assist in the development of educational systems and logistics for underprivileged children—were determined that these ill-starred children must continue their education. The foundation initially funded the construction of two classrooms within the GK housing community for kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 students.
The AAF provided the infrastructure, while the city government of Talisay generously allocated for this project the necessary teachers, curriculum, and schoolbooks; the classrooms were competed by the 2011 school year.
Subsequent enrollment figures quickly exceeded expectations, and the AAF just as quickly committed to funding two additional classrooms, which became ready for use by the 2013 school year. By this time, the Department of Education had officially accredited all four classrooms as an extension branch of the aforementioned nearby public school.
Two more AAF-funded classrooms later, the “extension” classrooms now host 360 students enrolled in kindergarten all the way up to Grade 6. Today, many students even come from faraway villages (including some residing in an insurgent-controlled mountain) to avail of this unique education opportunity.
With another four classrooms being constructed—bringing the total number to 10—Hope GK Sibol Elementary School, as it is now called, is set to itself graduate from an extension branch to a full-fledged elementary school certified by the Department of Education.
In 2018, PharmAsia-Cuvest, Inc. became an institutional donor for present and future GK projects by way of the AAF, joining forces with these two organizations to unlock the potential of young minds.
The Philippines is the third-largest source of plastic waste in the oceans. Founded by Ziggie Gonzalez, who is also a co-founder of the Circle Hostel group, The Plastic Solution is a movement that aims to reverse this dubious distinction and reduce plastic waste by turning them into “eco-bricks”—recycled plastic bottles stuffed with non-biodegradable waste that can become an alternative building material.
These eco-bricks can be used as fillers for building structures, such as walls, fences, and benches. Actual homes, classrooms, and even a forest nursery have already been constructed out of eco-bricks. In fact, part of the walls surrounding the Circle Hostel in Zambales already uses eco-bricks.
Since 2016, PharmAsia-Cuvest, Inc. has actively supported the Plastic Solution. The company has made it a policy to segregate non-biodegradable waste—such as straws, plastic bags, sachets, packaging, etc.—and then tightly stuff them into plastic 1.5-liter soda bottles. These bottles are then dropped off at the Z Hostel in Poblacion, Makati.
PharmAsia-Cuvest, Inc. employees are also encouraged to embrace the Plastic Solution in their private capacity. Says President Guillermo Cu Unjieng, “In our own household, there is a friendly competition among ourselves to see who can stuff the most plastic bottles each month. There is something quietly fulfilling about seeing a bottle slowly fill up with plastic waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill or our oceans.”
In 2010, the National Children’s Hospital in Quezon City became the first Philippine government hospital to attain the highest accreditation from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.
The hospital is a frontrunner in the care of pediatric patients, and indigents make up approximately 90% of its patients. Overcoming financial constraints, the National Children’s Hospital delivers services through innovation; the sourcing of sponsorship; and collaboration with non-government organizations, companies, and private individuals.
PharmAsia-Cuvest, Inc. employees spent a day at the hospital with young cancer patients. Magic tricks and fun games entertained the brave little fighters. After a simple lunch, company representatives turned over its donation of medicines to the National Children’s Hospital authorities. As is often the case, the contingent from PharmAsia-Cuvest, Inc. left the hospital as ennobled by the experience as the children and doctors were grateful.