Working for a green future

MANILA, Philippines - Years before typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng taught us a bitter lesson about preserving the environment, the First Philippine Industrial Park in Sto. Tomas and Tanuan, Batangas was already working hard at protecting the environment.

Its president and general manager Hector Dimacali says all corporations within the 350-hectare property must abide by the industrial park’s environmental policy or face sanctions.

“Our managers have a monitoring system that makes sure the companies comply with environmental policies like proper waste disposal and others. Otherwise, we stop their water supply,” he points out.

Thus, the companies must shape up or ship out.

The industrial park applies this pro-nature policy as early as when a company decides to apply for space in the area.

“We check the company’s water needs. If it’s beyond the park’s water capacity, we have to evaluate first,” Dimacali relates.

Not everything is about profit. After all, he adds, the industrial park was established not for profit but to provide jobs and promote technology transfer.

Water is a resource that ranks first place in the industrial park’s list of priorities. According to Dimacali, water that flows out of the San Juan River from the industrial park is much cleaner than that which government standards have established.

To further serve the community near the industrial park, Dimacali says they have planted thousands of trees in the area.

“We have planted thousands of trees and donated seedlings,” says Dimacali.

It is this spirit of community service that defines the industrial park and Dimacali’s training as a scholar of American Field Service (AFS).

AFS is an international, voluntary, non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop knowledge, skills and understanding needed for a more just, peaceful world.

AFS Intercultural Programs Philippines is part of the global network of AFS worldwide. Since its founding over 60 years ago, AFS has been leading the world of student exchanges. Today, over 13,000 students are sent all over the world and are hosted by families, schools and communities for a year of cultural immersion. In the Philippines, more than 1,600 students have been sent and over 600 students have been hosted here.