Hyundai and Haribon team up to strengthen PRO Environment Campaign

MANILA, Philippines - In the fight for a green and sustainable future, two advocates of environmental preservation have officially formed allegiance to re-grow denuded turfs.

Hyundai Asia Resources, Incorporated (HARI), the authorized distributor of Hyundai automobiles in the country, and government-accredited environmental group Haribon Foundation, closed pact last September 29, 2010 at the office of HARI in Makati City to push through its nature conservation initiatives by conducting a tree-planting activity at Lake Caliraya Laguna. This is in line with HARI’s goal to plant 20,000 seedlings to restore the natural habitats of many indigenous species of plants and animals and promote the importance of biodiversity. Leading the MOA-signing were HARI President and CEO, Fe Perez-Agudo, and Haribon Foundation Chief Operating Officer, Blas Troy R. Tabaranza, Jr. Witnesses to this agreement were Christine Cenal, Haribon’s Resource Generation and Mobilization Head, and from HARI: Minda Huvalla, AVP for Corporate Research and Communications Department, Marco Rasos, Assistant Manager for Corporate Research and Communications Department, and Paeng Batuigas, Manager for Marketing Services.

This partnership takes its roots from HARI’s socio-civic arm, the HARI Foundation, whose vision for an environmentally-stable future gave birth to the PRO Environment Campaign. Launched earlier this February 2010 during the first dealer’s conference of HARI, this umbrella campaign aims to invite everyone to become Hyundai’s eco-stewards, dedicated individuals responsible for promoting the re-growth and preservation of the environment, especially endangered ecologies.

Driven by the battle cry, “Together We Can…for a Green Tomorrow,” the campaign’s initial members began its very first green deed through a tree-planting activity in the clear lands of Yapak forest in Boracay, which served before as the natural habitat of a unique species of flying foxes, also known as fruit bats, native to the island. No less than HARI’s President and CEO, Fe Perez-Agudo, led the reforestation movement together with esteemed principals and members of Hyundai’s authorized dealers in the country. From this first milestone of its PRO Environment campaign, HARI endeavors to continue helping combat deforestation, more so the more threatening global problem of climate change, and eventually inspire other eco-conscious activities to save not only the country’s biodiversity, but ultimately, the planet’s life.

The signature-signing between HARI and Haribon Foundation only marks that the battle lines have been drawn to fight against the degradation of the environment. Now that everything is all set, there is no stopping these two formidable allies in their campaign to take an active part in changing the course of history and redirecting it into a brighter and more optimistic future where cars, people, and the planet coexist together.