Filinvest helps build dreams of less-fortunate children

MANILA, Philippines – Guided by the mission of “Building the Filipino Dream,” Filinvest Land Inc. sees the need to empower less-fortunate students.  Its president and CEO, Joseph Yap, particularly believes that to build the Filipino dream, education is one of the key elements. 

Filinvest Land, Inc., the real estate company of taipan Andrew L. Gotianun Sr., recently donated P500,000 to the scholarship fund of the Bethlehem Day Care Center Foundation. The donation will cover the schooling and other related expenses of a number of preschoolers.

As one of the leading property developers in the country with over 80 projects in 30 cities and municipalities nationwide, Filinvest has consistently demonstrated its commitment to empower communities and help build the pillars of education. The property firm continuously strives to make a difference in the Filipino lives by undertaking projects and activities that help alleviate the socio-economic conditions of the less fortunate.  

“Filinvest believes that the best way for people to improve their lives is through education, that is why we have made it a mission of our company to support education, especially for the less fortunate members of society,” says Yap.

The Bethlehem Day Care Center (BDCC) provides free daycare and other support services to the children of scavengers at the Inayawan landfill site in Cebu City. 

Established in 1993 as an outreach project of the Cebu Archdiocesan Prison Apostolate, BDCC has integrated daycare to provide substitute parenting for pre-school children. The foundation, managed by Fr. Giovanni Iacono, also offers scholarships to students, supplemental feeding programs, and medical services. Teaching basic moral Christian values and basic ecclesial community formation to the parents of daycare children is also part of the foundation’s services.

Filinvest’s corporate social responsibility also extends to marginalized children through the Educational Research and Development Assistance Foundation (ERDA), a non-profit organization founded by Father Pierre Tritz. Since 1974, the Gotianun family has been providing ERDA Foundation annual support to send over 30,000 indigent children all over the country to school.   

Under the Andrew Gotianun Foundation (ADF), financial support amounting to P2.6 million since 2003 has been donated to the Sandiganan sa Pagpalambo sa Kabataan (SAPAK) Experimental Farm in Compostela, Cebu. SAPAK, headed by Fr. Emmanuel V. Non is a pioneering effort at integrated human development for boys and girls ages seven to 21 who have been rendered needy, even helpless, by poverty and neglect.

In December, the company donated and held a Christmas party for the abandoned and handicapped children of Hospicio de San Jose.  Filinvest also conducted a medical mission at the Bubuyan High School in Calamba, Laguna, where more than 180 adults and children availed of the free medical checkup and medicines.